Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Bessie Bartlett Frankel Papers
- Dates:
- 1854-1972
- Creators:
- Frankel, Bessie Bartlett
- Abstract:
- Bessie Herbert (Bartlett) Frankel was a founder of the California Federation of Music Clubs and established the Chamber of Music Series at Scripps College. She was also active in various music organizations in Southern California, such as the Friday Morning Club and Young People Concerts and a founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hollywood Community Chorus. The collection consists of photographs, music, and scrapbooks.
- Extent:
- 16 boxes
- Language:
- Languages represented in the collection: English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Bessie Bartlett Frankel Papers. Ella Strong Denison Library, Scripps College, Claremont, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, notebooks, postcards, correspondence, music, compositions, and ephemera related to her travels abroad and her career as a musician, composer, and philanthropic work in the world of music.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Bessie Bartlett Frankel was born in an unknown year. At home she studied voice, piano and composition and dramatics at the Cumnock School. In 1909, she went to New York to study voice with David Bispham and Herbert Witherspoon. Later she underwent two years of study in Europe, specifically oratorio in England and opera in Italy under Carlo Sbastaino. In 1912 she married Cecil Frankel, an insurance executive associated with Equitable Life and also known to be an accomplished cellist. Mrs. Frankel went on to become a music composer, vocalist, music patron, business executive, and dramatic narrator.
Her father, Albert Griffith Bartlett, established the Bartlett Music Store, which later became the Southern California Music Company. Her father brought to Los Angeles such well-known musicians as, Adelina Patti, Rosenthal and de Pachmann. Today the Pantages Theater stands where the Bartlett Family's home used to be.
Throughout her life Bessie Frankel was active in the Arts and was a member of such groups as, the Friday Morning Club, the Women's Committee for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Los Angeles, Young Peoples' Concerts, and many others. She founded the California Federation of Music Clubs and became Vice-President of the National Federation of Music Clubs. She also instituted the Hollywood Community Chorus and in memory of her father, Mrs. Frankel founded the Bartlett-Frankel String Quartet. Having established the Chamber of Music Series at Scripps College, Bessie Bartlett Frankel was made an honorary alumna of the College in 1931. She died in 1959. In her will she left a sizeable gift to Scripps College, which was used to build the Bessie Bartlett Frankel and Cecil Frankel Hall.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Bessie Bartlett Frankel, 1959 or 1967.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Jennifer Bicknell for Archival Studies 311, Claremont Graduate University, Spring 2009.
- Arrangement:
-
Series 1 Notebooks, Albums, and Scrapbooks
Series 2 Publications
Series 3 Blank Postcards
Series 4 Music
Series 5 Photographs
Series 6 Education and Philanthropic Work
- Accruals:
-
No addition to the collection is anticipated.
- Physical location:
- Ella Strong Denison Library, Scripps College, Claremont University Consortium.
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- October 2009
- Date Encoded:
- Finding aid encoded by Russell Michalak October 12, 2009
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
This collection is open for research with permission from Ella Strong Denison Library staff.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights reside with Scripps College. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact Ella Strong Denison Library staff.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Bessie Bartlett Frankel Papers. Ella Strong Denison Library, Scripps College, Claremont, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1030 Columbia Avenue, #2031Claremont, CA 91711, US
- Contact:
- (909) 607-3941