The Library of Congress >  Researchers >  Search Finding Aids  >  Isabelle Sayers papers, circa 1886-1980
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Series 1. Correspondence, 1951-1980, undated
.4 linear feet
RPA 00160 (box 1)
Series 1 consists of correspondence between Isabelle Sayers and collectors, experts, and dealers. The majority of the correspondence relates to the exchange, sale, or appraisal of antique records, cylinders, recording equipment, phonographs, or other equipment. Many of the letters relate both to Sayers's collection and to her personal life, reflecting the close relationships she developed with other collectors and experts.
Frequent or prominent correspondents represented in this series include Harlan and Grace Kishpaugh, L. Brevoort Odell, Duane D. Deakins, Lawrence McKinley Marken, Lewis G. Green, Clarence A. Ferguson, and Jim Walsh (whose papers are also held by the Recorded Sound Section).
Correspondence is arranged chronologically; one folder of undated material is filed at the end of the series.
BOX 1 FOLDER 1 Correspondence, 1951-1957
BOX 1 FOLDER 2 Correspondence, 1958-1959
BOX 1 FOLDER 3 Correspondence, 1960-1961
BOX 1 FOLDER 4 Correspondence, 1962-1963
BOX 1 FOLDER 5 Correspondence, 1964-1965
BOX 1 FOLDER 6 Correspondence, 1966-1967
BOX 1 FOLDER 7 Correspondence, 1968-1969
BOX 1 FOLDER 8 Correspondence, 1970-1971
BOX 1 FOLDER 9 Correspondence, 1972-1976
BOX 1 FOLDER 10 Correspondence, 1977-1978
BOX 1 FOLDER 11 Correspondence, 1979-1980
BOX 1 FOLDER 12 Correspondence, undated
Series 2. Collection Notes, 1919-1972, undated
.21 linear feet
RPA 00160 (box 1); RPA 00161 (box 2)
Series 2 consists of acquisition notes, equipment descriptions, lecture notes, and other items. Included is a diary dating from circa 1952 to 1959 with notes about Sayers's acquisition of equipment and recordings. Lecture notes and miscellaneous writings refer to the history of recording in the United States and Ohio. Miscellaneous collection notes consist of scraps of paper with brief notations about individual recordings, record lists, and addresses of dealers and collectors. One folder contains notes and ephemera relating to Sayers's interest in vaudeville performer Elsie Janis.
Materials in this series are filed alphabetically by description.
BOX 1 FOLDER 13 Addresses, undated
BOX 1 FOLDER 14 Diary of collection and acquisition notes, 1952-1959
BOX 2 FOLDER 15 Equipment descriptions, undated
BOX 2 FOLDER 16 Elsie Janis notes and ephemera, 1919-1972
BOX 2 FOLDER 17 Lecture notes and miscellaneous writings, undated
BOX 2 FOLDER 18 Receipts, 1958-1975
BOX 2 FOLDER 19 Miscellaneous collection notes, undated
Series 3. Printed Materials, 1923-1977, undated
.42 linear feet
RPA 00161 (box 2); RPA 00162 (box 3)
Series 3 contains newsletters, journals, pamphlets, guides and other printed materials relating to music, recordings and phonographs. Included are programs for music and theater performances, pamphlets on Thomas Edison's inventions and life, technical equipment guides, radio travel logs, record price listings and small catalogs, and reprints of articles on Ohio music and black recording artists.
Printed Materials are arranged alphabetically by type and thereunder by title or description.
Journals and newsletters
BOX 2 FOLDER 20 The Music Box: An International Magazine of Mechanical Music, vol. 7, no. 1, 1975
BOX 2 FOLDER 21 Music Box Society Newsletter, no. 4, 1975 March
BOX 2 FOLDER 22 Music Memories Monthly, vol. 3, no. 4, 1963 June
BOX 2 FOLDER 23-24 The Ragtime Society, 1962-1966
BOX 2 FOLDER 25-26 The Ragtimer, 1975 March
Pamphlets
BOX 2 FOLDER 27-28 Audio Equipment, 1923-1977
BOX 2 FOLDER 29 Thomas Alva Edison biographical materials, 1928, 1973
BOX 2 FOLDER 30 Music progams and guides, 1910-1929
BOX 3 FOLDER oversize 31 Radio, travel logs, 1925-1963
BOX 3 FOLDER 32 Radio technical guides, 1923-1930
BOX 3 FOLDER 33 The Rifle Queen: Annie Oakley, 1973
BOX 3 FOLDER 34-36 Record price lists, advertisements, and catalogs, 1930-1981, undated
BOX 3 FOLDER 37 Reprints, undated
Series 4. Ephemera, 1907-1977, undated
.21 linear feet
RPA 00162 (box 3); RPA 00163 (box 4)
Series 4 consists of items in a variety of formats relating to Sayers's recording interests. Included are clippings relating to musicians, inventors, and equipment; a calendar issued by the Capehart Collection; advertisements; record inserts from early Edison recordings; greeting cards; pictorial envelopes; phonograph diagrams; and postcards. One folder of miscellaneous materials includes a slide with song lyrics, business cards, and a record coupon.
Series 6 contains oversize ephemera, such as promotional posters and banners.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by format. A folder of miscellaneous ephemera is filed at the end of the series.
Advertisements See also oversize Folder 31, Radio, travel logs, 1925-1963
BOX 3 FOLDER 38 Music box advertisements, 1897-1900, undated
BOX 3 FOLDER 39 Phonograph advertisements, 1897-1923
BOX 3 FOLDER 40 Piano advertisements, 1897-1909
BOX 3 FOLDER 41 Recording advertisements, 1904-1929, 1969
BOX 3 FOLDER 42 Miscellaneous advertisements, 1898-1939, undated
BOX 3 FOLDER 43 Calendar from the Capehart Collection, 1948
BOX 3 FOLDER 44 Clippings, 1932-1977 See also oversize Folder 66, Clippings, 1897-1961, undated
Please use photocopies in folder 45.
BOX 3 FOLDER 45 Photocopies of clippings
Please use these photocopies rather than the fragile originals in folder 44.
BOX 3 FOLDER 46 Greeting cards, undated
BOX 3 FOLDER 47 Phonograph diagrams, undated
BOX 4 FOLDER 48 Postcards and pictorial envelopes, 1908-1947, undated
BOX 4 FOLDER 49 Record inserts for Edison cylinders, circa 1912-1914
For cylinders #1828, 1889, 2024, 2034, 2051, 2063, 2142, 2152, 2219, 2269, 2288, 2290, and 2389.
BOX 4 FOLDER 50 Miscellaneous, undated
Series 5. Photographs, circa 1895-1975, undated
.42 linear feet
RPA 00163 (box 4)
Series 5 contains approximately 75 photographs (black-and-white and color) as well as 7 slides and 32 negatives. Many of the photographs in this series were printed from copy negatives of older photographs or images from journals and books. Included are photographs of Isabelle Sayers displaying equipment from her collection and portraits of inventors Thomas Edison and Emile Berliner. Also represented are various actors and musicians, with a particular focus on Elsie Janis, a Columbus, Ohio, native and star of many vaudeville productions. Photographs of recording equipment and phonograph advertisements are also present. Three scrapbooks are included in this series. One contains Isabelle Sayers's family photographs and related ephemera; the two others include portraits and clippings of Broadway, movie, and recording personalities.
Photographs are arranged alphabetically by subject or type; miscellaneous negatives and photographs are filed at the end.
BOX 4 FOLDER 51 Audio equipment, 1962, undated
BOX 4 FOLDER 52 Emile Berliner portraits and equipment, undated
Prints made from copy negatives.
BOX 4 FOLDER 53 Thomas Edison and the gravestone of Samuel Edison, 1969, and undated See also oversize Folder 70, Photographs and prints, 1923 and undated
One image is a copy.
BOX 4 FOLDER 54 Elsie Janis portraits, circa 1895-1920, undated
Some are copies.
BOX 4 FOLDER 55 Photographs of phonograph advertisements, undated
BOX 4 FOLDER 56 Portraits of actors and musicians, undated
Included are images of Helen Clark, Glen Ellison, Kirsten Flagsted, Ada Jones, Helen Jepson, Betsy Lee Shepherd, and Blanche Theborn.
Most are copies.
BOX 4 FOLDER 57 Isabelle Sayers with collection and musicians, circa 1945-1975
BOX 4 FOLDER 58-61 Scrapbooks, 1886-circa 1960
Includes family photographs, images of Broadway and theater stars, and ephemera.
BOX 4 FOLDER 62 Miscellaneous negatives, undated
Most are copy negatives.
BOX 4 FOLDER 63 Miscellaneous photographs, 1899, undated
Series 6. Oversize Materials, 1897-1965, undated
2.04 linear feet
RPC 00001 (box 5); RPD 00041 (box 6); RPM 00002-00003 (map folders 1-2)
Oversize materials include posters, broadsides, photographs, prints, newspaper and magazine clippings, and posters. A small collection of broadsides for early concerts and equipment demonstrations are mostly undated. Oversize photographs are all of Thomas A. Edison or his inventions; also included in this folder are several copies of an undated wood block print of Edison. Clippings related to Thomas A. Edison (a few are full copies of publications focusing on his career or death), Elsie Janis and other musicians. Promotional posters and banners for Edison and Graphophone presentations and products are also included.
See also Series 4, Ephemera.
BOX 5 FOLDER 64 Advertisements, 1910-1923, undated
BOX 5 FOLDER 65 Broadsides, undated
BOX 5 FOLDER oversize 66 Clippings, undated
Photocopies of oversize clippings; please use these rather than the fragile originals.
BOX 5 FOLDER 67-68 Clippings, 1897-1961, undated
Please use the photocopies of these clippings housed in folder 66.
BOX 5 FOLDER 69 Publications, 1859, 1919-1973
BOX 5 FOLDER oversize 70 Photographs and prints, 1923, undated
BOX 6 Posters for Edison and Graphophone concert demonstrations, circa 1929-1930, undated
Item ID: RS 826 G1-G3
FOLDER map folder 1 Edison and Okeh promotional banners, undated
Item ID: RS 826 G4-G5
Map case: RPM 00002 (map folder 1)
FOLDER map folder 2 Edison promotional banner, undated
Item ID: RS 826 G6
Map case: RPM 00003 (map folder 2)

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