Collection Information
Collection
Marcella Brownson estate
Location
Largely in Library’s University Press storage area
Provenance
Personal collection of M. Brownson
When acquired
March 1985
Description
Emphasis upon Protestant church music. Total of over 2,800 items, including 1,650 choral octavo editions, 23 books, 156 hymnbooks published in the U.S. and Great Britain during the period 1880-1940, a considerable quantity of organ and piano music, over 500 community and school song books, 45 78-rpm discs, five LP discs, three journal titles (285 separate issues), about 100 publishers’ catalogs, programs, and miscellaneous materials.
Arrangement
None; materials remain largely unprocessed. Some choral octavo editions may be incorporated in Music Library’s Choral Reference File; sound recordings were probably incorporated into 78-rpm and LP holdings at the Oak St. storage facility, which as of 2019 have been transferred to the Internet Archive for digitization.
Access/Finding Aids/Bibliography
Unfortunately, no lists exist of individual titles. Collections File folder (“Brownson, Marcella”) includes brief description of donation by genre, as well as correspondence relating to donation and relevant passages from M. Brownson’s last will and testament. Brownson’s collection was listed briefly in Hymnbook Collections of North America (Hymn Society of America, undated), a copy of which is included in the Collections File folder
Index terms
Brownson, Marcella; Hymnody; Organ music