Guide to the Archival Collections.pdf - Missouri History Museum

Saint Louis Pageant and Masque (Saint Louis, Missouri).
Records, circa 1910-1916. 13 boxes; and 1 roll storage tube.
Sponsored by the Saint Louis Pageant Drama Association, the St. Louis Pageant and Masque
was an outdoor historical pageant and symbolic masque dealing with St. Louis history, held
between May 28 and June 1, 1914, in Forest Park to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the
founding of St. Louis. In 1916, the St. Louis Pageant Drama Association sponsored a production
of William Shakespeare's As You Like It, also staged in Forest Park, to celebrate the tercentenary
of Shakespeare's death. From that project emerged the Municipal Theater Association, which
initiated the Saint Louis Municipal Opera in 1919.
The collection consists of the reports and correspondence of the executive committee,
finance committees, and other committees of the St. Louis Pageant Drama Association as it
prepared the Saint Louis Pageant and Masque in 1914 and the tercentenary Shakespeare
celebration in 1916. Also includes some drawings for the Pageant and Masque production; and
registration cards for "Sons and Daughters of St. Louis—A Roll of St. Louisans for the historical
records of the pageant."
Registration cards have been copied and bound in library.
Cite as: Saint Louis Pageant and Masque Records, Missouri History Museum Archives, St.
Louis.
A1438
Saint Louis Pageant Drama and Choral Society.
Records, 1914-1930. 1 box (approximately 150 items)
Papers include canceled checks and stubs, 1927-1928; correspondence, January to December
1927, regarding selecting the board of directors; contract between St. Louis Pageant Drama and
Choral Society and the St. Louis Symphony Society for use of symphony orchestra, November
28-30, 1927, for presentation of choral society, "Elijah," at the coliseum; items regarding staging
of large musical productions in St. Louis and of "Elijah" especially.
Cite as: Saint Louis Pageant Drama and Choral Society Records, Missouri History Museum
Archives, St. Louis.
A1439
Saint Louis Philharmonic Society (Saint Louis, Missouri).
Records, 1860-1992. 13 boxes; 1 volume; 1 oversize folder
The St. Louis Philharmonic Society was organized June 21, 1860, by a group of men who
"desired to perpetuate the best in music and to give its concerts solely for the enjoyment of its
members with no thought of material advancement." On May 14, 1868, the society was
incorporated under the laws of the state of Missouri. Members of the first board of directors
included the following: George W. Barker, James B. Eads, L.H. Benoist, John J. Anderson,
James F. Yeatman, H.T. Blow, Charles Balmer, Dabney Carr, Thomas Marston, E.C.
Catherwood, William Robyn and B.A. Bode. Edouard Sobolewski was brought to St. Louis from
Milwaukee to become the first conductor of the choral-symphony. The first concert was held
October 18, 1860, in the Mercantile Library Hall. Sobolewski continued with the society for six
years. August Waldauer was the second conductor, remaining one season, 1866-1867. Egmont
Froehlich became the third conductor in 1868 and continued for three seasons until 1870 when
the society ceased to exist because of financial troubles. The present St. Louis Philharmonic
Society can trace its origin to the St. Louis Amateur Orchestra founded in 1893 by Abraham
Isaac Epstein. The orchestra later changed its name to the St. Louis Orchestra Club, when in
1910 Dr. Frank Gecks assumed the position of conductor. Beginning with the 1923-1924 season