Griffith Music Foundation Scrapbooks, 1936 - 1955

File — Container: Microfilm Cabinet: Drawer 3

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Newark Archives Project:

"The Griffith Foundation scrapbooks are mostly comprised of press clippings arranged by season; also included are some issues of The Symphony Magazine, programs for the Town Hall of Essex County forums, and press releases. "The Symphony Magazine" (1936-1946, on Reels 6 and 8) includes program notes, advertisements, Music News from Other Fields; and opera notes prepared by the Music Department of the Newark Public Library.

Reels 1-7: contain clippings scrapbooks (1939-1955) documenting musicians, including local performers, concerts, and other Foundation events in Newark. The contents are culled from newspapers from around the country, but especially those with a circulation in northern New Jersey, including the Newark Star Ledger, the New Jersey Jewish Chronicle, the Newark Evening News, the Luso Americano, the Italian American Tribune, and the New York Times.

Reel 6: contains press clippings (1952-1955 and 1946-1947, mislabeled NY Symphony Orchestra 1947)

Reel 7: includes programs of Town Hall Forums of Essex County (ca. 1939-1944). On the second part of Reel 7 are clippings about the Essex County Symphony Society (1936-1941).

Reel 8: (1936?-1948), contains scrapbooks of clippings, mostly from the Newark press, relating to concerts and other activities of the Essex County Symphony Society and the Foundation."

The other 5 reels are labelled "pressbooks" and appear to be copies of Reels #1-5 based on the dates.

Dates

1936 - 1955

Creator

Griffith Music Foundation. (Organization)

Biographical / Historical

From the Newark Archives Project:

"Iowa-born Lena Donaldson Griffith (b. 1880) was the wife of Parker O. Griffith, co-founder of the Griffith Piano Company, 605 Broad Street. She served as an Essex County Freeholder in 1947, and was a Trustee of the Newark Museum and Newark University. Mrs. Griffith was president of the Griffith Music Foundation, which was founded in 1938. Harry Mack was Managing Director of the Foundation, and Augustus O. Zanzig was Educational Director.

The Foundation sponsored a variety of events over the years, including concert series of chamber and symphony music, a master piano series, and annual auditions for young people's music awards; music appreciation classes, institutes and seminars; school assembly programs; and youth concerts. Seasonal programs often included ballet and other dance performances, and there were occasional previews of shows bound for Broadway. Major performers, including Marian Anderson, Jascha Heifetz, and Vladimir Horowitz, were brought in every year. Most Griffith concerts and events were held at the Mosque Theatre (now Symphony Hall). In 1951 Mary McLeod Bethune received the Foundation's annual award at the Music Institute's annual luncheon at the Essex House.

A series of Town Hall of Essex County forums, organized by the Foundation in 1939, were co-sponsored by a number of community groups, including the Schoolwomen's Club of Newark. Forum topics included "Is Democracy Doomed," "The Future of Arts in America," "The Health of the Nation," "America and the Far East," and "The World at War"; among the speakers were Dr. Frank Kingdon, President of Newark University, and New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. During World War II the Foundation collected records and musical instruments to donate to servicemen, among other war efforts.

The Foundation was preceded by the Essex County Symphony Society, which was organized in 1936 with Mrs. Griffith, President; Mrs. Henry C. Barkhorn and Mrs. David Loeser, Vice-presidents; Parker O. Griffith, Treasurer; and Harry Friedgut, Secretary and Business Manager. The Society organized a series of annual outdoor "Stadium Concerts," generally held weekly in June in the City Schools Stadium, beginning in 1936. In the 1940s the Society also sponsored annual opera festivals in May, at the Mosque Theatre."