MG-317. MARY BARNUM BUSH HAUCK PAPERS, 1931-1979.
Mary B. B. Hauck was the Pennsylvania state supervisor of music under the Emergency Education Program of the Works Progress Administration, 1937-42, and organizer of the Dauphin County Folk Festival, 1935-61. She also served as director of USO program services at Fort Indiantown Gap, 1943-46. The collection includes correspondence, memoranda, lecture notes, music books, posters, news clippings, photographs, and other materials acquired by Hauck during her career. While some specific references to African Americans are cited below, also scattered through the collection are photographs of various festivals and programs featuring many races and nationalities.
A. PERSONAL, 1935-1961
Biographies and Photographs, 1935-1961. This file contains biographical information portraying Hauck’s involvement with people of many races during her tenure as the Works Progress Administration state supervisor of the Music and the Emergency Education Program, the director of the USO Program Services of Fort Indiantown Gap, and founder and director of the Dauphin County Folk Festival.
B.W.P.A. STATE SUPERVISOR OF MUSIC, EMERGENCY EDUCATION PROGRAM, F.E.R.A., 1937-1942
This subgroup contains both newspaper articles and printed programs pertaining to the summer and winter musical activities in 1934 and 1935. One example is an article that appeared in the Evening News, July 21, 1934, entitled "Registration for Free music classes to open." This was a part of the Educational and Recreational Relief Project in music, sponsored by federal, state, and county relief agencies. Instructors were Mary Bush Hauck and John A. Isele. The weekly schedule included "colored people in separate classes on Tuesday and Thursday." Several newspaper articles refer to "mass singing for white and colored groups." Other materials present include:
Folk Festivals (Dauphin County), 1935-1942. A file containing a listing of nationalities that were involved in the "Americans All" pageant that was part of the Dauphin County Folk Festival, 1935-1942. Included is the description "Negroes." The folder titled "Work Manual I" contains several programs from the festival. The file for the Fifth Annual Festival has a list of committee members identified as Negro including Dr. A. Leslie Marshall and Miss Ella Frasier. The program for this festival mentions that on Wednesday evening a Negro "Cake-Walk" was scheduled and provides some background detail on the dance. The file on the sixth annual festival contains a list of the names of committee members, including Dr. Albert Thompson in addition to the two names previously cited. The "Negro" portion of the festival for this year included "Spiritual and Jubilee Scenes" in which Dr. Thompson led the Cosmopolitan Chorus. The folder also contains data on county populations broken down by nationality or race, revealing that more than 200,000 "Negroes" then lived in Philadelphia County. A Christmas Music Bulletin found in this folder acknowledged the contributions of Negroes to Christmas, such as the American Negro carol "Go, Tell It on the Mountain," describing the contributions of African Americans to the origins of some Christmas customs and carols. In the Minutes of the Music Specialists Group, four Negro spirituals were presented. Other references to African American music in this subseries includes a program from the Wall of Fame of the American Common World’s Fair of 1940 in New York, which lists prominent African Americans in law, music, and literature.
C. DIRECTOR, U.S.O. PROGRAM SERVICES, INDIANTOWN GAP AREA, 1943-1946
Folk Festivals (Dauphin County), 1943-1946.
Publicity for USO Program Services-Indiantown Gap Area, 1943-1944. Includes several articles that mention Negro service men in the Harrisburg area. Harrisburg’s Patriot dated November 24, 1943, for example, discusses constructing or converting a building for use as a USO club for Negro servicemen. Another article from Harrisburg’s Evening News, dated July 28, 1943, contains a call for more cots for African Americans in the city. Also present are various photographs that depict African American soldiers as subjects.
"Americans All," Dauphin County Folk Council, Dauphin County War Finance Committee, 7th War Loan Drive and Department of Public Instruction, June 13 (10), 1945. Contains photographs and publicity materials including a photograph of two African American soldiers labeled on the back with the name of each and other background information. One of the men performing in this photograph was formerly Louis Armstrong’s feature singer. The folder also contains a copy of The Tomahawk, the Indiantown Gap military reserve newspaper, which makes two references to African Americans on the base.