Physical description:
2 folders; one contains correspondence; the other folder contains items that were previously stored in one scrapbook. There are 21 such items, interleaved with acid free paper. There is also a photocopy of the scrapbook items retained with the original.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Maud D. Brooks earned her diploma in voice from NEC in 1890.
Provenance:
Maud Brooks sent this collection to Director Wallace Goodrich in January 1942 on the occasion of NEC’s 75th anniversary. We do not know the provenance of the 1947 program.
Access
Access to this collection is by appointment with the Archivist. There are no restrictions pertaining to this collection.
copyright
Please consult the Archivist for publication permissions. This collection should be cited as the: NECA 18.6. Maud D. Brooks Papers, New England Conservatory Archives, Boston, MA.
Scope and Content Note:
A set of eight letters written between 1888-1890 makes up the first folder in this collection. These letters were written by Maud D. Brooks, voice student at NEC (diploma, 1890) to her former roommate, Virginia Richmond, who had previously studied art at NEC. This correspondence provides insight into life at the Conservatory at that time, not only in remarks about faculty and students, but in descriptions of the daily life at NEC such as symphony concerts, operas, dramas etc.
The items contained in the second folder date primarily from the years 1887-1888. There is one item from 1947 and one with no date. Items included are: concert programs from the New England Conservatory, Boston Music Hall, Handel and Haydn Society, Tremont Temple, and the Canterbury choir. In addition, there is a Boston Symphony ticket that belonged to Maud D. Brooks and a catalogue from an art exhibition of works by Louis Ritter. Some of the featured performers on the concerts included: Wulf Fries, Charles Dennee, Helene Hastreiter, Maud Powell, Augusto Rotoli, George E. Whiting, Emil Mahr, Alfred De Seve, Otto Bendix, Teresina Tua, Arthur J. Hubbard, Edwin Klahre, Rudolf King, Frank E. Morse, Madame Dietrich-Strong, Agnes Snyder, Wallace Goodrich, Carl Zerrahn, B. J. Lang, William L. Whitney, Carl Faelten, Frank Addison Porter, Josef Hofmann(child prodigy), Samuel Alter, Janet Hayes, the Carol Choir, the NEC Chorus, and the NEC School of Elocution.