Sam DeVincent loved music and art and began collecting sheet music with lithographs at an early age.
Series 2: Armed Forces contains circa 3,400 pieces of sheet music and song folios documenting the military history of the United States; there are only a handful of foreign imprints.
An overview to the entire DeVincent collection is available here: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music.
Scope and Contents note:
The Armed Forces series contains circa 3,400 pieces of sheet music and song folios documenting the military history of the United States; there are only a handful of foreign imprints. The World War I subseries (2.4) is particularly impressive with circa 1,150 items. The Post-World War II subseries (2.6) is very small. Some additional military items can be found in the DeVincent file for Presidents of the United States.
The illustrated covers offer the military historian fine portraits of well-known officers, visual evidence about uniforms and other military regalia, and dramatic portrayals of battle scenes. The series also contains material of interest to the social and cultural historian as well as the musicologist. The changing character of the songs indicates something about the accepted public face of different eras--from the Civil War's anguished songs of youthful death to the World War II songs of near denial of the possibility of death; from the Civil War's primary relationship of the soldier boy to his mother to a World War II emphasis upon the relationship of the young service man to his girlfriend.
The material dates from circa 1810 to 1983. Many early imprints are in the armed forces series, subseries 2.1--Pre-Civil War. Most pre-1840 imprints are not dated. Estimates have been made for the dates of many early imprints by checking publisher and address of the publisher in the "Index of Publishers, Engravers and Printers" in volume III of Richard Wolfe's Secular Music in America 1801-1825: A Bibliography and in Oscar Sonneck's A Bibliography of Early Secular American Music. Several sheets that appear to be very old could not be dated by this method.
The Ephemera file, arranged in the same subseries as the sheet music, is described after the subseries. The armed forces ephemera file is placed in two document boxes numbered with the same series and subseries numbers as the sheet music.
The seven subseries in the armed forces series are arranged chronologically except for the last subseries, Naval History. These subseries includes: 2.1 Pre-Civil War; 2.2 Civil War; 2.3 Pre-World War I; 2.4 World War I; 2.5 World War II; 2.6 Post-World War II; 2.7 Naval History; 2.8 Marine Corps.
Arrangement:
Arranged in 9 subseries.
2.1: Pre-Civil War
2.2: Civil War
2.3: Pre-World War I
2.4: World War I
2.5: World War II
2.6: Post -World War
2.7: Naval History
2.8: Marine Corps
2.9: Ephemera
Materials in Other Organizations:
Sam DeVincent Collection of American Sheet Music, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
This collection contains duplicates of materials in the Smithsonian collection, as well as materials acquired by Mr. DeVincent after the donation to the Smithsonian. The phonograph records described above were transferred to the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History:
Donald J. Stubblebine Collection of Musical Theater and Motion Picture Sheet Music and Reference Material, 1843-2010 (AC1211)
Forms Part Of:
Series 2: Armed Forces forms part of the
Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music
.
An ongoing, updated list of DeVincent topical series is available via the Smithsonian finding aid portal.
Series 2: Armed Forces forms part of the Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music .
Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music
Series 1: Transportation
Series 2: Armed Forces
Series 3: African-American Music
Series 4: Songwriters Volumes I and II
Series 5: Politics and Political Movements
Series 6: Moving Pictures and Movie Stars
Series 7: Sports
Series 8: Geography
Series 9: Domestic and Community Life
Series 10: Sacred Music and Religious Themes
Series 11: Entertainment
Series 12: Plants and Animals
Series 13: Agriculture, Business, and Law
Series 14: Calendar, Time, and Weather
Series 15: Holidays and Celebrations
Series 16: Country, Western, and Folk Music
Series 17: The Human Condition, Physical, Mental, Behavioral
Series 18: Dance
Series 19: Art and Literature
Series 20: Newspapers
Series 21: Musical Instruments
Provenance:
This collection was purchased by the Smithsonian Institution in 1988 from Sam and Nancy Lee DeVincent.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Citation:
The Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Folder 3 School of Mines, University of Missouri - Schroter, L.
Container:
Box 112 of 154
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Restrictions:
Inquiries related to specimens should be directed to the appropriate museum registrar.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 189, Smithsonian Institution, Assistant Secretary in charge of the United States National Museum, Correspondence and Memoranda
Sam DeVincent loved music and art and began collecting sheet music with lithographs at an early age.
Series 11: Entertainment contains more than 12,500 pieces of sheet music and other materials documenting the development of and popular attitudes towards entertainers and entertainment in the United States.
An overview to the entire DeVincent collection is available here: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music.
Scope and Contents note:
Series 11, Entertainment, 1841-1986, undated, contains more than 12,500 pieces of sheet music and other materials documenting the development of and popular attitudes towards entertainers and entertainment in the United States. Note that movies and some musical entertainment are also covered in Series 6, Moving Pictures and Movie Stars, and in Series 16, Country, Western, and Folk Music. Blind musicians and performers are in Series 17. The materials are arranged by subject, with ephemera arranged in the same subseries as the sheet music and described following the container list. The ephemera has been placed in eighteen document boxes. News articles about Elvis Presley form a large part of this section.
Material related to this series within the DeVincent Collection may be found in Series 4, Songwriters; Series 6, Moving Pictures and Movie Stars; Series 16, Country, Western, and Folk Music; and in the as yet unprocessed Musical Instruments section.
Arrangement note:
Arranged in 18 subseries.
11.1: Early Troupes & Bandmasters
11.2: Dance Bands and Orchestras
11.3: Novelty Bands
11.4: Male Singers (Individual)
11.5: Female Singers (Individual)
11.6: Duos and Groups (Male and Mixed)
11.7: Female Duos and Groups
11.8: Child Entertainers
11.9: Male and Female Impersonators
11.10: Actors and Comedians
11.11: Theater
11.12: Jukebox, Nickelodeon
11.13: Phonographs and Sound Recordings
11.14: Radio, Transistor, Wireless
11.15: Television
11.16: Circus, Fair, Zoo
11.17: Rock and Roll
11.18: Ephemera
Materials in Other Organizations:
Sam DeVincent Collection of American Sheet Music, Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
This collection contains duplicates of materials in the Smithsonian collection, as well as materials acquired by Mr. DeVincent after the donation to the Smithsonian. The phonograph records described above were transferred to the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History:
Donald J. Stubblebine Collection of Musical Theater and Motion Picture Sheet Music and Reference Material, 1843-2010 (AC1211)
Forms Part Of:
Series 11: Entertainment forms part of the
Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music
.
An ongoing, updated list of DeVincent topical series is available via the Smithsonian finding aid portal.
Provenance:
This collection was purchased by the Smithsonian Institution in 1988 from Sam and Nancy Lee DeVincent.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Citation:
The Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
The collection includes 193 slides taken by Marilyn Heldman in Ethiopia in the 1960s and 1970s. Subjects include architecture, art objects, marketplaces, pottery, reliefs and cultures including the Bamileke, Fulani, Hausa, Oyo and Yoruba peoples.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes 193 slides taken by Marilyn Heldman in the 1960s and 1970s. Many of the photos were taken during fieldwork in Northern Ethiopia, supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities post-doctorate fellowship (1973-1974), or while working as a Curatorial Associate at the Museum of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia (1966-1967). Subjects include architecture, art objects, marketplaces, pottery, reliefs and cultures including the Bamileke, Fulani, Hausa, Oyo and Yoruba peoples.
Biographical / Historical:
Marilyn Heldman is an Adjunct Professor of Art History at American University (Washington, D.C.). Published in such journals as the Journal of Religion in Africa, African Arts and Northeast African Studies, Heldman has also written numerous books, notably African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia (1993) (cowritten with Stuart C. Munro-Hay). Heldman received a post-doctorate fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts to complete field work in Northern Ethiopia (1973-1974). She has also held positions as Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Missouri at St. Louis and Curatorial Associate at the Museum of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies at the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia (1966-1967).
Restrictions:
Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
Rights:
Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
