Scope and Content Note
The Society for American Music Records span the years 1971-2001, from the earliest expressions of interest in creating such a society, through its founding and early years, to its name change to the Society for American Music in 1999. They are organized into the following series: Administrative Papers, Publications, Photographs and Realia. Most of the materials in the two biggest series, Administrative Papers and Publications, retain their original arrangement, or the arrangement later imposed by Society for American Music archivist Carolyn Bryant. In cases where the records were not in any discernible logical arrangement, they were arranged in chronological or alphabetical order.
The Administrative Papers form the bulk of the collection and are divided into the following ten subseries: Officers and Offices; Meetings: Minutes and Reports; Annual Conferences and Special Meetings; Standing Committees; Ad Hoc Committees; Appointments; Interest Groups; Brochures, Leaflets and Pamphlets; Stationery and Letterhead; and Miscellany. These papers document the day-to-day work of the society and show the breadth of its educational and research activities. There is extensive correspondence throughout most of the subseries. The Officers and Offices subseries includes the papers of six presidents, including Anne Dhu (Shapiro) McLucas, who presided over the society when the name was changed in 1999 to the Society for American Music. Notable among her files are materials that document this controversy, which provoked strong feelings on both sides of the issue. The Meetings: Minutes and Reports subseries contains agendas, minutes, and reports from the semiannual Board of Trustees meetings and annual business meetings. The organizational meetings of the early years, 1973-1975, are represented, including extensive materials relating to the November 3, 1974 meeting in Washington, D.C. where attendees voted to organize a society in Sonneck’s honor. The Annual Conferences and Special Meetings subseries contains planning, programming, and registration materials for the official conferences. Notable here are documents related to the May 1973 early American music conference in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, which led to the founding of the Sonneck Society. The internal and external functions of the society are documented in the files of the Standing Committees and Ad Hoc Committees subseries. There are very few Program Committee materials in the Standing Committees subseries as most of those files are found with the program chair files in the Annual Conferences and Special Meetings subseries. The Ad Hoc Committees oversee short term projects and specific tasks, such as revising the directory, creating a handbook, and searching for editors of the publications. The Appointments subseries contains files for the Archivist, Conference Manager, Committee on the Publication of American Music (COPAM) Representative (also known as MUSA Representative), RILM Representative, and Interest Group Liaison. The position of executive director, also an appointment, is represented by Kitty Van Winkle Keller’s files in the Officers and Offices subseries. The Interest Groups subseries holds a small amount of items from various groups, such as Folk and Traditional Music, Musical Theater, Research Resources, and Students. The Brochures, Leaflets and Pamphlets, and Stationery and Letterhead subseries include a selected assortment of these items pertaining to both the Sonneck Society and American Music. The Miscellany subseries contains materials relating to Oscar Sonneck, the Sonneck Society articles of incorporation and by-laws, and papers relating to the life and death of Irving Lowens.
The Publications series includes files relating to both the quarterly journal American Music and the Sonneck Society Bulletin (previously named the Sonneck Society Newsletter). The American Music materials include files from its first four editors: Allen Britton (his American Music files are interfiled with his presidential files and can be found in the Administrative Papers series under his name in the Officers and Offices subseries), John Graziano, Wayne Shirley, and Josephine Wright. Additionally, the files from book review editors Frank J. and Wilma Reid Cipolla, and record review editor and discographer Don Roberts are present. A significant portion of the American Music papers relate to articles submitted for publication review, those accepted for publication as well as those rejected. There is extensive correspondence among editors, contributors, reviewers, the editorial board, the University of Illinois Press, and members of the Sonneck Society. The papers may also include abstracts, drafts, final versions, or revisions of articles and reviews, and accompanying materials. The Sonneck Society Bulletin materials contain working papers for each issue of the bulletin, spanning 1987-1992. There are considerable materials on book and record reviews.
The Photographs series mostly contains snapshots taken by attendees at conferences, but also includes a small number of miscellaneous photographs, including a 1983 formal photograph of attendees at the Keele conference and photographs of Oscar Sonneck. The Realia series includes tote bags, tee shirts, and buttons.