Manuscript Collection

Cecilia Chorus and Iredell Orchestra Concert Collection - Accession 1776 M839 (896)

Cecilia Chorus and Iredell Orchestra Concert Collection - Accession 1776 M839 (896)

Identifier

Accession 1776 M839 (896)

Inclusive Dates

1897

Restrictions

Open under the rules and regulations of the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections

Collection Size

9 piece

Language

English;

Historical Note

Ermine Baskin Willfong (1886-1972) was a 1906 Winthrop graduate and a professor of music at Winthrop College from 1907-1951.

See also YouTube video: Ermine Baskin Willfong (Winthrop Class of 1906) by Bill Calandro and voiced by Shannon Wilson. (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0srTcvR7N4)

Scope and Content Note

The Cecilia Chorus and Iredell Orchestra Concert Collection consists of a concert program dated 1897 titled Choral-Orchestral Concert, by the Cecilia Chorus and Iredell Orchestra, along with two contemporary newspaper clippings documenting the event. These materials were retained by Ermine Willfong (1886–1972), a graduate of Winthrop College, Class of 1906, who earned a degree in Normal Music and later received a piano certificate in 1907. Willfong went on to serve as a member of the Winthrop music faculty for forty-four years, from 1907 to 1951.

The collection documents a major musical performance held on April 30, 1897, at the College Auditorium in Tillman Hall on the Winthrop campus. The Cecilia Chorus, a hundred-member all-female choral ensemble associated with Winthrop College, performed in collaboration with the Iredell Orchestra, a local instrumental group based in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The concert was conducted by Wade R. Brown, with Winthrop music faculty member Octavia Williams serving as accompanist and pianist.

The accompanying newspaper clippings provide contemporaneous accounts of the concert’s reception and significance. An article titled “Winthrop College” describes the performance as a “grand” occasion, while a second clipping from The Columbia Daily Register (vol. 22, no. 243), titled “‘Music Hath Charms’: Grand Concert at Winthrop College: A Delightful Occasion,” offers further commentary on the event and its cultural impact. The latter article also references a “floral party” attended by twenty-two Winthrop seniors on May 5, 1897, situating the concert within the broader context of student life and campus traditions. Together, these materials provide insight into late nineteenth-century musical performance, women’s choral education, and cultural life at Winthrop College.

Provenance

The was donated by the York County Library to the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University on March 16, 2022.

Copyright

For information concerning copyright please contact the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University.

Cecilia Chorus and Iredell Orchestra Concert Collection - Accession 1776 M839 (896)

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