Ted Livingston collection on W.C. Handy
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of manuscripts and other items from the library of American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) editor Ted Livingston relating to W.C. Handy (1873-1958). Handy had a major influence on 20th century American popular music by being the first to translate the blues into a compositional form. His “Memphis Blues” (1912) was the first blues to be published and printed. His “St. Louis Blues” achieved great success and is one of the most recorded songs ever written. For this reason, Livingston made it the subject of a brief essay, vetted by Handy, for an ASCAP series of booklets on stories behind songs. Besides drafts of this essay and correspondence relating to it, the collection contains a number of items of biographical interest concerning Handy.
Dates
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1941-1958
Creator
- Handy, W.C. (William Christopher), 1873-1958 (Person)
- Livingston, Ted (Person)
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Extent
7 Folder(s) (1/2 letter document box with 7 file folders) ; 1/2 letter document box (12.5 x 2.5 x 10.25 as defined by UNLV Archives Calculator)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in a single series alphabetically by folder title.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased circa 2006.
- Title
- Guide to the Ted Livingston collection on W.C. Handy
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Henry Arneth, using a Word-document inventory, which was prepared for electronic publication in 1999. Amy FitzGerald updated in September 2023.
- Date
- 1999
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Watkinson Library - Archival Collections Repository
Trinity College Library
300 Summit St.
Hartford Connecticut 06106