William P. Bigelow (AC 1889) Papers
Scope and Contents
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).
Dates
- 1867-1941
Creator
- Bigelow, William P. (William Pingry), 1867- (AC 1889) (Person)
- James, Arthur Curtiss, 1867-1941 (AC 1889) (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
There is no restriction on access to the William P. Bigelow Papers for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.
Conditions Governing Use
Requests for permission to publish material from William P. Bigelow Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Biographical / Historical
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.
Extent
1 Linear feet (1 records storage box at B-3-1-4)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Professor of Music at Amherst. Letters, postcards, photographs, drawings, sheet music, certificates, receipts, passports, manuscripts, music programs, and other materials documenting the professional and personal life of Professor Bigelow and his wife Jane Ball Bigelow.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into five series:
- Series 1: Writings, circa 1886-1936
- Series 2: Legal Documents, 1891-1933
- Series 3: Images, circa 1885-1941
- Series 4: Correspondence, 1891-1939
- Series 5: Miscellaneous, 1887-1941
- Amherst College -- Faculty Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Bigelow, Jane Ball
- Bigelow, William P. (William Pingry), 1867- (AC 1889)
- Elwell, Levi Henry, 1854-1916
- Music -- Instruction and study Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Graham Leach-Krouse, Peter Nelson.
- Date
- 2003
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Repository Details
Part of the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Repository
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Robert Frost Library
61 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst MA 01002-5000
(413) 542-2299
archives@amherst.edu