Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers

The first of Presser's ventures into philanthropy was establishing the Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers in 1906. It provided residence for retired music teachers who made a significant contribution to their profession, and eligibility was based on financial need. For a more comprehensive look into the history of the Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers, see Joseph Richards' article series here.

Presser Halls 

The Presser Foundation built music buildings for several institutions across the United States to promote its mission for musical education. The first institution to receive funds for constructing a music building was Hollins College in 1925. Mr. Presser was alive to oversee planning but passed away before erecting it in March 1926. 

Though rising costs of construction prevented the Presser Foundation from continuing these efforts, the Presser Foundation supports music organizations to this day through various grantmaking areas that align with Mr. Presser's mission to aid musical education and philanthropy. 

Bomberger, E. Douglas. “Theodore Presser Before the Etude Part I.” American Music Teacher 

66, no. 4 (2017): 22–27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26387607.

Bomberger, E. Douglas. “Theodore Presser Before the Etude Part II.” American Music Teacher 

66, no. 5 (2017): 24–30. 

Bomberger, E. Douglas. “Theodore Presser Before the Etude Part III.” American Music Teacher 

66, no. 6 (2017): 20–24. 

Collins, Herman. Philadelphia, A Story of Progress, New York: Lewis Historical Publishing 

Company, no. 4 (1941): 260–261. 

Cooke, F. James, “Theodore Presser (1848–1925) Educator–Publisher–Philanthropist: A 

Centenary Biography,” The Etude 66/7 (July 1948)

Cooke, F. James, “Theodore Presser– Biography, Part Twelve,” The Etude 66/7 (June 1949)

Cooke, F. James, “Theodore Presser–The Centenary of a Philadelphia Musical Pioneer,” The Philadelphia Forum, no. 9 (1948): 7–8.

“Dedication of Retired Music Teachers’ Home,” Musical America, October 1914.

Jaslow, Sheryl. “National Register of Historic Places Registration Form–Presser Home for 

Retired Music Teachers,” September 21, 2006. 

https://gis.penndot.gov/CRGISAttachments/SiteResource/H064350_01H.pdf. 

Hansen, Jeanne. James Francis Cooke’s Editorial Motifs in The Etude Music Magazine 1907-1957, Kent State University Press, December 2017, 1–95.

Nazzaro, William J. “Theodore Presser and His Foundation.” Music Educators Journal 70, no. 2 

(October 1983): 48–67. https://doi.org/10.2307/3401213.

“New Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers,” Evening Bulletin, September 1913.

“Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers,” music clipping file, Germantown Historical Society, 

Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, 8. 

Rorick, William C. “Theodore Presser Company: A Bicentennial Retrospect.” Fontes Artis 

Musicae 31, no. 2 (1984): 118–25. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23505604.

“The Home for Retired Music Teachers,” The Etude (December 1913), 862.

Wetzel, Richard. “Presser, Theodore.” American National Biography. New York: Oxford 

University Press (1999): 840–841.