Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Mary Wood Hinman collection of English folk songs
- Dates:
- 1823-1917
- Creators:
- Hinman, Mary Wood
- Abstract:
- The Mary Wood Hinman Collection consists of teaching materials for folk dancing, piano forte and some violin music books, programs for plays, photographs, sheet music, newspaper clippings as well as presidential and American history related items that have been collected by Mary Wood Hinman. The items document Hinman's long career as a folk dance teacher, choreographer, musician, lyricist and more. Mary Wood Hinman is regarded as an American scholar who helped to lead in the expansion and awareness of folk dancing in the United States.
- Extent:
- 0.84 Linear Feet 2 boxes
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Box/folder no. or item name], Mary Wood Hinman collection of English folk songs, Collection no. 0035, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Mary Wood Hinman Collection consists of teaching materials for folk dancing, piano forte and some violin music books, programs for plays, photographs, sheet music, newspaper clippings as well as presidential and American history related items that have been collected by Mary Wood Hinman. The collection also contains items involving plays that Hinman took part in mainly as a choreographer, such as "The Pseudo-Suffragettes", "The Pursuit of Portia" and "The Wooing of Nan", as well as original songs that she possibly wrote lyrics for, such as "My Man John" and "The Keeper".
- Biographical / historical:
-
Mary Wood Hinman was born on February 14, 1878 in the state of Ohio. She began her career as a teacher to the local neighborhood children as a teenager as a way to help her family through financial distress. She later traveled to Europe where she had the opportunity to study gymnastics and folk dancing. Hinman eventually came back to America and settled in Chicago, Illinois where she developed a teacher-training school that prepared women to teach folk dances in parks, schools and settlement houses. In 1898, she worked with Jane Addams and her colleagues at Hull House where she taught folk dancing to immigrants, and in 1905 she ventured into business when she opened the Hinman School of Folk Dancing. From around 1906 to 1919, Hinman worked with philosopher, psychologist and education reformer John Dewey where they developed dancing and gymnastics programs as part of the kindergarten through high school curriculum for what is now the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. It was at the University of Chicago where Hinman also took part in choreographing and writing songs for plays and jigs, such as "The Pseudo-Suffragettes", "The Pursuit of Portia", and "The Wooing of Nan" for the English Language and Literature Department. She later moved from Illinois to New York where she helped to establish the Folk Festival Council of New York in 1930 and taught as well as developed courses at a university that is now known as The New School in Manhattan around 1932. Mary Wood Hinman retired from her teaching career in 1938 and relocated once more to Los Angeles, California where she lived until she passed away on July 4, 1952.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2017-09-14 13:28:52 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
- Terms of access:
-
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Box/folder no. or item name], Mary Wood Hinman collection of English folk songs, Collection no. 0035, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
- Location of this collection:
-
Doheny Memorial Library, Room G-24Los Angeles, CA 90089-1822, US
- Contact:
- (213) 740-0183