MG-467. BALL FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION. 1870-1930 (.5 cu. ft.)
This collection contains thirty-three photographs of the Ball family. These photographs belonged to Lillian L. Ball, an African American musician. Louise Ball was born in Steelton, PA on October 19, 1905, the youngest child of John Sydney Ball and Louisa Gaskins Ball. She began private piano lessons early in life and graduated from the Dunmire School of Music in Harrisburg in 1926. She played music for the Sunday School and Children's Choir at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Steelton and subsequently served as Church Musician at the Holy Cross Episcopal Church, St. Gerald's Episcopal Church, and the St. Paul Episcopal Church in Harrisburg. She also taught piano and elocution in Harrisburg until her retirement in 1983. One of her students went on to teach in the Philadelphia school system and another attended the Julliard School of Music in New York and became a Broadway musical director. Lillian Louise Ball was honored at a "Help Save Miss Ball's Piano" celebration at the State Museum in August 1998. She died in Harrisburg on October 9, 1998. The holdings consist of Ball family photographs and concert brochures for the Lillian Louise Ball Studio of Music and Elocution. Her piano and other artifacts relating to Miss Ball's School of Music now reside at the Historical Society of Dauphin County, located at 219 South Front Street, Harrisburg, PA.
Of special note is a family portrait of Joseph and Ann Gaskins Jackson (Ann was Louisa’s sister) with their nine children, and a photograph of the Forster Street YMCA (Colored Branch of Harrisburg), featuring several men thought to be board members and campaign committee members, appearing under a banner that reads "Anniversary Building Campaign Nov. 8-18," circa. 1930.
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