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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 2497

Phillips Barry collection of songs and ballads from Maine

Overview

19th and 20th-century songs and ballads collected from the state of Maine by American ballad scholar, Phillips Barry.

Dates

  • Creation: 1843-1935

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.

Extent

.5 linear feet (1 box)

Includes autograph manuscript transcripts of ballads and autograph music notation of songs, compiled in the state of Maine between 1843 and 1935. Transcribers include: Lewis Pierce, Rosallie S. Wood, and Susie Carr Young. These notebooks apparently then were collected by Philliips Barry.

Biographical / Historical

Phillips Barry (1880-1937) was an American ballad scholar. He studied folklore, theology and classical and medieval literature at Harvard and founded the Folk-Song Society of the North-East and edited its Bulletin from 1930 until his death. He collected mainly in New England and collaborated with scholars in Vermont and Maine. (from: Grove Music Online)

Physical Location

HD

Immediate Source of Acquisition

54M-226F. Gift of Mrs. Phillips Barry, Cambridge, Massachusetts; received: 1955 March 29.

Processing Information

Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt

Title
Barry, Phillips, 1880-1937, collector. Phillips Barry collection of songs and ballads from Maine, 1843-1935: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01932

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440