Wallace Goodrich
Biographical Sketch | Scope | Provenance | Access & Copyright | Container List
Physical description: The Goodrich collection occupies approximately 3.25 linear feet, or 9 document cases. The majority of this collection consists of paper files, i.e. correspondence, department files, subject files, external files etc. There are also newspaper/periodical clippings as well as photographs.
Biographical Sketch: (John) Wallace Goodrich, an American organist, conductor, and writer on music, was born in Newton, MA on May 27, 1871. He graduated from Newton High School and in 1888 Goodrich began studying organ with Henry Dunham and composition with George W. Chadwick at the New England Conservatory. He also studied with Rheinberger in Munich (1894-1895) and with Widor in Paris. In 1896-1897, Goodrich served as coach at the Leipzig Municipal Theater. In 1897, Goodrich returned to Boston and joined the organ faculty at NEC. He was appointed Dean in 1907 and subsequently Director in 1931- a position he held until 1942. Goodrich was organist at Church of the Messiah and later Trinity Church in Boston from 1902-1907. He was the official organist for the Boston Symphony from 1897-1900, performing Handel’s Concerto in D minor in the first pair of concerts ever held at Symphony Hall in October 1900.
Goodrich founded Boston’s Choral Art Society in 1901 and served as its conductor until 1907. At various points, Goodrich also directed the Cecilia Society (1907-1910), the Worcester County Choral Association (1902-1907) and the Boston Opera Company (1909-1912). Among the operas conducted by Goodrich were Faust, Lakme, La Boheme, Rigoletto, Mignon, Hansel and Gretel, Converse’s The Sacrifice (world premiere) and The Pipe of Desire. In addition, Goodrich held the position of secretary to the Joint Commission on Church Music of the Episcopal Church, from its beginning in 1919 until 1948.
Goodrich composed choral music, including his Ave Maria for chorus and orchestra (Munich, 1895). Goodrich also wrote The Organ in France (1917), “Recollections of my time at New England Conservatory”, and translated A. Pirro’s Johann Sebastian Bach and his Works for the Organ (1902) and d’Ortigue’s Methode d’accompagnement du plain-chant (1905). Goodrich died in Boston on June 6, 1952.
-biographical information taken from Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1954 ed.) and New England Conservatory Bulletin. v. 29 no. 2(August, 1952)
Scope and Content Note: This collection is organized into eleven series:
1) Correspondence, Professional
2) Correspondence, Faculty
3) Correspondence, Selected
4) Orchestra Files
5) Department Files
6) Funding/Endowment Files
7) Annual Reports
8) Subject Files
9) External Files
10) Newspaper/Periodical Clippings
11) Photographs
The Professional Correspondence dates from 1939 to 1952, covering Goodrich’s last few years as Director and the following decade in which he served as Director Emeritus. Go to container list.
Faculty Correspondence spans the years 1939-1951. These folders are organized chronologically and then alphabetically by faculty member’s name within each folder. Go to container list.
The Selected Correspondence (General) was originally a small separate collection. It has been incorporated into the larger Goodrich collection but has retained its original alphabetical arrangement. For more detailed information, see the item level description. Other Selected Correspondence includes exchanges with Philip Allen (Board of Trustees Chairman), Geraldine Farrar and Gertrude Norman, as well as correspondence regarding former NEC directors, and Goodrich’s compositional arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner. (Additional correspondence between Goodrich and Gertrude Norman can be found in the Marcia van Dresser Collection). Go to container list.
The Orchestra Files and Department Files deal with the operations of these ensembles/departments during Goodrich’s tenure. Go to container lists.
There are several folders of materials, primarily dating from Goodrich’s service as Director Emeritus that relate to NEC’s Funding and Endowment. These records document the establishment of several important funds, foundations, and prizes such as the Adamowski Estate, the Frank Huntington Beebe Foundation, the Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund, the Charles Hayden Foundation, the Walter Naumburg Foundation, the Oliver Ditson Fund, the Paderewski Prize, and the Charles Warren Fund. Go to container list.
Goodrich’s Annual Reports to the Board of Trustees span from the academic years 1930-1931 through 1940-1941. Go to container list.
The Subject Files are primarily of a historical nature and contain information concerning paintings (perhaps owned by the Conservatory during this period, instruments owned by or donated to NEC, and a Jordan Hall photo collection. In 1947, Wallace Goodrich also composed a memoir, never published, of his time at the Conservatory. This memoir, entitled “Personal Recollections of the New England Conservatory of Music”, gives a detailed account of the administration, academic life, institutional affiliations, facilities, furnishings, funding, and instrument collections at the Conservatory from 1897, the year Goodrich was hired as a member of the organ faculty, until 1947. Go to container list.
External files primarily relate to Goodrich’s involvement with the Joint Commission on Church Music, Harvard University, and the Boston Opera Association/Metropolitan Opera Association. Go to container list.
In addition, there is a group of approximately ninety newspaper/periodical photo clippings that were collected by Goodrich. Because the majority of people pictured in these clippings have last names beginning with the letters V-Z, it appears that this group of clippings may have been part of a much larger collection. Go to container list.
The last series of the Goodrich collection includes a group of approximately seventy photographs, the majority of which were donated to the Conservatory by members of the Goodrich family. These photographs are organized alphabetically according to the subject’s last name. Among the renowned musicians pictured in the photographs are: Josef Adamowski, Nadia Boulanger, George W. Chadwick, Gabriel Faure, Arthur Foote, Wilhelm Gericke, Franz Kneisel, Serge Koussevitzky, Pierre Monteux, Charles Munch, Arthur Nikisch, Ignace Jan Paderewski, and Charles Marie Widor. A number of the photographs are of opera singers from this period, including Georges Baklanoff, Geraldine Farrar, Kirsten Flagstad, Mary Garden, Myra Hess, Edward Johnson, Vanni Marcoux, Edith Mason-Polacco, Nellie Melba, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Fritzi Scheff, Milka Ternina, Kerstin Thorberg etc. Two certificates honoring Goodrich are also included. Item level inventories of the photographs and clippings which provide more detailed description are made available upon request. Go to container list.
Provenance: This collection includes the materials created by, and belonging to Wallace Goodrich, Director of New England Conservatory from 1931-1942. Some of the materials in this collection had remained at NEC since Goodrich’s tenure. Other materials, such as the photographs were donated to the Conservatory by members of the Goodrich family, including his son John.
Access: Access to the Goodrich collection is granted by the Archivist or the Director of Libraries. Appointments must be scheduled in advance. There are no restrictions pertaining to this collection.
Copyright: All copyrights to this collection belong to the New England Conservatory. Permission to publish materials from this collection is granted by the Director of Libraries. This collection should be cited as: RG 1.3: Records of Wallace Goodrich, Director, 1931-1942. New England Conservatory Archives, Boston, MA.
Series 1: Correspondence, Professional
Box 1 - Folders 1-14,
Correspondence, Professional, 1938-1940
Box 2 - Folders 1-21
Correspondence, Professional, 1941-1948 (as Director Emeritus, 1943-1948)
Box 3 - Folder 1-3
Correspondence, Professional, 1949-1952
Series 2: Correspondence, Faculty
Box 3 – Folder 4
Correspondence, Faculty, 1938-1939
Box 3 – Folder 5
Correspondence, Faculty, 1940
Box 3 – Folder 6
Correspondence, Faculty, 1941-1943
Box 3 – Folder 7
Correspondence, Faculty, 1944-1951
Series 3: Correspondence, Selected
Box 3 – Folder 8
Correspondence, Selected, General, A-B
Box 3 – Folder 9
Correspondence, Selected, General, C
Box 3 – Folder 10
Correspondence, Selected, General, F
Box 3 – Folder 11
Correspondence, Selected, General, G
Box 3 – Folder 12
Correspondence, Selected, General, H-J
Box 3 – Folder 13
Correspondence, Selected, General, K-L
Box 3 – Folder 14
Correspondence, Selected, General, M-N
Box 3 – Folder 15
Correspondence, Selected, General, P-R
Box 3 – Folder 16
Correspondence, Selected, General, S
Box 3 – Folder 17
Correspondence, Selected, General, T-Z
Box 3 - Folder 18
Correspondence, Selected, Philip Allen (Trustees, Chairman)
Box 3 – Folder 19
Correspondence, Selected, Geraldine Farrar, 1938-1940
Box 3 – Folder 20
Correspondence, Selected, Geraldine Farrar, 1941-1945
Box 3 – Folder 21
Correspondence, Selected, Geraldine Farrar, 1947-1951
Box 3 – Folder 22
Correspondence, Selected, Gertrude Norman
Box 3 – Folder 23
Correspondence, Selected, re: Goodrich’s arrangement of “Star Spangled Banner”
Box 3 – Folder 24
Correspondence, Selected, re: former NEC Directors
Box 3 – Folder 25
Correspondence, Selected, re: Woodward Estate
Box 4 – Folder 1
Orchestra records, 1939
Box 4 – Folder 2
Orchestra records, 1940
Box 4 – Folder 3
Facilities/Equipment, 1936-1949
Box 4 – Folder 4
Registrar, 1939
Box 4 – Folder 5
Student organizations/fraternity/sorority records, 1943-1945
Box 4 – Folder 6
Adamowski Estate, 1943
Box 4 – Folder 7
Adamowski Estate, 1944-1946
Box 4 – Folder 8
Frank Huntington Beebe Foundation, 1940-1949
Box 4 – Folder 9
Frank Huntington Beebe Foundation, 1952
Box 4 – Folder 10
Frank Huntington Beebe Foundation, January-March 1953 (after Goodrich’s death)
Box 4 – Folder 11
Frank Huntington Beebe Foundation, April-Dec. 1953 (after Goodrich’s death)
Box 4 – Folder 12
Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund, 1940-1947
Box 4 – Folder 13
Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund, 1948-1952
Box 4 – Folder 14
Converse Foundation, 1944
Box 4 – Folder 15
Oliver Ditson Fund, 1941-1942
Box 4 – Folder 16
Charles Hayden Foundation, 1937-1940
Box 5 – Folder 1
Walter Naumburg Foundation, 1939-1945
Box 5 – Folder 2
Walter Naumburg Foundation, 1946
Box 5 – Folder 3
Walter Naumburg Foundation, 1948-1949
Box 5 – Folder 4
Walter Naumburg Foundation, 1950-1951
Box 5 – Folder 5
Paderewski Prize, 1932-1945
Box 5 – Folder 6
Paderewski Prize, 1946-1952
Box 5 – Folder 7
Rachmaninoff Fund, 1944-1949
Box 5 – Folder 8
Charles Warren Fund, 1946-1947
Box 5 – Folder 9
Conservatory Endowment/Foundation, 1938-1947
Box 5 – Folder 10
NEC Pension/Endowment Fund, January – August 1948
Box 5 – Folder 11
NEC Pension/Endowment Fund, September 1948-1950
Box 5 – Folder 12
Miscellaneous Gifts/Donations, 1939-1947
Box 5 – Folder 13
Annual Reports, 1931-32 – 1935-36
Box 5 – Folder 14
Annual Reports, 1936-37 – 1941-42
Box 5 – Folder 15
Conferences/Programs
Box 5 – Folder 16
Historical Information
Box 6 – Folder 1
Instruments/Gifts, 1938-1939
Box 6 – Folder 2
Instruments, 1940-1945
Box 6 – Folder 3
Instruments, 1946-1950
Box 6 – Folder 4
Jordan Hall Photo Collection
Box 6 – Folder 5
Paintings
Box 6 – Folder 6
Harvard University, 1939-1940
Box 6 – Folder 7
Harvard University, 1941-1942
Box 6 – Folder 8
Harvard University, 1943-1946
Box 6 – Folder 9
Harvard University, 1947
Box 6 – Folder 10
Harvard University, 1948-1949
Box 6 – Folder 11
Harvard University/Board of Overseers/Department of Music, 1939-1951
Box 6 – Folder 12
Harvard University – Department of Music
Box 6 – Folder 13
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1920-1922
Box 6 – Folder 14
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1923-1927
Box 6 – Folder 15
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1928
Box 6 – Folder 16
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1929
Box 6 – Folder 17
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1930
Box 7 – Folder 1
Joint Commission on Church Music, January – June 1931
Box 7 – Folder 2
Joint Commission on Church Music, July – December 1931
Box 7 – Folder 3
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1932
Box 7 – Folder 4
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1933
Box 7 – Folder 5
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1934
Box 7 – Folder 6
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1935
Box 7 – Folder 7
Joint Commission on Church Music, 1937-1944
Box 7 – Folder 8
Metropolitan Opera Association / Boston Opera Assoc., January/February 1941
Box 7 – Folder 9
Metropolitan Opera Association / Boston Opera Association, March 1941
Box 7- Folder 10
Metropolitan Opera Association / Boston Opera Association, May-Dec.1941
Box 7- Folder 11
Metropolitan Opera Association / Boston Opera Association, 1942-1949
Series 10: Newspaper/Periodical Clippings
Box 7 – Folder 12
Newspaper clippings (photocopies)
Box 7 – Folder 13
Periodicals - Photo clippings, K, T-War
Box 7 – Folder 14
Periodicals – Photo clippings, Weber – Z
Box 8 – Folder 1
Photographs, A
Box 8 – Folder 2
Photographs, B
Box 8 – Folder 3
Photographs, C
Box 8 – Folder 4
Photographs, F
Box 8 – Folder 5
Photographs, G
Box 8 – Folder 6
Photographs, H
Box 8 – Folder 7
Photographs, J
Box 8 – Folder 8
Photographs, K
Box 8 – Folder 9
Photographs, M
Box 8 – Folder 10
Photographs, N-P
Box 8 – Folder 11
Photographs, R-S
Box 8 – Folder 12
Photographs, T
Box 8 – Folder 13
Photographs, V-W
Box 8 – Folder 14
Photographs, unknown
Box 8 – Folder 15
Negatives, slides
Box 8 – Folder 16
Certificates