Our History in Sheet Music

I remember the days when sheet music was 75 cents (yes, I am that old). As the idea of purchasing printed music from a store becomes part of history, it's good to note that institutions like John Hopkins University is preserving what future generations are never likely to come across any other way.

The Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music consists of over 29,000 pieces of American popular music. The collection spans the years 1780 to 1980, but its strength is its thorough documentation of nineteenth-century America through popular music. The collection is especially strong in music spawned by military conflicts from the War of 1812 through World War I, and minstrel music is also well-represented. Songs about drinking, temperance, smoking; fraternal orders, presidents, plus romantic and sentimental songs round out the collection. A wonderful picture of our cultural history. Lester S. Levy Collection