STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI - ST. LOUIS
This collection is stored off site. Please allow 3-5 business days for retrieval.
In January, 1973, Elihu Hyndman, president of Opera Theatre of St. Louis,
donated the records of St. Louis Grand Opera Guild (1939-1964) and Opera Theatre of St. Louis (1964- )
to the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-St. Louis.
Susan Beattie added programs from the fourth through twenty-ninth seasons to the collection in March 2010.
Opera Theatre of St. Louis became a not-for-profit corporation in March, 1964. In August of that year, it merged with St. Louis Grand Opera Guild and subsequently, in September, 1967, with August Opera Festival. Opera Theatre continues as the surviving corporation and name.
The St. Louis Grand Opera Guild was formed in 1937 as the active arm of the St. Louis Grand Opera Association and received official charitable corporation status in 1939. The Guild encouraged area singers at the non-professional level by presenting a series of operas, sponsoring the Metropolitan Opera Company auditions, and providing an educational program of lectures, movies, and workshops. From 1952-1957, the Guild affiliated with Washington University's Opera Workshop and provided scholarships and financial assistance for performances of opera under the direction of their Department of Music.
Dedicated to the production of opera in English, the St. Louis August Opera Festival formed in 1959 as St. Louis Festival Society. It has produced three to four different operas each August since then, first at Washington University and later at John Burroughs Outdoor Theatre. The August Opera Festival has also encouraged local singers, most notably Grace Bumbry and Eugene Holmes.
The collection documents the history of opera in St. Louis from 1939, including the opera productions, metropolitan opera auditions, the finances involved and the efforts to raise the public's interest in
grand opera. The collection is divided into five series: St. Louis Grand Opera Guild records; General Correspondence; Legal Documents and Lists; Financial Records; and Publicity and Programs.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
SERIES 1 - ST. LOUIS GRAND OPERA GUILD RECORDS, 1939-1957
Correspondence, minutes, legal documents, and members' lists of the predecessor to Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
SERIES 2 - OPERA THEATRE OF ST. LOUIS, GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1964-1970
Includes minutes of meetings and correspondence of presidents and board members, in particular Luella Sayman, Harold Blumenfeld, Dorothy Ziegler, Stanley Chapple, Homer Sayad, Elihu Hyndman, and Stuart M. Chambers.
SERIES 3 - LEGAL DOCUMENTS AND LISTS, 1941-1968
Includes Plan of Merger, St. Louis Grand Opera Guild and Opera Theatre of St. Louis; by-laws and articles of incorporation, St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, St. Louis Grand Opera Association, American Opera Theatre, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis; and lists of officers, guarantors and members of advisory board and board of directors.
SERIES 4 - FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1964-1970
Includes budgets, proposals, profiles, and ledgers, including proposals for Arts and Education Council and Missouri State Council of the Arts.
SERIES 5 - PUBLICITY AND PROGRAMS, 1939-2004
Includes newsletters, programs of operas, fact book, and scrapbooks.
FOLDER LIST
BOX 1 (127018) - ST. LOUIS GRAND OPERA GUILD GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE
1. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, 1939-40.
2. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, January-September, 1941.
3. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, October-December, 1941.
4. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, January-July, 1942.
5. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, August-December, 1942.
6. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, 1943.
7. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, 1944-45.
8. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, Jan.-Oct., 1946.
9. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, November-December, 1946.
10. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, January-March, 1947.
11. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, April-December, 1947.
12. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, 1948.
13. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, January-May, 1949.
14. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, June-December, 1949.
15. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, 1950.
BOX 2 (127019)
16. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Guarantee Fund, 1950-51.
17. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, 1951.
18. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, 1952.
19. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, 1953.
20. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, January-June, 1954, Correspondence.
21. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, July-Dec., 1954.
22. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, 1955-56.
23. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild and Opera Theatre of St. Louis,
Correspondence, 1957.
24. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, 1958-59.
25. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, 1960-61.
26. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild, Correspondence, 1962-63.
27. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild and Opera Theatre of St. Louis,
Correspondence, January-June, 1964.
28. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild and Opera Theatre of St. Louis,
Correspondence, July-December, 1964.
29. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Minutes, 1964-65.
30. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, January-June, 1965.
31. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, July-December, 1965.
32. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, 1967-1968.
33. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, January-June, 1969.
34. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, July-September, 1969.
35. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, October-Dec., 1969.
36. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, Jan.-March, 1970.
37. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, April-May, 1970.
38. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Correspondence, June-Dec., 1970.
39. St. Louis Grand Opera Guild and Opera Theatre of St. Louis,
Legal Documents, 1964.
40. List, Board of Directors, Officers, 1941-1968.
41. Budgets, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, 1964-65.
42. Budgets, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, 1967-68.
43. Budgets, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, 1968-70.
44. Budget: Arts & Education Council Proposals, 1969-1970.
45. Opera Theatre of St. Louis: August Finances, Financial Profile, 1959-69.
46. Budget: Golden Rod Showboat, 1968-70.
47. Budget: Missouri State Council on the Arts, 1968-70.
BOX 3 (127020)
48. Opera Theatre of St. Louis Record Book, 1968-70.
49. Newsletters, 1967-80.
50. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Programs, 1939-79.
51. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, August Opera Festival Programs, 1959-1970
52. Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Season Programs. 1976-79.
53. Opera In St. Louis Fact Book.
54. Scrapbook, 1964-67.
55. Scrapbook, 1968.
56. Program, Fourth Season,1979
57. Program, Sixth Season, 1981
58. Program, Seventh Season, 1982
59. Program, Eighth Season, 1983
60. Program, Ninth Season, 1984
61. Program, Tenth Season, 1985
62. Program, Eleventh Season, 1986
63. Program, Twelfth Season, 1987
64. Program, Thirteenth Season, 1988
65. Program, Fourteenth Season, 1989
66. Program, Fifteenth Season, 1990
67. Program, Sixteenth Season, 1991
BOX 4 (106348)
68. Program, Seventeenth Season, 1992
69. Program, Eighteenth Season, 1993
70. Program, Nineteenth Season, 1994
71. Program, Twentieth Season, 1995
72. Program, Twenty-first Season, 1996
73. Program, Twenty-second Season, 1997
74. Program, Twenty-third Season, 1998
75. Program, Twenty-fourth Season, 1999
76. Program, Twenty-fifth Season, 2000
77. Program, Twenty-sixth Season, 2001
78. Program, Twenty-seventh Season, 2002
79. Program, Twenty-eighth Season, 2003
80. Program, Twenty-ninth Season, 2004
OVERSIZE (Stored on Site)
Volume 1 - Records
Volume 2 - Financial Records
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
222 THOMAS JEFFERSON LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
ONE UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD
ST. LOUIS, MO 63121
(314)516-5143
whmc@umsl.edu