The Americana Collection, one of the most significant of the Mills Music Library Special Collections, consists of sheet music published in the United States before 1900. It includes music principally from the popular tradition, although certainly that distinction is blurred until ca. 1865. The majority of pieces are songs for voice and piano, but the collection also includes music for solo piano and other instrumental music. Midwest publishers are well represented as is music by women composers.
The Catalog of the Americana Collection, a web-accessible
database, permits easy access to materials in the
collection. It also provides a unique tool for research
in many aspects of American culture. Patrons may search
the database on any number of elements in addition
to composer or title. A researcher may wish to identify
pieces written by women and published in the 1880s
in St. Louis, for example. Or, a search may be limited
to sheets that contain lists of other works by the
composer or musical advertisements. A search on cover
iconography will yield such exciting discoveries as
lithographs of now-obscure performers or demolished
theaters and concert venues, and one may browse through
entries retrieved by a search on one of several topical
terms that identify important nineteenth-century themes.
At present, the database includes records for 2500 compositions. Records will be added on a regular basis and we hope to begin including images of the music in the future.
The Catalog of the Americana Collection is available at the Mills Digital Collections page or from the Mills Music Library website.