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The
Hoagy
Carmichael
Room
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Collection Overview
The Hoagy Carmichael Collection
represents the largest holding of materials pertaining to Hoagy Carmichael
available anywhere in the world. This digital collection will ultimately
be comprised of materials from three different sources at Indiana University
Bloomington. As of November 1999, however, only materials from the Archives
of Traditional Music have been digitized. See the What's
New section of this site for additional information and updates as
new materials are added.
Lilly Library : The
Lilly Library at Indiana University has a total of 56 items in its Hoagy Carmichael
Collection. The Carmichael manuscripts, 1921-1955, consist of letters, papers,
and music. Correspondents represented in the collection include Bix Biederbecke,
Dwight David Eisenhower, Bob Hope, William Ezra Jenner, Richard Milhous
Nixon, Don Redman, and Herman B. Wells. Music consists of six original
music manuscripts and eighty-four pieces of published sheet music. Judge
Ora L. Wildermuth of Gary, Indiana donated the bulk of the printed sheet
music to the Lilly Library in 1957.
Indiana University Archives
: The IU Archives has approximately 70 photographs and 200 pieces
of correspondence, newspaper articles, and News Bureau releases. Most
of the correspondence is related to IU. Articles include extensive biographical
information and information on Carmichael's family.
Archives of Traditional
Music : This collection
includes music manuscripts, lyric sheets, sound recordings, films and
videos, photographs, correspondence, scrapbooks, typescripts, and other
memorabilia, totaling more than 3,500 items. The Hoagy Carmichael Collection
consists of materials that were in his personal collection, items donated
by his family, and items pertaining to Carmichael donated by others--researchers,
musicians and collectors--from the 1970s to the present.
Sound Recordings
The Archives houses over
750 sound recordings that feature Hoagy Carmichael as a composer or
performer. The recordings, dating from the 1920s-1970s, include commercial
discs and non-commercial field recordings on disc, wire, cassette, and
reel to reel tape. The field recordings include test pressings, interviews,
and Carmichael's performances at informal gatherings.
Films and Videos
Films in the collection include
excerpts from To Have and Have Not, Lazybones, and Hong Kong Blues,
as well as home movies made from 1937-1955. Also included are an episode
from Carmichael's television series, Hoagy Carmichael's Music Shop,
and an unreleased, filmed interview of Carmichael made by his son, Hoagy
Bix, in 1979.
Music
Over 350 music sketches,
manuscripts, and sheet music publications, representing approximately
200 different compositions, are housed at the Archives. Manuscripts
include original holographs and those in various copyists' hands. There
are ninety-two sketches in Carmichael's handwriting and several examples
of his arrangements of other composers' works.
Lyric
Sheets
Lyric sheets include lyrics
by Carmichael himself, by well-known collaborators, and by aspiring
writers seeking advice from, or collaboration with, Carmichael. Many
examples include comments, additions, and corrections in his hand. There
are lyric sheets for 465 different songs, plus variants for 150 of that number.
Photographs
The Hoagy Carmichael Collection
has over 1000 photographs and negatives. A large number are of Carmichael's
family, including his grandparents, parents, children, siblings, and
their respective families. The photograph collection also contains Hollywood
publicity shots, formal and informal portraits of Carmichael, and pictures
of fellow musicians and friends.
Scrapbooks
and Newspaper Clippings
Georgia Maxwell created four
scrapbooks devoted to her brother that consist primarily of journal
articles and newspaper clippings arranged chronologically from the 1930s
to the 1980s. The Archives now has two additional boxes of photocopied
newspaper clippings covering the same years.
Correspondence and Papers
Approximately 250 letters,
dated from 1925-1979, are included in the collection. The most extensive
correspondence is that between Carmichael and Howard (Wad) Allen. Other
notable correspondents are Dave Kapp of Decca Records, Georgia Maxwell,
Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon. Additional pages include Carmichael's
autobiographical notes and contracts between Carmichael and the Starr
Piano Company for his earliest recordings on the Gennett label.
Typescripts
Among the typescripts are
two bound drafts for Jazzbanders, which later became Carmichael's first
memoir, The Stardust Road. The Archives also houses two drafts for Carmichael's
second memoir, Sometimes I Wonder, co-written by Stephen Longstreet.
Drafts of the latter include copious annotations in Carmichael's handwriting.
In addition, the typescript collection contains several scripts for
movie and television shows in which Carmichael appeared.
Personal Effects
Personal effects consist
of items of clothing, furniture, musical instruments, awards, and artwork,
including five oil paintings by Carmichael.
Miscellaneous
Research Materials
The Archives houses additional
research materials related to Hoagy Carmichael: biographical sketches,
bibliographies, and discographies, donated by researchers and fellow
musicians, as well as genealogical materials donated by the Carmichael
Family, and unpublished poetry and short stories written by his mother.
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