Description: Original description reads: "Federal Music Project. Negro Dance Orchestra performing on the terrace in front of Union Station, Cincinnati, Ohio." The Federal Music Project (FMP), part of the Federal government of the United States New Deal program Federal Project No. 1, employed musicians, conductors and composers during the Great Depression. People in the music world had been particularly hard-hit by the era's economic downturn. In addition to performing thousands of concerts, offering music classes, organizing the Composers Forum Laboratory, hosting music festivals and creating 34 new orchestras, employees of the FMP researched American traditional music and folk songs, a practice now called ethnomusicology. In the latter domain the Federal Music Project did notable studies on cowboy, Creole and "Negro" music. The FMP's director—for the majority of its brief life—was Nikolai Sokoloff. During the Great Depression, many people visited these symphonies to forget about the economic hardship of the time. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F11_003_1
Subjects: Music--Performance; African Americans--Music; Dance orchestras; Federal Music Project (U.S.); Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is an engraving of what is mostly likely Springer Auditorium in the Cincinnati Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio. It appears there is an orchestra or choir singing on stage with a conductor leading the performance. Reuben Springer was a founding patron of the Cincinnati Music Hall and the auditorium was named Springer Hall in his honor. The Cincinnati Music Hall is now the epicenter of classical music performance in Cincinnati. It serves as the home for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival Chorus, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Completed in 1878, the building is located at 1241 Elm Street in Cincinnati, Ohio across from historic Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine, not far from the center of the downtown area. In December of 1974, it was included on the list of National Historic Landmarks. Built on the site of a pauper's cemetery, it is reputedly one of the most haunted places in Cincinnati. The Music Hall opened for its first performance, Beethoven's "Eroica" and Gluck's "Alceste" on May 14, 1878. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B13F01_054
Subjects: Cincinnati Music Hall; Music--Performance; Historic buildings--Ohio--Cincinnati--Pictorial works; Music Hall (Cincinnati, Ohio); Audiences; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project.
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Baby Band, Harmony School, Georges Run, Ohio. Miller and Am, 436 Market St., Steubenville Ohio." This is a photograph of the Baby Band at Harmony School in Georges Run, Ohio. More information needed. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B10F10_005_001
Subjects: Bands; Children's music; Music and dance; Music--Performance; Jefferson County (Ohio)--History; Children; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Steubenville (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads "Cincinnati, Ohio. September 1937. Conservatory of Music. Highland Avenue and Oak Street, Cincinnati, Ohio." The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was founded in 1867 by Clara Baur and was the first music school in the city. It was part of a girls’ finishing school known as Miss Nourse’s School for Young Ladies. The opening of the College of Music of Cincinnati in 1878 was a serious blow to the Conservatory but Miss Baur was able to recruit some first rate faculty which enabled the school to compete with its’ neighbors. The school began to thrive requiring several moves to accommodate their growing needs. In 1902, the Conservatory moved to the former Handy / Shillito Mansion on the corner of Highland Avenue and Oak Street in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Shillito Mansion, designed by J.W. McLaughlin for merchant John Shillito was finished in 1866 and is sometimes referred to as being in the Elizabethan Renaissance style. Seventy five thousand dollars were invested during this time for additional housing and other facilites to be built on the on the five acre grounds. Samuel Hannaford and Sons were hired to design an additional five story building south of the mansion, which contained classrooms, offices and housing. An auditorium was also built to the east of the main building during this time. Much attention was given to the permanency of these buildings, not only in safety and sanitary qualities, but also in regards to soundproofing and aesthetic qualities. Between 1910 and 1911 another addition was added, built in brick in the Jacobean style, to provide more dormitories and classrooms. During the next twenty years, several surrounding buildings were purchased as the school continued to grow, and it eventually covered ten acres of land. With the death of Clara Baur in 1912, her niece Bertha Baur took over direction and in 1930 gave the Conservatory to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, turning it into a non-profit organization. In 1955 The College of Music and the Conservatory of Music merged and became the Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music and in 1962 joined the University of Cincinnati. Sometime after this, the building was demolished, but more information is needed as to the exact date. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_b03f03_004_001
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Cincinnati Conservatory of Music; Music--Performance; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "Group from Pageant give at U. of D. Stadium." This is a photograph of a pageant group posing at the University of Dayton stadium in Dayton, Ohio. The University of Dayton was founded in 1850, by the Society of Mary, an Order within the Roman Catholic Church. It is currently the largest private university in the state of Ohio, and has a reputation as one of the best Catholic universities in the nation. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F08_013_1
Subjects: Recreation; Music and dance; Children; University of Dayton; Dance--Performance; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Dancers; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)