User:Khaeflig/sandbox

Eva Munson Smith (1843 - 1915) was a pioneering musician and progressive supportive of 19th century causes; primary among them was her lifelong support of the W.C.T.U (Women's Christian Temperance Union) and women's sufferage. Her chief contribution to the field of 19th century music was her compilation and publication of "Woman in Sacred Song", a 800+ page volume published in 1884 by various publishers throughout the United States. In the volume, which consists chiefly of womens poetry devoted to a variety of both religious and secular topics of current interest to the contemporary 19th century housewife and mother, she also asked her contributors to "send along" any music they had composed to their hymnal lyrics or even instrumental pieces. This resulted in over 50 pieces being included and these may possibly represent the first published compilation of music by women composers in the United States. (needs reference-- Tick or Karin Pendle).

Eva was born in 1843 in Tennessee, the son of a preacher, and when she was twelve the family moved to Illinois. Smith matriculated at Rockford College where she obtained a teaching degree that also emphasized music. She was primarily a singer and a pianist. Her first position was as a music teacher at Otoe University (Nebraska Territorial School in Nebraska City, NB). She met her husband, George Clinton Smith while in Nebraska City, and the couple moved to Springfield, IL by the late 1860s.