Scope and arrangement
The Arthur Tracy Papers include a significant amount of materials related to Tracy’s career as a singer on radio and on film. The bulk of the collection consists of sheet music, manuscripts, and music books owned by Tracy. Music styles are vaired and include hymns, spirituals, folk songs, classical music, opera, Broadway, and popular music in a number of languages. The music dates from 1883 to 1976. Many items are annotated and stamped with ownership stamps; however, there is little evidence regarding which pieces were used in performance.
There are a significant number of posters and publicity materials related to Tracy’s concerts and successful film career in Great Britain. There are also a limited number of scripts from Tracy’s radio career and attempts to branch into television. The collection also contains correspondence from fans during his 1967 British tour as well as a complete run of the fan created magazine The Street Singer and Stars of the Thirties. There is little personal material. Of interest are the contents of the embossed folders of annotated music for Tracy’s concerts. Also of interest are the tour posters which detail the British variety circuit in the late 1930s.
The Arthur Tracy papers are arranged in four series:
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1939-1967
This series contains correspondence, programs, and scripts detailing Arthur Tracy’s career as the Street Singer. Most of the correspondence is from fans during Tracy’s tour of Great Britain in the 1960s. The scripts provide information on Tracy’s radio career and later attempts to branch into television. The series also contains a complete run of the fan created magazine The Street Singer and Stars of the Thirties. There is little personal material.
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1883 - 1976, ca. 1993
This series is arranged into three sub-series and includes manuscripts, sheet music, and music books owned by Arthur Tracy. Music includes hymns, spirituals, folk songs, classical music, opera, Broadway, and popular music in a number of languages. Music dates from Ave Maria in 1883 to The Slipper and the Rose in 1976. Many of the pieces are annotated and stamped with ownership stamps. There is little specific indication of which music Tracy actually utilized in performance.
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1920s - 1987, 1933
This series contains professional headshots and publicity photos that detail the span of Tracy’s career. Photographs include early professional headshots, unidentified cast photographs, a photograph with Eleanor Roosevelt, publicity photographs from his film career in Great Britain, and photographs of Tracy in the touring cast of Social Security. The series also contains Arthur Tracy’s performance folders. These black embossed folders held the music and parts Tracy utilized in performance. All music found within is now filed in Series II: Music.
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1920s-1967, 1992
This series contains professional and amateur images of Arthur Tracy. Materials include posters and publicity from his career as well as drawings and images of Tracy himself.