- Ruth Etting
Ruth Etting (1897-1978), a native of David City, NE, left Nebraska for Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles to become a "torch singer", recording artist, Ziegfeld girl, and movie star. The archives contain videorecordings, sheet music, recordings (LP's, cassette tapes, and reel-to-reel tapes), photographs, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, scrapbooks, and correspondence which chronicle her career in the 1920's and 30's. An online display is also available. Photographs and sheet music covers from the collection are digitized and available through CONTENTdm here. Sheet music in the collection is cataloged in the University Libraries' catalog and available here. - George "Pee Wee" Erwin
George "Pee Wee" Erwin (1913-1981), born in Falls City, NE, was a prominent trumpeter in the 1930's and 40's playing with such men as Joe Haymes (1931-3), Isham Jones (1933-4), and Tommy Dorsey (1937-9). The collection housed in the music library consists mainly of jazz charts and reel-to-reel and cassette tape recordings made throughout his career. Some tapes have been digitized and preserved; they are cataloged in the University Libraries' catalog and available here. - Emily Dickinson
The Music Library houses a portion of the Carlton Lowenberg Collection which includes musical settings of Emily Dickinson's poetry and related documents. Records of scores cataloged that are part of this collection are available here.
There are also special collections for several former School of Music faculty:
- Willard Kimball
Willard Kimball (1854-1939) was the founder of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln School of Music and its first director (1894-1909). Kimball's papers, books, scrapbooks, and personal effects are housed in the Music Library. Of special interest are papers pertaining to Kimball's involvement in the formation of the School of Music as a private institution and then his activities in support of its subsequent purchase and annexation to the University of Nebraska. - John Mahard Rosborough
The papers, books, and personal effects of John M. Rosborough (1878-1969), head of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln School of Music Theory Department (1910-1919) and then Dean of the School of Music (1919-1929), have been donated to the Music Library. While on the faculty of the School of Music, John Rosborough organized a choral group known as the "Great Cathedral Choir," which toured extensively during the thirties and attained a national reputation for its excellence. Much of the collection is concerned with the choir, its members, and its repertoire. The papers and books of John Rosborough represent a large segment of the history of Lincoln's and the University's musical life. Two items in Rosborough's personal library which were donated to the Music Library and are of particular interest are a copy of Jean Philippe Rameau's Traite de l'harmonie (Paris, 1722) and Vincenzio Panerai's Principii di musica (Firenze, ca. 1800). These are now shelved in the Rokahr Family Archive. - Wilbur Chenoweth
Wilbur Chenoweth (1899-1980), American composer and a Nebraska native, attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and taught in the School of Music from 1925 to 1931 as a professor of piano, organ, and theory. He moved to Santa Monica, CA in 1938 and was professor at the Occidental College from 1938 to 1945. The Music Library has a collection of his compositions including conductor's scores and parts and compositional sketches. There are also four cassette tapes of his orchestral works, "Fiesta" and "Variations on Lobe den Herren." - Emanuel Wishnow
Emanuel Wishnow (1910-1994) joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1933 as a violin instructor and in 1941 became the conductor of the University Symphony. He served as the director of the School of Music (1958-1972), when he oversaw the development of Westbrook Music Building and Kimball Recital Hall. He retired in 1975. The Music Library has a collection of papers, photographs, and memorabilia from his estate, including class notes and other information regarding his activities while at the University.
