Monday, August 18, 2014

She was Brockport Music

Pauline Haynes was Brockport music for many years, in part because she was the only music faculty member in 1925 when she started here, and for a number of years after. By the time she retired in 1966 Brockport had gone from being a small Normal school with a single music teacher to a much larger comprehensive liberal arts college, complete with a music faculty of eight members who she had recruited and mentored.

She was from Plattsburg, and attended the campus school at Plattsburg Normal as a child. After college at Skidmore she studied at the Thomas Whitney Surette school in Concord Massachusetts, then taught in the Princeton, New Jersey public schools for two years, and from there came to Brockport.

A popular faculty member, her encouraging and sensitive manner made her sought after by students and faculty alike. She directed the music for special events and campus productions for many years, including the Christmas Vespers programs which were extremely popular among both the campus and village communities. An excellent pianist, she was also long remembered for her fashionable and elegant sense of style. A room in Alumni House is dedicated to her memory.