Music Collection
The Stewart-Swift Research Center’s Music Collection contains thousands of items in various formats, such as sheet music and scores, music books, songsters, and broadsides, playbills, programs, trade catalogs and cards. Most of the music items are printed, although there are some significant holographic (hand-written) pieces. Many of the materials were collected by Henry Sheldon, the Museum’s founder during the 19th century. The majority of the Music Collection dates from the 1850s to the 1900s, with the entire breadth dating from 1716 through the 1980s.
The Music Collection encompasses both sacred and secular music of the 18th through 20th centuries. This includes hymns, tune books, popular and classical music scores, songsters, and lyrics-only broadsides. A particular strength of the collection is its connection to local organizations and families in Middlebury, Addison County, and Vermont. The collection documents American popular and traditional secular song during the 19th century with such subjects as national events and movements, politics, military and Civil War, romance, ethnic groups, and popular trends.
The collection also includes music-related performance materials such as playbills, programs, and posters for musical events. These detail a wide variety of traveling shows, often with performer names and repertoire. Of particular interest are items related to blackface minstrel shows of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Local performers and organizations are also represented with performances in local theaters, town halls, schools, churches, and other venues. Among the items relating to the business and music trade are trade catalogs documenting commercial music products, and trade cards and business cards advertising local and national goods and services.
How to Find
Some music materials, such as sheet music, music books, songsters, and manuscripts can be found in the online catalog. These include individual manuscript collections of personal and family papers and businesses containing music or music-related materials. The Ephemera Collection contains broadsides, playbills, programs, posters, trade catalogs, trade cards, and business cards. Ephemera items are accessible in person through the Research Center and are organized by subject. An inventory will soon be available.
Ilsley’s March by T.L. Eells, 1908