Music club establishes MCC scholarship

By By Ashley McPhearson and Anna Wright / staff writers
May 30, 2003
The Matinee Philharmonic Club presented a $19,000 check to Meridian Community College Thursday to fund a scholarship named for the founders of the city's two oldest music clubs Mattie D. Hart and Emma Donald.
The club is a merger of the Matinee Club and the Philharmonic Club.
Members made their presentation to MCC President Dr. Scott Elliott and Kathy Brookshire, director of institutional development. The scholarship will be awarded to music students.
The two clubs that merged to form the Matinee Philharmonic Club saved money for more than 20 years, and then pooled their resources about two years ago when the clubs merged due to dwindling membership.
The scholarship will be named the Mattie D. Hart-Emma Donald Music Scholarship in honor of the ladies who founded the parent clubs.
Mattie D. Hart founded the Matinee Club and Meridian School of Music, formerly located at the corner of 28th Avenue and Ninth Street. The school was open to student for about 60 years.
Emma Donald was a soloist in various churches for more than 50 years and founded the Philharmonic Club.
Elliott accepted the check on behalf of MCC's board of trustees and the MCC Foundation.