National Jazz Hall of Fame

Case Study: National Jazz Hall of Fame

Summary:

This case study focuses on Mr. Robert Rutland, founder of the National Jazz Hall of Fame. Mr. Rutland, a history professor, was first motivated to save a local theatre that the town was excluding from its renovations plans. After finding a lack of interest in saving the theatre as it stood, Mr. Rutland began thinking of instituting something that could be placed inside the Paramount. His favorite idea was to create the National Jazz Hall of Fame. In his mind, he wanted to create the NJHF to raise recognition of jazz arts, bring acknowledgement of all jazz successes, and even offer scholarships to promising jazz students.

One of the first issues that Mr. Rutland came across was trying to save the old theatre. It would be the perfect place to start the NJHF, but it turned out to just be too expensive. The real project was now the NJHF, and a lot of money was needed for that as well – which didn’t come easily. Local concerts were held to raise interest, but ultimately ended up losing money (for a good cause though). Mr. Rutland and the board of directors then began to question where the right city would be to host the NJHF. Charlottesville was their hometown, and fortunately had a large tourist population and many other attractions. It wasn’t until the success of a local radio station, which played classics and jazz, that Rutland really felt that they could be successful. This is even with a second Jazz hall of fame trying to form in Harlem.

For support in the creation of the NJHF, Mr. Rutland turned to the example of the Country Music Hall of Fame and tried to learn what they did to be successful. Mr. Rutland also looked to engage the National Association of Jazz Educators. This would give him a good audience base, a group that could help promote the NJHF, and possible even offer donations. He also hired a contractor to help develop a questionnaire that was sent to more than 1300 nationwide. This questionnaire...