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Munro, Thomas (1897-1974)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1897 - 1974

Biography

In 1931, the CMA’s director William Mathewson Milliken demonstrated his commitment to education by hiring educational pioneer Thomas Munro to succeed Rossiter Howard as curator of education. In addition to broadening the museum's roster of activities for children, Munro developed a rich adult education program that emphasized non-representational art, non-Western art forms, and all of the visual arts including film. Munro held his position at the CMA for thirty-six years, until his retirement in 1967. Like several other curators at the CMA before and after him, he was concurrently a professor at Western Reserve University. One of his students was Sherman Lee, later curator of Asian art and director (1958-83) of the museum.

Born in 1897 in Omaha, Nebraska, Munro was educated at Amherst College (BA, 1916) and Columbia University (MA, 1917), where he was influenced by the progressive views of the philosopher and educator John Dewey. During World War I he served as a sergeant with the psychological services of the Army Medical Corps before returning to Columbia for his PhD, awarded in 1920. On Dewey’s recommendation, Munro went to work in 1923 as the associate educational director for Dr. Albert Barnes, who was amassing a collection of paintings in Philadelphia. With Barnes’ help and with text by Paul Guillaume, Munro published Primitive Negro Sculpture, in French and English, in 1926. His work at the Barnes Foundation ended that year.

Thomas Munro’s developing ideas as a visiting professor of modern art at the University of Pennsylvania (1924-27) and a member of the philosophy faculty at Rutgers (1928-31) caused a stir with his contributions to the philosophy of aesthetics, articulated in his 1928 manifesto, The Scientific Method in Aesthetics. After joining the CMA staff in 1931, his subsequent publications dramatically advanced his reputation: The Arts and Their Interrelations (1949); Art Education: Its Philosophy and Psychology (1956); and Evolution in the Arts and Other Theories of Culture History (1963).

As a founder in 1942 of the American Society for Aesthetics and editor (1945-64) of the influential Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Munro argued passionately that the arts—properly taught—were essential to a liberal arts education. He outlined his ideas on this in his book, The Creative Arts in American Education: The Interrelation of the Arts in Secondary Education (1960).

Besides his other professional activities, Thomas Munro’s primary concern was the educational program developing at the CMA. He periodically recounted its progress in the museum’s publications, described his approach at conferences and in professional journals, and gained financial support from foundations and philanthropists for a number of his projects. Building on the CMA’s programs for children beginning with the museum’s opening in 1916, Munro developed his own approach from his theories of aesthetics and current ideas concerning children’s artistic development. His department’s classes for young people went beyond art appreciation and practice to include music study and dance.

The programs for adults enhanced the viewing experience by creating satisfying encounters with the museum’s collections, and offered concerts, tours, classes and lectures, leading to public support. Additionally, the department was the means by which the public could be persuaded to appreciate modern art at a time when it often engendered hostility and derision. The hierarchy of the arts was also a barrier that Munro’s programs sought to remove. During the 1930s the CMA hosted showings of classic films, lectures on photography, and presentations of industrial and commercial art forms. Munro’s most difficult, self-appointed challenge was to balance appreciation and respect for expertise in the arts with audience independence and self-reliance in personal responses to works of art.

Prior to Thomas Munro’s retirement, the CMA committed to contributing to the publication of his last book, Form and Style in the Arts (1970). Munro died in 1974 at the age of 77 in Sarasota, Florida, where he had lived after his retirement in 1967.

-Biography by Anne Cuyler Salsich, 2025

Occupations

Found in 11 Collections and/or Records:

8/20/50 PD 'Cosmopolite Thomas Munro is at Home in Any Company'; Oct 1947 Books and Articles by Thomas Munro; 1948 PD 'Academy of Arts Elects Dr Munro'

 File — Box: 1, Folder: 69
Scope and Contents note From the Collection: Scrapbooks were maintained by several museum departments including Education, Publications, and Public Information. All publication scrapbooks have been retained and each item contained in the books are described fully. Only the first two years of newspaper scrapbooks were retained in their entirety as examples of the types of news items that were clipped. Since most substantive news items are included in the library clipping files and archives vertical file, most newspaper scrapbooks were...
Dates: 1916-1972

American Society of Aesthetics records for the Office of Secretary-Treasurer

 Collection
Identifier: 1111.039
Scope and Contents note The records contained in this collection are the records of the Secretary-Treasurer of the ASA and document the daily administrative and financial business of the ASA and the JAAC. The records date from 1940 to 1982 with the bulk of the records dating between 1955 and 1971. The bulk dates correspond to the Secretary-Treasurer's residence in Cleveland encompassing George Danforth's term and the first twelve years of James R. Johnson's term. Records before 1955 were primarily created by Thomas...
Dates: Majority of material found within 1955 - 1971; 1940-1982

Dr. Thomas Munro lecture at the Ohio Art Education Association convention, 12 November 1965

 File — Box: 13, Reel: 7
Scope and Contents note From the Collection: This collection includes audio program files from various departments, dating primarily from the 1980s onward. Included are lectures, symposia, WCLV "art comments", public service announcements, radio broadcasts, exhibition acoustiguides, audio tracks for visual productions, various types of interviews, and recordings of special events and speakers. The museum oral history program is not part of this collection. Formats include various magnetic tape and digital files. Programs include those...
Dates: 12 November 1965

Munro, Thomas, 1962-1974

 File — Box: 47, Folder: 23
Scope and Contents note From the Series: This series contains the bulk of the records Sherman Lee created. They cover all of the years that Lee directed the museum and a few years prior to his appointment as director, when he was curator of Oriental art. The records are organized alphabetically, usually by the name of the correspondent but occasionally by subject heading. Materials within the folders are organized chronologically. At the end of each alphabetical letter there are folders for miscellaneous correspondence, also...
Dates: 1962-1974

Munro, Thomas - Farewell Party for Trip to Japan

 File — Box: 11, Folder: 39
Scope and Contents note From the Series: The CMA Portraits series includes two subseries: named individuals and groups/events/programs. Named individuals are arranged alphabetically, and groups/events/programs are arranged chronologically. Most photographs are of staff, trustees, donors, visiting lecturers, organists and other performers. Files for the museum directors include the director's family and group photographs. The people in the photographs in the groups subseries may or may not be directly related to the museum. Not all...
Dates: approximately 1880-2014

Thomas Munro Memorial Fund, 1974-1978

 File — Box: 47, Folder: 24
Scope and Contents note From the Series: This series contains the bulk of the records Sherman Lee created. They cover all of the years that Lee directed the museum and a few years prior to his appointment as director, when he was curator of Oriental art. The records are organized alphabetically, usually by the name of the correspondent but occasionally by subject heading. Materials within the folders are organized chronologically. At the end of each alphabetical letter there are folders for miscellaneous correspondence, also...
Dates: 1974-1978

Thomas Munro. "The American Society for Aesthetics and its Field", 6 November 1958 [reel to reel audio recording]

 File — Box: 4, Folder: 30
Scope and Contents note From the Collection: The records contained in this collection are the records of the Secretary-Treasurer of the ASA and document the daily administrative and financial business of the ASA and the JAAC. The records date from 1940 to 1982 with the bulk of the records dating between 1955 and 1971. The bulk dates correspond to the Secretary-Treasurer's residence in Cleveland encompassing George Danforth's term and the first twelve years of James R. Johnson's term. Records before 1955 were primarily created by Thomas...
Dates: 1958

WTAM: "A Visit to Europe and North America" by Dr. Thomas Munro, 06-August-1950

 File — Reel: 2
Scope and Contents note From the Collection:

This small collection on microfilm consists of transcripts of radio talks presented by museum staff on local radio stations on various topics including the May Show, the Museum's twentieth anniversary, exhibitions, collections, and programs. Regretfully, there are no audio files to accompany the transcripts.

Dates: 06-August-1950

WTAM: "Fall Events" by Thomas Munro, 30-September-1951

 File — Reel: 2
Scope and Contents note From the Collection:

This small collection on microfilm consists of transcripts of radio talks presented by museum staff on local radio stations on various topics including the May Show, the Museum's twentieth anniversary, exhibitions, collections, and programs. Regretfully, there are no audio files to accompany the transcripts.

Dates: 30-September-1951

WTAM: "Pre-Comlumbian Art" by Thomas Munro, Assisistant, 03-December-1939

 File — Reel: 3
Scope and Contents note From the Collection:

This small collection on microfilm consists of transcripts of radio talks presented by museum staff on local radio stations on various topics including the May Show, the Museum's twentieth anniversary, exhibitions, collections, and programs. Regretfully, there are no audio files to accompany the transcripts.

Dates: 03-December-1939