Personal Collections

Blaine Littell Collection

This collection consists of material that belonged to Walter Damrosch, who played a significant role in the building of Carnegie Hall. Highlights include autographed cabinet cards of Tchaikovsky and a Franz Liszt letter.

Geiger Collection of Modern Composers

In 1934, author David Ewen, working on a new edition of Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, sent questionnaires to 60 modern composers, including Alban Berg, Jean Sibelius, Anton Webern, and Edgard Varèse. The questionnaires, along with many letters from the composers, were presented to the Carnegie Hall Archives in 1994 as a gift from the family of Robert Geiger, an editor of Baker’s Biographical Dictionary.

Hermann Hans Wetzler Collection

This collection includes correspondence, a flyer, programs, and a subscription proposal for Wetzler Symphony Concerts at Carnegie Hall, 1902‒1904.

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Louis Salter Collection

Louis Salter was an employee of Carnegie Hall from 1893 to 1925, first as assistant electrician and eventually as superintendent. The Louis Salter Collection consists of Salter’s autograph book and a series of autographed artist photos, covering principally the years 1912‒1925. Highlights include the signatures of Roald Amundsen, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Sergei Prokofiev, and Igor Stravinsky, and signed photographs of Jascha Heifetz, Ignace Jan Paderewski, Arturo Toscanini, and Wilhelm Furtwängler.

Manheim Fox Collection

This contains a scrapbook collected by Manheim Fox, who presented the first New York Folk Festival at Carnegie Hall in June 1965. The scrapbook contains press clippings, scripts for some of the festival segments, correspondence, and a festival program and flyer.

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