Music educator Maria “Madi” Bacon established the famous San Francisco Boys Chorus. Photo credit: Find a Grave

During Women’s History Month, we spotlight many exemplary educators who taught in America’s schools One of them was Maria “Madi” Bacon, a music teacher who established the famous San Francisco Boys Chorus.

Madi was born on Feb. 15, 1906, in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Dr. Charles Sumner Bacon, was the Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at University of Illinois, and her mother, Marie Francisca Elise von Rostorn, was an Austrian countess. Madi was the fifth child born to the couple.

As a youngster, Madi graduated from high school in 1922. While still a high school student, she met Albert Einstein and, because she was fluent in German, she became his translator when he delivered lectures at the Covenant Club in Chicago. Later, Madi earned her Bachelor’s degree in Romance Languages in 1927 and her Master’s degree in 1941, both from the University of Chicago.

Madi inaugurated her career as an art teacher at Chicago’s Hull House, and in 1928 accepted a position as a music teacher and tennis coach at the Katherine Branson School in Ross, California. In 193, she relocated to a position as a music teacher at Glencoe Public School in Glencoe, Oklahoma.

Madi’s most significant achievement was to form the San Francisco Boys Chorus, which was the country’s only boy’s opera repertory chorus at that time. Many participants in the group went on to participate in the San Francisco Opera and some became major international musical talents. She also mentored several renowned conductors, including Calvin Simmons and Kent Nagano. She also served as Dean of Roosevelt University’s School of Music for six years.

Madi Bacon succumbed to congestive heart failure on Jan. 10 in Berkeley, California, on Jan. 10, 2001. She was 94 years old. For her work as an outstanding music teacher, Madi was inducted into the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame in 1994. You can learn more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion from this article published by the Chicago Tribune.