Newcomb, Mary (1895-1949?) Collection, 1901-1935
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Mary Newcomb, 1895-1949?
Title: Collection, 1901-1935 (bulk 1930-1935)
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, see the Curator of Special Collections.
Size of Collection: 1 cubic foot
Location Number: Mss./A/N538
Scope and Content Note
Papers of folk song collector Mary Newcomb. Correspondence consists of personal letters as well as others related to her trying to publish “Songs My Mother Sang,” her trying to find a job in the Civil Service, and her finances. Lyrics to a large number of the songs she collected and her genealogy are also included. Collection contains her notes from classes at Nazareth College and St. Helena’s Commercial College, numerous drawings, and printed material, including published articles by Newcomb, songbooks and sheet music, and newspaper clippings.
Her pitch-pipe was transferred to The Filson Museum.
Biographical Note
Mary Newcomb was born in Nelson County, Kentucky in 1895. As an adult, Newcomb collected folk songs, and in the late 1920s and early 1930s, she attempted to publish a collection of them called, “Songs My Mother Sang.” Her manuscript appears to never have been published, and a copy of it is available at The Filson as the Mary Newcomb Miscellaneous Papers (Mss./C/N). Newcomb held several positions in the United States Civil Service, and in the early 1930s attended Nazareth College and St. Helena’s Commercial College. It is believed that she died around 1949.
Folder List
Folder 1: Personal Correspondence, 1927-1931
Folder 2: Personal Correspondence, 1932-1935, no date
Folder 3: Music Correspondence, 1928-1931
Folder 4: Music Correspondence, 1932-1933
Folder 5: Employment Correspondence, 1918-1926
Folder 6: Employment Correspondence, 1929-1933
Folder 7: Financial Correspondence
Folder 8: Kentucky Folk Songs, Book I
Folder 9: Kentucky Folk Songs, Book II
Folder 10: Folk Song Lyrics, A-H
Folder 11: Folk Song Lyrics, I-R
Folder 12: Folk Song Lyrics, S-Z, untitled
Folder 13: Folk Songs and Stories
Folder 14: Genealogy of the Abell, Craven, Masterson, Miller, Newcomb, Pierceall Families
Folder 15: Abell Genealogy
Folder 16: Genealogy
Folder 17: Play – “The Red Bear”
Folder 18: Music Notes – Nazareth College
Folder 19: English Literature Notes – Nazareth College
Folder 20: English Literature Notes – St. Helena’s Commercial College
Folder 21: Miscellaneous Writings
Folder 22: Drawings
Folder 23: Miscellaneous
Folder 24: Bank passbooks
Folder 25: The Pelican (Vol. 5, No. 1)
Folder 26: St. Teresa Herald (February 1935)
Folder 27: Bradley Kincaid Songbooks
Folder 28: Folk Songbooks
Folder 29: Songbooks
Folder 30: Sheet Music
Folder 31: Practical Method for the Pianoforte , Vol. 1
Folder 32: Newspaper clippings
Subject Headings
Abell family – Genealogy
Allison, Young Ewing, 1853-1932
Birth control – Attitudes
Civil service – United States – Employees
Emmett, Daniel Decatur, 1815-1904. Dixie
Folk songs – United States
Hays, Will. S. (William Shakespeare), 1837-1907
Kincaid, Bradley
La Bree, Ben (Benjamin)
Nativism
Newcomb family – Genealogy
Newcomb, Mary, 1895-1949?