History Commons^™

The Congress For Cultural Freedom, La Musica Nel Xx Secolo, And Aesthetic "Othering": An Archival Investigation, Shannon E. Pahl

Theses and Dissertations

Between 1950 and 1967, the Congress for Cultural Freedom, an organization of anti-totalitarian intellectuals funded by the United States government, hosted conferences and festivals regarding the pursuit of intellectual freedom. In 1952 and 1954, the Congress for Cultural Freedom hosted two music events. While the first festival has been researched considerably, the 1954 conference has not been documented comparably. While unexplored, this conference has been the cause of much speculation on the political connotation of dodecaphonic and avant-garde techniques in postwar Europe. This project explores archival evidence related to the 1954 conference, with a focus on internal memoranda, correspondence, program …

Music In The Third Reich, Delora J. Neuschwander

Musical Offerings

Music played a prominent role in the rise of Nazi culture in Germany and was used extensively in propaganda and indoctrination of the entire country; the Nazi party brought music and politics together and sought to shape their ideal culture by elevating their ideas of pure music to the highest status and outlawing what they defined as inferior. This study addresses Hitler’s specific views on music and explores several of the factors and individuals that contributed to his views. His views were directly inferred into the core of the Nazi party. Hitler himself was an artist and felt that art …

An Undergraduate Seminar On Irish Musical Culture In Ireland And The Irish Diaspora In America, Including The Influence Of Irish Music On Appalachian Folk Music Culture, Frieda Eakins

Masters Theses

The following project establishes a concise, yet multifaceted design for a seminar on Irish musical culture. While it was initially developed as a course for its author to teach in the undergraduate, on-ground classroom, this project provides a framework adaptable enough for use by other instructors and/or for additional music seminars. This project is unique in its two-fold purpose in that the design and resources are directed to assist the instructor with streamlining course curriculum preparation, while the course content specific to the project when utilized offers students in the undergraduate college classroom a better understanding of Irish musical culture …

Rallying Round Our Liberty, Wendell Dobbs, Leo Welch, Linda Dobbs, Neil Cadle

Linda Dobbs

No abstract provided.

Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 586), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid and full text paper (Click on "Additional File" below) for Folklife Archives Project 586. Independent study project conducted by Rachel Hopkin on George R. Gibson, a banjo player from eastern Kentucky. The project, contained on two DVDs, includes photos, audio interviews and transcripts, a paper, bibliography, and field notes. Participating in the interview are Gibson and musicians John W. Haywood and Kevin C. Howard, who describe Gibson’s influence on them. This project was executed for the folk studies program at Western Kentucky University.

Hast, Louis H., Sr., 1827-1890 (Sc 2588), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2588. Bound volume of selected works, short biography, and miscellaneous items and tributes to Louis H. Hast, Sr., Louisville, Kentucky. This volume was compiled by his daughter Emma Wilder Hast, and presented to the Filson Club by Lisette Hast, both of Louisville, Kentucky.

Teel, Jacob, 1777-1835 (Sc 20), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 20. Two manuscript music books written by Jacob Teel of Allen County, Kentucky, a Methodist minister And a music teacher; and a biographical sketch of Teel, which includes Napier family information, written by Johncy W. Weldon in 1933.

An Improvised World: Jazz And Community In Milwaukee, 1950-1970, Benjamin Barbera

Theses and Dissertations

This study looks at the history of jazz in Milwaukee between 1950 and 1970. During this period Milwaukee experienced a series of shifts that included a large migration of African Americans, urban renewal and expressway projects, and the early stages of deindustrialization. These changes had an impact on the jazz musicians, audience, and venues in Milwaukee such that the history of jazz during this period reflects the social, economic, and physical landscape of the city in transition.

This thesis fills two gaps in the scholarship on Milwaukee. First, it describes the history of jazz in Milwaukee in a more comprehensive …

Fun With Civil War Sheet Music, Emily A. Francisco

Blogging the Library

One project I haven’t blogged too much about yet is the Civil War Sheet Music exhibit for the Main Floor. Initially, Meggan only asked me to come up with a tentative list of pieces to display from the resources available; now, though, I’m finding myself assigned to the task of organizing, mounting, and labeling the exhibit. It’s a cool assignment, because it’s so different from everything else I’ve been working on this summer. [excerpt]

Strahm, Franz Joseph, 1867-1941 (Sc 474), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 474. Postcard and letter written by Franz Joseph Strahm, while on a visit to Germany, to Walter Pearce, Bowling Green, Kentucky. The picture post card is of Strahm’s birthplace, and the letter concerns opera in Germany. Includes two cards of Pearce showing the grades he received in Strahm’s music classes at Western Kentucky State Teachers College, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Nelson, James S. (Fa 161), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 161. This collection contains a master’s thesis entitled “Hillbilly Music and Early Live Radio Programming In Bowling Green and Glasgow, Kentucky: Country Music as a Local Phenomenon,” written by James Nelson in January 1994 for the department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies at Western Kentucky University. Also included is a cassette tape of old-time music from south central Kentucky entitled “Railroad Through the Smoky Mountains,” by Jim Bowles, as well as an obituary for Jonell F. Simunick.

Strahm, Franz Joseph, 1867-1941 (Sc 454), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 454. Four letters from Franz Joseph Strahm, professor of music, Western Kentucky University, and his secretary to Virginia Helm regarding concerts, piano lessons, and musical compositions. Also one from Alice Strahm in 1950, and a photograph of Strahm at the piano.

Pain, William (Sc 425), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 425. Original and typescript copy of a ballad, “Lovly Molie,” composed by William Pain, Logan County, Kentucky.

Travelstead, Nelle (Gooch), 1888-1974 (Sc 621), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 621. Letter from Nelle (Gooch) Travelstead, Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Mrs. Joe Bryant Helm, Smiths Grove, Warren County, Kentucky, thanking her for coming to Bowling Green to play the piano for events.

Civil War, 1861-1865 - Songs (Sc 418), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 418. Holographic copy of the words of a Confederate song entitled “The Southern Wagon.” The song was composed during the Civil War as a parody of the song “Wait for the Wagon.” Author is unknown.

Advertisements; 2012-05-20, The Royal Serenaders Male Chorus

Advertisements for Events

No abstract provided.

Russia And The Restricted Composer: Limitations Of The Self, Culture, And Government, Ian T. Wallace

Honors Projects and Presentations: Undergraduate

This paper will consider the various creative limitations that have inhibited Russian and Soviet composers throughout history. These restrictions will be classified into three broad areas: those of the self, those of culture, and those of government. As will be seen, individual Russian composers have been constrained in at least one of these areas. Consideration of important musical and historical figures, from the beginning of the 19th century through the later decades of the Soviet Union, will assist in presenting specific forms of restraint.

The Spirit Of Triumph, James Anderson Depreist: The Life, Career And Music Of An American Conductor, Darryl Eric Harris Sr.

Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to present an organized account of the life, career and music of this prominent American symphonic conductor. James Anderson DePreist is an African American conductor/composer, educator and spokesman for the Americans with Disabilities who has achieved prominence in the symphonic field while overcoming many obstacles, both physical and social. In addition to having have conducted orchestras all over the world, this maternal nephew of famed contralto Marian Anderson is best known as the arranger/composer of Theme For The Cosby Show, the 1988–1989 season, as recorded by the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to a …

Undergraduate Research Programs And The Academic Library, Nancy Cunningham, Richard Pollenz Ph.D., Drew Smith, Mark I. Greenberg Ph.D.

Mark I. Greenberg

Undergraduate research (UR) programs attract highly motivated students who often continue on to graduate/professional schools but may lack necessary information literacy skills. Collaboration with UR programs provides librarians new opportunities to help students develop these skills and work with specialized collections in the context of a research experience. In this webinar, librarians and UR administrators share their experiences in forging collaborations based on UR and library training resources, explain how information literacy skills programming has been embedded into UR, and demonstrate how this partnership has led to greater visibility of library services, collections and UR among all undergraduates.

Undergraduate Research Programs And The Academic Library, Nancy Cunningham, Richard Pollenz Ph.D., Drew Smith, Mark I. Greenberg Ph.D.

Western Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Undergraduate research (UR) programs attract highly motivated students who often continue on to graduate/professional schools but may lack necessary information literacy skills. Collaboration with UR programs provides librarians new opportunities to help students develop these skills and work with specialized collections in the context of a research experience. In this webinar, librarians and UR administrators share their experiences in forging collaborations based on UR and library training resources, explain how information literacy skills programming has been embedded into UR, and demonstrate how this partnership has led to greater visibility of library services, collections and UR among all undergraduates.

Arts & Letters, The Magazine Of Potter College At Western Kentucky University, Karen Schneider, Editor-In-Chief, David Lee, Dean, Potter College, Western Kentucky University

PCAL Publications

No abstract provided.

Agencies At War: Marshaling Places, Objects, And Sonorities In The Alta California Missions, Naomi R. Sussman

History Honors Projects

1769, Spanish Franciscan Junípero Serra initiated the missionization of Alta California. To transform California into a Spanish territory, Franciscan missions evangelized indigenous peoples. While traditional Alta California mission histories emphasize either Franciscan abuses or saintliness, reifying Native American subordination, most contemporary scholarship accentuates mutual hybridization but minimizes colonial power dynamics. Through archival and secondary research, this thesis argues that spatial interplay expressed neither syncretization nor unadulterated domination, but instead competing agencies within a physical and social “contact zone.” In this Alta Californian “contact zone,” material and sonic culture reinforced the continuous struggle for authority in the missions.

News - Georgia State University, Christian J. Steinmetz

Georgia Library Quarterly

A summary of news from Georgia State University Library. Includes 3 appointments, description of 2 travelling exhibits and a paragraph about a co-sponsored concert featuring the music of Johnny Mercer.

Shakers (Sc 358), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 358. Typed copy of letter written by Urban E. Johns, South Union, Kentucky, to Honorable McLean, Washington, D.C., regarding sheep husbandry in Logan County and South Union; a hymn (with words and music); reward certificates given to deserving pupils by teachers; and a list of members of the Brick House and the Square House, Union Village, Ohio, during the 1837-1867 period.

Shakers - South Union, Ky. (Sc 357), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 357. Holographic letters, 1893-1922 (3); words (2) and words and music to Shaker hymns (3); receipts, n.d. (3); and notes about the Shakers compiled by Pauline Smith for a speech about the Shakers at South Union, Kentucky.

Strahm, Franz Joseph, 1867-1941 (Sc 258), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Mansucripts Small Collection 258. Letter written by Franz Joseph Strahm, music department faculty member, Western Kentucky State Teachers College, Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Mrs. Joe Bryant Helm, Smiths Grove, Warren County, Kentucky, declining an opportunity to play the piano in Louisville owing to his ill health.

Carpenter, Tom W. (Sc 247), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 247. Letter, 15 February 1895, to Mrs. Nellie Thomas, Bowling Green, Kentucky from Tom W. Carpenter, treasurer of the Methodist church, related to her $1.00 subscription for liquidating the indebtedness of the church and parsonage. Letter sent in Carpenter’s business envelope identifying him as an agent for various manufacturers of pianos and organs.

Essays (Sc 245), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 245. An essay by an unknown writer concerning the progress of musical education in this country compared to that in portions of Germany.

Autobiographical Sketch Of A Group Based Musician (Fa 48), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 48. “Autobiographical Sketch of a Group Based Musician,” a paper and interview executed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Author chose to remain anonymous.

Taft, Ann Celine (Fa 49), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 49. Oral history interview with The Straightway Gospel Singers from Gallatin, Tennessee conducted by Ann Celine Taft for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Subsequent paper titled "The Straightway Gospel Singers" also included.