General Files

The John P. Paynter Collection consists of sixty-seven boxes of materials. Spanning the years 1923 to 2013, it follows the life, career, and legacy of Northwestern alumnus and former music faculty John P. Paynter. The collection is separated into six series with subseries within each. The series are titled Biographical Materials, Office, Northwestern University "Wildcat" Marching Band (NUMB), Publications, Music, and Digital and Audio Visual Material.

The Biographical Materials series spans 1944 to 1997 and is split into two subseries, General Biographical and Death, which includes letters of condolence from colleagues and former students.

The Office series is the largest of the collection, consisting of five subseries which span 1947 to 2013. The first subseries, Files, contains twenty-two boxes of general files, correspondence, documents concerning students, faculty, and other associates, and personal academic calendars of his day-to-day tasks and events. Subseries 2 and 3 contain certificates, plaques, or awards given to Paynter, respectively. Subseries 4, Programs, includes a nearly comprehensive catalog of programs from the concerts Paynter conducted at Northwestern during his teaching career. The final subseries contains a few artifacts belonging to Paynter, including the whistles he used to direct the Wildcat Marching Band.

Series three is titled Northwestern University "Wildcat" Marching Band (NUMB) and contains files of the band that relate to Paynter from 1948 to 2012. Included are two subseries, Files and Photographs. The files include copies of the original marching drill written for the halftime shows of both the 1949 and 1996 Rose Bowl. The photographs are snapshots and professional photographs of the band’s goings-on.

Series four contains an assortment of publications from 1923 to 2004. It is split into three subseries, Newspapers, Magazines, and General Publications. There are several national publications with features about Paynter, demonstrating his reputation throughout the band world.

Series five titled Music consists of two subseries of Scores and Vinyl Records from 1938 to 2012. Among the scores are several original copies of Paynter’s arrangements that include his own annotations.

Series six, Digital and Audio Visual Material, features CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, open-reel tapes, film, and cassette tapes from 1948 to ca. 2012. The cassette tapes feature an extensive collection of recordings of the concerts of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble which Paynter conducted.