The Pennsylvania State University the Graduate School ORAL HISTORIES of WOMEN INSTRUMENTALISTS in COLLEGE MARCHING BANDS POST-TI
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School ORAL HISTORIES OF WOMEN INSTRUMENTALISTS IN COLLEGE MARCHING BANDS POST-TITLE IX A Dissertation in Music Education by Michquelena Potlunas Ferguson © 2021 Michquelena Potlunas Ferguson Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2021 ii The dissertation of Michquelena Potlunas Ferguson was reviewed and approved by the following: Linda C. Thornton Professor of Music Education Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Graduate Program Chair for Music Education Darrin H. Thornton Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Outreach Teaching Professor of Music Charles D. Youmans Professor of Musicology Jaime Schultz Professor of Kinesiology iii ABSTRACT Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act was passed in 1972. This legislation prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender in publicly funded educational institutions, including all colleges and universities in the United States. In the public arena, Title IX has become synonymous with the fight for equality for women in sport; however, its positive effects for equality for women were farther reaching. Women in higher education gained unprecedented access to academic and social circles on college campuses. The rights granted by Title IX to women that permitted participation alongside men in college marching bands in the 1970s is an area that has virtually been absent from the research. The purpose of this study was to investigate and record the experiences of the first women instrumentalists to participate in collegiate marching bands in the post- Title IX era. I drew on a subject-oriented oral history methodology with a historical basis in the second wave feminist moment. Five women narrators who participated as some of the first women instrumentalists to be integrated into previously all-male college marching bands from Big Ten universities were interviewed and provided archival material from their time as some of the first women to participate as instrumentalists in their college marching bands between 1972-1975. Common themes that emerged from the analysis of the narrators’ stories included instances of discrimination, self-determined behaviors of masculine assimilation into a coeducational activity, physicality as an externally perceived barrier to success, uniform fitting, and differing levels of awareness of the social equity movement’s effect on their participation. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .............................................................................................................. vi Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Background ........................................................................................................... 1 Rationale ............................................................................................................... 3 Purpose and Research Questions .......................................................................... 5 Delimitations and Limitations .............................................................................. 5 Organization of the Study ..................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 Literature Review ........................................................................................ 7 Evolution of Marching Bands in America ............................................................ 7 Influence of European Wind and Military Bands .......................................... 7 Bands in America .......................................................................................... 9 Women in Band .................................................................................................... 12 Women in Instrumental Music Prior to World War II America ................... 12 Gendered Nature of Instrumentation Prior to World War II ......................... 15 World War II's Effects on Women in Band ................................................... 17 Women Instrumentalists Post World War II ................................................. 20 Women in College Bands in America ........................................................... 22 The Masculinity of Band ............................................................................... 25 Title IX .................................................................................................................. 27 History of Title IX ......................................................................................... 27 Title IX, the Social Equity Movement, and Higher Education ..................... 33 Title IX and Women in Sport ........................................................................ 37 Title IX and Women in College Marching Band .......................................... 40 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 41 Chapter 3 Methodology ............................................................................................... 43 Purpose and Research Questions .......................................................................... 43 Historical Method in Music .................................................................................. 43 Structure of the Project ......................................................................................... 45 Historical Framing in Second Wave Feminism ............................................. 46 Participants as Narrators ................................................................................ 52 The Interviews ............................................................................................... 54 Data Analysis, Interpretation, and Validity ................................................... 54 Researcher Role and Bias .............................................................................. 55 Chapter 4 Narratives .................................................................................................... 57 Joy Rimpau, Michigan State Univeristy Marching Band ..................................... 58 v Carol Ross-Baumann, University of Michigan Marching Band .......................... 68 Karen Dunnam, University of Michigan and Michigan State University Marching Bands ............................................................................................. 74 Julie Sopoci, University of Minnesota Marching Band ........................................ 79 Joni Sutton, University of Minnesota Marching Band ......................................... 84 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 88 Chapter 5 Comparison of Narratives and Connection to the Social Equity Movement ............................................................................................................. 90 Comparison of Narratives ..................................................................................... 90 Self-Determined Actions of Assimilation into a Coeducational Activity ..... 90 Physicality ..................................................................................................... 93 Uniforms ........................................................................................................ 98 Awareness of the Social Equity Movement - Title IX .................................. 103 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 107 Chapter 6 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 109 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 110 Contemporary Implications for Music Education ................................................ 119 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research ................................................ 122 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 128 Appendix A IRB Request ............................................................................................ 135 Appendix B Recruitment Emails ................................................................................. 136 Appendix C Participant Interview Questions .............................................................. 138 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Joy Rimpau with First Horn, Grade 5 .......................................................... 59 Figure 2. Joy Rimpau in East Landsing High School Band, 1970 .............................. 59 Figure 3. Rejection Letter from the University of Minnesota Marching Band, 1967 ...................................................................................................................... 61 Figure 4. Michigan State Marching Band Acceptance Letter, 1973 ............................ 64 Figure 5. Joy Rimpau in Uniform, 1974 ...................................................................... 66 Figure 6. Joy Rimpau Participating in MSU Alumni Band, 2013 ............................... 67 Figure 7. Michigan Marching Band Euphonium Section on the Steps of Revelli Hall 1974 .............................................................................................................