History
VanderCook Cornet School (later VanderCook College of Music) was founded in 1909 by Hale Ascher VanderCook (1864–1949) to train professional musicians, directors and teachers.
The year 1909 is given as the founding date of VanderCook College because, in that year, Mr. VanderCook purchased the home, school and studios of his teacher, Alfred F. Weldon. The school was located at 1652 Warren Boulevard. Weldon (1862–1914) was one of the most famous brass instrument teachers in the Mid-West. The College’s current philosophy of music education can trace its roots back to A.F. Weldon.
Hale A. VanderCook continued Weldon’s teaching philosophy, with an expanded program of teaching. Mr. VanderCook was nationally known as a conductor, soloist, composer and teacher, and students came to him from all over the country for advanced training, coaching and preparations for professional careers.
Shortly after World War I, interest in school bands and orchestras and the need for trained teachers and directors for such organizations, created the demand for a special course of study to prepare for this work. For several years this work was given by individual lessons, but in 1926 classes in various subjects were organized.
By 1927, more space was needed and VanderCook purchased a large brownstone residence at 1655 Washington Blvd. (and Paulina), later adding adjacent buildings at 1653 and 1657 Washington Blvd. Students took required academic and education courses at nearby Lewis Institute. The root of the relationship between VanderCook College of Music and the Lewis Institute (later Illinois Institute of Technology) was the close friendship between Hale A. VanderCook and George L. Tenney, better known as “Doc” Tenney. “Doc” taught vocal music at the Lewis Institute and directed choirs in some of the largest churches in the Chicago area.
Then in 1928 the school was incorporated as a non-profit teacher training institution under the Illinois State Laws and it s curriculum approved by the Board of Examiners of the Illinois State Department of Public Instruction. Graduates therefore obtained certificates to teach bands and orchestras in the public schools without examination. By now the school was known as VanderCook School of Music.
The first class to complete the approved four-year course of study for the degree Bachelor of Music Education was graduated at the summer session of 1931. Members of that class, all prominent teachers, were John H. Beckerman, Clarence F. Gates, Clifford P. Lillya, Hubert E. Nutt, William D. Revelli and Otto Uttke. These graduates were certified to teach bands and orchestras in the public schools.
After Lewis Institute merged with Armour Institute to form the Illinois Institute of Technology at 33rd and Federal Street, VanderCook School of Music was urged to move closer to the I.I.T. campus to continue the relationship it had fostered with the Lewis Institute. In 1953, a building site on Michigan Avenue, across the street from the I.I.T. dormitory area was purchased. In 1954, a large residence at 3219 S. Michigan Avenue was purchased and VanderCook moved to the new location. During this time the school changed its name to VanderCook College of Music.
In August, 1960, after several years of planning and fundraising, construction on a new building began. This building, located at 3209 S. Michigan Avenue, housed an auditorium, practice rooms, lounges, heating plant, storage, classrooms, offices and library. H.E. Nutt, co-founder of VanderCook College of Music, lived in the building until close to his death in 1981.
VanderCook College moved onto the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1996, into a building designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. This move allowed VanderCook College to retain its autonomy while fostering a reciprocal arrangement with a larger university whose amenities include student housing and other student facilities, classroom and performing spaces in various campus buildings, and a large research library.
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