A Brief Account of the Founding of the
South Carolina Music Teachers Association

When renowned historical keyboard performer and scholar George Lucktenberg arrived in South Carolina in 1960 to assume a teaching position at Converse College in Spartanburg, one of his first inclinations was to transfer his membership to the state MTNA association. It was then that he learned that South Carolina was one of only two of the nation’s fifty states that did not have such an affiliation, with Alaska being the other.

The Dean of Music at Converse, Gene Crabb, encouraged Lucktenberg to drum up support around the state for establishing an association. In early October of 1960, Lucktenberg chaired a meeting in Converse’s Twitchell Auditorium to organize SCMTA, and having written both the constitution and by-laws, Lucktenberg arranged for the meeting to be attended by national representatives Polly Gibbs and Frank Crochett. The articles included in the constitution and by-laws were passed individually and SCMTA became the 49th state association within MTNA. When a slate of officers was proposed, Lucktenberg was elected its first President.

Lucktenberg reported that in those days the national association did not have the clout that it does today. The regional Divisions within the organization was where the power lay, and Lucktenberg quickly rose in the ranks of the Southern Division from Second Vice President to First, then to President. According to Lucktenberg, the Divisions held major conventions with abundant corporate sponsorship and exhibits. Eventually, Celia Mae Bryant (University of Oklahoma) and others led a revision of the structure within MTNA to place the focus of leadership in Cincinnati and with the establishment of national officers. This in turn diminished the role and power of the Divisions. Lucktenberg was encouraged to seek positions at the national level but declined in favor of pursuits related to his work with historical keyboard performance and scholarship.

The second SCMTA President was Tommy Owen from Erskine College, who was succeeded by Laurence Morton from Bob Jones University. The 1962 “Annual Convention” was billed as the organization’s second and was held at Columbia College in January of that year. The program of this convention included proposals for SCMTA Student Auditions and a SCMTA Teacher Accreditation Plan, and a special workshop demonstration was provided by Dr. Robert Pace of Columbia University in New York.

The first edition of S.C.M.T.A. News Notes (January 1962) reported the membership of SCMTA at 125. In its third year however, SCMTA was in danger of losing its affiliation when the total membership threatened to dip below the mandatory 40 members. Thankfully this did not occur, and today SCMTA is celebrating its 60th Anniversary.

Compiled from an interview with George Lucktenberg by Stephen Taylor, August 8, 2010 in Waleska, Georgia.