Archival Collections

American Guild of Organists records
Scrapbooks, announcements, minutes, clippings, programs of the Los Angeles chapter, 1915-1963.

Ampico collection of piano rolls
Player piano rolls recorded for Ampico (the American Piano Company, manufacturer of reproducing pianos) by prominent European and American pianists, 1910-25.

Bruno David Ussher collection of photographs
Celebrity photographs (classical music and films) autographed to Ussher in the 1930s; Ussher was a musicologist/music critic.

Charles Leland Bagley papers
Directories, minutes, bylaws, correspondence reflecting the activities of the band and orchestra musician (1873-1965).

Chuck Connors papers
Collection consists of television scripts for shows and series featuring actor Chuck Connors (1921-1992); scrapbooks of clippings and publicity materials; awards and plaques; instrumental score for The Rifleman; political files pertaining to Richard Nixon.

William Ripley Dorr collection on the St. Luke's Choristers
Collection consists of Choral recordings and tapes made by St. Luke's Choristers founded in 1930 by William Ripley Dorr; stills from films in which Choristers appeared.

Dr. Richard J. Bing collection of music scores
Collection consists of the collected musical manuscripts of Dr. Bing (b. 1909), Director of Experimental Cardiology and Scientific Development at the Huntington Medical Research Institutes in Pasadena, California.

Ernest Kanitz papers
Books, scores, and recordings of Austrian emigre composer and teacher Ernest Kanitz (1894-1978).

Frederic Myrow papers
Collection consists of manuscript scores, manuscript sheet music, recordings, correspondence, personal collection of books, scores, and recordings of Frederic Myrow.

Gladys Ryland papers
Books and sheet music used in dance instruction in the 1930s-40s, many annotated by Ms. Ryland.

Hanns Eisler papers
This rich collection contains Eisler's personal and business correspondence from his years in Southern California (1942-48). In addition the archive contains a few biographical documents and photographs. The collection also contains several recordings for films on records by Eisler.

Harry James sheet music and scores
Original scores and sheet music parts for trumpeter and leader Harry James' big band.

Ingolf Dahl papers
This collection contains the manuscripts, scores, and books of American composer and USC Music faculty member Ingolf Dahl (1912-1970).

James Arkatov photographs and interviews
Approximately 200 b&w images of classical conductors and soloists photographed in concert by the former Los Angeles Philharmonic cellist, ca.1950-1980.

James Newton Howard collection
Extensive collection of film scores by Newton Howard, dated from 1987 to 2023.

Mack David papers
Collection consists of 550 items of sheet music dating from 1924; screenplays and miscellaneous material including budgets, correspondence, contracts and advertising brochures related to films that composer Mack David (1912-1993) had worked on.

Mary Wood Hinman collection of English folk songs
Printed collections of English folksongs; plays, ca. 1912, for which Hinman directed the dance numbers.

Miklos Rozsa collection of music letters, photographs, and other material
Miklos Rozsa's 123-piece collection of rare letters, documents, photographs and manuscripts spanning three centuries of musical history.

Mischa Bakaleinikoff Collection
Collection consists of music scores and manuscripts of film composer Mischa Bakaleinikoff (1890-1960).

Nancy Smith collection of sheet music
Collection consists of Sheet Music of Late 19th and early 20th Century American popular songs.

Phonograph Cylinders Collection
The collection is comprised of seventy-five phonograph cylinders produced by several Edison companies as well as the Columbia Phonograph Company. The phonograph companies represented include Edison Amberol Record, Edison Blue Amberol Record, Edison Standard Record, Edison Records, Edison Records: Echo All Over the World, Edison Gold Moulded Records: Echo All Over the World, Edison Gold Moulded Records, and Columbia Phonograph Company.

Ray Herbeck Los Angeles Swing Band Collection
Collection consists of original scores and various chart arrangements, band photographs, concert reviews, recording and performance contracts, advertisements, etc.

Rayner Brown Papers
This collection contains the music scores, manuscripts and books of American composer, organist and teacher, and USC alumnus Rayner Brown (1912-1999).

Richard Lert papers
Collection includes personal and business correspondence, scores, and recordings of lectures and performances by the Austrian-born American conductor and teacher, Richard Lert (1885-1980).

Robert Linn papers
Archives of the composer Robert Linn (1925 - 1999) and USC School of Music professor of theory and composition.

Rosenberg collection of sheet music
Collection consists of American popular songs from 1870-1970.

Samuel Colt Collection
Collection consists of Books, miscellaneous theatre programs, letters, piano score and unpublished manuscript by actor Lionel Barrymore, covering the years 1911-1959. Samuel Colt is the son of actress Ethel Barrymore.

Sheet music collection
Bound volumes of songs, ca. 1850; loose sheet music (vocals) ca. 1880-1920.

USC Thornton School of Music records
Press Releases, Clippings, & Programs, 1961-80; Honorary Society, Beta Phi Mu 1897 - 1987; Dr. Pauline Alderman Papers (for the history of the School entitled We Build A School Of Music)

USC Warner Bros. Archives
Collection consists of paper documents and ephemera (including photographs, set design art, and musical scores) generated in the making of films and television at the Warner Bros. Studio from the inception of the studio to 1968. Legal files on various personalities round out the collection.

Watts Writers' Workshop stories, lesson books, and other material
The Watts Writers‘ Workshop was founded in 1965 by Budd Schulberg. This collection contains clippings about the workshop and works by Jimmie Sherman, one of the Workshop‘s members.

Richard Simonton collection of Welte system-recorded piano rolls
Player piano rolls recorded with the Edwin Welte system by prominent European and American musicians, 1905-1920; catalogs of the Welte Company in Freiburg, Germany.

William Grant Still Collection
Draft biography of the pioneering Black composer-conductor; articles by and about Still (1895-1978); copy of Rostros de Bronce (1964) by Nestor Ortiz Oderigo containing biographical treatment of Still.