John Bitter served as the Dean of the School of Music at the University of Miami from 1950-1963. He also conducted the UM Symphony Orchestra. Bitter was a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, PA. He was a student of Artur Rodzinski and Emil Mlynarski for conducting, a student of William Kincaid and Georges Barrere for flute, and a student of Rosario Scalero for composition. He conducted the Jacksonville Symphony from 1934-1937, and the Florida Federal Symphony from 1937-1939. He was also a guest conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Radio Italiana, the Hamburg Philharmonic, and other European symphonies from 1945-1950.
Mabel Blake (1895-1979) served as Chaplain for the Newark, New Jersey section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and as chairman of the religious education committee, 1967-1968. She was also a member of the Bethany Baptist Church and the Order of the Eastern Star.
The NCNW, founded to promote racial and sexual equality, worked to unite African-American women of all classes. Dedicated to fighting discrimination and poverty, members organized community projects including day care centers, business cooperatives and consumer education programs.
