Mary Louise Curtis Bok / Settlement Music School collection (MSS 39)

Collection

Identifier: MSS39

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of a scrapbook, administrative records, photographs, and miscelleneous materials that document the history of Philadelphia's Settlement Music School during Mary Louise Curtis Bok's tenure as president.

Dates

Creation: 1912-1968

Creator

Zimbalist, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, 1876-1970 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Biographical / Historical

The Settlement Music School in Philadelphia was founded in 1908 by Jeanette Selig Frank and Blanche Wolf Kohn. Mary Louise Curtis Bok served as President of the Board from 1914 to 1923. During her tenure she also donated funds for a larger building on Queen Street (opened in 1917) and helped to organize a conservatory department at the school in 1922. It was this conservatory department which would become the nucleus of the Curtis Institute of Music, founded by Bok in 1924. Despite the creation of her own musical conservatory, Bok continued to support the Settlement Music School throughout her life.

Extent

2.1 Linear feet ((1) archival box and (1) photo box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series: 1. Scrapbook 2. Correspondence and administrative records 3. Programs, clippings, and miscellaneous materials 4. Photographs 5. Directories, constitutions, and bylaws

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The materials were found among the papers of Mary Louise Curtis Bok at the Curtis Institute of Music.

Related Materials

Correspondence relating to the Settlement School can be found in the Founders Papers (AD 1). Other materials printed for the school may be found in the Mary Bok charity printed materials (MSS 47).