Josephine Harreld Love was born on December 11, 1914, in Atlanta, Georgia. She is of mixed parentage, her father being black and her mother white and American Indian. Her grandfather, William Jefferson White, was one of the founders of Morehouse College, and her mother, Claudia Turner (White) Harreld, was a poet. Her father, Kemper Harreld, a concert violinist, was the first director of the Morehouse College Glee Club. Her fascination with fine arts was apparent at an early age.

At the age of three, Ms. Love began the study of music under the guidance and instruction of her father. By age ten she decided to devote herself to the study of the piano, and by age twelve she was giving piano recitals. Ms. Love began a process of self-discovery and development of her potentialities while she was a young student at Spelman. In addition to pursuing a major in English, she continued her study of piano under her father's tutelage and played the violin! and viola in the college orchestra. She explored other interests as well. She was a member of the Spelman College Glee Club, the Spelman-Morehouse Chours, and the University Players.

In 1932, in recognition of her creativity, Ms. Love received the William Travers Jerome award for arrangement of the Negro Spiritual "You May Bury Me in the East," and in 1933 she won recognition for her musical setting for the Greek tragedy Antigone.

Love's artistic activities did not cease at the close of the academic year, for during the summer following her junior year in college she assisted the director of a children's theater, organized and developed by Atlanta University as an experiment in creative expression. Some of the girls in the group showed unusual ability in creating original airs, and fifteen melodies for nursery rhymes were produced and transcribed into musical notation by Ms. Love. Her unusual interest in children and her ability to work with them were evident even before her graduation from college.

It is a pleasure to hear Josephine Harreld Love relate some of her experiences with the little bands of blacks who, with her father, carried the torch of high culture during the dark years of passage of blacks in America. This group of cultural stalwarts included her father, Kemper Harreld, Clarence Cameron White, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Nathaniel Dett, Harry Burleigh, brothers James Weldon and J. Rosamond Johnson, William Grant Still, and Langston Hughes, who were stars in a firmament of high culture in America despite the color of their skin.

Josephine Harreld Love's educational background is impressive: a B.A. in English from Spelman College, 1933; diploma in piano from Juilliard School of Music, 1935; and an M.A. in musicology, Radcliffe College, 1936. While at Juilliard she attended sculpture classes. She studied with artist Hale Woodruff for two years. She also studied piano at Mozarteum Academy, Salzburg, Austria, 1935; and piano and musicology, University of Michigan, 1960-1965. She studied composition with Walter Piston at Harvard University and piano with Hazel Harrison in Chicago. Her professional experience includes positions at Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina, 1936-1937; Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, 1970-1972; and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1987 to the present.

In 1939 Josephine Harreld Love made her concert debut as a piano soloist in San Diego, California. She was accompanist of Anne Wiggins Brown, who had been chosen by George Gershwin to play Bess in the original production of Porgy and Bess. She toured widely for several years and in 1942 she settled in Detroit, where she established a music studio. She is cofounder with Gwendolyn Hogue of Your Heritage House in the Detroit Cultural Center, an art museum and art school for children that includes an archive materials from and about noted black Americans in the arts. She speaks of the importance of nurturing a child's interest in the arts, and the necessity for having a supportive environment. Her childhood has been infused with art.

For her work in arts, Josephine Harreld Love has received numerous awards and honors. These include an award in Recognition from the Detroit Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, 1971; Great Contributions to Black America Award, Wayne County Community College, 1975; Children's Service Award, National Black child Development Institute, 1978; Virginia Kiah Honor Certificate of Service Award, National Conference of Artists, 1980; Spirit of Detroit Award, 1982; Outstanding Leadership Award and Barbara Rose Collins Community Service Award, 1983; Creative Projects Award, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, 1983; Focus and Impact Award, Oakland University, 1984; Arts Foundation of Michigan Patron Award, 1987; and Institution Builders Award, National Black Arts Festival, 1988. She serves on a number of boards and review panels, lectures widely on the arts, and has published a number of articles, including biographical sketches of Hazel Harrison and Azalia Hackley.

On June 18, 1941, Josephine Harreld married William Thomas Love, whom she met during a recital al Detroit's Second Baptist Church. He was assistant Wayne County Medical Examiner. The Love's have two children, Claudia Victoria Hopkings, a homemaker and civic volunteer in Washington, D. C., and William Thomas Love, Jr., a psychiatrist in Chicago, Illinois.

She studied with artist Hale Woodruff for two years. She also studied piano at Mozarteum Academy, Salzburg, Austria, 1935; and piano and musicology, University of Michigan, 1960-1965. She studied composition with Walter Piston at Harvard University and piano with Hazel Harrison in Chicago. Her professional experience includes positions at Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina, 1936-1937; Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, 1970-1972; and the university of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1987 to the present.

On June 18, 1941, Josephine Harreld married William Thomas Love, whom she met during a recital at Detroit's Second Baptist Church. The Loves have two children, Claudia Victoria Hopkins, and William Thomas Love, Jr.