Collection Guide
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Guide to the Florence Underwood Collection
MUS.0001
MUS.0001
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Table of contents
Title: Guide to the Florence Underwood Collection
Dates: 1905-1988
Collection number: MUS.0001
Creator:
Underwood, Florence White, 1906-1988
Collection size:
9.08 linear feet
Repository: Stanford University Music Library
Abstract: The Underwood collection consists primarily of Florence Underwood's written music and research conducted to write the music.
In addition, scrapbooks, personal and legal papers make up a portion of the collection.
Location note: Stanford Music Library, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94305-3076
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open for research. May be used on site only.
Open for research; material must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Contact the Music Library
for assistance.
Florence Underwood Collection, Stanford University, Music Library.
Florence Underwood was born Florence White on August 27th, 1906 in North Dakota. She married Lloyd Underwood in 1926. They
had one son, Robert Underwood. She and her family moved from Portland, Oregon to the San Francisco Bay area, and lived in
San Mateo County. She studied with Darius Milhaud at Mills College in the 1940s. In February of 1953, her composition "The
Hopi Indian Legend" was premiered by the San Diego Philharmonic Orchestra. Werner Janssen conducted. Several of her compositions
were performed by local orchestras, and she also composed original music for amateur theater groups in the San Francisco Bay
and Portland areas. She taught piano and composition privately and at Multnomah College in Portland. In addition to her music
career, Underwood also worked in public relations at the College of Notre Dame and had her own lapidary business in Belmont,
California. She died June 27th, 1988.
The Florence Underwood Collection is comprised of materials donated in two parts. Florence Underwood donated materials relating
to the composition There's a Land, and her son, Robert Underwood, donated the rest of the materials on February 25th, 2008.
The manuscripts are made up of original and photocopied scores, parts and arrangements written, arranged or edited by Florence
Underwood. A smaller selection of sheet music features other composers' works. Materials related to the research of Underwood's
compositions include original source materials, photocopies of reference texts, correspondence, handwritten notes and typed
stage directions. Underwood maintained scrapbooks consisting of newspaper clippings, programs, greeting cards and photographs.
Her professional and personal life is documented through correspondence and legal paperwork.
The collection is arranged into six series: I. Florence Underwood Music Manuscripts. II. Research. III. Scrapbooks. Subseries
I: Scrapbook I. Subseries II: Scrapbook II. Subseries III: Scrapbook III. Subseries IV: Collected Items. Subseries V: Oversized
Photocopies of Newsclippings. IV. Correspondence V. Legal and Personal Papers. VI. Sheet Music.
Constanten, Tom
Janssen, Werner, 1899-1990
Milhaud, Darius, 1892-1974
Monteux, Pierre, 1875-1964
Mowry, Dent
Tagore, Rabindranath, 1861-1941
Wheelock, John Hall, 1886-1978
White, Floyd C
California
Composers--United States--Biography.
Music--Manuscripts.
Orchestral music
Orchestral music, Arranged
Oregon
Piano music
Women composers--Archival resources.
Women composers--United States.