Otto Kinkeldey (November 27, 1878 – September 19, 1966) was an American

music librarian Music librarianship is the area of librarianship that pertains to music collections and their development, cataloging, preservation and maintenance, as well as reference issues connected with musical works and music literature. Music librarians usu ...

and

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

. He was the first president of the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legitim ...

and held the first chair in musicology at any American university.Cornell University Library bioAmerican Musicological Society ''Otto Kinkeldey Award'' website

Biography

Kinkeldey was born in Manhattan, New York City on November 27, 1878.Answers.com biography He received his B.A. in 1898 from City College of New York and his M.A. from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

in 1900. In a somewhat unusual step for an American at the time, he studied for his doctorate at a German university, the Royal Academic Institute for Church Music in Berlin, where he received his Ph.D. in 1909. In 1910, Kinkeldey was appointed Royal Prussian Professor at the University of Breslau Returning to New York, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Otto Kinkeldey Papers He became head of the New York Public Library's Music Division, serving in that capacity from 1915 to 1923. In 1923, he moved to

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, becoming a professor of musicology and in 1930 the fourth librarian of the Cornell University Library. He retired in 1946 as Professor ''Emeritus'' of Cornell and continued to teach at other universities. From 1946 to 1948, Kinkeldey was Visiting Professor of musicology at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

; from 1948 to 1950 he was Visiting Professor of Musicology at

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...

; and for the 1951–1952 school year, he was

Distinguished Visiting Professor Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" informally refers collectively to the academic ranks of assistant professor, asso ...

of musicology at the

University of North Texas College of Music The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school among the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. It developed the first jazz studies ...

"Violet Archer", ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' , ''The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada''
/ref> While at North Texas, Kinkeldey profoundly influenced Anna Harriet Heyer (1909–2002), the head music librarian at North Texas. He was elected the first president of the

in 1935, which honored him posthumously in creating the ''Otto Kinkeldey Award''. The award is given each year to recognize the most distinguished book in musicology published during the previous year. Kinkeldey died in South Orange, New Jersey, September 19, 1966.

Honors and awards

* Townsend Harris Medal, City College of New York * Honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Biography

Honors and awards

References

Further reading