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Haverford College Glee Club collection
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Held at: Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections [Contact Us]370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The Haverford College Glee Club was founded in the fall of 1887 by students under the tutelage of Professor Frank Morley, the group's first instructor. Like other musical groups during Haverford's early years, the club received a cold reception from the Board of Managers which sustained the anti-aesthetic bias of the school's Quaker founders, whose opinion on music, that it was a frivolous pursuit and a distraction from a life of moral rectitude, differed significantly from their otherwise liberal social views. In spite of resistance from adminstration (during those early years members were prohibited from practicing on campus) the Glee Club cemented its presence on campus thanks to the success of its performances.
This collection consists of scrapbooks, sheet music, organizational documents and other materials pertaining to the Haverford College Glee Club.
Arranged thematically and chronologically
Processed by Phillip Norman, completed February 2018; additional processing by Rachel McQueen and Elizabeth Jones-Minsinger, completed August 2023.
People
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- Philip Norman, Rachel McQueen, and Elizabeth Jones-Minsinger
- Finding Aid Date
- February 2018 ; updated August, 2023
- Access Restrictions
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The collection is open for research use
- Use Restrictions
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Standard Federal Copyright Law Applies (U.S. Title 17)
Collection Inventory
The Haverford College Glee Club scrapbook, 1921-1949 contains programs, clippings, pictures related to the tours and performances of the Haverford College Glee Club throughout the span of years indicated in the title. Many of the collected materials are related to concerts that the club performed with musical groups from a slew of other schools and colleges in Haverford's immediate vicinity (Bryn Mawr College, The Baldwin School, The Shipley School, and the University of Pennsylvania) and throughout the country (Smith College, Sweet Briar College, Wellesley College, Goucher College, Wheaton College, and Mount Holyoke College, among others). The collection also includes a program from the November 1st and 2nd, 1957 recitals of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which featured the performance of a Bach cantata by a Three College Chorus comprised of singers from Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore.
Scrapbook consisting of clippings from the
Haverford News about the Glee Club from the 1957-1958 academic year as well as two copies of a black-and-white photograph of the Haverford College Glee Club, possibly in Roberts Hall. The materials were originally enclosed in brown binder with the label "Glee Club DeJong '57-'58" indicating that it was created by John DeJong, Haverford College Class of 1959.This file includes the Glee Club's repertoires by season, lists of members, and the policies of the club.
This folder contains sheet music that the Glee Club utilized while the were active at Haverford. Many of these copies however, are not dated.
There is one copy of "Casey Jones" arranged by Edward B Lawton. The copy is dedicated to "G.W.W.," "The H.G.C.," and Wallace Woodworth. Woodworth's dedication is written in pencil in this copy while the other two dedications are printed.
There's one copy of "Farewell my Love [Ich sag Ade]" stamped with the date 1937 by the Glee Club themselves. Along with the main copy, there are multiple other copies for different singing parts. There are 3 copies for the Tenor I part, 3 copies for Tenor II, and 5 copies for Bass. This song seems to be meant to be perfomed as a trio, as all the part copies are labeled "Trio" at the top left. All of the copies of these songs are individually handwritten.
The next song is "Nun Lob Mein Seel den Herren." This copy has the chorus parts and is completely handwritten. The next song is "The Seven Last Words of Christ." This copy is the voice parts copy, has some annotations written in pencil, and the score itself is handwritten. The next song is "St. John Passion." This copy has the chrous parts and is handwritten.
Next is a packet of sheet music is a collection of arrangements made for the Haverford Octet to sing at the Glee Club's Reuinion from May 28th to May 29th 1993. The different songs are, in order, "The Old Songs," "Cutie," "Tattooed," "Castle," "Sunny," "Flaming Mamie," "Brush," "Darktown," "Man," and "Innsbruck." All of the songs in this packet are handwritten.
There are also two copies of "Three English Rounds." Both are handwritten but are identical, suggesting they were digitally reproduced. Lastly, there is a printed copy of "Magnificat."
The copies of "Nun Lob Mein Seel den Herren," "The Seven Last Words of Christ," and "St. John Passion" have the name Heinrich Schutz written on them.
This folder contains a small pamphlet with the lyrics to various Christmas Carols. Some of the songs inside include "Joy to the World," "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen," and "Deck the Halls." The pamphlet is stamped "Haverford College Glee Club."
The items in this file relate to the Glee Club Reuinion and the Alumni Concert that took place during the dates of June 2nd and June 3rd, 1989. They include correspondence from Lawrence S.C. Griffith Haverford College Class of 1959), who chaired the event, programs, and lists of participants. The concerts and related events were meant to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first public concert given by the Glee Club and to honor music professor William Heartt Reese, who conducted the Glee Club from 1947 until his retirement in 1975.
This file contains two documents. The first is a letter from John Davison, Ruth M. Magill Professor of Music, to Glee Club Alumni asking them to donate to the William Heartt Reese Music Scholarship. The second is a letter from Lawrence S.C. Griffith, Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University and member of the Haverford College Class of 1959, to Mr. Thomas Lloyd, Associate Professor of Music at Haverford. The letter says that enclosed with it was a list of the participants in the 1989 Glee Club Alumni Concert (this document itself is not in this folder). Griffith recommends that Lloyd ask alumni for donations to raise money for the William Heartt Reese Music Scholarship fund.