Marvin Curtis: Composing a legacy

from Senior Life - St. Joseph Edition - May 2023

Still a great wonder of the world

By IAN BROWN Staff Writer

Marvin Curtis, a native of Chicago, Ill., has a long list of accomplishments and an unwavering dedication to the St. Joseph County area, despite facing numerous challenges throughout his life.

With degrees from North Park University, The Presbyterian School of Christian Education, and The University of the Pacific in Music Education, Curtis has also studied at Westminster Choir College and The Juilliard School of Music. As a Ford Foundation Fellow, he spent time in West Africa at the University of Ghana at Lagon.

Curtis is Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend.

In 2008, Curtis became the first African-American Dean of Indiana University South Bend, retiring in 2020 but remaining active in the community.

He holds the distinction of being the first African-American composer commissioned to write a choral work for a Presidential Inauguration. In 1993, prior to the administration of the oath of office to Vice President Albert Gore, Jr., Curtis’s composition “City On The Hill,” was performed with The Philander Smith Collegiate Choir of Little Rock, Ark., and The United States Marine Band at the Inaugural Ceremonies for President William Jefferson Clinton.

The choral work is now housed in the Clinton Library and numerous archives across the country, as well as being part of The Smithsonian Institute’s National African American Project Archives.

Reflecting on that moment, Curtis said, “I found myself, at age 42, sitting on top of the Capitol, watching this choir in the Marine band play my music. It was a life-changing experience. First, it secured myself, in my own mind, as a composer. I didn’t realize the impact. … I think at the time I was sitting there and realized all these people I’d met in the capital. Plus, every television station and radio station was playing this music.

“And so for that moment, that moment in my life in 1993, time sort of stopped, as I sat there thinking, ‘Look at where I am, to where I’ve come from, look at what God’s allowed me to do,’” expressed Curtis.

He has been working with a committee at the South Bend History Museum to select their African American Legacy Award winner.

“This is an award that’s been given out every year, but it has been sort of an under the radar kind of thing. And so, about a year ago, we decided to make the profile of AfricanAmericans more visible in the museum,” Curtis explained. This year, the award expanded to include nine counties in Indiana and three counties in Michigan.

Curtis has also been part of the Worker’s House Project, an initiative focused on renovating a part of South Bend’s Oliver Mansion, known as The Worker’s House, which is decorated and furnished in the style of Polish immigrants who may have been factory workers for the Olivers during the 1930s.

The Worker’s House Project will transform the house to reflect the African American families who lived there during the 1950s.

“We’re looking at paintings on the walls, furniture, clothing, and we’ve been interviewing people who lived in South Bend. Those areas are called Better Homes in South Bend. Those African Americans moved there and built homes in the ‘50s. Those houses are still up, not in the best shape, but they’re still up. A lot of people who live in those houses, their kids have grown up and become doctors, lawyers and teachers. And some of the people are still here in that neighborhood,” Curtis shared. Curtis’ admirable accomplishments have had an ineffaceable mark on the St. Joseph County area. Through his ongoing commitment to the St. Joseph community, he is an inspiration for his dedication and support of South Bend’s history and the heritage that makes the area so unique.

CHAMPION OF CHANGE — Marvin Curtis reviews documents from the South Bend History Museum’s committee, where they approved the 2023 African-American Legacy Award winner.