Abbe Niles Trinity College Song Book collection

Collection

Identifier: TCA-YYYY-013

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Abbe Niles Trinity College Song Book collection contains materials related to a proposed revision of the 1939 version of the Trinity College Song Book by Trinity alumnus Abbe Niles. Records include correspondence, project notes and sheet music. Of interest are files pertaining to Trinity alumnus William Rosenbaum, who penned Trinity's "Baseball Song." (Rosenbaum would go on to legally change his name to his pen-name, Gilbert Dodge, and in 1921 have the hit song, "Peggy O'Neil.") Also of interest is a report and student survey regarding publication of the new song book and ideas about what it should or should not include.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Niles's main work on the song book project included research on copyright statuses and obtaining permissions; verification of the texts of existing Trinity songs; finding errors in tunes in the most recent version of the song book; and collecting Trinity material he felt had been neglected. Niles's untimely death before the publication of the updated song book leaves the materials in an unfinished place. While there is correspondence to suggest that the committee continued on with the work begun by Niles, with mention that the new book would be dedicated to him, it is unclear as to whether the updated song book was ever completed or published.

Dates

Creation: 1958-1965

Creator

Niles, Abbe (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to the public and must be used in the John M.K. Davis Reading Room of the Watkinson Library, Trinity College Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws when using this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Digital surrogates may be provided to researchers, in accordance with the duplication policy of the Watkinson Library.

Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.

Archival materials may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information (e.g. social security numbers) in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.

Biographical / Historical

Edward Abbe Niles, Trinity class of 1916, grew up in New Hampshire and attended Hoosac School in Hoosick, New York. He came from a line of Trinity graduates, the first being his grandfather, William Woodruff Niles, class of 1857. After graduation from both Trinity and Berkeley Divinity School, W.W. Niles came back to Trinity College and taught both Latin and History. During this time, Niles married Bertha Olmsted, with whom he had two sons — who would also attend Trinity College — Edward Cullen Niles (Trinity 1887) and the Reverend William Porter Niles (Trinity 1893). Edward Abbe Niles was the son of Edward Cullen Niles.

While at Trinity, "Abbe" Niles excelled in the classroom, winning several academic prizes, as well as winning the College Tennis Championship in 1915. Also an amateur pianist with an interest in music, Abbe Niles accompanied the Glee Club and the Mandolin Club. After graduation from Trinity, Niles studied law briefly at Harvard University before serving as a pilot and flight instructor in World War I from 1917-1919. He then attended Christ Church College, Oxford, England as a Rhodes Scholar before returning to Harvard to earn a law degree in 1921. He practiced copyright law as an associate with the firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in New York City.

An avid collector of sheet music, it was during his time at Trinity that Niles obtained his first piece of sheet music by William Christopher “W.C.” Handy: "The Memphis Blues". Niles befriended Handy a number of years after discovering blues music, and later assisted Handy with his autobiography, as well as offering him legal advice. In 1926, the two collaborated on a book, The Blues: An Anthology; in 1949 Niles revised the book which was published as A Treasury of the Blues.

Niles had a regular column in The Bookman (Ballads, Songs, and Snatches), and wrote for The Nation and The New Republic, among others. At the time, he wrote critiques of jazz recordings as well as newly published books on jazz. Niles became immersed in the jazz world and had many friends in jazz and blues circles.

Edward Abbe Niles died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1963 while refereeing a match at the National Amateur Tennis Championship in Long Island, New York.

Extent

2.3 Cubic Feet (5 legal size document boxes of legal size file folders) ; 1 legal document box (15.5 x 5 x 10.25) equals .46 cubic feet (as defined by UNLV Archives Calculator)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into one series with folders listed alphabetically.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Abbe Niles Trinity College Song Book collection was donated to the Watkinson Library by Katherine Waugh Niles at an unknown date.

Related Materials

Separated Materials

A number of songbooks from other colleges were separated and catalogued with the Watkinson Library book collection.

Processing Information

Before re-processing in 2022, the collection had been fairly thoroughly processed to the folder level. Files previously were grouped together seemingly by like material and placed into non-archival boxes in original folders. In 2022, the processing archivist rearranged files into alphabetical order. Original folder titles were retained when possible and handwritten notations on folder covers were kept and included inside the new folder.

All materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes, and rusty fasteners were removed. Newspapers and clippings were isolated with acid-free paper.