on the European model would reduce their own schools to the role of a "feeder system." In 1913 the school attempted to hire German composer Engelbert Humperdinck as director, but although he signed a contract, the Prussian government refused him permission. By 1916 the school had moved to 126-128 West 79th Street. In 1918, Thurber decided to renew her efforts to establish a national conservatory. She instigated a new house resolution 13562 to update the trustees of the conservatory (most of the original trustees from the 1891 bill had passed away) and remove the limitation that the conservatory should be located in Washington DC. Around the same time, proposals from other quarters to fund a "national conservatory" were made in apparent ignorance that such an institution already existed. In June 1918, Congressman Henry Bruckner of New York had introduced house resolution 6445 to establish a national conservatory of music. Bruckner's resignation from Congress led to Congressman Donovan revising and resubmitting the bill as house resolution 12803 in August 1918 "To establish a national conservatory of music and art for the education of advance pupils in music in all its branches, vocal and instrumental, and for other purposes". At hearings for the bill in January 1919 before the committee on education, representatives of the American Federation of Musicians, the American Federation of Labor, and the National Federation of Music Clubs spoke in support of nationalized support for conservatory education. Thurber's National Conservatory of Music of America was also represented at these hearings by her lawyer Vernon E. West and secretary Mrs. Charles Shirley. They made the committee aware of the H.R. 13562 submitted earlier that year, and attempted to regain federal support for their conservatory after decades of inaction, even claiming they would not ask for any funding from Congress. In 1921, President Wilson signed an amending and confirmatory act that the 1891 incorporated conservatory should have the authority to establish branches in the various states. By 1928 the school was located at 53 West 74th Street. On February 8,1928, Congress' Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds held further hearings on a new H.R. 8894, a bill to "designate a building site for the National Conservatory of Music of America and for Other Purposes". Thurber's interests were directly represented in these hearings by Judge William R. Bayes. These hearings did not amount to site selection. A few weeks earlier in a