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Elizabeth Gentry Sayad, Chairperson of Bicentennial Horizons of American Music
donated the papers of BHAM to the Western Historical Manuscript Collection,
University of Missouri-St. Louis, in February, 1978.
BHAM was one of a very few national festivals of the performing arts that took place from June 14, to July 4, 1976, in St. Louis, Missouri. The New Music Circle of St. Louis provided the impetus for the initial planning of BHAM in December, 1973. BHAM was sponsored by the St. Louis Spirit of '76 Bicentennial Committee, the National Park Service, and was designated as a national project by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. BHAM was financed by funds from the National Park Service, National Endowment for the Arts, Missouri State Council on the Arts, St. Louis Arts and Education Council, and city and corporate funds. Elizabeth Gentry Sayad chaired BHAM and coordinated the resources and talents of all of St. Louis' major professional performance organizations. BHAM events included St. Louis Symphony concerts, American religious music, American Indian music, chamber concerts, prose and poetry readings, Erick Hawkins Dance Company, Bicentennial Story Theatre and Showboat Barge, an American film festival, Midnight Carnival, ragtime, jazz, folklore troupes, and choral groups from Germany. BHAM brought back native St. Louis opera stars: Grace Bumbry, Bethany Beardslee, Felicia Weathers, and Robert McFerrin to perform during BHAM. Symposia/workshops were held at local colleges and universities on Black music, Americanisms in American music, choral music, jazz, folk music and opera. To paraphrase Mrs. Sayad, "It was the first time in the cultural history of St. Louis - except for the 1904 World's Fair - that all our leading cultural agencies have creatively joined forces for a single common purpose."
SERIES DESCRIPTION
SERIES 1: Local Arrangements, 1973-1977, 19 folders
Correspondence, minutes, budgets, funding and financial reports of BHAM's Planning Committee, St. Louis Spirit of '76 Committee, Festivals Committee, and Hospitality Committee. Correspondence with Congressman James Symington and St. Louis City Hall. Public relations correspondence and speeches with newspapers, magazines, T.V. networks, and corporations. Press releases and newsclippings. Documentary film prospectus, and souvenir program.
SERIES 2: National Arrangements, 1973-1977, 9 folders
Correspondence with American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, BHAM's National Advisory Committee, National Endowment for the Arts,Rockefeller Foundation, foreign Consuls and Embassies, and the National Park Service.
SERIES 3: Festival Events, June 14-july 4, 1976, 38 folders
Correspondence, flyers, programs, for specific BHAM events arranged alphabetically after Grand Opening Day, June 14, 1976. Events include: BHAM Ball, BHAM on Wheels, Bicentennial Story Theatre, German groups, Grace Bumbry, Midnight Carnival, and Symposia on American Music.
SERIES 4: Five volumes - Festival USA Semiannual Report, July 4, 1973
Comprehensive Calendar of Bicentennial Events, June, 1975; Comprehensive Calendar of Bicentennial Events - West of the Mississippi, February, 1976.; Comprehensive Calendar of Bicentennial Events - West of the Mississippi, June, 1976; "Community Participation in America's Bicentennial."
FOLDER LIST
Series 1: Local Arrangements
BOX 1<040797>
Local Arrangements
1. Planning Committee
2. General Correspondence
3. James Symington Correspondence
4. Hospitality Committee
5. St. Louis Spirit of '76 Committee
6. St. Louis Spirit of 176 Committee - Budgets, funding, Financial Reports
7. St. Louis Spirit of '76 Committee - Festivals Committee
8. City Hall Correspondence
9. Service Organizations Correspondence
10. Community Association of Schools for the Arts Correspondence
11. Public Relations - Newspapers, Magazines
12. Public Relations - T.V. Networks
13. Public Relations - Corporations
14. Public Relations - Speeches
15. Press Releases, 1974-1976
16. Newsclippings, 1974-1977
17. Art Poster
18. Documentary Film
19. Souvenir Program
Series 2: National Arrangements
20. National Advisory Committee
21. National Endowment for the Arts
22. Rockefeller Foundation
23. American Revolution Bicentennial Administration
24. Consul and Embassy Correspondence
25. Civil Service Correspondence
26. National Park Service - Arch
27. U.S. Armed Forces Band
28. U.S. Travel Service
BOX 2 (040798)
Series 3: Festival Events
29. Grand Opening, June 14, 1976 - Arch Aire
30. American Indian Arts Festival
31. American Kantorei, June 29, 1976
32. Bethany Beardslee, June 23, 1976
33. BHAM at the Planetarium
34. BHAM Ball, January 24, 1976
35. BHAM on Wheels - Administrative
36. BHAM on Wheels - Youth Programs, Scripts
37. BHAM Preview
38. Bicentennial Story Theatre
39. Bill Shustik - "Sea Shanties," June 13, 1976
40. Chamber Concerts - General Information
41. Concert of Works by European Born Composers, June 28, 1976
42. Concord String Quartet, June 14, 1976
43. Cory Bana from Wales
44. Erick Hawkins Dance Company
45. Film Festival
46. Folkloric Troupes, July 4, 1976
47. German Groups - Stuttgart Youth Choir, Marien Kantorei Lemgo, Royal Ramblers
48. Grace Bumbry, June 29, 1976
49. "Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" - Marjorie Lawrence Opera Theatre
50. Katherine Dunham Dance Company
51. Little Symphony
52. Midnight Carnival, July 3, 1976
53. Midwest Composers Contest, June 20, 1976
54. Mini-BHAM
55. Municipal Opera
56. New Works by American Composers, July 1, 1976
57. Poetry and Prose Reading
58. Rarely Performed Music, June 21, 1976
59. Religious Music
60. St. Louis Symphony
61. St. Louis Brass Quintet, June 15, 1976
62. St. Louis Percussion Quartet, June 21, 1976
63. St. Louis Symphony Woodwind Quintet, June 22, 1976
64. "Two Hundred Years of Black Music," June 20, 1976
65. Young Composers Contest
66. Symposia on American Music
BOX 3 (040828)
Festival Events
67. Symposia Publication, 1974-75
68. Symposia Publication, 1976
Series 4: Five Volumes
Vol.1. Festival USA Semiannual Report, July, 1973
2. Comprehensive Calendar of Bicentennial Events, June, 1975
3. Comprehensive Calendar of Bicentennial Events - West of the Mississippi, February, 1976
4. Comprehensive Calendar of Bicentennial Events - West of the Mississippi, June, 1976
5. "Community Participation in America's Bicentennial"
INDEX
Bicentennial
Bicentennial Horizons of American Music
Sayad, Elizabeth
Symington, James
St. Louis Spirit of '76
New Music Circle of St. Louis
Music
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUISN
(314) 516-5143
222 THOMAS JEFFERSON LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
ONE UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD
ST. LOUIS, MO 63121
whmc@umsl.edu