The David Earl Mattern Papers document Mattern's education and career from 1905 to his death in 1959. The collection is organized in four series: Biographical and Personal Materials, Education, Professional Career, and Photographs. Topics covered extensively in this collection include the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club, the Extension Orchestra, and Mattern's activities during the university's Summer Session.
David Earl Mattern was a professor of Music Education in the School of Music at the University of Michigan from 1929 to his death in 1959. His career spanned forty years, with activities ranging from playing first violin for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra to conducting the University of Michigan's "Under and Over Sixty Club."
Born in 1890, Mattern was a 1906 graduate of Newton High School in Newton, Iowa. The proof from his 1957 entry in Who's Who in America provides a detailed outline of his education and stages of his career. Mattern married Viola Smith on April 21, 1924, and Shirley Mattern (later Mrs. Haldon Smith) was born to them in 1925.
Early in his career, Mattern taught summer session instruction of violin classes at Cornell, the Eastman School of Music, and Ithaca College. In 1926, he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to become the supervisor of music for the public schools. During his three years in Grand Rapids, he also conducted the Schubert Club, a large male chorus.
In 1929, Mattern was offered a position at the University of Michigan in the area of music education. From 1929 to 1931, he conducted the University Symphony Orchestra, and from 1931 to 1947, he was the director of the Men's Glee Club. Mattern was also involved as the director of music for the University School in the School of Education beginning in 1931.
Mattern's interest in music education reached beyond a person's formal school years, leading him to take on a position as director of the Detroit Extension Orchestra. This program, administered by the University's Extension Service, allowed adult residents of the southeast corner of the state to gather and participate in high quality amateur performances. The orchestra's repertoire included the masters and the classics.
Mattern was associated professionally with the: [Michigan] State Committee on Creative Arts, Michigan String Quartet Festivals, Music Teachers' National Association, Music Educator's National Conference, [Michigan] State Advisory Council on Music Education, and the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association.
David Mattern died April 14, 1959.
