Papers of J. Fred Coots (1897-1985), musician, performer, and composer of Broadway musicals and popular songs such as "Love Letters in the Sand," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," and "You Go to My Head." The collection documents both professional and personal aspects of Coots's life and career. Significant songwriting collaborators include Edward Eager, Walt Framer, Gene and Glenn, Haven Gillespie, Nick and Charles Kenny, Bill Margaretten, Ogden Nash, Al Neiburg, Charles Newman, and Maurice Sigler. Besides some of these collaborators and other of Coots's business associates, correspondents include Broadway actress Julia Sanderson Crumit and Coots's son John Frederick, Jr. The papers include correspondence, song manuscripts and lyric typescripts, synopses and a treatment for a proposed Broadway musical, disc and open reel audio recordings, published sheet music, story typescripts, copyright assignments and rights releases, performance contracts and related travel itineraries, financial records including American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and individual publishers' performance records and royalty statements, newspaper clippings, photographs, and certificates and other memorabilia covering both professional and personal aspects of Coots's life and career.
