Oberlin College. Conservatory of Music

The records of the conservatory of music span the years 1841 to 1991, with the bulk of the records concentrated in the period 1930 to 1990. Few records of evidential value have survived to illuminate the conservatory's first century. Notably absent from the collection are such basic administrative files as annual reports and Board of Trustees records. There are virtually no course materials documenting the various instructional divisions. Minutes are present for the meetings of the Conservatory Faculty Council (1908-85) and Conservatory Faculty (1914-60, 1976-82). Correspondence of a routine administrative nature does exist for Directors Shaw, Robertson, and Ballinger; Deans Lloyd, Fountain, Danenberg, and Boe; and Assistant Directors John Kennedy and Paul Oscar Steg. Special academic programs are well documented, particularly the Salzburg Program (1958-64) and the American Soviet Youth Orchestra (1988- ). The bulk of the collection consists of inactive student files containing faculty evaluations of student recitals and transcripts of record. Also present are files relating to conservatory buildings and musical instruments; grants and foundation support; enrollment and admissions; inactive faculty and committee files; printed concert programs and catalogs; and photographs.