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da1000-150
Guide to the William B. Davis Papers,
1892 - 1940
Processed by: Kate Levy; machine-readable finding aid created by: Valerie Gillispie
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© 2008 Wesleyan University. All Rights Reserved.
Machine-readable finding aid derived from XML authoring program.
Date of source: July 2008
Description is in
English
Finding aid was prepared using DACS
Guide to the William B. Davis Papers, 1892 - 1940
Special Collections & Archives
Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT, USA
© 2008 Wesleyan University. All Rights Reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University
Davis, William B.
William B. Davis Papers, 1892 - 1940
1000-150
Material in English
0.5
1
For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult Special Collections & Archives staff.
William Butler Davis (1871-1937) was a graduate of the Wesleyan University class of 1894 and a musician. He served as a choirmaster, organist, and music teacher in Connecticut during his career.
The William B. Davis Papers consist mostly sheet music hand-written by William Butler Davis, Wesleyan class of 1894 and composer of the Wesleyan alma mater, Come Raise the Song. Davis composed what he referred to as a light opera called The Girl and the Graduate. The piano, vocal, and orchestral sheet music is included in this collection, as well as some other pieces Davis composed. He was a member of the Glee Club while at Wesleyan and he kept a scrapbook of Glee Club programs and news clippings that mentioned himself or the Glee Club from 1892 to 1895.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright Notice
Copyright for Official University records is held by Wesleyan University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], William B. Davis Papers, Collection #1000-150, Special Collections & Archives, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Acquired prior to 1980.
Processing Information
Processed by Kate Levy, July 2008
Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, July 2008
Biographical Note
William Butler Davis was born in Middletown, Connecticut, on September 27, 1871 and died on November 16, 1937, in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. He attended Wesleyan University where he earned his bachelor of philosophy in 1894. He then attended Trinity College where he earned his bachelor of music degree in 1918. Most of his life was focused on music: from 1894 to 1927, Davis was the choirmaster and organist of The Church of the Holy Trinity in Middletown; from 1908 to 1928, director of the Glee Club; from 1892 to 1917, an instructor in church music at the Berkeley Divinity School of Yale University; and in 1917, he was the music instructor at Middletown High School. In 1907, Davis along with fellow Wesleyan alumnus, Kenneth Goode, class of 1904, wrote a comic opera called
The Girl and the Graduate. It was first performed locally in 1907 and later performed at the Berkley Theater in New York City to a standing-room only audience. Davis never married, but he was very involved in his teaching, especially while teaching at Middletown High School, where each year, he would chose two students whom he would sponsor for four years at Wesleyan. In 1928, Davis moved out of Middletown to Old Saybrook, but continued to teach at Middletown High School until he died.
Collection Overview
The William B. Davis Papers consist mostly sheet music hand-written by William Butler Davis, Wesleyan class of 1894 and composer of the Wesleyan alma mater,
Come Raise the Song. Davis composed what he referred to as a light opera called The Girl and the Graduate. The piano, vocal, and orchestral sheet music is included in this collection, as well as some other pieces Davis composed. He was a member of the Glee Club while at Wesleyan and he kept a scrapbook of Glee Club programs and news clippings that mentioned himself or the Glee Club from 1892 to 1895.
Online Catalog Headings
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Davis, William B.
Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)--Alumni and alumnae.
Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)--Students.
Choruses, Secular (Men’s voices), Unaccompanied.
Detailed Description of the Collection
1
Scrapbook
Concerts of Wesleyan Programmes
Glee Club and concerts in which Billy B. Davis sang, 1894
Press Notices of Wesleyan Glee Club and of Billy B. Davis, Baritone, 1892-1895
1
Wesleyan Songs by W.B. Davis, 1894
Small book.
William Butler Davis, major life accomplishments
11
Come Raise the Song (alma mater), 1894
11
To Glee Club
12
The Girl and the Graduate
2 copies.
13
The Girl and the Graduate programs, 1908, 1912, 1931
13
Article about The Girl and the Graduate in the Wesleyan Argus, Vol. XLI-No. 22, April 8, 1908
14
The Girl and the Graduate sheet music
14
Those Girls
14
$20,000,000 Song
15
Sheet Music
15
Unknown, 1907
15
Ave Verum Corpus Natum (Jesu hand of God incarnate), undated
15
My Heart if a Dandy Lion Blossom, undated
15
Jesu, the very thought of Thee, 1914
15
Here's a Health to Wesleiana, 1916
15
Hail Wesleiana, a chorus of Praise, undated
15
Pilgrim's Song
15
In the bleak mid-winter, 1932, 1935, undated
15
Wesleyan Compline Song, 1917
16
Miscellaneous
16
The Alma Mater Has Been Improved, by Wm. B. Davis, The Wesleyan University Alumnus, 1934
16
Wesleyan University Department of Music memo, 1940
16
Brother Omega, 1916
16
Seven Well-Known Hymns with Original Tunes, undated
The Girl and the Graduate
17
Printed sheet music, 1908: Home is Where the Heart is
3 copies.
17
Printed sheet music, 1908: Collection of songs
2 copies.
18
Act I sheet music (piano and vocal, with script in between songs)
18
Act I: Those Girls
18
Act I: Proposal Song
18
Finale - Act I
19
Overture
19
Act I piano and vocal score
110
When a Girl's in Love (piano and vocal)
110
A Change in the Times (piano and vocal)
111
Act II sheet music (piano and vocal, with script in between songs)
112
Act II piano and vocal sheet music
113
Overture orchestra parts
114
Those Girls orchestra parts
115
$20,000,000 Song orchestra parts
116
McSwatt's entrance song orchestra parts
117
A Change in the Times orchestra parts
118
Proposal Song orchestra parts
119
In Thibet orchestra parts
120
Finale Act I orchestra parts
121
Home is Where the Heart is (Act II opening chorus) orchestra parts
122
When a Girl's in Love orchestra parts
123
Entrance of the Thibetians orchestra parts
124
Sometimes orchestra parts
125
Finale Act II orchestra parts
2 sets.