Harriet Mogge’s Musical Life
By NAfME Editorial Communications Manager Ella Wilcox
Harriet Morgan Mogge, who worked for MENC (the predecessor of the National Association for Music Education) from 1974 to her retirement in 1993, passed on June 16, 2016, at age 88. An important force in the organization for twenty years, Mogge served in various positions on the MENC staff, the last being director of meetings and conventions.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, January 2, 1928, Mogge grew up in a family that valued education and music. Her father, Russell Van Dyke Morgan, was MENC president from 1930 to 1932, and her mother, the late Grace Adeline Wells, encouraged music study in their home. Harriet Mogge is remembered at NAfME as a person willing to teach others and as a dedicated team member and leader. She loved good stories and American history. Mogge was also adventurous and enjoyed travel.
According to her obituary in The Washington Post, Mogge received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and did postgraduate work in special education at Illinois State University, Normal. She taught music in the public schools of Evanston and Watseka, Illinois. In 1964, Mogge joined the Summy-Birchard Publishing Company, where she served as educational director until leaving to join Music Educators National Conference (MENC). Mogge was the founding executive secretary of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, receiving their Distinguished Service Award in 1996. She was also a member of the music fraternity Mu Phi Epsilon and a national officer of the Kappa Delta Sorority, and the National Association of Exposition Managers, whose national president she became in 1990.
A longtime antique automobile enthusiast, Mogge was a life member of the Antique Automobile Club of America and a founding member of the Model T Ford Club International. She served as a member of their board of directors for fifteen years, where she held positions ranging from treasurer to advertising manager for the club’s magazine Model T Times. In 1981, she became the club’s first woman president.
Mogge is survived by her daughter Linda Mogge Hartman of North Woodstock, New Hampshire, as well as a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. She was interred next to her parents at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.
Harriet Mogge is missed by many in the music education community.
Portions of this piece were published in The Washington Post on June 25, 2016. Read the entire notice at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?pid=180449931#sthash.o50tQuqc.dpuf
Brendan McAloon, Marketing and Events Coordinator, July 26, 2016. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org).
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