1735-1971
Offsite Storage Inventory
Restrictions on Access
The Frederick S. Converse papers are CLOSED pending processing. Some materials may be made available for research at the discretion of the MHS library staff following a review to identify copyright, privacy, and/or preservation concerns. Prior to placing a request through Portal1791, contact the library at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org to initiate this review. Please allow up to two weeks for requests to be reviewed.
This collection is stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Abstract
This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of composer and New England Conservatory of Music professor Frederick Shepherd Converse, 1893-1943. Includes correspondence with wife Emma Tudor Converse, programs, lecture notes, composition drafts, records of royalties, clippings and account books. Also includes diaries, calendars, and correspondence kept by Emma Tudor Converse, 1889-1943; Tudor family papers, 1735-1791; Converse family papers, 1853-1971; printed copies of music composed by Converse; and Converse and Tudor family photographs.
Processing Information
This collection is UNPROCESSED.
Restrictions on Access
The Frederick S. Converse papers are CLOSED pending processing. Some materials may be made available for research at the discretion of the MHS library staff following a review to identify copyright, privacy, and/or preservation concerns. Prior to placing a request through Portal1791, contact the library at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org to initiate this review. Please allow up to two weeks for requests to be reviewed.
This collection is stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Summary Description of the Collection
Tudor family papers
"John Tudor's" receipt book, 26 March 1757-28 June 1793, with memoranda, 1814-1816
1 volume.[John Tudor] ledger, March 1745-1754
1 volume."Memorandums from 1709 &c. by John Tudor to 1775 and to 93"
Two photostat copies in cases.Actual dates of content: 1735-1792.
"Louise Tudor's Very Special Recipes," undated
Louise Tudor recipes, 1891
Ancestral tablets
Preprinted tablets for genealogists.
Gash-Page
2 copies.Roche-Brook
Tudor-Fenno
Tudor
Converse family papers
Converse family correspondence, 1853-1859, and legal documents, 1860s
Mostly letters to Edmund W. Converse (father of Frederick S. Converse).
Converse family records, 1935, from family Bible
Photostat copy.News clippings and obituary of Edward W. Converse, 1920
Son of Frederick S. Converse and Emma T. Converse.
Miscellaneous clippings about Converse family, undated, and obituary of Emma T. Converse, 1948
Poems by Emma T. Converse, 1900-1936
Furniture inventory, 1908
Financial papers and estate papers relating to Emma T. Converse, 1934-1948
Copyright and legal issues handled by Frederick S. Converse's heirs, 1931-1971
Correspondence of Converse heirs regarding their desire that "the works of Mr. Converse" [probably manuscript scores] be moved from the New England Conservatory's library to the Library of Congress, 1960-1961
Note: The online catalog of the Library of Congress indicates its collections include 50 musical scores and two biographies, but no manuscript papers of Frederick S. Converse.
Emma Tudor Converse papers
Correspondence with friends, children, parents, brother, grandchildren, 1890-1947
Correspondence regarding Emma T. Converse's outreach/ministry work with a specific prisoner, 1933-1935
Note: May be restricted when processed.
Programs, notes, undated
Talks given to organizations/clubs, 1930-1936
Correspondence removed from wooden letterboxes
Diaries, 1889-1943
41 volumes.Address books, undated
2 volumes.Accounts of family and personal expenses, undated, 1894-1947
3 volumes."Family record" listing births, marriages, deaths, events, 1894
1 volume."Letters received and sent," 1897-1898
1 volume.Recipe book, undated
1 volume.Frederick S. Converse papers
Correspondence to/from Frederick S. Converse and Emma T. Converse, 1893-1899
Includes etching by Betsy [probably Elizabeth Converse, daughter of Frederick and Emma], 1927.
"History of Clapboard House," journal and family accounts, 1900-1904
1 volume.Journal and loose papers, 1906
1 volume."Farmer's Almanac To the Four Winds," Westwood, Mass., 1930
1 volume."Four Winds" was the name of the Converses' house.
Sketchbook, 1898
1 volume.Correspondence to Frederick S. Converse, 1918-1929
Condolence letters about death of son, 1920
Calendar/appointment books, 1938-1940
3 volumes.Address book, undated
Wallets with membership cards, calling cards, etc.
2 volumes.Certificates, diplomas, and commissions, 1890-1933
Correspondence, 1911-1940
Mostly professional correspondence, one folder of "fan mail."
Compositions, undated
Notes, working drafts of texts for productions, programs and materials filed by name of work.
Royalties, 1918-1946
Royalties, 1937-1940
1 volume.Biographical
Sketches for programs and publications, 1913-1935
Clippings and programs about his life and works, 1911-1942
Condolence letters to Emma Converse about the death of her husband and correspondence about his work, 1940
Writings (dissertations and papers) about Frederick S. Converse, 1932-1969
Lectures and talks, 1927-1935
Published articles by Frederick S. Converse, 1923
Miscellaneous
"A remaining Christmas," by Hilaire Belloc, t.s.
Account book, journal, "Sketches submitted to Citizens Committee for the Army and Navy...," 1942-1943
Account book, cash, "Order book," Nov. 1942-1943
Printed material
Family History in the Line of Joseph Convers of Bedford, Massachusetts, John Jay Putnam, compiler and editor (Worcester: F. S. Blanchard and Co., 1897)
2 copies; one with manuscript notations; one with correspondence.Music written by Frederick S. Converse
Music by various composers
Material related to Harvard College
Publications owned by the Converse family
Photographs
Loose photographs of Converse and Tudor families; Frederick Converse opera at the New England Conservatory
1 loose rolled photograph
Oversize loose photographs
2 small tintype albums
1 album of family photographs
Oversize material
Objects and graphics relating to Frederick S. Converse
Manuscript music
Large documents (diplomas) relating to Frederick S. Converse
Large documents relating to Converse family genealogy
Preferred Citation
Frederick S. Converse papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Subjects:
Materials Removed from the Collection
A daguerreotype of the children of Frederic Tudor, ca. 1850, has been removed from the collection and stored onsite (Photo. 1.464L). An identifying slip of paper reads: "Children of Frederic Tudor I: Effie, later Countess Kleczkowska, Frederic II, William II, Delia (Wilmer) [?], Eleanora (Hart)." (Note: Frederic Tudor's children were born in the following years: Euphemia in 1837, Frederic in 1845, Delia in 1847, William in 1848, Eleanora Elizabeth in 1850, and Henry [not depicted in the image] in 1854.)