Lamar Stringfield Papers, 1917-1959

Collection Number: 03522

Collection Title: Lamar Stringfield Papers, 1917-1959

This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

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.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	27.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 3300 items)
Abstract	Lamar Stringfield (1897-1959) of North Carolina was a composer of symphonic works based on American folklore, Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship winner, conductor, flutist, teacher, and promoter of local and regional musical groups, chiefly in North Carolina. The collection contains the papers of Stringfield including correspondence, mostly 1940-1956, with colleagues and friends, poets, and dramatists with whom he collaborated, publishers, pupils, and civic leaders and patrons of the arts in North Carolina and Tennessee; typed and mimeographed books of plays, historical operas, and other works for which he composed music; scrapbooks; photographs; and miscellaneous writings for articles, speeches, and lyrics. Correspondents include Robert Russell Bennett, William Berney, Percy Goetschius, Edwin Franke Goldman, Morton Gould, Paul E. Green, Thor Johnson, Richard Korn, Ernest La Prade, Geoffrey O'Hara, Winfred Overholser, Jan Peerce, John Powell, Howard Richardson, Arthur Shepherd, and Leopold Stokowski. Topics include the development of American music; the organization of local orchestras, music groups, and concerts; fair compensation to composers for the performance of their works, including his own; flute construction and repair, along with other woodwind instruments; Stringfield's appearance as a guest artist at arts festivals and concerts in North Carolina; the development of state and regional orchestras with government aid during the early 1930s; the performance of Stringfield's works by other conductors; efforts to have certain works performed by other conductors; financial problems; and illnesses and operations. Works represented include Carolina Charcoal, Mountain Song, Mountain Blood, Sodom, Tennessee, Born Climbin', and John Henry.
Creator	Stringfield, Lamar.
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access: This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.

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 Lamar Stringfield Papers, #3522, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Purchase 1960; Addition of 1972; Addition of 1973; Addition of 1978.

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.

Expand/collapse Processing Information

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton, and Jodi Berkowitz, January 2011; Nancy Kaiser, May 2021

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.

Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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.

Expand/collapse Related Collections

Lamar Stringfield Photographic Collection (P0076)

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Lamar Stringfield (1897-1959) of North Carolina was a composer of symphonic works based on American folklore, Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship winner, conductor, flutist, teacher, and promoter of local and regional musical groups, chiefly in North Carolina.

Stringfield studied the flute for a year in Asheville, N.C., and then in New York, where he studied under George Barrere, Percy Goetschius, Franklin Robinson, and George Wedge. He studied composition in Paris, France with Nadia Boulanger in 1928, and conducting with Chalmers Clifton and Henry Hadley. He received the Pulitizer Traveling Fellowship award for From the Southern Mountains in 1928; played and conducted with music ensembles and symphony orchestras in New York until 1930; promoted the organization of the Institute of Folk Music the University of North Carolina in 1930; organized and directed the North Carolina Symphony, 1932-1935; was associate conductor, Radio City Music Hall, 1938-1939; was a lecturer on American folk music at Juilliard Summer School, 1939-1941; taught composition and orchestration at Claremeont College, summer 1942; was musical director of the Knoxville Symphony, 1946-1947; was conductor of the Symphonette of Charlotte, 1948-1949; and was musical director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, 1948-1949.

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection contains the papers of Lamar Stingfield (1897-1959) including correspondence, mostly 1940-1956, with colleagues and friends, poets, and dramatists with whom he collaborated, publishers, pupils, and civic leaders and patrons of the arts in North Carolina and Tennessee; typed and mimeographed books of plays, historical operas, and other works for which he composed music; scrapbooks; photographs; and miscellaneous writings for articles, speeches, and lyrics. Correspondents include Robert Russell Bennett, William Berney, Percy Goetschius, Edwin Franke Goldman, Morton Gould, Paul E. Green, Thor Johnson, Richard Korn, Ernest La Prade, Geoffrey O'Hara, Winfred Overholser, Jan Peerce, John Powell, Howard Richardson, Arthur Shepherd, and Leopold Stokowski. Topics include the development of American music; the organization of local orchestras, music groups, and concerts; fair compensation to composers for the performance of their work, including his own; flute construction and repair, along with other woodwind instruments; Stringfield's appearance as a guest artist at arts festivals and concerts in North Carolina; the development of state and regional orchestras with government aid during the early 1930s; the performance of Stringfield's works by other conductors; efforts to have certain works performed by other conductors; financial problems; and illnesses and operations. Works represented include Carolina Charcoal, Mountain Song, Mountain Blood, Sodom, Tennessee, Born Climbin', and John Henry.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

1. Correspondence, 1921-1959 and undated.
2. Programs, Scripts, and Writings, 1931-1957 and undated.
Oversize Papers.
Additions
Addition of 1973, 1927-1958 and undated.
Addition of 1978, 1917-1954 and undated.

Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1921-1959 and undated.

Arrangement: chronological.

The series contains correspondence of Lamar Stringfield, chiefly 1940-1956, with colleagues and friends, poets, and dramatists with whom he collaborated, publishers, pupils, and civic leaders and patrons of the arts in North Carolina and Tennessee. Correspondents include Robert Russell Bennett, William Berney, Percy Goetschius, Edwin Franke Goldman, Morton Gould, Paul E. Green, Thor Johnson, Richard Korn, Ernest La Prade, Geoffrey O'Hara, Winfred Overholser, Jan Peerce, John Powell, Howard Richardson, Arthur Shepherd, and Leopold Stokowski. Topics include the development of American music; the organization of local orchestras, music groups, and concerts; fair compensation to composers for the performance of their works, including his own; flute construction and repair, along with other woodwind instruments; Stringfield's appearance as a guest artist at arts festivals and concerts in North Carolina; the development of state and regional orchestras with goverment aid during the early 1930s; the performance of Stringfield's works by other conductors; efforts to get certain works performed by other conductors; financial problems; and illnesses and operations.

Folder 1a	Original finding aid
Folder 1	1921, 1926-1928
Folder 2	1931-1934
Folder 3	January-February 1935
Folder 4	March 1935-1939
Folder 5-6 Folder 5 Folder 6	1940
Folder 7	1941
Folder 8	January-July 1942
Folder 9	August 1942-December 1943
Folder 10-11 Folder 10 Folder 11	1944
Folder 12-14 Folder 12 Folder 13 Folder 14	1945
Folder 15-16 Folder 15 Folder 16	1946
Folder 17-19 Folder 17 Folder 18 Folder 19	1947
Folder 20a-20c	1948
Folder 21-22 Folder 21 Folder 22	1949
Folder 23-26 Folder 23 Folder 24 Folder 25 Folder 26	1950
Folder 27-35 Folder 27 Folder 28 Folder 29 Folder 30 Folder 31 Folder 32 Folder 33 Folder 34 Folder 35	1951
Folder 36-42 Folder 36 Folder 37 Folder 38 Folder 39 Folder 40 Folder 41 Folder 42	1952
Folder 43-49 Folder 43 Folder 44 Folder 45 Folder 46 Folder 47 Folder 48 Folder 49	1953
Folder 50-53 Folder 50 Folder 51 Folder 52 Folder 53	1954
Folder 54-56 Folder 54 Folder 55 Folder 56	1955
Folder 57-58 Folder 57 Folder 58	1956
Folder 59a	1957
Folder 59b-59d	1958-January 1959
Folder 60	Undated

Expand/collapse Series 2. Programs, Scripts, and Writings, 1931-1957 and undated.

The series contains programs, scripts, and related materials for Carolina Charcoal, The Mountain Song, Mountain Blood, Sodom, Tennessee, and Born Climbin'; as well as a biography, bibliography, photographs, clippings, programs, and other writings by and related to Lamar Stringfield.

Folder 61	Biography, bibliography, and pictures
Folder 62a	Programs Duplicates from [programs belonging to Lamar Springfield] in the North Carolina Collection, FFVCB S91s.
Folder 62b	Plans for a Society of American Symphony Orchestras
Folder 62c	Collected programs and bulletins
Folder 62d	Clippings: 1926-1950
Box 24	Carolina Charcoal
	Carolina Charcoal: synopsis
	Carolina Charcoal: lyrics
	Carolina Charcoal: script, 1953
Folder 113	Carolina Charcoal: Back Home
Folder 114	Carolina Charcoal: scripts Several scripts are annotated.
Folder 115	Carolina Charcoal: addition of 10 February 1973
Folder 63	"The Mountain Song": Stringfield
Folder 64	"Mountain Blood": Stringfield and Compere
Folder 65	"Sodom, Tennessee": Richardson and Berney
Folder 66	"Born Climbin'": Jacob and Stringfield
Folder 67	Miscellaneous writings, circa 1931-1957 Correspondence, articles, and other writings by Stringfield, including material related to a patent on a ruler proposed by Stringfield.
Image Folder PF-3522/1-10 PF-3522/1 PF-3522/2 PF-3522/3 PF-3522/4 PF-3522/5 PF-3522/6 PF-3522/7 PF-3522/8 PF-3522/9 PF-3522/10	Photographs

Expand/collapse Oversize Papers.

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-3522/1

Oversize papers

Expand/collapse Additions

Expand/collapse Addition of 1973, 1927-1958 and undated.

The series includes correspondence, programs, clippings, letters, and postcards from Stringfield to Richard Korn, sheet music, and secretary's notebooks. The correspondence is chiefly between Stringfield and his wife Caroline, along with correspondence between Caroline and her parents T. B and Annie O. Crawford.

Folder 68	Correspondence, 1927
Folder 69	Chronological series: Faison, 1928
Folder 70-71 Folder 70 Folder 71	Correspondence, 1928
Folder 72-74 Folder 72 Folder 73 Folder 74	Correspondence, 1929
Folder 75-80 Folder 75 Folder 76 Folder 77 Folder 78 Folder 79 Folder 80	Correspondence, 1930
Folder 81-84 Folder 81 Folder 82 Folder 83 Folder 84	Correspondence, 1931
Folder 85-86 Folder 85 Folder 86	Correspondence, 1932
Folder 87-89 Folder 87 Folder 88 Folder 89	Correspondence, 1933
Folder 90-91 Folder 90 Folder 91	Correspondence, 1934
Folder 92-93 Folder 92 Folder 93	Correspondence, 1935
Folder 94	Correspondence, 1936
Folder 95	Correspondence, 1937-1938
Folder 96	Correspondence, 1941-1958
Folder 97-100 Folder 97 Folder 98 Folder 99 Folder 100	Correspondence, Undated
Folder 101	Miscellaneous Programs, insurance books, and one drawing.
Folder 102	Clippings
Folder 103-104 Folder 103 Folder 104	Korn addition, 23 January 1973 Letters and postcards from Stringfield to Richard Korn, along with clippings, leaflets, and letters from other individuals regarding Stringfield's work. Items are dated 1945-1964, with bulk in 1953-1957.
Folder 105	Gift of L. P. Wood, 10 February 1973 Five pieces of sheet music for "When the Little Birds Sing," "The City of My Dreams," "Barbara Allen," "Honk Your Horn," and "Roaming On."
Folder 106-107 Folder 106 Folder 107	Items from the music library, 13 April 1973 Clippings; undated article on "The Legend of John Henry;" article on Society of American Orchestras, 4 June 1940; and correspondence 15 January 1940-16 April 1941.
Folder 108	Postcards: Lamar Stringfield to Richard Korn, 1956
Folder 109	Secretary's notebook and loose notes
Folder 110	Record of wedding gifts
Folder 111-112 Folder 111 Folder 112	Empty envelopes Mrs. Oates' addition of 9 January 1973. Majority of envelopes are addressed to Lamar Stringfield.

Expand/collapse Addition of 1978, 1917-1954 and undated.

The series primarily contains scripts, scores and programs of Stringfield along with music by other composers, notebooks, and scrapbooks.

Box 10a	Music units 1-8 Contains About Dixie, After Midnight, An American Humoresque, Asheville Kiwanis March, Bad Blood Blues, Berceuse, Blue Mountain Girl, Born Climbin', and Carolina Charcoal.
Box 10b	Music units 9-16 Contains Dance of the Frogs, A Doll's Lullaby, Echoes from the Mountains, Elegy, The Factory, Fly Low, Vermillion Dragon, From a Negro Boy, and From the Blue Ridge.
Box 11a	Music units 17-25 Contains From the Southern Mountains, Georgia Buck, My Heart is Heavy, If I Had Time, In Lindy's Cabin, Indian Sketches, Introductin and Scherzo, D' Jedg'mint Day, and Lament.
Box 11b	Music units 26-28 Contains The Legend of John Henry, Moods of a Moonshiner, and The Moon.
Box 12a	Music units 29-30 Contains Mountain Sketches and Mountain Dawn.
Box 12b	Music units 31-33 Contains Mountain Echoes, The Mountain Song, and My Lonely Flute.
Box 13a	Music units 34a-34b Contains A Negro Parade.
Box 13b	Music units 35-37 Contains The Nightingale, The Ole Swimmin' Hole, and On a Moonbeam.
Box 14a	Music units 38-41 Contains Peace, Praying for the Peace, Romance, and The Seventh Queue.
Box 14b	Music units 42a-42b Contains Shout Freedom.
Box 15a	Music units 43-52 Contains Blue Mountain Girl, Sodom, Tennessee, Squaw Dance, Tango, The Three Ravens, Thunderland Music, To a Star, Tonight, Travel, Virginia Dare Dance, and Xmas 1948.
Box 15b	Music units 53-55 Contains music by other composers, notebooks, and other materials.
Box 16a	Music units 56-62 Contains Aeolik Fragment, After Midnight, Blue Mountain Girl, Carolina Charcaol, From a Negro Melody, Georgia Buck, Hark the Sound, and Honk Yore Horn.
Box 16b	Music units 63a-63b Contains Indian Sketches.
Box 17a	Music units 64-65f Contains The Lost Colony and Moods of a Moonshiner
Box 17b	Music units 65g-68 Contains Mountain Sketches, The Mountain Song, and Peace.
Box 18a	Music units 69-73 Contains The Seventh Queue, Shout Freedom, Shroud my Body Down, Thunderland Music, and To a Star.
Box 18b	Music units 74-77 Contains Tread the Green Grass, Prayer, music by other composers, and other materials.
Box 19	Born Climbin'
	Carolina Charcoal
Box 20	John Henry
	Thunderland
	Finger
	Frolic
Box 21	Volume 1: Scrapbook, 1917, 1923-1929
	Volume 2: Scrapbook, 1919-1928
	Volume 3: Scrapbook, 1920, 1927, 1930, 1934-1935, 1939-1945
	Volume 4: Scrapbook, 1927-1929
	Volume 5: Scrapbook, 1930-1939, 1941
	Volume 6: Scrapbook, 1931-1935
	Volume 7: Scrapbook, 1931-1934
	Volume 8: Scrapbook, 1931-1934
	Volume 9: Scrapbook, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1939
Box 22	Volume 10: Scrapbook, 1932-1935
	Volume 11: Scrapbook, 1932, 1935
	Volume 12: Scrapbook, 1935
	Volume 13: Scrapbook, 1935, Miami Symphony
	Volume 14: Scrapbook, 1941
	Volume 15: Scrapbook, 1942, 1947
	Volume 16: Scrapbook, 1947-1948, Charlotte Symphony
	Volume 17: Scrapbook, 1948, 1952
	Volume 18: Scrapbook, 1949, Charlotte Symphony
	Volume 19: Scrapbook, 1950-1951
Box 23	Volume 20: Scrapbook, 1951
	Volume 21: Scrapbook, 1954
	Volumes 22-23: Programs, 1925-1934

Expand/collapse Items Separated

Photographs (PF-3522/1-10)
Oversize papers (OPF-3522/1)

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Collection Number: 03522 Collection Title: Lamar Stringfield Papers, 1917-1959

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Expand/collapse Information For Users

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Expand/collapse Subject Headings

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Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series Quick Links

Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1921-1959 and undated.

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Folder 48

Folder 49

Folder 50

Folder 51

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Folder 57

Folder 58

Expand/collapse Series 2. Programs, Scripts, and Writings, 1931-1957 and undated.

PF-3522/1

PF-3522/2

PF-3522/3

PF-3522/4

PF-3522/5

PF-3522/6

PF-3522/7

PF-3522/8

PF-3522/9

PF-3522/10

Expand/collapse Oversize Papers.

Expand/collapse Additions

Expand/collapse Addition of 1973, 1927-1958 and undated.

Folder 70

Folder 71

Folder 72

Collection Number: 03522

Collection Title: Lamar Stringfield Papers, 1917-1959