Charity Bailey papers

1950-1978

Charity Alberta Bailey (1904-1978) was a pioneer in the field of children's music. She was recognized nationally as an authority on the use of folk music as a tool to teach music to children.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1904, Charity Bailey was a graduate of the Rhode Island College of Education and The Dalcroze School of Music in New York City; she also studied at the Julliard School of Music. She taught at Spelman College Laboratory Elementary School in Atlanta, Georgia, and she was the music director at The Little Red School House in New York City for ten years. She also taught at the Heathcote School in Scarsdale, New York, from 1959-1970. From 1954-1956, Bailey hosted a musical show, Sing a Song, for children on WRCA-TV (now NBC), and in the late 1960s she worked on another television program for children called Here's Charity on WNET-TV, channel 13. Bailey also recorded for Decca Records, Young People's Records, and Folkway Records, which produced two of her albums. Her book, Playtime With Music, was a best seller.

Bailey's teaching methods included ear training; sight singing; use of percussion and simple tone instruments to teach the elements of rhythm; melody; and folk dances. She was proficient in the piano, guitar, auto harp, and drum. Her television programs became required viewing for several training courses at Teacher's College, New York City.