Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy Scholarship in Voice at Juilliard - September 2004 Update

When I first set up this scholarship, I chose Juilliard for a number of reasons. One was that in 1945 the Nelson fan clubs banded together to start a Juilliard scholarship, with fundraising headed by a lady named Dorothy Dillard. You may be familiar with Dorothy's name; she was the woman who provided me with the Isabel Eddy letters that are used in the book "Sweethearts." (There's an upcoming article about Dorothy in Journal #65, which will be out soon.) Although Nelson was pleased with the Juilliard scholarship, the funds were depleted within a few years and the scholarship ended.

Another reason was that both Nelson and Jeanette spent a lot of time in New York and they supported various events and openings that benefited the New York opera and music scene. Neither star went to college (or even finished high school) so the field of schools was open. But since this scholarship would be honoring them as singers rather than movie stars, it seemed important to choose a voice school that encompassed opera, operetta, film or Broadway. And here was Juilliard right in Lincoln Center (the heart of classical music in New York City), a school that had helped train opera singers Rise Stevens, Leontyne Price and Shirley Verrett, Broadway stars Nanette Fabray and Patti LuPone, and actors Robin Williams and Val Kilmer.

Still another reason was that the Juilliard representative that I spoke with initially showed an interest in eventually obtaining and housing our Mac/Eddy collection, which would be made available to students and researchers.  

And finally, we discussed our being able to hold workshops and/or have performances utilizing Juilliard students along with our own talent. As you know, we have a very fine operetta/opera director in Darryl Winston, our Washington, D.C. chapter president. Darryl has been receiving rave reviews in the D.C. press for his recent productions! We also have many fine singers, some of whom perform as a soprano-baritone team. A few are based in New York but we have them also in Los Angeles, Florida and elsewhere. There is much that could be done to put on a fundraising concert or show that would financially help the school, showcase their young singers and musicians, utilize our members' talents and provide positive press for Jeanette and Nelson.

To me, tackling important projects that help keep Jeanette and Nelson in the public spotlight has always been an important goal. Those of you who know me personally understand that I've never wanted this to be a "passive" club, where we simply ooh and ahh about our stars, hoard our private collections, and feel isolated because family members and/or friends think we're crazy to watch the films over and over again.

This club is about sharing and working together. People who were fans in their youth re-discover the team and are grateful to find kindred spirits who understand. Others who knew the real story, or were personal friends of Nelson and/or Jeanette, find us and decide to "go on the record" because they can share their stories and be accepted and embraced. Still others want to turn over their cherished collections and worry that uninterested family members will either dispose of said collections or sell them on Ebay. Many of you wonder how I keep finding great pictures to use in our magazines. My answer is: you! Members continue to share their collections; this way all of us benefit. And—you also share your stories and experiences, which find their way into our magazines as well. Some of us, being a bit more militant, are willing to march in Washington, D.C. for a MacDonald/Eddy stamp, or write letters, or make phone calls. I have never found willingness to help a problem in this club. We are here for each other. We have researched and learned and gone through growing pains together.

Our club had a five-year time period in which to raise the $50,000 needed to make the Juilliard Jeanette-Nelson scholarship a perpetual one. This amount would ensure that fund would awarding yearly scholarships using part of the interest earned. The principle itself would never be touched and would continue to grow. This meant there would always be a scholarship in their name!

Unfortunately, we did not reach our goal in the allotted time. Those who donated will be glad to know that the funds have been dispersed to students, as per Juilliard's policy. Every donation was important, both large and small. But fundraising on a large scale is not easy or necessarily fun, as we learned with the Nelson Eddy Drive project. It's a lot of nagging and being pushy and hard work, actually! And maybe I was over-ambitious thinking we could raise $50,000 over five years.

So, here's how it stands right now. I would still like to do this project but we need to do it in a completely different way. That is, I would insist on starting with a $50,000 donation to initiate the perpetual scholarship, and then people could add to it with smaller donations over time. This may or may not be feasible or realistic, but it doesn't hurt to place the cards on the table and ask. We are nearing the end of the year, a time when financially successful people or corporations need to find places to donate 100% tax-deductible money. Often, if they don't donate it for the tax write-off, they pay it out anyway in taxes! Either way, the funds go somewhere—so why not to benefit the names of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy by helping young singers? I'm turning this job over to you, our members and readers of this website. If you know of someone in a position to provide the initial $50,000 donation (or maybe two people providing $25,000 each), I want you to contact me personally. If you don't know someone but want to do some legwork or networking to find someone, that is fine too! I'm deputizing anyone who wants to jump on this project, to run with it! And if you're successful in finding the money we need, email me at the club email, write me c/o the club address or leave a phone message at 212-475-2703. We will coordinate so we can get this ball rolling again.

I will keep you apprised as to whether we succeed or not. In the meantime, if you were planning to make a donation to the Jeanette-Nelson scholarship, hold on to your funds at this time. For now, we're in a holding pattern. We will either pull this off or look for a different solution altogether. Either way, I'll let you know.

Thank you.

Sharon