Ossian E. Mills
Ossian E. Mills | |
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| Born | Ossian Everett Mills February 16, 1856 |
| Died | December 26, 1920 |
| Resting place | Thompson, Connecticut |
| Occupation | College administrator (Bursar) |
| Employer | New England Conservatory |
| Known for | Founder of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia |
| Spouse | Clara Cleveland Carper (1863–1952) |
| Children | 1 |
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Ossian Everett Mills (February 16, 1856 – December 26, 1920) was the founder of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity at the New England Conservatory of Music in 1898.
Early life
[edit]Mills was born in Thompson Connecticut on February 16, 1856.[1] His parents were Maria and Andrew Mills who were musically inclined.[2][3] He had six siblings, including Clinton James Mills who became an administrator at New England Conservatory of Music.[4]
Mills was educated at Woodstock Academy.[3] He moved to Boston, Massachusetts by 1879 where he studied voice at the New England Conservatory of Music.[3]
Music career
[edit]Mills was employed by the New England Conservatory of Music.[1] He was promoted to the position of bursar and held that position until his death.[1][2]
He founded the Sinfonia Club (now Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity) at the conservatory on October 6, 1898, and was elected its treasurer.[2][5] The music club expanded to become a national fraternity for music students and musicians in 1900.[5] Mills was the first president of the national fraternity, serving from 1901 to 1902 and again from 1904 to 1905.[6][7][3] At the end of his first term as president, the fraternity's constitution was changed to name him Grand Supreme President for life.[7]
Mills was a tenor with the Handel and Hayden Society in Boston.[8]
Personal life
[edit]As a student, Mills sang with the noted contralto Carrie Cleveland Carper.[3] They married in April 1883.[9][3] They had a son, Homer, in 1888.[3]
He served on the board of trustees of the Beneficent Society of the New England Conservatory Music and was elected its auditor in 1895 and its assistant treasurer in 1898.[10][11][12]
Mills was an active member of the Christian Endeavor Society, holding prayer meetings at the conservatory starting in 1886.[3] That year, he founded and organized the students' annual Easter and Christmas "Song and Flower Mission" that visited the sick in Boston's city hospital.[13][3][4] He organized this charity for nearly thirty years, involving student musicians and singers and volunteers helping to gather flowers after church services to distribute to each patient.[4] This became "the first large-scale and ongoing use of music to aid the sick in America."[3] Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia later revived the Song and Flower Mission as a national program, renamed the Ossian Everett Mills Music Mission in his honor.[3]
In 1900, he was elected to the committee of Boston's Ward 12.[14]
He died of pneumonia at his home in Wellesley, Massachusetts on December 20, 1920, after several days of illness.[1][2] He was buried in Thompson, Connecticut.[1] On December 28, 1928, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia erected a memorial at Mill's grave, with the epitaph, “Sacrifice, Secret Zeal, and Truth.”[3][2]
Legacy
[edit]- Phi Mu Alpha has chartered 451 collegiate chapters at 445 colleges and universities across the United States, of which 249 are currently active.
- The Mills Music Mission was named in his honor and continues to provide musical visits to hospitals across the United States.[4]
Further reading
[edit]- Mongiovi, J. A. (2018). Ossian Everett Mills: A Documentary Biography. United States: Sinfonia Press. ISBN 9781732512900
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Ossian E. Mills' Funeral to be at Wellesley Today". The Boston Globe. 1920-12-28. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Ossian E. Mills 1856-1920 "Father of Sinfonia"". GCSU Phi Mu Alpha. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "A Century Ago – the Passing of Father Mills". Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Mills Music Mission". Theta Phi Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ^ a b Shepard, Francis W., ed. (1927). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (11th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta Publishing Company. p. 442 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Sinfonia Club's Officers". The Boston Globe. 1901-04-19. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Sifonia Ends Its Meeting". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1902-04-24. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Musical Matters. Gonnod's 'Redemption' and Its Boston Hearings". The Boston Globe. 1883-01-07. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Table Gossip". The Boston Globe. 1883-04-02. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Annual Meeting of the Beneficent Society". Boston Evening Transcript. 1895-01-23. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Article clipped from The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. 1898-01-07. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "New England Conservatory Election". Boston Evening Transcript. 1900-01-20. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "For the Sick. Flowers and Songs in City Hospital". The Boston Globe. 1904-04-04. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Other Nominations. Delegates to the Municipal Conventions and Choice of Ward Committees". The Boston Globe. 1900-11-14. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-02-25 – via Newspapers.com.