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 II

Color Organ 1903-1943   ; 2 boxes, 2 flat files

Scope and Contents

Box 12 serves as the heart of this series in that it contains Greenewalt’s sketches, calculations, and notes for the rheostat and the slider which produced the gradated color operations and formed the basis of her early patent applications. Of particular interest are five files of “Notes on Color Light Play” containing drawings and commentary which offer a history of the color organ’s conception and development and refute others’ claims to similar inventions. This box also contains an unedited 1940 typescript of The Fine Art of Nourathar. In addition, a folder titled “Miscellaneous Correspondence and Legal Papers” contains the copy of a January 12, 1941, letter to the publishers, Messrs. Simon and Shuster, regarding  Walt Disney’s Fantasia by Deems Taylor (1940). In this letter Greenewalt claims to hold priority in creating painted films. Box 14 of this series contains additional writings, correspondence, and sketches concerning the color organ’s design. Also included are notes on choosing a name for the new art, a copy of a light score for Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” for use with the Sarabet (Greenewalt’s name for the color-organ) and a teaching manual for the color organ entitled “Text Book for Light Color Play: Instruction.” Flat files in this series contain color organ sketches and blueprints.

Musical Guide by Maurice Wright


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

The video you are currently watching and listening to, entitled "Light-Color Play," was created by Maurice Wright and was inspired by materials within this series. The painted board featured in the video was made by Mary Elizabeth Hallock Greenwalt and can be found in Box 12, Folder 3 of this collection.

Maurice Wright was born in 1949 in Front Royal, Virginia, a small town situated between the forks of the Shenandoah River and near the Blue Ridge Mountains; he began composing at age 10. He attended Duke University and Columbia University, where he explored diverse interests that included music composition, computer science and film.

Wright was introduced to the craft and technology of film when he met Director Gene Searchinger in 1976 and contributed an electronic score for an unusual film about recycled aluminum, "Metallic Tales: The Social Life of a Non-Ferrous Metal," which received a Golden Eagle Award. Over the next two decades Wright continued to work with Searchinger, most recently contributing music and special sound for the three-program series about linguistics, "The Human Language," broadcast in the United States and Japan. You can learn more at www.mauricewright.org
Box Folder

Autograph Collection, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1932-1933 

 12 1

Miscellaneous Correspondence and Legal Papers 1837, 1943, undated 

 12 2

Notes, Sketches, Material Samples for Light Color Player undated 

 12 3
Oversize

Notes, Sketches, Material Samples for Light Color Player undated 

 Flat File 8
Box Folder

"The Fine Art of Nourathar" 1940 

 12 4

"Nourathar" 1926-1942, undated 

 12 5

"Nourathar" - An Account of the Color Organ 1937-1942, undated 

 12 6

Drawings and Sketches, A Fine New Art 1919-1920, undated 

 12 7

Notes on Light Color Play - 1 1903-1935, undated 

 12 8

Notes on Light Color Play - 2 1915-1919, undated 

 12 9

Notes on Light Color Play - 3 1921, undated 

 12 10

Notes on Light Color Play - 4 1923-1924, undated 

 12 11

Notes on Light Color Play - 5 1919, 1923, undated 

 12 12

Patent Materials - 1 1919-1923, undated 

 12 13

Patent Materials - 2 1920-1924, undated 

 12 14
Oversize

"Development of Ellipdomeria" drawing and blueprint 1921 

 Flat File 9
Box Folder

Originals, Color Organ Box undated 

 12 15

Patterns for Light Color Player undated 

 12 16

Instructions for "B1 Type Keys" 1923, undated 

 12 17
Box

B1 Type Keys undated 

 39
Box Folder

Light Control, Rheostat Designs, Lamp Designs, Color Sequencing 1918, 1920, 1928, undated 

 13 1

Sarabet Light Player, Design, Color Scoring, Instructions for Playing 1919-1921 

 13 2

Major Light Controls, Sketches and Notes 1923 

 13 3

Correspondence with Mr. Randa, Specifications for Rheostat for Light Player 1919 

 13 4

Light and Rhythm Color Scale, Stanley Theatre, April 6, 1928 1928 

 13 6

Light Control, Rheostat Designs, Lamp Designs, Color Sequencing, Originals 1918, 1920, undated 

 13 7

Sarabet Light Player, Design, Color Scoring, Instructions for Playing, Originals 1919-1921 

 13 8

Major Light Controls, Sketches and Notes, Originals 1923 

 13 9

Originals, Correspondence with Mr. Randa, Specifications for Rheostat for Light Player 1919 

 13 10

Correspondence on Color Lamp Assembly, Originals 1920-1925 

 13 11

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