Maud Cuney Hare (1874-1936) lived at 43 Sheridan Street from 1906 to 1934. She was the best known African-American music historian of the early 20th century. Maud was born in Galveston, Texas. Her parents were Adelina (a great soprano) and Norris Wright Cuney. Norris was one of the most powerful black politicians in Texas during the post-Civil War years. They sent their daughter up north to go to college in Boston. Maude entered the New England Conservatory of Music in 1890. She was one of two African-American women who were living in the dormitory. After other white residents objected to this living arrangement the school offered to move Maud to off-campus housing. But Maud and her powerful father fought the request and she remained in the dorm. The affair became national news.
Once Maud graduated she began teaching (she gave piano lessons in her parlor here) and sometimes toured as a pianist. She was an early member and supporter of the NAACP chapter here in Boston. She became the music editor for The Crisis (the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). She wrote for other publications too, such as Musical Quarterly and The Christian Science Monitor. She married William Hare in 1906, whose family lived down the street. Her great work was Negro Musicians and Their Music which was the definitive text on African music when it was published just before her death in 1936.
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“I refused to leave the dormitory, and because of this, was subjected to many petty indignities. I insisted upon proper treatment.”— MAUD CUNEY HARE