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COLLECTION Identifier: MC 266

Papers of Mabel Wheeler Daniels, 1884-1971

Overview

Correspondence, musical scores, notebook, photographs, etc., of Mabel W. Daniels, composer.

Dates

  • 1884-1971

Access Restrictions:

Access. Collection is open for research. An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Mabel Wheeler Daniels as well as copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

3.34 linear feet ((8 file boxes) plus 1 folio folder, 1 folio+ folder, 1 audiotape)

Scope and Contents

The papers of Mabel Wheeler Daniels include correspondence, musical compositions, scrapbooks, and photographs. The correspondence spans her entire career; most of the letters, both professional and personal, concern her work. Besides detailing her career, the correspondence illuminates her friendship with Marian MacDowell, her participation in the MacDowell Colony, and the financial help she gave to music students and to institutions, especially Radcliffe College. The musical compositions begin with The Fairy Charm Waltz, written at the age of ten, and continue through her many operettas, choral works, and symphonies, and end with her last composition, Piper, Play on! (1961). Not all her works are included here, but the manuscript card file (Box 7) lists them both chronologically and alphabetically and includes information on publication or performance of some works.

The scrapbooks reflect Daniels's school days and social life (1884-1910) and her musical accomplishments (1910-1935). They contain some correspondence; many programs, tickets and invitations; stories and poems by Daniels and others; and newsclippings about Daniels, her friends and her compositions. The small group of photographs consists mainly of portraits of Daniels. Also included are a group of photographs from the dedication of Daniels Hall, Radcliffe College, 1966; and a snapshot of Marian MacDowell, 1947. Series I includes information about the Daniels and Wheeler families but there are no strictly personal papers in the collection.

Material from the Radcliffe Alumnae Pamphlet collection was added to #36, 37, and 40 in June 2018.

Additional Description

BIOGRAPHY

Mabel Wheeler Daniels, composer, was born November 27, 1879 in Swampscott, Massachusetts, the daughter of George F. and Maria (Wheeler) Daniels. She attended Girls' Latin School, Boston, and graduated magna cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1900.

While she was at Radcliffe College, music became the most important element in her life. Daniels was leader and soloist of the Glee Club and composed the music for two operettas performed by students (A Copper Complication, 1900; The Court of Hearts, 1901). After graduation, she continued to study music, first with George W. Chadwick in Boston and then with Ludwig Thuille in Munich. On her return from Europe, she published a book about her experiences abroad as a music student (An American Girl in Munich, 1905). She served as director of music at Bradford Academy, 1911-1913, and at Simmons College, 1913-1918, after which she devoted her life to composing.

Daniels composed in various forms, specializing in choral compositions. Some of her major works are: Exultate Deo, in honor of the 50th anniversary (1929) of the founding of Radcliffe College; Deep Forest, featured in a festival of "serious American music," Carnegie Hall, 1939 (Daniels being the only woman composer represented); The Song of Jael, introduced at the Worcester Festival, 1940; and A Psalm of Praise, composed for the 75th anniversary (1954) of Radcliffe College. Daniels was awarded a medal from the Munich Conservatory in 1903, wrote the "best Girl Scout song" in 1919, received honorary degrees from Tufts University in 1933, and Boston University in 1939, and served as alumnae trustee of Radcliffe College from 1945 to 1951. She died in Boston on March 10, 1971.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in six series:
  1. SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL AND FAMILY. Folders 1-7, 85.
  2. SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE, 1884-1970, n.d. Folders 8-32.
  3. SERIES III. MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS BY MABEL WHEELER DANIELS, 1889-1964, n.d. Folders 33-48, 86.
  4. SERIES IV. WRITINGS BY MABEL WHEELER DANIELS, 1898-1960, n.d. Volume 49, Folders 50-57.
  5. SERIES V. SCRAPBOOKS, 1884-1935. Volumes 58, 60, Folders 59, 61-68.
  6. SERIES VI. MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS, CERTIFICATES, NEWSCLIPPINGS, PRINTED MATERIAL, 1900-1971, n.d. Folders 69-83, 86f, 87f+.

Physical Location

Collection stored off site: researchers must request access 36 hours before use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 711, 744, 1004, 1434, 1443, 1518, 1684, 70-76, 70-92, 71-56, 71-75, 71-91, 71-135, 72-75, 73-8

The Mabel Wheeler Daniels papers were given to the Schlesinger Library between 1964 and 1973 by Mabel W. Daniels or by her estate. Additional scores were given by Katharine M. Hall in June 1966.

SEPARATION RECORD

The following item has been catalogued with the regular library collection:
  1. Mabel Wheeler Daniels, An American Girl in Munich. Impressions of a Music Student. Boston, Little, Brown, and Co., 1912 (c.1905).

The following items and duplicates were transferred to the Radcliffe Archives:
  1. What We Found At Radcliffe, Boston, 1921?
  2. Black metal tray with Radcliffe insignia.
  3. Red binder with Radcliffe insignia and words, Daniels Hall.
  4. Six duplicate programs: Princess Perfection by Josephine Sherwood
  5. The Court of Hearts, 1900 (3 copies)
  6. A Copper Complication, 1900
  7. The Mikado, 1899
  8. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: June Rhapsody
  9. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: Dun Dianae Vitrea
  10. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: Flower-Wagon
  11. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: Canticle of Wisdom
  12. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: Exultate Deo
  13. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: The Voice of My Beloved
  14. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: Veni Creator Spiritus
  15. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: Salve, festa dies
  16. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: Christmas in the Wood
  17. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: The Kilties Pass (4 copies)
  18. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: The Waterfall (2 copies)
  19. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: The Tree and the Image
  20. Musical score by Mabel Wheeler Daniels: A Copper Complication

The following printed materials were sent to the Andover-Harvard Library:
  1. What is Unitarianism? A sermon by Dana McLean Greeley, Arlington Street Church, Boston.
  2. The Century and the Quest, 1861-1961. Commemorating the centennial celebration of the Arlington Street Church, Unitarian-Universalist Boston, Mass.
  3. Congregational Report, 1964-1965. Arlington Street Church, Boston.

The following bulletin was sent to the Harvard Archives:
  1. Harvard Glee Club Foundation, Bulletin no. 16, June, 1959.

The following newspaper articles were removed from the collection:
  1. Suffrage article, Boston Herald, October 17, 1915 (xerox copy). "The ASCAP Story, 1914-1964," New York Times, February 16, 1964 (section 11, advertisement).

Mabel Wheeler Daniels was on the following mailing lists; general printed matter has been removed from the collection:
  1. ASCAP, 1956-1962
  2. Aspen Institute, 1963
  3. The Beethoven Association, 1934
  4. Boston College Club
  5. The Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1966
  6. Forest Hills Cemetery, 1950
  7. Friends of Chamber Music, Inc., 1954-1955
  8. Friends of Music of Boston University
  9. Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund, Inc., 1958
  10. Massachusetts Federation of Music Clubs, 1961
  11. Mu Phi Epsilon National Music Sorority, 1956
  12. National Assn. for the Advancement of Native American Composers and Musicians
  13. National Council of the Metropolitan Opera, 1960
  14. National Council of Women of the U. S., 1956
  15. National Federation of Music Clubs
  16. New England Conservatory of Music
  17. New England Opera Theater Guild
  18. Oratorio Society of New York, 1958
  19. Sigma Alpha Iota National Music Fraternity
  20. U. S. Copyright Office, 1959-1960

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Box 1: Folders 1, 6-18
  2. Box 2: Folders 19-28
  3. Box 3: Folders 33-48.
  4. Box 4: Folders 46-57, 59, 61-62
  5. Folio Box 5: Volume 58
  6. Folio Box 6: Volume 60
  7. Box 7: Folders 63m-72
  8. Box 8: Folders 73-85

INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS

A selective index of writers of letters. Information about individuals is not indexed; nor are subjects. The numbers refer to the folder unless otherwise indicated.
  1. Abell, Howard - 29, 31
  2. Abramson, Eva - 18
  3. Aliferis, James - 18, 25
  4. Alpert, Hollis - 20
  5. Applegant, Gwendolyn P. - 32
  6. Arnold, Sarah Louise - 10, 31
  7. Autori, Franco - 13
  8. Avery, Joan - 18
  9. Bailey, Parker - 18
  10. Baker, Cornelia B. - 60v.
  11. Baker, Robert - 22, 25
  12. Banks, Talcott M. - 22, 29
  13. Barrère, George - 12
  14. Barry, Harriet Houghton - 32
  15. Bassett, T. Robert - 24
  16. Beach, Amy M. - 11, 12
  17. Beaman, Anne - 26
  18. Bernstein, Leonard - 22
  19. Beveridge, Lowell P. - 14
  20. Bixler, J. Seelye - 16, 19, 22
  21. Black, Frank J. - 14
  22. Blackall, Dorothy B. - 11
  23. Blomberg, Baron Frary von - 31
  24. Boulanger, Nadia - 14
  25. Boult, Adrian C. - 13, 17, 19
  26. Brewster, William Henry - 21
  27. Briggs, LeBaron Russell - 10, 11
  28. Brooke, Edward W. - 28
  29. Brown, Bernice V. - see Cronkhite
  30. Brown, Mabel Walcott - 12, 19, 20
  31. Brunjes, Lois W. - 17
  32. Bubendorf, Francis - 29
  33. Bullock, Dorothy P. - 24
  34. Bunting, Mary I. - 25
  35. Burgan, Martha - 21
  36. Burkat, Leonard 0 19, 22
  37. Byles, G. Huntington - 20, 22
  38. Cabot, Henry B. - 16, 21, 24
  39. Cabot, Hugh - 24, 26
  40. Cannon, Cornelia James - 17, 20
  41. Carpenter, J. A. - 10
  42. Carson, William G. B. - 22, 23
  43. Carter, Morris - 27
  44. Cary, Richard - 26, 27
  45. Case, Harold E. - 20
  46. Chadwick, G. W. - 9, 10, 11, 61
  47. Chambers, Richard - 13
  48. Chase, William F. - 29
  49. Christ-Janer, Albert - 21
  50. Clark, Ethel Damon - 22
  51. Cleaves, Burton - 26, 28
  52. Clifton, Chalmers - 25
  53. Clutcher, Ruth Row - 16
  54. Coates, Helen - 22, 23
  55. Coes, Mary - 61
  56. Coffey, Valbert - 12
  57. Cohn, Arthur - 17, 18
  58. Colcord, Elmer D. - 17
  59. Collier, Abram T. - 25
  60. Collins, John F. - 30
  61. Collins, W. D. - 19
  62. Comstock, Ada - 11, 12, 13
  63. Conrad, Adrienne Rich - 32
  64. Converse, Frederick S. - 12
  65. Coolidge, Jefferson - 32
  66. Coolidge, Margaret - 17
  67. Copeland, C. T. - 13
  68. Copland, Aaron - 15, 16, 20, 26 - 29
  69. Cousens, John A. - 12
  70. Creston, Paul - 21
  71. Crimmins, T[homas] A. - 15, 16
  72. Cronkhite, Bernice V. Brown - 12, 20, 22
  73. Curci, Galli - 9
  74. Curtis, Laurence - 24, 26
  75. D'Amore, Alice Mason - 20
  76. Damrosch, Walter - 14
  77. Daniel, Oliver - 21, 22
  78. Daniels, George F. - 58v.
  79. Daniels, Mabel Wheeler - 8, 9, 12-14, 16, 19, 21-30, 32, 58v.
  80. Daniels, Maria (May) - 9, 58v.
  81. Davison, Archibald T. - 12, 15, 17-20, 22
  82. DeVries, Milo G. - 21
  83. Dickinson, Clarence - 11
  84. Dickson, Harry Ellis - 23
  85. Diercks, Louis H. - 15, 21, 22, 24
  86. Dinneen, William - 21
  87. Dougan, Vera Wearduer - 24
  88. Downes, Edward O. D. - 25-29, 32
  89. Duncan, Richard E. - 21
  90. Dupin, Betty Jo - 32
  91. Eberman, Edwin - 28
  92. Eberman, Janet - 28
  93. Emed, Yusif - 22, 32
  94. Erskine, John - 15
  95. Evans, Etelka - 14
  96. Fassett, Charles - 30
  97. Fennell, Frederick - 19
  98. Ferris, Theodore P. - 21-23, 29
  99. Fischer, John - 28
  100. Forbes, Elliot - 22, 23, 25
  101. Forte, Arthur - 31
  102. Foss, Lukas - 20
  103. Foster, George Allen - 12, 13
  104. Francis, Chester L. - 19
  105. Freccia, Massimo - 19
  106. Fremont-Smith, Maurice - 20
  107. Frost, Frances - 14
  108. Frothingham, Langdon (Mrs.) - 32
  109. Fuller, Viola - 17
  110. Galt, Martha C. - 20
  111. Gebhard, Henrich - 22
  112. Geiringer, Karl - 18
  113. Geyer, George E. - 28-30
  114. Gilbert, Helen H. - 31
  115. Gillette, Hazel Post - 19
  116. Giuliana, Paul - 21, 22
  117. Goodnow, E. P. - 16
  118. Goodrich, Wallace - 31, 32
  119. Gray, Francie C. - 17-23
  120. Gray, Helen L. - 20
  121. Hadley, I [?] - 21
  122. Hagar, Eugene B. - 61
  123. Hale, Philip - 9, 10
  124. Hall, Katharine M. - 16, 28
  125. Hamilton, Florence B. - 58v.
  126. Hanson, Howard - 14, 18, 20
  127. Harrison, Guy Fraser - 20
  128. Hartman, C. Isabelle - 20
  129. Havener, Helen - 20
  130. Heald, Robert B. - 21
  131. Hearsey, Marguerite - 18
  132. Hensley, Richard G. - 21
  133. Herrick, Mary Darrah - 27
  134. Heyward, Dorothy - 11
  135. Hibbard, Thomas - 13
  136. Hill, Edward B. - 11, 12, 16, 17, 22, 31, 32
  137. Hillis, Margaret - 20
  138. Hollett, Grace Scott - 14, 32
  139. Holmes, John - 17
  140. Holmes, Malcolm - 32
  141. Holt, Henry - 9
  142. Homer, Louise - 32
  143. Hopekirk, Helen - 11, 12
  144. Howerton, George - 18, 19
  145. Hubbell, Lucy Embury - 16
  146. Hufstader, Robert - 20
  147. Hull, Anne - 24, 25
  148. Hull, Josephine Sherwood - 15, 20, 21
  149. Hunter, Tate Ann - 19
  150. Jacobs, Arthur Leslie - 14
  151. Jacobs, Sophia Yarnall - 25
  152. James, Frederika - 28
  153. James, Philip - 19, 20
  154. Jardine, Agnes - 12
  155. Johnson, H. Earle - 28
  156. Johnson, Thor - 19, 21
  157. Jordan, Frances - 18
  158. Jordan, W. K. - 15
  159. Keith, Julie - 30
  160. Keller, Harrison - 19, 22
  161. Keller, Rexford - 20
  162. Kendall, George M. - 19, 26, 30
  163. Kerby-Miller, Wilma A. - 18
  164. Koussevitzky, Olga N. - 12, 22, 23, 30
  165. Koussevitzky, Serge - 11
  166. Kurz, Elizabeth Ball - 17
  167. Lang, Margaret Rutheven - 11, 17, 22, 28, 32
  168. Lannom, Allen - 17
  169. Laurent, Georges E. - 11
  170. Lee, Ella L. - 29
  171. Lee, Roger I. - 15
  172. Leich, Roland - 24, 25
  173. Lemay, Paul - 14
  174. Lockwood, Normand - 7, 14, 19, 23
  175. Longy, Renée - 32
  176. Lopantnikoff, Nikolai - 18, 24
  177. Lord, Alice Frost - 16
  178. Lord, Elinor L. - 17
  179. Low, Juliette - 10
  180. Lowell, Amy - 11
  181. Luhtala, Laila E. - 19
  182. Lunt, Clifton - 21
  183. McCord, David - 22, 24
  184. McCormick, Katharine Dexter - 16-18, 21-23, 25, 26, 32
  185. MacDowell, Marian - 12-21, 31, 32
  186. MacIntyre, Robert E. - 19
  187. MacMillan, Ernest - 14
  188. Maguire, Mary Hume - 18
  189. Marlatt, Earl - 24
  190. Martz, John D., III - 18
  191. May, Elizabeth S. - 25
  192. Mead, Janet C. - 14
  193. Merritt, A. Tillman - 15
  194. Metcalf, Albion - 31
  195. Miller, Ada Holding - 28
  196. Miller, Frank - 21, 22
  197. Mitchell, Howard - 19, 20
  198. Moers, Robert - 26
  199. Moody, Robert E. - 22
  200. Morris, Robert H. - 16
  201. Morse, Frances R. - 10
  202. Morse, George W. - 8
  203. Morse, Harry B. - 15, 20, 61
  204. Morse, John Boit - 30
  205. Morse, Samuel F. B. - 14, 15, 18, 19, 22-28
  206. Mosher, Mildred - 20
  207. Mumaw, F. Barton, Jr. - 13
  208. Nagle, William S. - 26
  209. Neilson, James - 20
  210. Neuman, Herman - 24, 25
  211. Nichols, Dorothy Thorndike - 23
  212. Nordell, Joan - 20
  213. Novotna, Yarmila - 32
  214. O'Neil, Nance [?] - 32
  215. Ormandy, Eugene - 21
  216. O'Shea, Dorothea - 18
  217. Paine, John K. - 9
  218. Palmer, Louis H., Jr. - 28
  219. Park, Charles E. - 13
  220. Park, Marion - 32
  221. Park, Rosemary - 22
  222. Park, William E. - 28
  223. Parker, Horatio - 10
  224. Pearson, Donald M. - 24
  225. Pearson, Haydn S. - 27
  226. Peirce, John - 22
  227. Perry, Thomas D., Jr. - 20
  228. Phillips, Dorothy - 19
  229. Phillips, Eleanor H. - 32
  230. Pickman, Anthony - 31
  231. Piston, Walter - 13, 18
  232. Polacco, Edith O. - 11
  233. Polka, L. Brayton - 22
  234. Potter, Harrison - 20
  235. Prentice, W. C. H. - 28
  236. Price, Franklin H. - 13, 14
  237. Price, Lucien - 19
  238. Pusey, Anne - 32
  239. Raudenbush, George King - 13
  240. Raybin, Arthur D. - 27, 28
  241. Ré, Peter J. - 20
  242. Rich, Adrienne - see Conrad
  243. Richardson, Nina Maud - 29
  244. Riegger, Wallingford - 21, 22
  245. Ringwall, Rudolph - 14
  246. Risher, Anna Priscilla - 12, 13
  247. Rogers, Bertha - 20
  248. Rogers, Harold - 29
  249. Rogers, Jane - 19
  250. Rohrer, Gertrude M. - 11
  251. Ross, Hugh - 20, 22
  252. Salter, Katharine - 12
  253. Saltonstall, Katharyn - 32
  254. Sarton, May - 17-19
  255. Schelling, Ernest - 12, 13
  256. Seder, Theodore A. - 24
  257. Self, William - 30
  258. Senior, Maud - 19
  259. Shepherd, Arthur - 12, 14
  260. Sherman, Mildred P. - 17
  261. Sjöström, Ivar - 25
  262. Smith, J. Rosaline - 26
  263. Sokoloff, Nikolai - 12
  264. Solomon, Barbara Miller, 24
  265. Sousa, John Philip - 32
  266. Spalding, W. R. - 8, 31, 61
  267. Sprague, Marjorie E. - 15
  268. Steiner, Hans - 9
  269. Stewart, G. W. - 64
  270. Stoessel, Albert - 13
  271. Stone, Charles W. - 8
  272. Strider, Robert E. L. - 26
  273. Stringfield, Lamar - 13
  274. Sundstrom, Ebba - 12
  275. Swalin, Benjamin F. - 16
  276. Sweeney, James Johnson - 20
  277. Taber, Florence B. - 10
  278. Taubman, Howard - 19
  279. Thayer, Sylvia Prescott - 27
  280. Thompson, Laurence Roger - 18
  281. Thompson, Randall - 24
  282. Thomson, Virgil - 17
  283. Thorpe, R. W. - 13
  284. Thuille, Ludwig - 9
  285. Tierney, Daniel D. - 19
  286. Toppan, Persia L. - 24
  287. Torrence, Olivia - 7, 15
  288. Tredinnick, Frank A., Jr. - 24, 25, 27
  289. Tryon, Winthrop P. - 12
  290. Tucker, H. G. - 61
  291. Turner, Edward H. - 25
  292. Ullian, Frieda Silbert - 19
  293. van Leeuwen, Ary - 12
  294. Varon, Jose de - 23
  295. Vaughan, Ellen - 32
  296. Volpe, John A. - 28
  297. Wessell, Nils Y. - 24-28
  298. White, Helen C. - 20
  299. Whitney, George L. - 23
  300. Wilder, Amos N. - 26, 31
  301. Wilder, Isabel - 26
  302. Wilder, Thornton - 11-14, 20, 22, 29-32
  303. Williams, Alexander W. - 14, 29
  304. Williamson, Dent - 22
  305. Williamson, John Finley - 12
  306. Wilson, Helen (Hopekirk) - see Hopekirk
  307. Wilson, Thomas J. - 28
  308. Winterberg, Lois - 24-26
  309. Wolffers, Jules - 19, 22, 24
  310. Woodworth, G. Wallace - 16-23, 32
  311. Woodworth, John B. - 22
  312. Worth, Amy - 16, 26
  313. Yellin, Victor - 21

Processing Information

Processed: May 1978

By: Madeleine Bagwell Perez

Updated and additional materials added: June 2018

By: Anne Engelhart
Link to catalog

Subjects

Administrative Information

Title
Daniels, Mabel W. (Mabel Wheeler), 1878-1971. Papers of Mabel Wheeler Daniels, 1884-1971: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
und
Sponsor
This collection of papers was processed under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (RC-24669-76-987).
EAD ID
sch00539

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library

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