A Blacksmith's Boy

"A century ago Jonas Chickering, then a mere lad, a blacksmith's son in New Hampshire, set to work in his own name as a maker of pianos. There were at his disposal very limited financial means and but a few simple tools, but there were also at his disposal pluck, resourcefulness, persistency, love of his work and inventive genius. With these he wrought a great and lasting American achievement. His was the brain from which sprang the conception, his was the hand that laid the foundation of the splendid American piano of today and of its triumph throughout the world." So said Otto H. Kahn, Chairman of the Metropolitan Opera House Board of Directors, in announcing that Vice President Coolidge had accepted the chairmanship of the Jonas Chickering Centennial Celebration. Among others joining in the nation-wide move to pay tribute to the father of the American pianoforte are David Belasco, Giulio Gatti-Casazza, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, William Cardinal O'Connell, Walter Damrosch, Fritz Kreisler.

Among the features of the celebration will be a banquet and recital in Boston on April 21 and 22, respectively.