Ditson Society Fund

Oliver Ditson’s History

Oliver Ditson & Co. had several Boston locations as it expanded, starting out on Washington Street and moving down to Tremont Street near Boylston. Its headquarters during its final years of independence (1917-1930) was the Oliver Ditson Building at 178-179 Tremont, according to street directories of the time.

Ditson didn’t stick to publishing solely. In 1861, according to an article in the American Flute Guild by Susan Berdahl, the company set up a subsidiary firm (John C. Haynes & Co.) that made and repaired musical instruments in its offices at 150 Tremont St. Ditson himself died in December 1888 and soon after, the company, including the Haynes division, began operating under the name Oliver Ditson Co., with John C. Haynes as its chief executive. In 1894, Haynes established the Boehm flute factory as part of the old Haynes section — an operation which, however short-lived, had a very considerable impact on that industry in the United States, according to Berdahl. By early in the 20th century, the Haynes division was no longer making instruments; it had become a retail store selling pianos and instruments under the Ditson name. In 1907, Charles Healy Ditson, Oliver Ditson’s eldest son, succeeded Haynes as president. He died in 1929 and the Oliver Ditson Co. was purchased by Theodore Presser Co. of Philadelphia in 1931. In its corporate history section, Presser traces its origins to 1783, when Batelle’s Bookstore, a predecessor to Oliver Ditson & Co., began a music publishing business in Boston.

Oliver Ditson Society: In his will dated December 1886, Oliver Ditson left $25,000 in trust to Charles Ditson, B. J. Lang, and John K. Paine, to invest and manage; the net income was to be used for the relief of poor and needy musicians. These three men, along with Charles F. Smith, A. Parker Browne, John C. Haynes, and R. E. Demmon, formed the corporation, Oliver Ditson Society for the Relief of Needy Musicians in 1889. In 1968, the Oliver Ditson Society petitioned for its dissolution as a corporation with assets going to G. Wallace Woodworth, Francis C. Welch, and Elliot Forbes, who wanted to use this money to create the Oliver Ditson Trust Fund. Apparently this did not occur and there was discussion of merging with or joining with other funds for the purposes of providing financial assistance to student musicians. Two possibilities considered were partnering with the Weyman Trust or transferring the governance of the fund to the Harvard Musical Association. In 1980, this fund was dissolved and its assets were given to New England Conservatory to establish the “Oliver Ditson Scholarship Fund for Needy Musicians.”