By Nancy Schader

On the 14th and 15th of July, Sharlot Hall Museum's Blue Rose Theater will begin a two-weekend presentation of 'The Purloined Pianist', a melodrama based on the life and times of one of Prescott's most loved musicians, Edith Gatfield Dietderich.

In 1894, Thomas Gatfield moved to Prescott from Trinidad, Colorado, as engineer for the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railway, bringing with him his wife, Maria, and five-year old daughter Edith. Edith proved musically inclined at an early age and was taught by her mother to play the piano. Edith began to play at weddings and funerals as well as becoming the organist at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Upon graduation from high school, Edith was sent, at age 17, to Oberlin College, a private music and arts school in Ohio, where she received her degree in music. As quoted in her obituary, "Because of her outstanding work at Oberlin, Mrs. Dietderich was sent to Hawaii, where she became assistant supervisor of music at the Kamehaha school for girls in Honolulu." 

Five years after Edith's stint teaching music in the tropics, she returned to Prescott to care for her ailing mother and brother and resumed her role as music teacher for the Prescott Public Schools, a position she held shortly before going to Hawaii. She also resumed her position as organist at St. Luke's and began to give private music lessons around town. She was regarded as one of the best pianists in all of Arizona, but was also a skilled organist, and presented an honorary organ recital in San Francisco. When silent movies came to the Elks Opera House, Edith joined the orchestra. It was at the opera house that she met her future husband, projectionist, Charles Dietderich. The two were wed at St. Luke's in January of 1924. Edith died in Prescott on January 17, 1951, at the age of 62. She is buried at Mountain View Cemetery. 

Please join the Blue Rose Theater in their historical representation of the life of Edith Gatfield Dietderich, July 14th, 15th, and 21st, and 22nd. Tickets can be purchased in the Museum Gift Shop in the historic Bashford House on the Southwest corner of Gurley and McCormick Streets in downtown Prescott. For more information, please call the Sharlot Hall Museum at 445-3122. 

 

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po2565p)
Reuse only by permission.
Mrs. Marie (Thomas) Gatfield with child Edith Gatfield, left, and unidentified child, c. 1890