Mary Jane White Kaufman was a self-proclaimed “volunteer-at-large.” However, that doesn’t even begin to describe her successful efforts to support both music and education in the Akron area.
Born in Nashville in 1918, Kaufman moved to Akron in 1927. The former Mary Jane White, Kaufman married Harold S. and had three children, Thomas, James and Judith.
In 1963, Kaufman started teaching freshman composition at The University of Akron (UA) and, a year later, she taught language arts at Woodridge High School. Twenty years later, Kaufman retired from Woodridge but continued teaching at UA.
While at UA, Kaufman was involved in the Faculty Women’s Club, where she participated in the evening book group.
English and teaching came in second to her love of music, though. She dedicated many hours volunteering at the Akron Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Akron Musical Association (GAMA) and the Tuesday Musical Club. Kaufman was the founding chairwoman of the Akron Symphony Chorus in 1957, a job she held for 28 years. She began a benefit drive to help the chorus and began performing with the group. In 1985, Kaufman was elected as president of the GAMA board. Two years later, she headed a campaign for the first major endowment drive and raised nearly $1.8 million for the symphony.
In 1998, Kaufman celebrated her 80th birthday by kicking off the second endowment campaign. As chair of “Previews from the Podium,” Kaufman led many pre-concert lectures for the symphony.
The Tuesday Musical Club, an Akron group that brings nationally and internationally recognized musicians to the city, also benefited from Kaufman’s long years as fund-raiser extraordinaire.
As trustee emeritus for the Akron Symphony in later years, Kaufman kept her close ties to the Orchestra.
She was nominated for the 2000 Governor’s Awards for the Arts. Also that year, Kaufman was awarded the Outstanding Fund-Raiser Award by the North Central Ohio Chapter of the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives.
Kaufman died in 2001 at the age of 92.
Photo courtesy of the Beacon Journal.
–Jennifer Petric