In commemoration of Veterans Day, Senior Music Specialist Loras John Schissel presents a sketch of an important American arranger, composer, and conductor who broke the color barrier in the U.S. armed forces in 1918. This man was Bandmaster William “Will” Henry Bennet Vodery. Vodery's service in the military and his work as a musician is documented in collections available for researchers in the Performing Arts Reading Room.
Choreographer Michio Itō had a profound impact on the development of modern dance in the United States, with collaborations and friendships with Martha Graham, Lester Horton, and Ted Shawn, among many others. Selected images from a recent gift of materials documenting Itō’s career in the United States are shown here alongside other images available in the Library of Congress to highlight the Japanese-born artist’s legacy during Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month.
The concluding part of this two-part survey of music and disease looks at examples that arose from pandemics in the 19th and 20th centuries, including: works by Stephen Foster and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel written in the wake of a series of cholera outbreaks, and the sometimes curiously lighthearted musical response to the 1918 influenza pandemic.
The following post is by retired music cataloger Sharon McKinley. I’ve enjoyed perusing the Library’s World War I sheet music over the past few years as we’ve commemorated the centennial of The Great War. We are now coming to the end of the fighting. Although the Treaty of Paris wasn’t signed until June 28,1919, an …
The following is a guest post from Robin Rausch, Head of Reader Services in the Music Division. For three days in September, in 1918, the musical elite gathered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for what was billed as the first chamber music festival ever given in America. It took place September 16-18, two months before the November …
The following is a guest post from retired cataloger Sharon McKinley. May 8 is World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. Founded in 1881, the American Red Cross organization was still rather small when the United States entered World War I. But services multiplied, millions helped collect supplies and money, and many served overseas, particularly …
Zachary Maiorana interned in the European Division this summer updating lists of e-resources that are especially valuable for European studies. He alternated with interning at the Smithsonian, as well. Zach graduated in May from Ohio State University with a B.A. in an Honors program which included English and Linguistics and minors in History and German. …
The following is by retired cataloger Sharon McKinley. The sinking of the Lusitania was one of many rallying events of WWI. Interestingly, the ship was sunk two years before the United Sates entered the war: on May 7, 1915. She was a civilian ship of the Cunard line, but was carrying some war materiel along …
The follow is a guest post by retired music cataloger Sharon McKinley. WWI was a time of conflicting loyalties for Irish-Americans. Many still felt strong ties to the old country, and their feelings reflected the sentiments of friends and relatives back in Ireland. Still chafing under British rule, Irishmen from the South as well as …
