Manuscript Collection
Files
Download Finding Aid (250 KB)
Identifier
Accession 1744
Inclusive Dates
1919-1951, nd
Restrictions
Open under the rules and regulations of the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections
Collection Size
.25 linear feet, 500 pieces
Scope and Content Note
The Dr. Janice Chism Piano Music Collection consists of piano sheet music owned and used by Dr. Janice Chism, a distinguished professor of Biology and Anthropology at Winthrop University. The collection reflects Dr. Chism’s personal musical interests and provides insight into popular and classical music performed in domestic and recreational settings during the early to mid-twentieth century.
The collection is composed primarily of individual pieces of piano sheet music dating from approximately 1919 to 1951, with the majority originating in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Titles include popular show tunes, jazz-influenced standards, patriotic and folk songs, and light classical arrangements. Composers and lyricists represented include Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, Franz Liszt, Jacques Offenbach, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, among others.
Many pieces reflect music popularized through Broadway productions, films, and radio, such as “Ol’ Man River,” “September Song,” “Night and Day,” and *“Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered).” The collection also includes arrangements of folk and traditional melodies, international songs, and novelty pieces, illustrating the broad musical tastes common in American households during this period. Several titles are present in multiple copies, and one item consists of a partial score.
Together, the materials in the Dr. Janice Chism Piano Music Collection document patterns of music consumption and amateur performance in the twentieth century and complement the legacy of Dr. Chism by highlighting an aspect of her personal life beyond her academic career at Winthrop University.
Provenance
The Dr. Janice Chism Piano Music Collection were donated to the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections by Dr. Janice Chism on October 10, 2020.
Copyright
For information concerning copyright please contact the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University.
Finding Aid Citation
Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections, Winthrop University, "Dr. Janice Chism Piano Music Collection - Accession 1744". Finding Aid 1557.
https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/1557