Natvig spoke on early 19th century Toledo, Ohio, Mayor Samuel “Golden Rule” Jones.
Natvig presented to a small crowd made up mostly of musicology graduate students and faculty Wednesday night at the Jacobs School of Music.
“Jones molded Toledo into an exemplar of musical progression,” Natvig said.
Jones was elected mayor four times in the late 19th century and pushed for social reform throughout ?his service.
He was independently successful through his company, Acme Sucker Rod, and used his influence to promote the social gospel and music education.
“He pushed forward the idea of music in the public park,” Natvig said.
Jones sponsored the Golden Rule Band, made up of workers interested in music, and created the Golden Rule Park in Toledo as a space for live music and promoting social reform.
“No single movement has created more music than the eight-hour workday movement,” Natvig said.
Jones used his power as mayor to promote this movement and wrote the lyrics to “Divide the Day,” for which his wife wrote the music. Graduate student Kate Altizer performed the song on the piano, and Natvig led the crowd in song.
“You see this person who is a real activist in the 19th century to bring music and to teach music in very interesting ways for moral education, for it to be able to allow people to develop certain kinds of skills, to make them feel like full citizens in society,” Judah Cohen, assistant professor of ?musicology, said.
Cohen said the goal of the lecture series is to not only benefit the graduate musicology students but also feature speakers who appeal to other groups ?on campus.
“We have people coming from other departments within the Jacobs School, including music theory and many of the instrumental programs, composition programs, as well as the rest of campus,” Cohen said.
Jones’ grand-daughter in-law, Anne Shelbourne-Jones, attended the event after she heard of Natvig’s intensive research.
“One of the things we most admire about him is his beliefs were coherent with his action,” ?Shelburne-Jones said.
She shared several anecdotes from her family’s history and spoke on the admiration that still lives on for “Golden Rule.”
Natvig continually highlighted Jones’s determination to better the lives of workers in Toledo up until his unexpected death ?in 1904.
She ended on a personal note, with beliefs she shares with Jones and how the importance of music is still playing a large role in social life.
“We recognize the power of music to change people’s lives,” Natvig said.
