Mary Elizabeth Hallock Greenewalt papers


Musical Edition


Collection 0867

( Bulk, 1879-1950 ) 1769-1950, undated
(18.2 Linear feet ; 39 boxes, 29 volumes, 23 flat files)
© The Historical Society of Pennsylvania1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200

Series I

General Files 1883-1835, undated   ; 11 boxes, 7 flat files

Scope and Contents

These materials, arranged alphabetically by Mary Elizabeth Hallock Greenewalt, represent Greenewalt’s vast research efforts on behalf of her light-color player and demonstrate her involvement with all stages of its design and manufacture. Many folder titles represent the names of individuals, corporations, academic institutions, theatre operators, or events associated with the color organ’s development. Of particular interest are files for the General Electric Company and the George Cutter Works of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. In addition to documenting the color organ’s development, Greenewalt also sought to ensure her place in posterity by requesting that encyclopedia and compendium publishers, in the United States and Europe, cite her name and accomplishments in their references to “colour-music.” Other titles references law firms, patent filings, and suits claiming patent infringements. Also included in this series are press clippings, program notes, and a Tabet (maternal) genealogy.

Musical Guide by Willhem Echevarria


Music may take a moment to load, so please be patient if it does not play immedietly upon opening a series.

Reviewing the papers of Mary Hallock Greenewalt, as well as the finding aid by HSP staff, I noticed several “characteristics” of Greenewalt’s personality and work that I thought could be translated well to a study of musical contrasts. I decided to focus on contrasts instead of colors since I find the concept of colors in music a very subjective way of “looking” at music. Greenewalt being a pianist herself , once I got involved with the project I wanted to write for the piano. I picked some of the “characteristics” that I found reflected in the papers-piano music, Impressionism, the waltz from Chopin’s perspective but also a little bit of Ravel’s Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, pulse-rhythm studies, her Middle-Eastern background-and started to combine different ideas in several different sequences in order to achieve the contrasts that I wanted. I want to offer my special gratitude to Jay Fluellen, pianist and a notable composer himself, for understanding my vision and translating it beautifully with his performance.

Willhem Echevarria was born in Puerto Rico, studied at University of the Arts under John Swana and Dennis Wasko, and worked for years as a trumpet player, arranger, and composer in a commercial studio setting. Always wanting to work in libraries in general, and music libraries in particular, he finished a Master in Library Sciences and worked at the University of Puerto Rico as a librarian before returning to Philadelphia in 2007. A professional librarian/archivist during the day, he still dedicates his evenings to music (performance, arranging, composing, and a little bit of ethno musicological research on the Caribbean).
Box Folder

Absolute Contractor Co. 1923-1927 

 1 1

Aeolian Company 1919-1924 

 1 2

American Telephone and Telegraph 1939 

 1 3

Articles cited 1897-circa 1930 

 1 4

"Arts and Decoration" article 1921 

 1 5

Bellevue Stratford Disclosure 1916 

 1 6

Fiebel - Westinghouse Patent Solicitor and Van Deventer 1923-1924 

 1 7

Biebel - Westinghouse Patent Solicitor 1923 

 1 8

Biebel - Westinghouse Patent Solicitor and Van Deventer 1923 

 1 9

Bok Philadelphia Award 1921-1930 

 1 10

Broadcasting 1927 

 1 11

Calvary Church, Pittsburgh: Light Player Demonstration 1924 

 1 12

Cole, Robert correspondence 1923 

 1 13

College/university correspondence 1919-1934 

 1 14

Colleges/schools correspondence 1920-1935 

 1 15

Commercial Engineering Laboratories 1922-1923 

 2 1

Commercial Engineering Laboratories, Mr. Allcutt 1922-1924 

 2 2

Commercial Engineering Laboratories 1923, undated 

 2 3

Cooper Hewitt mercury vapor lamp 1917-1920 

 2 4

Corning Glass Works 1922-1924 

 2 5

Cue sheets-early light scores 1923-1930, undated 

 2 6

Cue sheets-first practice of the art 1883-1928, undated 

 2 7

Cutler Hammer Co. 1922-1923, undated 

 2 8-9

Drexel Institute 1918-1921 

 2 10

Driver-Harris Company 1919-1929 

 2 11

Duo Music Club 1926-1934, undated 

 2 12

E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co./Arlington Works 1917-1934 

 2 13

duPont, Coleman 1923-1926 

 2 14

duPont, Pierre S. 1918-1934 

 2 15-16

Originals from Box 2 1923-1933 

 2 17

Early light play mention 1928-1929, undated 

 3 1

Eastman Kodak Co. 1916-1926 

 3 2

Eastman Kodak color filters 1918 

 3 3

eastman Kodak color filters-Welsbach Company, Department of Commerce 1918-1927 

 3 4

Electric companies 1925-1934 

 3 5

Encyclopedias 1930-1933, undated 

 3 6-7

Encyclopedias-Investigations Physical Properties of Light, Color, Rhythm 1918-1933, undated 

 3 8-9

First light color play instrument ever made (constructed to MHG specifications by J.E. Reid Instrument Co.) 1919 

 3 10
Oversize

Large sketch removed from "First light color play instrument ever made" folder (Box 3, Folder 10) circa 1919 

 Flat File 1
Box Folder

First performance-light play console, Wildwood 1919, 1932, undated 

 3 11

Fowler and Smith (rep. Howson & Howson in Washington) 1921-1923 

 3 12

Fox theatres and Fox film corporation 1924-1928 

 3 13
Oversize

Fox theatre switchboard work chart removed from "Fox theatres and Fox film corporation" folder (Box 3, Folder 13) undated 

 Flat File 2
Box Folder

Franklin Institute 1917-1935, undated 

 3 14

Originals Box 3 1917-1935 

 3 15

General Electric Company 1916-1929, undated 

 4 1-2

Geo. Cutter Works of the Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co. 1920-1922, undated 

 4 3-4

Green, Harry G. (inventors reps.) 1930, 1932, undated 

 4 6

Greenewalt v. Musical Arts Assoc. (Ohio) 1934-1935 

 4 7

Greenewalt patent 1,731,772 (instrument for light/color play) 1924-1928 

 4 8

Hallock, Robert 1918-1926, undated 

 4 9

History of development of light/color intensity play as a fine art by MHG undated 

 4 10

Illuminating Engineering Society 1918-1926 

 4 11

Japan 1920-1921 

 4 12

John Wanamaker stores (N.Y.) 1922 

 4 13

Johns Manville 1924-1928 

 4 14

Judges and courts 1933-1935, undated 

 4 15

Keith, B.F. 1916-1917, undated 

 4 16

Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Co. 1933 

 4 17

Originals 1916, 1920, undated 

 4 18

Laird & Company (Wilmington, Del.) 1934, undated 

 5 1

Libraries 1921-1934 

 5 2

Licenses 1925-1929, undated 

 5 3
Oversize

Light/color instrument undated 

 Flat File 3
Box Folder

Light and music phonograph 1919 

 5 4

Lighting appliances: application for patent 1,820,899 1924-1931, undated 

 5 5-6
Oversize

Large sketch and blueprint removed from "Lighting appliances: application for patent 1,820,899" folder (Box 5, folders 5-6) 1927 

 Flat File 4
Box Folder

Magazines 1918-1934 

 5 7

Mahaffy, William and Henry 1931-1933 

 5 8

Major (later Frank Adams) 1923, 1929 

 5 9

Manufacture at E. Pittsburgh 1921-1935 

 5 10

Masek, James C. 1919-1930, undated 

 5 11
Oversize

Blueprint removed from "Mask, James C." folder undated 

 Flat File 5
Box Folder

Mastbaum theatre 1929, 1935, undated 

 5 12

Mercury switch-date of priority 1920-1924 

 5 13

Minneapolis-Honeywell Reg. Co. (formerly AbsoluteContractor Corp.) 1933-1934 

 5 14

Motion Picture Prod. & Dist. Of America 1925, 1933 

 5 15

National Pneumatic Co. 1932-1933 

 5 16

National Woman's Party 1917-1936 

 5 17

N.Y. Edison Co. 1921-1927 

 5 18

Miscellaneous 1920-1933 

 5 19

Originals, Box 5 1919-1931 

 5 20

Miscellaneous 1921-1935, undated 

 6 1-2
Oversize

Weber artist water color chart removed from "Miscellaneous" folder (Box 6, folders 1-2) undated 

 Flat File 6
Box Folder

Motion picture interests 1920-1928, undated 

 6 3

Museum of Science & Industry (Chicago) 1923-1934, undated 

 6 4

Music stands (before and after arrival of light-color play) 1928, undated 

 6 5

"Notes" 1934, undated 

 6 6-7

Overbrook theatre 1928 

 6 8

Patent information 1912-1920 

 6 9

Patent negotiations 1919-1923 

 6 10

Patents in suit 1920-1929, undated 

 6 11

Patent 1,385,944 1919-1934, undated 

 6 12

Patent 1,654,873 1920-1935, undated 

 6 13-16

Patent 1,714,504 1923-1928, undated 

 6 17

Patent 1,793,284 1935, undated 

 6 18
Oversize

Blueprint and attached printed materials removed from "Patent 1,654,873" folder (Box 6, folders 13-16) undated 

 Flat File 7
Box Folder

Pathé news demonstration 1921, 1924 

 6 19

Personal Stationery circa 1923 

 7 1

Philadelphia Electric 1918-1934 

 7 2

Pittsburgh Malleable Iron Company 1925 

 7 3

Prabar, Renee, Design for Light Play Console 1922 

 7 4

Precision Tool and Instrument Company 1920-1922 

 7 5

Preliminary Preparation of Brief for Suit vs Patent Infringement 1936, undated 

 7 6

Press Clippings 1912-1935, undated 

 7 7

Princess Theatre, New York 1922-1928, undated 

 7 8

Prindle, Edwin J. 1923-1932, undated 

 7 9

Prindle, Edwin J., Patent Correspondence 1923-1932 

 7 10

Programs (Church, Theatre, Department Stores, Auditorium) and Demonstrations 1896-1920, undated 

 7 11

Programs (Church, Theatre, Department Stores, Auditorium) and Demonstrations 1921-1929, undated 

 36 1

Promotional Matierals 1904, undated 

 36 2

Popular Science Monthly 1919-1921 

 7 12

Public Ledger of Philadelphia 1916-1931 

 7 13

Publicity 1920-1929, undated 

 7 14-15

Publicity Negotiations (Dropped, Westinghouse) 1920-1923 

 7 16

Publishers 1934, undated 

 7 17

Radio Corporation of America 1929-1933 

 7 18

Radium Luminous Material 1918-1919 

 7 19

Remington, J. Percy 1921, 1925, undated 

 7 20

Report on Instrument for Light-Color Play 1928 

 7 21

Rheostats (Patent 1,357,773) 1912-1930, undated 

 7 22

Rheostats, 1,357,773 1923, 1932, undated 

 7 23

Rothaptel (Roxy) 1921-1927 

 7 24-25

Russian Symphony Orchestra 1915 

 7 26

Scale of least visible increments, Charles E. Rauda 1919, 1927, undated 

 8 1

Sears-Roebuck 1933, undated 

 8 2

Schairer, O.S. (Head of Patent Dept., Westinghouse, partner with Van Deventer & Alcott, vice president of RCA) 1923-1933 

 8 3

Serial No. 793,839, Method and Means for Associating Light and Music 1924-1925 

 8 4

Sesqui-centennial exposition 1925-1926, undated 

 8 5-6

Severance Hall 1914-1935, undated 

 8 7-9

Severance Hall: bill of particulars and proofs 1934-1935 

 8 10

Severance Hall: conduct of case undated 

 8 11

Severance Hall console (printed descriptions) 1931-1933, undated 

 8 12

Severance Hall court papers 1932-1935, undated 

 8 13-14

Severance Hall: experimental tryout 1930-1935, undated 

 8 15

Severance Hall: interrogation, stipulations, definitions, quotations 1934, undated 

 8 16

Severance Hall proofs 1925-1935, undated 

 8 17

Severance Hall: witnesses in prior suit 1929-1930, undated 

 8 18

Severance Hall: letters from Newton D. Baker, Charles F. Thwing, S. R. McCandless 1931-1933, undated 

 8 19

Severance Hall: scientific & other points on light and material 1924-1935, undated 

 8 20

Sheet music 1928, undated 

 9 1

Webster's international dictionary 1932, undated 

 9 2

Shipman, Frederic (manager for series of concerts in Canada and West) 1914-1915, undated 

 9 3

Slavic rhapsody (and other music) colorized 1928, undated 

 9 4

Slough and Canfield 1932-1935 

 9 5-6

Stanley Company now Warner Brothers 1919-1929, undated 

 9 7

Steinway and Sons 1917, 1919 

 9 8

Stotesbury 1919-1923, undated 

 9 9

Stowkowski 1918-1931 

 9 10

Strand Theatre 1922-1925, undated 

 9 11

Tabet genealogy (Maternal) undated 

 9 12

Theatre 1934, undated 

 9 13

Three cornered reflector 1932, undated 

 9 14

Transom, Frederick 1924-1925, undated 

 9 15

U.S. Dept. of Justice 1927-1931, undated 

 9 16

United Gas Improvement Co. 1917-1927 

 9 17

Universal Stage Lighting Co. (Kliegl Bros.) 1922-1935, undated 

 9 18-19

Vauclain, Samuel (president Baldwin Locomotive, on board of Westinghouse) 1919-1934 

 9 20

Ward Leonard Electric Co. 1929 

 9 21

Wertsner & Sons: silver screen background for light/play reflection 1921-1931 

 9 22

Originals, Box 9 1928, 1932, undated 

 9 23

Westinghouse 1921-1923, undated 

 10 1-2

Westinghouse: light and music phonograph 1918-1922 

 10 3

Westinghouse litigation 1932-1934, undated 

 10 4

Westinghouse letters: Severance Hall Ellipdomeria 1920-1933, undated 

 10 5

Westinghouse: McNary, White, Smith, Bellerjian 1919-1926 

 10 6

White, Thomas U. 1933-1935 

 10 7

Wilfred, Thomas 1922-1923, undated 

 10 8-9

Williams, Talcott (first director, Columbia School of Journalism) 1907-1934, undated 

 10 10

Wobensmith 1934 

 10 11

Zelov, Victor has one of my instruments in his shop 1927, undated 

 10 12

Magazines 1922-1925, undated 

 11 1

Columbia Graphophone Company 

 11 2

Method and Means 1930 

 11 3

General Electric Litigation 1923-1934 

 11 4

A Nomenclature to Underly the Use of Light as a Fine Art undated 

 11 5

Manuscript of Light 1918-1921 

 11 6

Extra Copies of Letters, Autobiography 1885-1907 

 11 7

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