William P. Bigelow (AC 1889) Papers, 1867-1941
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Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Sarang Gopalakrishnan. 2003-12-03
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
William P. Bigelow Papers
Creation of William P. Bigelow Papers
Time of Creation of William P. Bigelow Papers
Bigelow, William P.
Biographical History for: William P. Bigelow Papers
Biographical Note William P. Bigelow, Professor of Music at Amherst College, was a lifetime native of Amherst. Born in 1867, he attended Amherst High School and then Amherst College, graduating in 1889. He showed early musical talent as first tenor in Amherst's Glee Club, and continued to study music from 1889 to 1890 in Worcester under Edward L. Summer and Ivan Morkowski; from 1890 to 1894 in Berlin and Düsseldorf; and in 1898 in Paris and London, eventually learning under Stockhausen, Rest, Hriglia, and Buths. Between 1894 and 1898 he returned to Amherst College and was hired as an instructor; in 1901 he became associate professor and in 1906 a full professor. Returning to Berlin in 1908, he met his soon to be wife, Jane Ball. They were married September 7th, 1909, in Amherst. Their first child, Mary, was born in 1910, and a second daughter Ruth followed in 1912. Among Professor Bigelow's published works are Amherst College Songs, which he compiled and edited in1926. The Bigelow family resided at 2 Orchard Street until 1935. William P. Bigelow died in 1941.
Scope and Contents of the Collection Letters, postcards, photographs, drawings, sheet music, certificates, receipts, passports, manuscripts, a translation, music programs, posters, speeches, essays, poems, and other materials documenting the professional and personal life of Professor William P. Bigelow and his wife Jane Ball Bigelow. The papers include extensive correspondence between Bigelow and his family, members of the Amherst college faculty, and various admirers, as well as partial memoirs. Letters and papers addressed to the department and administration have some significance, as do some financial and legal records. Correspondents include Mrs. D. D. Eisen, Horace Hewlett, George R. Stewart (manager of the Boston Festival Orchestra), Professor C.K. Adams, Frank Chapman Sharp (AC 1987), Amherst Professor of Latin and Greek Levi Elwell, Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Arthur Curtis James (AC 1889).
Music--Instruction and study--Massachusetts--Amherst.
lcsh
Bigelow, William P. (William Pingry), b. 1867.
lcnaf
Bigelow, Jane Ball.
Elwell, Levi Henry, 1854-1916.
Amherst College--Faculty.
Amherst College. Class of 1889. Bigelow.
series
Series 1: WRITINGS, ca. 1886-1936
Series 1, WRITINGS, ca. 1886-1936, contains manuscripts, speeches, essays, songs, poems and departmental papers written by William P. Bigelow during his lifetime. His speeches and essays revolve mainly around the life of a teacher, and the nature of proper education. Two musical works, "Amherst Songs" and "Oh Bill Bryan," are included. The various poems relate primarily to family life, and the preserved early works, a high school paper, and his master's thesis, are on Bassino from the Merchant of Venice, and the relation of Parsifal to the moral character of Wagner, respectively. The departmental papers are primarily financial records.
Speeches and writings 1921-1922
Speeches and writings 1936
Speeches and writings n.d.
"Amherst Songs" - notes and fragments ca. 1926
"Oh Bill Bryan" - sheet music ca. 1914
Poems 1917-1936
"Character of Bassino" - high school essay n.d.
"The Parsifal of Richard Wagner, Its Meaning and Relation to his Life and Character" - M.A. Thesis 1898
"Art of Conducting" - translation n.d.
"Early Days at Amherst" - memoir, partial manuscript n.d.
Amherst College Music Department documents (bulk 1919) ca.1919-1932
Series 2: LEGAL DOCUMENTS, ca. 1891-1933
Series 2, LEGAL DOCUMENTS, 1891-1933, contains passports, an identity card, a business card stamp, certificates, a copyright, receipts, checks, and financial correspondence. Passports are for William P. Bigelow, Jane Bigelow, and Mary Bigelow. The certificates signify marriage, residency, freemasonry, and membership in the American Defense Society. The copyright is for the song "Oh Bill Bryan," which Bigelow composed ca. 1914.
Identification 1921-1933
Certificates 1917-1923
Copyright for "Oh Bill Bryan" 1914
Finance 1891-1919
Series 3: IMAGES, ca. 1885-1941
Series 3, IMAGES, ca.1885-1941, contains drawings, as well as loose, mounted, and framed photographs, photocopies, and one photograph album. Extensive portraiture of William P. Bigelow ranges over nearly his entire lifetime. Pictures of Mary and Jane, and miscellaneous images of vacations and the Orchard Street residence are included as well.
Early portrait photographs of William P. Bigelow ca. 1885-1900
Later portraits - photographs, photocopies, drawings ca. 1900-1941
Family - photograph, mounted photograph, photo album 1912-1937
Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow - two framed photographs n.d.
Assorted - photographs, mounted photos n.d.
Series 4: CORRESPONDENCE, 1891-1939
Series 4, CORRESPONDENCE, 1891-1939, contains letters and postcards. The letters deal primarily with William P. Bigelow's personal and performing life, with some communications to the administration and music department of the time, giving evidence of his professional world as well. A few letters belonging to Jane Bigelow are included also.
Incoming correspondence (1 letter) 1899
Incoming correspondence (4 letters) 1901-1904
Incoming correspondence (4 letters) 1905-1909
Incoming correspondence (7 letters) 1912-1915
Incoming correspondence (2 letters) 1916-1918
Incoming correspondence (15 letters, 1 telegram) 1919-1923
Incoming correspondence (13 letters, 1 telegram) 1924-1925
Incoming correspondence (11 letters) 1926-1929
Incoming correspondence (7 letters) 1931-1932
Incoming correspondence (18 letters, 1 telegram) 1933-1935
Incoming correspondence (3 letters) 1936-1937
Incoming correspondence (7 letters, x-reference to Arthur Curtis James) n.d.
Levi Elwell Correspondence (4 letters, 2 post cards) 1908
Levi Elwell Correspondence (7 letters) 1909
Levi Elwell Correspondence (1 letter, 4 post cards) 1910
Levi Elwell Correspondence (11 letters) n.d.
Outgoing correspondence, Berlin (23 letters) 1891
Outgoing correspondence, Berlin (26 letters 1892
Outgoing correspondence (7 letters, 1 post card) 1910-1932
Music departmental correspondence (36 letters, 2 post cards) 1910-1920
Music departmental correspondence (14 letters, 1 catalog) 1921-1939
Music departmental correspondence (7 letters, 1 catalog) n.d.
Business correspondence - administration (8 letters) 1919-1922
Business correspondence - administration (3 letters) 1923-1926
Business correspondence - administration (4 letters) n.d.
Business correspondence - job offers (11 letters) [bulk 1895-1899] 1895-1936
Assorted correspondence - holidays (7 letters, 13 post cards) n.d.
Mrs. Bigelow's correspondence (4 letters) 1956-1961
Series 5: MISCELLANEOUS, 1887-1941
Series 5, MISCELLANEOUS, 1887-1941, contains posters, postcards, announcements and programs. These assorted materials relate to various performances of William P. Bigelow, most notably Amherst's colorful "Old Heidelberg" night. A few other items come from European travel between 1898 and 1922.
Musical 1887-1941
"Old Heidelberg Night," Amherst College 1933-1935
Travel 1898-1922