Ella Scoble Opperman Papers

Ella Scoble Opperman, Dean of the Florida State College for Women (FSCW) School of Music, was born October 27, 1873 in New Haven, Ohio. Her parents were Frederic Opperman, born in France, and Mary Scoble, born in Cincinnati, Ohio of English parents. Opperman began the study of piano at the age of five under her aunt, Laura H. Scoble, who was her teacher until she entered college. An accomplished pupil, she made her first public appearance as a pianist at the age of eight when she played at the Seymour, Indiana, opera house. A graduate of Aurora, Indiana High School, she received her diploma in piano and A.B. degree from Wesleyan College in Cincinnati at the age of 16. Later she received an artist diploma in piano and the Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She studied in Berlin in 1900-1901 as a private piano pupil of the Russian pianist-teacher Ernest Jedliczka. From 1907-1909, she studied piano in Paris with classical music composer Moritz Moszkowski and organ with Felix Alexandre Guilmant. After returning to this country in 1909, she studied in master classes conducted by Leopold Godowsky, Rudolph Ganz, Isador Phillip, and Guy Maier. She studied organ under Harold Gleason at the Eastman School of Music. In addition, she gave several piano and organ recitals in Indiana and at the Cincinnati Conservatory, from which she received an honorary Doctor of Pedagogy degree in 1943.

Prior to her appointment at FSCW, Opperman taught two years at the Birmingham (Ohio) Seminary, one year at Knickerbocker Hall, in Indianapolis, and five years at Wesleyan College, in Macon, Georgia, where the president credited her with developing advanced curriculum standards. Opperman was appointed director of the FSCW School of Music in 1911, which at that time had a teaching faculty of six, and became its first dean in 1920, a post she held until her retirement in 1944. That year, she was named Dean Emeritus. The College became Florida State University (FSU) three years later. After her retirement, she wrote the Annals of the School of Music.

Opperman held several national offices in organizations related to her field. In 1961 she was honored at the golden anniversary concert of the FSU Woman's Glee Club, a 60-member choral group which she was instrumental in organizing.

Under Opperman's direction, the FSU School of Music instituted courses leading to the Bachelor's degree in piano, voice, organ, violoncello, composition, and public school music. In 1930, the School of Music became a member of the National Association of Schools of Music, only a few years after the organization was founded, and it was the first state school in the South to be accepted and accredited by the National Association. Opperman Music Hall, located on the FSU campus, was named for her. In that hall is a painting of Dean Opperman by Marie Goth, a member of one of the artist colonies in Brown County, Indiana, who is known for her paintings of General Douglas MacArthur, James Whitcomb Riley, and others.

Opperman died in Tallahassee, Florida on March 11, 1969. Her biography has appeared in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Education, Who's Who in Florida, Who's Who in Music, Who's Who Among Women, Principal Women of America, American Women, and the Biographical Encyclopedia.