Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Sarah Louise Dittenhaver Papers, #4179, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Transferred from the Music Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, May 1979. Received from Margaret D. Pos, October 1974.

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, June 2009

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Composers--North Carolina.
• Composition (Music)--Competitions--United States.
• Dittenhaver, Sarah Louise, 1901-1973.
• Music teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Music--Instruction and study--North Carolina.
• Piano--Instruction and study.
• Women composers--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Women music teachers--North Carolina--History--20th century.

Sarah Louise Dittenhaver (1901-1973) was a composer and piano teacher of Asheville, N.C. Dittenhaver was born in Paulding, Ohio, and was educated at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio. After graduation she taught at the Smead School for Girls, Toledo, Ohio, 1924-1927, and served as the official accompanist for the Toledo Choral Society, 1926-1927. She subsequently served as director of music in Wyandotte Schools, Wyandotte, Mich., until her move to Asheville, N.C., in 1928. Dittenhaver began seriously composing music in 1940 and was ranked as one of the top 50 American composers by the National Guild of Piano Teachers in 1967. In addition to composing, Dittenhaver taught private lessons from 1943 to 1973.

The collection is chiefly handwritten drafts of musical compositions by Sarah Louise Dittenhaver. The compositions, often successive drafts, include works for two pianos, songs, choral music, and collections of piano solos that Dittenhaver published or intended to publish as books. Also included is a small amount of correspondence relating to piano teaching and music composition contests, miscellaneous notes and printed materials, and drafts of introductory and explanatory comments for Dittenhaver's music books.