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KATHERINE H. KENDRICK, Secretary : 1912 - 1920 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT SCRAPBOOK OF PRINTED, TYPED AND HANDWRITTEN PAGES, DETAILING THE BEGINNINGS OF A SCHOOL ORCHESTRA COMPOSED OF MEMBERS FROM A MAINE SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN OF TROUBLED FAMILIES

8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. On offer is an magnificent and comprehensive scrapbook, documenting in impressive detail the beginnings of the Good Will Orchestra, a music ensemble made up of students from the Good Will Grammar School, a school in Hinckley, Somerset County, Maine, dedicated to providing assistance to students of indigent and troubled families. The book covers the time period of roughly 1912-1920. The book is a hodgepodge of various different forms: dozens of pages of what appears to be an official printed copy of the history of the orchestra, titled the ‘Good Will Record’; handwritten secretary notes of the Orchestra’s rehearsals including notes on where and when the orchestra met, what pieces were rehearsed, and who was present at the rehearsal; attendance sheets for the students in the orchestra; typed and handwritten letters relating to the orchestra and a trip taken to Boston; typed pages of recitals given over the course of a few years; and many photographs of individual students and group photos of the whole orchestra together, almost all of which contain notes on when the photograph was taken and who is in it. There is a tremendous amount of information contained within. Not just for the students who took part, but for a well preserved time capsule of the type of music and performance in the early part of the 20th century. One particularly fascinating 23-page section seems to give the entirety of the songs (and composers), waltzes, operas, overtures, phonograph records, ‘sacred music’, and more amounting to 150+ different compositions. The book itself is in good condition. The front and back cover show some discoloration and wear and the half leather binding is somewhat frayed. None of the pages inside the book are bound, so the covers serve as protection and not structure. Most of the pages inside are in good to very good condition. There are some pages that show some damage from being folded, but they are few and far between. The handwriting is easily legible and readable throughout, in slightly faded black ink. OVERALL: G. Text: “Sept. 22, 1919. The fourth rehearsal of the Good Will Orchestra was head at Moody Hall, directly after school closed. Altho the attendance was small, there was a good spirit, and we all felt that something had been accomplished. We started in earnest to learn the amarch ‘Imperial Swords,’ and repeated faithfully the difficult parts, so that we played it acceptably at chapel the next morning. The two selections, ‘Chansonette,’ and ‘Cavalry March’ were reviewed carefully and improvement was shown. Several pieces were reviewed, ‘An Old-Time Dance,’ ‘German Song,’ ‘Gavotte,’ in the little brown books. The orchestra decided that whoever is tardy at a rehearsal is fined two cents, whoever is absent is fined five cents. Katherine H. Kendrick. Rec. Sec.” (Background: Good Will-Hinckley is a charitable organization in Fairfield, Maine. Organized in 1889 by George W. Hinckley, the membership-driven organization is dedicated to providing assistance to indigent and troubled families. It has a campus of more than 1,800 acres (730 ha) in Fairfield, on which it operates the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, a boarding and day school focused on agricultural and outdoor education, and the Glenn Stratton Learning Center, a day treatment school focused on children with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. It is also home to the L. C. Bates Museum, one of the oldest natural history museums in Maine.). Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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