By Julie Esty
Born in England in 1878, Martha Matthews came to the United States with her parents in the early 1880’s and settled in Dunmore. Matthews, who was educated in Dunmore schools, was musically gifted. Possessing a beautiful soprano voice, she performed regularly in churches, theatricals, recitals, and charity benefits throughout the region.
In 1897, Matthews was hired as a teacher in the Dunmore School District. Seven years later she met and began dating local musician and educator David Owens. The couple were married two years later. At that time, women teachers who wed were required to relinquish their employment upon marriage. Martha Matthews-Owens did this but her hiatus from teaching was short-lived.
Six months after her marriage, David Owens died. Martha Matthews- Owens, now widowed, was once again employable as a teacher. She was rehired by the Dunmore School District and devoted the remainder of her life to the musical training of Dunmore students.
Under her direction, musical instruction in Dunmore thrived. The course of study and resulting achievements with students placed the Dunmore School District within the top three in the nation in musical education. In 1919, Matthews-Owens was one of four public school music supervisors chosen to serve as the Pennsylvania State Supervisor of Music in Harrisburg, PA.
Active in the community, Matthews-Owens organized themed evenings of community singing. Her strategy for increasing communal singing began with educating students and clergy in hope that parents would join their children in song.
She stated that “The gathering together under the same roof of all races and classes uplifting the voice in song and pouring out of the soul did more to sweep away old prejudices and misunderstanding, and helped develop a broad, tolerant spirit toward each other more than any one agency.”
Matthews-Owens also felt musicians were welcome in any social situation and musical ability opened doors to employment. She cited that music in the home relieved stress and kept children “away from the street corners, gaming tables and dance halls.”
During World War I, Matthews-Owens enlisted the help of her students to boost community morale with the help of songfests – and with a piano and Dunmore High School Glee Club riding through the streets of Dunmore on the back of a pick-up truck.
In December 1922, Martha Matthews-Owens was suddenly stricken ill. Her beautiful voice was silenced on December 26, when at the age of 44, she died at Scranton State Hospital from the rupture of an ovarian cyst. She was buried beside her husband, David, in Section 21 of the Dunmore Cemetery.
This woman, who devoted her life to the arts and the musical enrichment of Dunmore, taught a community that “music is not for the few, but for all.” Following her death, the Owens Music Award was initiated. This award, still in existence in the Dunmore School District, is presented annually to a graduating senior who demonstrates outstanding vocal ability.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Julie Esty, a former Dunmorean, is Director of the Dearly Departed Players and the annual Dunmore Cemetery Tour. She has been directing historical educational programs and tours in the cemetery for over two decades and has five local history books to her credit. This is the first in what will be a regular column in The Dunmorean featuring people buried in cemeteries in the Borough of Dunmore.