Calvin Brainerd Cady

Calvin Brainerd Cady (June 21, 1851 – May 29, 1928) was a musician, music teacher and leading educational philosopher and writer of the progressive era of education in his subject area.

Cady founded the music department at the University of Michigan and became known for his pedagogical theories while at the University Elementary School, today's University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and later at The Cornish School, now Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Cady was a leader in advocating for degree programs in music within university curricula, and who “believed that music should be taught as a means to further understanding of the liberal arts.”

Born in small town Barry, Illinois, Cady was the son of Reverend Cornelius Sydney and Rebecca T. Morgan Cady. His family was originally from the State of Connecticut stock. He was of English and Welsh ancestry.

Cady received his early education in the public schools, and studied first in the preparatory program of Oberlin College, then music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, from which he graduated in 1872. He then spent two and a half years in musical studies at Leipzig, Germany from 1872-4, studying organ under Dr. E.F. Richter, and pianoforte, harmony and counterpoint under Prof. Dr. Oscar Paul.

Returning to this country Cady taught harmony and piano at the Oberlin College Conservatory from 1874 to 1879. He was appointed Instructor in Music at the University of Michigan in 1880, and was promoted to Acting Professor of Music in 1885. Cady is credited with founding the Department of Music at Michigan and championing music as an integral part of the university curriculum. He was, in fact, the first in the United States to teach music as a major subject for the degrees of bachelor of arts and master of arts. His later association with John Dewey in the formation of the Laboratory School at the University of Chicago suggests a relationship with the philosopher when the latter joined the faculty at Michigan in 1886. Cady resigned his academic post in 1888 when Albert A. Stanley of Leipzig was appointed head of the department, which a few years later was split off from the university proper as the University School of Music.

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