Philip Hale Papers, 1850s-1936
General International Standard for Archival Description
Mortimer Rare Book Room Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Jennifer Smar. 2006-07-19
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Philip Hale Papers
Hale, Philip, 1854-1934
Biographical History for: Philip Hale Papers
Biographical Note Philip Hale was born in Norwich, Vermont, on March 5, 1854, the son of William and Harriet Amelia (Porter) Hale. After his parents moved to Northampton, Mass., he studied organ and piano and became at age fourteen the organist of the Unitarian Church in Northampton. He studied at Phillips Exeter Academy and at Yale University (A.B., 1876), where he continued his musical studies. After an apprenticeship in the law office of his uncle in Albany, N.Y., Hale was admitted to the New York Bar in 1880 and practiced law for two years. At the same time he was organist of St. Peter's (Episcopal) Church and was music critic for the Albany Times. This was followed by five years of music study in Europe (1882-1887), largely in Berlin, Dresden and Paris. Upon his return to the United States, he lived in Albany, N.Y., served as organist at St. John's (Episcopal) Church in Troy and served as music critic for a variety of newspapers. In 1889 he became the organist for the First Religious Society (Unitarian) of Roxbury, Mass., and held the position for seventeen years. In Boston he served as music critic for the Post (1890-1891) and the Journal (1892-1898). At the Herald (1903-1933) he served as music and drama critic and became known for his program notes for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1901-1934). Philip Hale married Irene Baumgras in Berlin, Germany, July 9, 1884, the daughter of Peter Baumgras of Washington, D.C. Hale died in Boston on November 30, 1934. Hale was also the editor of Musical Record (1897-1901) and the Musical World (1901-1902) and edited or wrote introductions to various editions of music. After his death a compilation of his program notes was published: Philip Hale's Boston Symphony Programme Notes, edited by John N. Burk (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran, 1935). [Sources: "Philip Hale," The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 14 (1917): 462-463; "Philip Hale," Groves Music Online (2006)]
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Philip Hale Papers consist of .5 linear feet. The collection consists of primarily of letters and photographs. The WRITINGS series contains a notebook used by Hale during his student years at Yale University and a brief manuscript by Hale. CORRESPONDENCE contains letters written to Hale by individuals, including Walt Whitman, and letters by Hale (photocopies) to Walt Whitman. SERIES III. Contains notes in Mrs. Philip Hale's hand on her husband and other items associated with her. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA contain photographs of Hale as a child, during his student days at Yale and from his early days in Boston, as well as photographs of various homes associated with Hale. WRITINGS ON PHILIP HALE contains a few articles on Hale's writings.
Music critics-United States-Biography-Sources
lcsh
lcnaf
Hale, Irene Baumgas
Hichens, Robert Smythe, 1864-1950
Metcalf, Eleanor Melville, 1882-1964
Skinner, Henrietta Channing Dana, 1857-1928
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
series
SERIES I. WRITINGS
Notebook (commonplace book) from Hale's student days at Yale University, 1870s. Includes poetry he copied out and notes on various subjects.
Manuscript entitled, "As the World Wags," n.d. Hale comments on Thomas De Quincey.
SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE
Letter (photocopy) from Philip Hale to Walt Whitman, Exeter, N.H., 1871 Sep 14. The original is in the Library of Congress.
Letter (photocopy) from Philip Hale to Walt Whitman, New Haven, Ct., 1875 Oct 7. Hale sent Whitman a copy of the Yale Lit that contains an article about him. He also tells Whiman that he has gained faith and courage from his books and that he wishes to meet him someday.
Letter from I. S. Gardner (?) to Philip Hale, Fenway Court, n.d.
Letter from James Gibbons Huneker to Philip Hale, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1920 Oct 7.
Letter from Eleanor Melville Metcalf to Philip Hale, Wellesley Hills, [Mass.], 1921 Oct 22. Mrs. Metcalf was the daughter of Herman Melville, and she writes Hale to thank him for his articles on Melville's writings
Letter from Henrietta Dana Skinner to Philip Hale, Boston, 1912 Dec 26.
Letter from Walt Whitman to Philip Hale, Canden, N.J., [1876?] Jul 11. The letter is in response to an order from Hale to Whitman in the amount of $10 for a copy of Whiltman's book "Leaves of Grass" (Candem, N.J., 1876). (This copy supplied by Whitman is now in the Smith College Mortimer Rare Book Room.)
SERIES III. Mrs. PHILIP HALE (Irene Baumgas)
Letter from Robert Smythe Hichens to Mrs. Philip Hale, Basel, Switzerland, 1935 Oct 11. Hichens was the author of Susie's Career (London: Cassell, 1935). In the novel Hichens portrayed Hale as "Stephen Harland." In the United States the novel was published as The Pyramid, a Novel (Garden City, N.J.: The Sun Dial Press, 1936).
Postcard from Mrs. Hale to a Miss Dunham, n.d.
Miscellaneous notes in Mrs. Hale's hand, n.d.
SERIES IV. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA
Childhood photograph of Philip Hale by Moore's of Springfield, Mass., 1850s.
Boyhood photograph of Philip Hale by Ingraham Bros., Northampton, Mass., 1860s.
Tintype portrait of Philip Hale when a student at Yale University with another man, 1870s.
Philip Hale's "class picture" at Yale University by W. Notman, 1876.
Philip Hale's boyhood home in Northampton, Mass., on Round Hill, n.d. (2 separate views)
Philip Hale by W. Höffert, 1883.
Philip Hale photograph in Boston, Mass., 1890s.
"Tanglewild," Hale's summer home on Cape Cod, 1900-1930.
Robert L. Hale [Philip Hale's uncle], n.d.
Leather pocket picture case
Lock of Philip Hale's hair, June 1880
SERIES V. WRITINGS ON PHILIP HALE
Writings on Philip Hale, 1936.