Abstract
Eilzabeth Richmond, pictured here about 1875, was head of the department of "vocal music, reading, and elocution" at Brockport from 1867-1901. She grew up on a farm in the town of Sweden and attended the local one room school, and then went to the Brockport Collegiate Institute in 1857-58. Afterwards she taught in several local schools until she was recruited by Malcolm MacVicar to teach at the Collegiate Institute and she continued on at its successor, the Brockport Normal School.
She furthered her education by studying summers at the Boston Conservatory of Music for some years. In her obituary (6/11/1914) it was said that "As a teacher Miss Richmond had the enviable quality of being able to draw out the best in her pupils, and this was especially true in her work as a teacher of vocal music where it is said she possessed a peculiar ability in recognizing the possibilities of a voice which neither the owner nor others might have suspected."
In addition to her teaching, she conducted a popular "Song Circle" at the school for many years, and assisted with the choirs of several of the village churches; her funeral was presided over by the ministers of the Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches!
