William P. Bigelow (AC 1889) Papers, 1867-1941

William P. Bigelow Papers, 1867-1941

1 records storage box (1 linear ft.)

Abstract:

Professor of Music at Amherst. Letters, postcards, photographs, drawings, sheet music, certificates, receipts, passports, manuscripts, music programs, and other materials documenting the professional and personal life of Professor Bigelow and his wife Jane Ball Bigelow.

Terms of Access and Use:

Restrictions on access:

There is no restriction on access to the William P. Bigelow Papers for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Restrictions on use:

Requests for permission to publish material from William P. Bigelow Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Amherst College Archives and Special Collections

Biographical Note

William P. Bigelow, Professor of Music at Amherst College, was a lifetime native of Amherst. Born in 1867, he attended Amherst High School and then Amherst College, graduating in 1889. He showed early musical talent as first tenor in Amherst's Glee Club, and continued to study music from 1889 to 1890 in Worcester under Edward L. Summer and Ivan Morkowski; from 1890 to 1894 in Berlin and Düsseldorf; and in 1898 in Paris and London, eventually learning under Stockhausen, Rest, Hriglia, and Buths. Between 1894 and 1898 he returned to Amherst College and was hired as an instructor; in 1901 he became associate professor and in 1906 a full professor. Returning to Berlin in 1908, he met his soon to be wife, Jane Ball. They were married September 7th, 1909, in Amherst. Their first child, Mary, was born in 1910, and a second daughter Ruth followed in 1912. Among Professor Bigelow's published works are Amherst College Songs, which he compiled and edited in1926. The Bigelow family resided at 2 Orchard Street until 1935. William P. Bigelow died in 1941.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Letters, postcards, photographs, drawings, sheet music, certificates, receipts, passports, manuscripts, a translation, music programs, posters, speeches, essays, poems, and other materials documenting the professional and personal life of Professor William P. Bigelow and his wife Jane Ball Bigelow. The papers include extensive correspondence between Bigelow and his family, members of the Amherst college faculty, and various admirers, as well as partial memoirs. Letters and papers addressed to the department and administration have some significance, as do some financial and legal records. Correspondents include Mrs. D. D. Eisen, Horace Hewlett, George R. Stewart (manager of the Boston Festival Orchestra), Professor C.K. Adams, Frank Chapman Sharp (AC 1987), Amherst Professor of Latin and Greek Levi Elwell, Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Arthur Curtis James (AC 1889).

This collection is organized into five series:

1. WRITINGS, ca. 1886-1936
2. LEGAL DOCUMENTS, 1891-1933
3. IMAGES, ca. 1885-1941
4. CORRESPONDENCE, 1891-1939
5. MISCELLANEOUS, 1887-1941

Information on Use

Terms of Access and Use

Restrictions on access:

There is no restriction on access to the William P. Bigelow Papers for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Restrictions on use:

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

[Identification of item], in William P. Bigelow Papers [Box #, Folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library

History of the Collection

Processing Information

Processed:	June 11, 2003
By:	Graham Leach-Krouse, Student Encoding Assistant
Finding Aid:	2003 June
Prepared by:	Graham Leach-Krouse, Student Encoding Assistant
Edited by:	Peter A. Nelson, Assistant Archivist
Prepared for Web:	2003 June
By:	Graham Leach-Krouse 05, Student Encoding Assistant

Additional Information

Contact Information

Amherst College Archives and Special Collections

Robert Frost Library
PO Box 5000
Amherst, MA 01002-5000

Phone: (413) 542-2299
Fax: (413) 542-2692

Email Reference Form: http://www.amherst.edu/library/archives/askus
URL: http://www.amherst.edu/library/archives

Language

English.

Series 1: WRITINGS, ca.	1886-1936
Series 1, WRITINGS, ca. 1886-1936, contains manuscripts, speeches, essays, songs, poems and departmental papers written by William P. Bigelow during his lifetime. His speeches and essays revolve mainly around the life of a teacher, and the nature of proper education. Two musical works, "Amherst Songs" and "Oh Bill Bryan," are included. The various poems relate primarily to family life, and the preserved early works, a high school paper, and his master's thesis, are on Bassino from the Merchant of Venice, and the relation of Parsifal to the moral character of Wagner, respectively. The departmental papers are primarily financial records.
Speeches and writings	1921-1922	Box 1: folder 1

Speeches and writings	1936	Box 1: folder 2

Speeches and writings	n.d.	Box 1: folder 3

"Amherst Songs" - notes and fragments	ca. 1926	Box 1: folder 4

"Oh Bill Bryan" - sheet music	ca. 1914	Box 1: folder 5

Poems	1917-1936	Box 1: folder 6

"Character of Bassino" - high school essay	n.d.	Box 1: folder 7

"The Parsifal of Richard Wagner, Its Meaning and Relation to his Life and Character" - M.A. Thesis	1898	Box 1: folder 8

"Art of Conducting" - translation	n.d.	Box 1: folder 9

"Early Days at Amherst" - memoir, partial manuscript	n.d.	Box 1: folder 10

Amherst College Music Department documents (bulk 1919)	ca.1919-1932	Box 1: folder 11

Series 2: LEGAL DOCUMENTS, ca.	1891-1933
Series 2, LEGAL DOCUMENTS, 1891-1933, contains passports, an identity card, a business card stamp, certificates, a copyright, receipts, checks, and financial correspondence. Passports are for William P. Bigelow, Jane Bigelow, and Mary Bigelow. The certificates signify marriage, residency, freemasonry, and membership in the American Defense Society. The copyright is for the song "Oh Bill Bryan," which Bigelow composed ca. 1914.
Identification	1921-1933	Box 1: folder 12

Certificates	1917-1923	Box 1: folder 13

Copyright for "Oh Bill Bryan"	1914	Box 1: folder 14

Finance	1891-1919	Box 1: folder 15

Series 3: IMAGES, ca.	1885-1941
Series 3, IMAGES, ca.1885-1941, contains drawings, as well as loose, mounted, and framed photographs, photocopies, and one photograph album. Extensive portraiture of William P. Bigelow ranges over nearly his entire lifetime. Pictures of Mary and Jane, and miscellaneous images of vacations and the Orchard Street residence are included as well.
Early portrait photographs of William P. Bigelow	ca. 1885-1900	Box 1: folder 16

Later portraits - photographs, photocopies, drawings	ca. 1900-1941	Box 1: folder 17

Family - photograph, mounted photograph, photo album	1912-1937	Box 1: folder 18

Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow - two framed photographs	n.d.	Box 1: folder 19

Assorted - photographs, mounted photos	n.d.	Box 1: folder 20

Series 4: CORRESPONDENCE,	1891-1939
Series 4, CORRESPONDENCE, 1891-1939, contains letters and postcards. The letters deal primarily with William P. Bigelow's personal and performing life, with some communications to the administration and music department of the time, giving evidence of his professional world as well. A few letters belonging to Jane Bigelow are included also.
Incoming correspondence (1 letter)	1899	Box 1: folder 21

Incoming correspondence (4 letters)	1901-1904	Box 1: folder 22

Incoming correspondence (4 letters)	1905-1909	Box 1: folder 23

Incoming correspondence (7 letters)	1912-1915	Box 1: folder 24

Incoming correspondence (2 letters)	1916-1918	Box 1: folder 25

Incoming correspondence (15 letters, 1 telegram)	1919-1923	Box 1: folder 26

Incoming correspondence (13 letters, 1 telegram)	1924-1925	Box 1: folder 27

Incoming correspondence (11 letters)	1926-1929	Box 1: folder 28

Incoming correspondence (7 letters)	1931-1932	Box 1: folder 29

Incoming correspondence (18 letters, 1 telegram)	1933-1935	Box 1: folder 30

Incoming correspondence (3 letters)	1936-1937	Box 1: folder 31

Incoming correspondence (7 letters, x-reference to Arthur Curtis James)	n.d.	Box 1: folder 32

Levi Elwell Correspondence (4 letters, 2 post cards)	1908	Box 1: folder 33

Levi Elwell Correspondence (7 letters)	1909	Box 1: folder 34

Levi Elwell Correspondence (1 letter, 4 post cards)	1910	Box 1: folder 35

Levi Elwell Correspondence (11 letters)	n.d.	Box 1: folder 36

Outgoing correspondence, Berlin (23 letters)	1891	Box 1: folder 37

Outgoing correspondence, Berlin (26 letters	1892	Box 1: folder 38

Outgoing correspondence (7 letters, 1 post card)	1910-1932	Box 1: folder 39

Music departmental correspondence (36 letters, 2 post cards)	1910-1920	Box 1: folder 40

Music departmental correspondence (14 letters, 1 catalog)	1921-1939	Box 1: folder 41

Music departmental correspondence (7 letters, 1 catalog)	n.d.	Box 1: folder 42

Business correspondence - administration (8 letters)	1919-1922	Box 1: folder 43

Business correspondence - administration (3 letters)	1923-1926	Box 1: folder 44

Business correspondence - administration (4 letters)	n.d.	Box 1: folder 45

Business correspondence - job offers (11 letters) [bulk 1895-1899]	1895-1936	Box 1: folder 46

Assorted correspondence - holidays (7 letters, 13 post cards)	n.d.	Box 1: folder 47

Mrs. Bigelow's correspondence (4 letters)	1956-1961	Box 1: folder 48

Series 5: MISCELLANEOUS,	1887-1941
Series 5, MISCELLANEOUS, 1887-1941, contains posters, postcards, announcements and programs. These assorted materials relate to various performances of William P. Bigelow, most notably Amherst's colorful "Old Heidelberg" night. A few other items come from European travel between 1898 and 1922.
Musical	1887-1941	Box 1: folder 49

"Old Heidelberg Night," Amherst College	1933-1935	Box 1: folder 50

Travel	1898-1922	Box 1: folder 51