Gender and the historical narrative of music therapy: a historiographic study of the contributions of Eva Augusta Vescelius

Eva Augusta Vescelius (1853–1917) developed and engaged in the sustained music therapy clinical work at the turn of the twentieth century and contributed numerous firsts to the development of music therapy as a healthcare profession in the United States. However, men in the American music therapy historical narrative overshadowed her legacy of contributions throughout the twentieth century, so few music therapists in the twenty first century know the breadth of her influence, let alone her name. The twofold purpose of this study was to expand the historical narrative of Vescelius’s music therapy advocacy activities from 1900–1917 and describe the impact of gender on Vescelius’s significance to the development of music therapy in the United States. Primary and secondary sources in digitized databases and at multiple libraries and archives in the New York City Area contributed to the construction of the historical narrative. Vescelius contributed numerous firsts to the music therapy movement towards professionalization: (a) first to collaborate with New York City area medical, philanthropic, and philosophical institutions, (b) first to establish a music therapy organization, (c) first to found and operate a music therapy training school, (d) first to adopt the music therapist title, and (e) first to publish a music therapy periodical. Action is required for music therapists to stop upholding the pervasive narrative that ‘modern music therapy’ is a ‘young profession’ with a ‘father of music therapy’ as the founder. Vescelius and many other women deserve recognition for their leadership from 1900 onwards.