Eleanor McCann Dayton Music Scrapbook (SC-379)

The collection consists of a single scrapbook containing clippings, original materials (such as programs and correspondence), and occasional handwritten commentary, mostly focused on Dayton's classical music scene in the 1930s and 1940s. The materials focus particularly McCann's work as Dayton Art Institute music director and as Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra radio commentator on WHIO. There are also many references to Dayton Civic Theatre, with which McCann was involved (productions were at the Dayton Art Institute auditorium), the Dayton Music Club, and First Baptist Church (where McCann played the organ).

The Phoenix Players, who performed at the Dayton Civic Theatre, and their leader Edmund Wilkes, are mentioned several times. A handful of letters from "Alice" or "Al" (probably Eleanor's sister Alice McCann James) appear throughout. Denison University is mentioned multiple times, as Eleanor studied there and later spoke at alumni events.

Other specific musicians or performers who appear noteworthy in one or more sections/signatures are as follows, with relevant signature(s) in parentheses: Ellen Jane Lorenz Porter (4), Arthur Loesser (4), Edward Alen Jewell (4), Eugene List (5 and 14), the Don Cossack chorus (5), James M. Cox and John B. Barbirolli event (5 and 6), Gladys Swarthout (6), Dalies Frantz (9), Boris Godolvsky (10), Sascha Gorodnitski (10 with handwritten letter and 13), Raoul Carrere (11 and 12), Robert Weede (12), Claudio Arrau (13), and Carroll Glenn (13 and 14). In the case of famous musicians, these were usually people that McCann met in connection to their guest performances with Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra.

Though the full span of the materials in the scrapbook is from 1925 to 1972, the bulk of the materials are from the World War II era, dating between 1939 and 1943.