Scope and Content Note
Carrie Jacobs-Bond (1861-1946) is known primarily as a composer and performer of popular sentimental song. Her most widely recognized compositions include I Love You Truly (1901), A Perfect Day (1910), and God Remembers When the World Forgets (1913). The most impressive portion of the collection is the music manuscripts. Only a handful of Bond's 200-plus compositions are represented in the collections sixty-seven manuscripts, however eighteen of these are holographs. Included in the holographs are two of the songs mentioned above.
Bond's literary activities are also represented in the collection. There are many holograph poetic and prose sketches along with typescript examples of children's books and film scripts. Clippings in the collection provide examples of editorial writing she performed for several newspapers.
Correspondence in the collection is limited. Most are greeting cards which provide an account of the people Bond knew personally. The collection does contain a few letters from Bond to her son, but these offer little in respect to her musical ideas or the workings of their business. Interesting items include cards from Gustave Schirmer, a letter from Shirley Temple and correspondence from President and Mrs. Warren G. Harding.
Bond opened a printing house in 1896 after having great difficulties with numerous established publishers. The collection contains limited material concerning the actual running of the business. Most of the business papers are contracts and agreements with other music companies for royalty fees.
Photographs and news clippings are a large part of what remains in the collection. These show aspects of Bond's performance, business, and personal life. Many of the photographs are of people with whom Bond regularly associated including Douglas Fairbanks, Gracie Fields, John Philip Sousa (who used arrangements of her songs on tours with his band), and President Warren G. Harding.