AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS. TWIN CITIES CHAPTER:

An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

Expand/CollapseOVERVIEW

Creator: American Guild of Organists. Twin Cities Chapter, creator.
Title:Guild records.
Dates:1910-2014.
Abstract:Charter, minutes, membership directories, financial records, committee files, correspondence, convention programs and materials, and oral histories documenting the organization and activities of the Twin Cities chapter of a national professional association of organists and choir directors.
Quantity:4.0 cubic feet (4 boxes).
Location:See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Expand/CollapseHISTORICAL NOTE

The American Guild of Organists was founded in 1896, and is headquartered in New York City. It is an educational and service organization organized to advance the cause of organ and choral music, to elevate the status of church musicians, and to maintain standards of artistic excellence among organists and choral conductors. The organization offers professional certification in organ playing, choral and instrumental training, and theory and general knowledge of music.

The Twin Cities Chapter was organized in 1910 by George H. Fairclough as the Minnesota Chapter. Their first public program was held at the Church of St. John the Evangelist in St. Paul on March 15, 1911.

Sometime between 1958 and 1959 the Minnesota Chapter was reorganized as the Twin Cities Chapter (TCAGO). Today the Twin Cities Chapter is composed mainly of church organists, choir directors, teachers, students, and organ builders in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Additional Minnesota chapters have been organized in the Arrowhead, southeastern, and southwestern regions.


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Expand/CollapseSCOPE AND CONTENTS

The collection also includes a variety of printed material from the American Guild of Organists including membership brochures, circular memoranda, information regarding certification examinations, manuals and guidelines for chapter organization and programming, and compensation guides for church musicians. A video recording and educational materials created by the Wichita, Kansas chapter to introduce children to the pipe organ are also included.

Concert programs associated with the dedication of new organs contain information concerning organ design and construction. Dedicatory programs dating from the 1970s contain information concerning organs designed and built by Charles Hendrickson of St. Peter, Minnesota.


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Expand/CollapseARRANGEMENT

These documents are organized into the following sections:

Administrative Records
Subject and Project Files
Conventions
Printed Material
Oral Histories


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Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. American Guild of Organists. Twin Cities Chapter Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,575; 15,652; 15,790; 15,881; 15,980; 16,036; 16,362; 16,409; 16,612; 17,335

Processing Information:

NHPRC logo

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 990017158270104294


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS

LocationBox
151.F.19.13B1Charter, 1910.
Minutes, 1910-1952, 1960-1962, 1971-1979, 1981-2008. 30 folders.
Includes Board and Executive Board minutes.
Committees:
Committees and related papers, 1957-1981.
Competition Committee, undated, approximately 1990.
Civic Center Organ Restoration Committee, 1973.
Education Committee, 1995-1996.
Executive Committee beginnings, 1985-1988.
Hospitality Committee, 1995-1996.
Kimball Organ Committee papers, 1989-1991.
Nominating Committee, 1989.
Professional Concerns Committee, 1991-1999. 5 folders.
Program Committee, 1988-1996. 2 folders.
LocationBox
143.F.4.1B2Program Committee, 1991-1999. 2 folders.
Program Committee agenda, 1998-2000.
Program Committee finances, 1981-1984, 1993-1994.
Correspondence, 1973-1976, 1985-1987. 2 folders.
Dean's correspondence, 1951-1953, 1958-1985, 1992-1996, 1998-2002. 9 folders.
Deans' records:
Judy Campen, 2004-2006. 3 folders.
Includes financial statements.
Laura J. Edman, 2012-2014. 3 folders.
Includes minutes and related papers.
Financial:
Financial statements, 1987-1989. 3 folders.
Budget and finances, 1995-1996, 1997-1998. 2 folders.
Revenue and budget, 1999-2001.
Receipts and disbursements, 1929-1942, 1946-1967. 4 folders.
Miscellaneous accounts, 1946-1953.
Treasurer's annual reports, 1947-1965, 1996. 1 folder and 1 volume.
Membership:
Brochure, 2012.
Card file, 1917-1952.
Card file: Transfers, withdrawals, delinquents and deceased, 1917-1952.
Correspondence, 1944, 1950-1954.
Directories, 1948-1955, 1957-1964, 1971, 1973-1978, 1987, 1989-1997. 5 folders.
Membership reports: Renewals, new members, subscribers, 1989-1990.
New member's packet, 2000.
LocationBox
143.B.15.4F3Transfers and new members, 1917-1952.
Transfers, corrections, and updates, 1976-1981. 2 folders.
Composer commissioning agreement with Libby Larsen, March 21, 2001.
Internet home-page possibilities, 1997.
Job description: Pipenotes newsletter editor Barbara M. Herzog, 1988.
Letterhead, undated.
Operating procedures and American Guild of Organists by-laws, 1992, 1999, 2000.
Salary guidelines/National guidelines and Salary Committee minutes, 1997-2001.
Photographs: Portraits of Twin Cities Chapter deans, undated,1938-1939, 1996-1998.

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Expand/CollapseSUBJECT AND PROJECT FILES

LocationBox
143.B.15.4F375th anniversary celebration, 1986-1992. 3 folders.
100th anniversary gubernatorial proclamation, 1996.
Children's pipe organ project, 1996-1997. 1 videocassette (VHS).
Concert and recital programs, 1911-1953, 1957, 1960-1989, 1998-2012. 15 folders.
Concert and recital programs: Guild anniversaries, 1960, 1986, 1996.
Anthology project, 1986.
Education program, 1986.
Ethics issues, 1996-1994.
Kimball municipal organ-Minneapolis Convention Center, undated, 1990-1998.
Luther Northwestern Seminary grant, 1992.
Minnesota state deans meetings, 1986.
Organists shortage: News articles, 2000-2001.
President's Day workshops, exhibits, 1990-1991.
Seminary project, 1987-1990.
Student scholarship competition, 1992-1995, 1999.
Survey of organists and choir directors, 1961.
Visser-Rowland tracker organ, March 1991.
Phil Asgian/Westminster organ project, 1999-2000.

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Expand/CollapseCONVENTIONS

LocationBox
143.B.15.4F3Convention finances, 1988-1990.
Convention meeting minutes, 1987-1989.
Mid-America Region VI convention program, 1985.
Miscellaneous national conventions, 1962-1982.
National/Regional guidelines, undated, 1983, 1985.
National convention (Twin Cities), 1980:
Executive Committee minutes and related papers, 1978-1981.
Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, 1978-1980.
Program and related papers, 1980.
National convention (Dallas): Program and related materials, 1994.
Miscellaneous regional conventions, 1961-1985.
Saint Louis regional convention, 1987.
Regional convention program, 1949.
LocationBox
143.F.4.2F4Regional convention program and committee papers, 1954.
Regional convention committee papers, 1974-1975.
Regional convention program and related papers, 1975.
Regional convention: Committee papers, schedules, correspondence, 1987-1989.
Regional convention: Committee papers, 1989.
Regional convention program and registrants, 1989.
Twin Cities Chapter of the American Guild of Organists to host 2008 National Convention project bid, 2000.
2008 National Convention:
The convention was held in Minneapolis and was hosted by the Twin Cities Chapter.
Artist and performance information, 2006.
Philip Brunelle, 2004-2008. 3 folders.
Commissions, 2004-2005.
Files of General Chairman William Stump:
Agreement with American Guild of Organists, 2005.
American Organist, October 2008.
Contains detailed reports and photographs of the convention.
Brainstorming sessions, 2002-2004.
Budget, 2006-2008.
Committee lists, 2008.
Composer commissions/letters of agreement, 2005-2008.
Correspondence, 2002-2008.
Criticism for showing Paul Festa's Apparition of the Eternal Church at Orchestra Hall, 2008.
Evaluation form and results, 2008.
Fund-raising, 2007-2008.
Help letters, 2004-2004.
Hilton Hotel (Minneapolis) manual for convention, 2008.
New music, 2004-2007.
Program Committee minutes, 2004-2008.
Promotions Committee correspondence, 2006-2008.
Promotions Committee minutes, 2007.
Region VI convention program photocopies regarding 2008 National Convention, 2007.
Registration/attendance reports, 2008.
Steering Committee final reports, 2008.
Steering Committee minutes, 2004-2008.
Workshops Committee, 2005-2008. 2 folders.
Worship Committee, 2004-2007.

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Expand/CollapsePRINTED MATERIAL

Miscellaneous printed material from the American Guild of Organists.


LocationBox
143.F.4.2F4 Undated, 1949-1999. 6 folders.
Minnesota organs, 1970s.

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Expand/CollapseORAL HISTORIES

LocationBox
143.F.4.2F4Transcripts of recordings:
J. Michael Barone, November 3, 2009.
James Biery, March 9, 2010.
Carolyn Bliss, November 19, 2009.
Jerry Bonstrom, February 22, 2010.
Philip Brunelle, November 9, 2009.
Maria Bucka, April 29, 2010.
Roger Burg, February 25, 2010.
David Engen, November 5, 2009.
John Ferguson, April 12, 2010.
Charles Hendrickson, November 18, 2009.
Diana Lee Lucker, January 14, 2010.
Kathryn Moen, November 10, 2009.
William Stump, October 21, 2009.
Richard Waggoner, February 18, 2010.
L. Robert Wolf, January 7, 2010.

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Expand/CollapseCATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:
Music -- Minnesota -- Societies, etc.
Organ (Musical instrument) -- Minnesota.
Professional associations -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.
Music -- Minnesota -- Performance.
Church music -- Minnesota.
Place:
Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (Minn.).
Persons:
Hendrickson, Charles.
Organizations:
American Guild of Organists.
American Guild of Organists. Minnesota Chapter.
Types of Documents:
Concert programs.
Photographs.
Videocassettes.
Occupation:
Organists -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.
Church musicians -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area.

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