Foster Hall Collection Curatorial Correspondence 1825-1981

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Foster Hall Collection Curatorial Correspondence
Creator
Lilly, Josiah Kirby, 1861-1948
Creator
Hodges, Fletcher, Jr., 1906-2006
Collection
CAM.FHCCC.2016
Collection
/repositories/10/resources/1082
Extent
10 Linear Feet (2 file cabinets containing three drawers each)
Date
1825-1981
Abstract
The Foster Hall Collection Curatorial Correspondence consists of correspondence, financial records, requests for printed materials, and operational reports generated by the Foster Hall Collection from the 1930s until Fletcher Hodges, Jr.'s, retirement in 1982.
Language
English .
Author
Kathy Haines.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Scope and Content Notes

The majority of the record exists as correspondence generated or received by Fletcher Hodges, Jr., curator of the Foster Hall Collection until 1982. But other types of materials exist, including: reports in the form of manuals, inventories, schedules, guides, financial documents; publications in the form of articles, newsletters, press clippings, programs, manuscript drafts, and advertising. Occassionally photographs, legal documents and music are present in the file.

Generally records form the 1800s exists as copies, though original letters do exists (see Rowan, Thorton). In addition, records dating before 1930 tend to deal with the controversy surrounding the Foster homestead. Finally, only financial documents date past 1978.

The records deal with subjects such as furniture for the Memorial (see Beers, Carnegie Museum, Ginn and Comp.); Foster letters (see Braun, Fischer, Goodspeed's Bookshop), opinion on various topics (see Carnegie Institute, Crosman, Kerr, N.Y. Public Library, Wilt, Yount, Rowan-Trippet-Gaulet); Fosteriana (see Bouchard, Gammans, Goldsmith, Offers of, Parks, Foster Follow-Up, cohen); and the Foster family (see Baynam, Foster relatives, Klever, Rowan, Thorton). In addition, the record contains correspondence with collectors (see Dichter, Shapiron, Sherwood's); historians and biographers (see Coleman, Cooper, Gaul, Howard, Levy, Petersen); and artists (see Hancock, Muller, Russow, Vidas.) Other records regarding these subjects may be found within the Foster Hall Correspondence.

Biography

Fletcher Hodges, Jr. (August 6, 1906 – March 13, 2006) was the first curator of the Foster Hall Collection and as such was a leading American expert on the music of Stephen Collins Foster.

Hodges, an Indiana native, graduated from Harvard University. He was hired during the Great Depression by Josiah K. Lilly, Sr., owner of the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation, to organize the Lilly family's archive of Foster materials, which then numbered 20,000 items. When Lilly donated the archive in 1937 to the University of Pittsburgh's newly constructed Stephen Foster Memorial on the Pitt campus. Hodges moved from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with the collection. What began for Hodges as a three-month assignment for Lilly endured as a 51-year curatorship of the Foster collection, which ended in 1982.

Access Restrictions

There are no restriction to the Foster Hall Collecton Curatorial Correspondence files.

Preferred Citation

Foster Hall Collection Curatorial Correspondence, 1825-1981, Foster Hall Collection, Center for American Music, University of Pittsbugh

Processing Information

This collection was originally processed by Alice L. Poffinberger on September 1, 1986. It was revised by Brian H. Rogers on October 22, 2008.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • University of Pittsburgh. Foster Hall Collection

    Personal Names

    • Lilly, Josiah Kirby, 1861-1948
    • Foster family
    • Foster, Stephen Collins, 1826-1864

    Genres

    • Correspondence

    Other Subjects

    • Academic libraries -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Composers -- United States
    • Music -- United States -- 20th century
    • Music -- Performance -- New York (State) -- New York
    • Music -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh

Container List