Scope and arrangement
The George W. Martin papers contain research notes, correspondence, interview transcripts, and other papers Martin accumulated during the production of his book The Damrosch Dynasty: America's First Family of Music (Houghton, Mifflin, 1983). The book documents the contributions of the Damrosch and Mannes families to the musical life of the United States.
Martin organized the papers himself and describes them in a 2001 letter to the Music Division, a copy of which is in box 1, folder 1. His arrangement has not been altered, and is as follows:
File 1A holds letters from Leopold Damrosch to his wife Helene and his sister-in-law Marie von Heimburg from the 1870s and 1880s. All are typescript transcriptions of the originals in German. Some have English translations.
File 1B contains Martin's extensive notes on the Frank Damrosch papers held at the Music Division (JPB 88-25), and provide more description about the collection than the library's catalog record does.
The files in 1C, sub-categories 1-5, contain files of research on individual members of the Damrosch and Mannes families, including Leopold, Frank, and Walter Damrosch, and Helene von Heimburg Damrosch. They also include subject files on the Mannes College of Music and the process of color photography pioneered by Leopold Damrosch Mannes.
The files in 1C, sub-category 6, hold Walter Damrosch correspondence, including letters from Andrew Carnegie, Henry Flagler, Johannes Brahms, Claus von Bülow, and George Gershwin; and correspondence between Leopold Damrosch Mannes and the composer Randall Thompson.
The files in 1D through 1F contain listings of references to members of the Damrosch family in the New York Times, with notes on content, from 1871 to 1965.
The files in 1G and 1H contain indexes of and notes on Damrosch and Mannes collections at the Library of Congress, Boston University, the Newark Public Library, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Morgan Library.
File 2A-C contains chronologies and biographical notes on the lives of David Mannes, Leopold Damrosch, and Leopold Damrosch Mannes. File 2D holds photographs and iconography used in the book, and the files in 2E contain Martin's correspondence with persons other than Damrosch-Mannes family members, as well as notes and interview transcripts.
Files in 3A hold papers regarding the book's editing and production, letters to Martin regarding the book, and book reviews. File 3B documents the founding and opening of Carnegie Hall.
The collection included a cassette tape of a concert, held on May 5, 1981, which recreated the opening of Carnegie Hall. This tape is held by the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound.
Inquiries regarding audio material in the collection may be directed to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound ([email protected]). Audio materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.
Arrangement
The papers retain the same arrangement described by the donor in a letter written to the Music Division in 2001, at the time of the acquisition of the collection. See the scope and content note for details.