Wennerberg Chorus records
Scope and Contents
The Wennerberg Chorus records, 1901-1933 and undated, contains materials spanning most of the existence of the Wennerberg Chorus, including meeting minutes, membership lists, correspondence, receipts, treasury books, programs, photographs, and clippings. Materials have been arranged into five series: Administration, Financial records, Programs, Newspaper clippings, and Photographs.
The records in the Administration series (1901-1926 and undated) include meeting minutes, membership lists, and correspondence. The Financial records series (1902-1922) contains receipts and other records of financial transactions, financial reports, and audits. The Programs series (1902-1933 and undated) contains event programs and tour schedules. The Newspaper clippings series (1903-1933 and undated) primarily includes clippings that were pasted into a page of a scrapbook. It is unknown to whom the scrapbook belonged. Due to the preservation challenges involved in preserving the clippings, the originals were photocopied onto acid-free paper and then discarded. The Photographs series (1903-1917) contains seven group photographs of the Wennerberg Chorus. One of the images is a half-tone copper relief plate used for relief prints. This plate would have been mounted on a wood block and used to produce multiple letterpress copies of the image. The 1917 Wennerberg Chorus tour series (1916-1917) contains correspondence about the group's 1917 tour, schedules, and itineraries.
Dates
- Creation: 1901-1933 and undated
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from Augustana College Special Collections and the copyright holder.
Historical Note
Augustana College's Wennerberg Male Chorus was formed at a meeting called by A. S. Hamilton on 21 October 1901. Gustav Andreen, then president of Augustana College, had requested that a male chorus be organized to participate in the Gunnar Wennerberg Festival to be held the following December. At this formative meeting, officers were elected, a name was agreed upon, and twice weekly rehearsals were fixed. Once formed, the group was called on to perform at receptions and meetings on campus and soon became a campus fixture. Membership of the chorus was fairly constant at around 20 growing to as many as 35 or 40 in its later years.
The Chorus was led by a variety of directors, including A. S. Hamilton (1901-1905), Emil Larson (1905-1908) Peter Johnson (1908-1912), J. Victor Bergquist (1912-1918), Otto Bostrom (1918-1920), L. W. Kling (1920-1923), A. Cyril Graham (1923-1927), and finally Henry Veld (1928-1933). The Wennerberg Male Chorus began to perform jointly with the Oriole Chorus under the direction of Henry Veld in 1931 as the Augustana College Choir, although the male members of the choir did continue to perform separately as the Wennerberg Chorus until the mid-1960s.
Extent
1.2 Cubic Feet (/ 4 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Augustana College's Wennerberg Male Chorus was formed in October 1901. Gustav Andreen, then president of Augustana College, had requested that a male chorus be organized to participate in the Gunnar Wennerberg Festival to be held the following December. The group eventually merged with the all-female Oriole Chorus in 1931 to form the Augustana College Choir, although the male members of the choir did continue to perform separately as the Wennerberg Chorus until the mid-1960s. The Wennerberg Chorus records, 1901-1933 and undated, contains materials spanning most of the autonomous existence of the Wennerberg Chorus, including meeting minutes, membership lists, correspondence, receipts, treasury books, programs, photographs, and clippings.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Most of the history of the acquisition of this collection is unknown. Former member of the chorus, George H. Ryden, donated the original secretary's book in 1933.
Processing Information
Processed by Emily Hughes Dominick, 2007. Updated by Rebecca Hopman, 2011, and Samantha Crisp, June 2014. Revised by Atticus Garrison, January 2016.
- Title
- Wennerberg Chorus records, 1901-1933 and undated.
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Atticus Garrison
- Date
- January 2016
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Augustana College Special Collections Repository
639 38th Street
Thomas Tredway Library
Rock Island Illinois 61201 United States
specialcollections@augustana.edu