Margaret Taylor Bradford Boni (November 23, 1892 – November 26, 1974) was an American music educator and folklorist. She edited several books of popular music, including ''The Fireside Book of Folk Songs'' (1947). She taught music at the

City and Country School City and Country School is a progressive education, progressive independent preschool, elementary school and middle school for children aged 2–14 that is located in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Founding City and Country Sc ...

from 1928 to 1954, where she worked with

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...

in the 1940s.

Early life and education

Bradford was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and raised in Florida, the daughter of John Taylor Bradford and Ida Henley Brooks Bradford. Her father was in the lumber industry; her older sister was editor

Irita Bradford Van Doren Irita Bradford Van Doren (March 16, 1891 – December 18, 1966) was an American literary figure and editor of the ''New York Herald Tribune'' book review for 37 years. Biography Born Irita Bradford in Birmingham, Alabama, she moved with her ...

. She graduated from

Florida State College for Women Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in 1909, with further musical studies at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

Career

Bradford taught piano and harmony at the Little Rock Conservatory and College for Women in Arkansas in the 1910s. Boni was director of the music department at the

in New York City, from 1928 to 1954. One of the other music teachers during her tenure was a young Pete Seeger, who taught at the school in 1949. She promoted the use of the

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

as a teaching instrument, and taught recorder classes at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Artist

Julian E. Levi Julian Edwin Levi (1900–1982) was an American painter. He was a 1968 Resident of the American Academy in Rome. He should not be confused with the New York art dealer Julien Levy, who introduced Salvador Dalí to American patrons at his Julien ...

painted a portrait of Boni playing recorder in 1940.

Publications

Songwriter

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

wrote in a 2020 essay that "The most important book I ever had in my life was my mother's copy of ''The Fireside Book of Folk Songs'' by Margaret Bradford Boni." He explained that the combination of music and lyrics and images caught his imagination as a small child, before he could read or play music. * ''How to Play the Recorder'' (1938) * ''Keep Singing, Keep Humming'' (1946, illustrated by

Lucienne Bloch Lucienne Bloch (1909-1999) was a Switzerland, Swiss-born American artist. She was best known for her murals and for her association with the Mexican artist Diego Rivera, for whom she produced the only existing photographs of Rivera's mural ''Man ...

) * ''The Fireside Book of Folk Songs'' (1947, illustrated by Martin and Alice Provensen) * ''The Fireside Book of Favorite American Songs'' (1952, illustrated by

Aurelius Battaglia Aurelius Battaglia (January 16, 1910 – May 29, 1984) was an American illustrator, muralist, writer, and director. Early life and education Battaglia was born on January 16, 1910, in Washington, D.C.. He was the son of Giuseppe and Concetta Ba ...

) * ''The Fireside Book of Love Songs'' (1954) * ''Favorite Christmas Carols'' (1957) * ''Songs of the Gilded Age'' (1960)

Personal life

Bradford married

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

bookseller and publisher Charles Boni Jr. in 1931. He died in 1969, and she died in 1974, at the age of 82, in New York City.

References

External links

Julian Edwin Levi, "Margaret Boni Playing the Recorder, 1940"
an oil painting in the collection of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Boni, Margaret Bradford 1892 births 1974 deaths Academics from Birmingham, Alabama American music educators 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators American women music educators American folklorists American women folklorists