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Walter Carringer (1924-2006) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 19/3/8

  • Staff Only
  • No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

The Walter Carringer Papers document Carringer's busy and successful singing career, and consist for the most part of newspaper clippings, publicity and repertoire information, though biographical information and correspondence are also included.

Biographical information includes Carringer's Honorable Discharge certificate, a Freemason pin, Boy Scout badges and biographical forms from Northwestern University.

Carringer's correspondence is mostly career-related--including letters of reference, letters from professional organizations, and inter-office correspondence from Northwestern University--with the exception of a few personal greeting cards. The form letters were sent to friends and colleagues on behalf of projects that Carringer founded and/or supported such as the Light Opera Works Company. Correspondence is arranged chronologically within the folders.

The most extensive part of this collection, the publicity folders, includes N.U. press releases (arranged chronologically) and newspaper clippings announcing concert appearances and reviewing appearances by Carringer. Many of these are undated. The majority of the newspaper clippings were photocopied. Also included here are the press kits put together by Carringer's agent. The public and professional response to Carringer's solo career is well documented in this collection.

The programs and repertoire lists in the collection show what repertoire was performed by Carringer throughout the majority of his career. The programs are from a wide range of concert appearances, including Carringer's appearance at Pablo Casals' music festival in Puerto Rico. Various other professional activities are lightly documented in the folders containing information about contests; the Bel Canto Foundation, an organization that Carringer helped found to support young singers; an article by Carringer published in the Music Journal; a "Singer's Primer: he compiled; and the contract from a 1957 appearance with the North Carolina Symphony. These materials are arranged chronologically.

A drop-front box contains three scrapbooks from the early years of Carringer's career and an oversized concert poster. One of the scrapbooks was disassembled because of its deteriorated condition, and the materials (programs, clippings, and photographs) were arranged in a folder.

Dates

  • 1924-1994

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Box 1 of this collection is stored off-site and requires two business days advance notice for retrieval. Please contact the McCormick Library at specialcollections@northwestern.edu or 847-491-3635 for more information or to schedule an appointment to view the collection.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is stored at a remote campus location and requires two business days advance notice for retrieval. Please contact the McCormick Library at specialcollections@northwestern.edu or 847-491-3635 for more information or to schedule an appointment to view the collection.

Extent

2.00 Boxes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Walter Carringer Papers document Carringer's busy and successful singing career, and consist for the most part of newspaper clippings, publicity and repertoire information, though biographical information and correspondence are also included.

Arrangement

The Walter Carringer papers are organized into: biographical materials; correspondence (general correspondence, and form letters); publicity (sorted by form, but not in alphabetical order); scrapbooks; posters; and phonograph albums (arranged alphabetically by keyword).

Method of Acquisition

Walter Carringer donated his papers to the University Archives on October 3, 1990 as Accession No. 90-155 and on July 8, 2003 as Accession No. 03-103. Additional materials were transferred to the University Archives by Don Roberts of the Music Library on November 28, 1998 as Accession No. 98-220.

Separated Materials

Six inches of duplicate and extraneous materials were discarded. Six LPs (see list below) were transferred to the University Archives audio-visual collection (AD #178-183). Two audiotapes (master copies of LPs) were discarded.

PHONOGRAPH ALBUMS

Charles Ives Early Songs, Brewster Records, 1979 Mozart Requiem Mass in d minor/Robert Shaw Chorale, RCA Victor, n.d. Poulenc Mass in G/Robert Shaw Chorale, RCA Victor, n.d. The Robert Shaw Chorale/Schubert, Bach, Brahms, RCA Victor, 1953 Walter Carringer In Recital, n.d. Walter Carringer Sings For Bel Canto Foundation, n.d.

Processing Information

Sarah Rose, August 2003

Title
Guide to the Walter Carringer (1924-2006) Papers
Author
Sarah Rose
Date
01/08/2003
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
eng

Library Details

Part of the Northwestern University Archives Repository

Contact:
Deering Library, Level 3
1970 Campus Dr.
Evanston IL 60208-2300 US
847-491-3635