James H. Hall Papers, 1907-1957
| Oberlin College Archives
Abstract
This small body of materials, which spans the years 1909 to 1957, documents James H. Hall's academic career as a student of music and as an instructor. It provides insight into his work as a writer, composer and musician. A series of detailed, reflective letters written home during a year's stay in Europe (1937-38) reveals the nature of his relationships with family members, friends and colleagues.
Hall's early aspirations and his love of music are illustrated by the contents of his scrapbook. The lecture notes he conscientiously recorded in Edward Dickinson's Musical History class in 1909-1910 and the deliberative quality of his later academic writings attest to his enthusiasm and dedication as a student. His assembly talks and other addresses, his published commentary, and the clippings and keepsakes he chose to compile all offer evidence of his interests as a musical scholar, of the ardor with which he approached his responsibilities as an educator, and of his involvement in the Oberlin musical community.
Administrative/Biographical History
James Husst Hall was born on February 3, 1890, in Cohoes, New York, the son of James M. and Mary Husst Hall. While studying, first at Oberlin College and then at the Conservatory, he worked as an assistant in the Theory Department (1913-14; 1914-15). He earned the AB degree from the college in 1914 and a B Mus from the conservatory in 1915.
James Hall began his teaching career at the College of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio) where he was an instructor in piano for two years (1915-17) and an assistant professor for four (1917-1921). He spent the final years of World War I as an ensign in the United States Navy (1918-19). In 1922, after receiving the AM degree from the Oberlin Conservatory, he joined its faculty and taught there until his retirement in 1955. In 1917, he was named Professor of the History and Criticism of Music, succeeding Edward Dickinson (d. 1946) to the earliest established chair in that discipline in the United States. As a teacher, Professor Hall was dedicated and exacting, holding students to the highest standards, the same that he maintained for himself. He possessed a fine sense of justice, yet he was unfailingly gentle and friendly. His course in music appreciation, one often considered “a refuge for dilettantes,” was rigorous and demanding. Students who persevered achieved a real sense of accomplishment.
Professor Hall extended both his studies and his musical activities beyond the Oberlin campus. In 1926-27, he studied at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, France; in 1917, at Godowsky in Chicago, Illinois; and later at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was organist and choir director at several Cleveland, Ohio churches and for many years at First Congregational Church in Oberlin, Ohio, where he was a member. For eighteen years, he served as music director at Camp Pemigewassett, a summer camp for boys in Wentworth, New Hampshire. A contributor to professional journals, he was also a critic for the Oberlin Artists Series, and a member of the American Guild of Organists. His best-known work, his book, The Art Song, (Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1953) has been hailed for its simplicity, solid knowledge, and felicitous phrasing (Murphy).
In 1919, James Hall married Florence Belle Jenney (1878-l975; Mus B, 1907) who taught voice in the Oberlin Conservatory (1907-08; 1909-13; 1922-44). Their only child, James Truman Hall, (b. 1920; AB 1942) was killed in 1943 during a flight over the Pacific while serving as a Marine Dive Bomber.
James Husst Hall died in Oberlin on August 12, 1967. He left over 250 books and 500 scores plus an antiphon to the Conservatory. Family and friends established a memorial fund in his name, the income to be used by the Music History Department to acquire books and other special needs.
SOURCES CONSULTED:
Funeral will be today for James H. Hall, 77. Oberlin, Ohio News-Tribune. August 17, 1967.
“James H. Hall Memorial.” Progress. Fall, 1969.
James H. Hall: “Memorial Minute.” Oberlin Alumni Magazine. December 1967. n.p.
“James Husst Hall.” Typescript biography. 4 pages. n.d.
Oberlin College Biographical Form. October 1930.
“Professor James Hall of Oberlin Dies at 77.” Lorain, Ohio Journal. August 14, 1967.
“Rites Today in Oberlin for Prof. J. H. Hall.” Cleveland, Ohio, Plain Dealer. August 17, 1967.
Author: Elizabeth Brinkman Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationEdward Dickinson Papers [30/25]
Former Faculty, Staff & Trustees [28/3]
Graduates and Former Students [RG 28]
Hall, James Husst. 1953. The Art Song. Oklahoma: Norman. University of
Oklahoma Press. [784.3 H143A]
A reproduction of Hall’s talk One Hundred Years of Music in The First Church in
Oberlin exists in Special Collections [285.877.1 ob212H143]
The collection has been divided into four series: I. Correspondence II. Talks
III. Writings IV. Scrapbook & Memorabilia.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Correspondence, 1937-1953 (.08 l.f.)
A succession of typewritten letters (many with Florence Jenney Hall's handwritten letters on the reverse) chronicles the Hall family's stay in Europe in 1937-1938. In his letters, Hall recounts the sightseeing tours he has taken and comments on the symphony concerts and opera performances he has attended. He describes time spent with other Oberlin College graduates, offers his reflections on political unrest in Europe, and reveals his interest in modern composers and works. Also present here is Hall's communication with The University of Oklahoma Press during the years 1948-1953 regarding the publication and printing of his work The Art Song.
Series II. Talks, 1934-1942 (.02 l.f.)
Contains several assembly talks given in the month of January ("Music in 1934", "Music in 1936", "Music in 1938", "Music in 1941") in which noteworthy compositions and musical events of the previous year are reviewed. Also includes a paper read on June 17, 1942 at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of First Church entitled "One Hundred Years of Music in The First Church in Oberlin".
Series III. Writings, 1909-1957 (.2 l.f.)
The writings have been divided into two subseries: SS1. Writings by James H. Hall and SS2. Writings by other individuals. Three examples of Hall's academic writing, including his AM thesis "Patronage of the Art of Music", 1922, and a book of lecture notes he kept in Musical History class, 1909-1910, can be found in the first subseries. Also present are season, concert and recital reviews published in the Oberlin College Alumni Magazine, 1933-1935; of particular note is Hall's report on Artur Rodzinski's first appearance in Oberlin as conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, December, 1933. Original scores for numerous Hall compositions (e.g. "To our Alma Mater", "Troubadour Song", "In Flanders Fields", "The Silver River") reside in subseries I. The second subseries consists of a student submission received in History of Music II, "The Parisian Salon of 1830-1840", Helen E. Phillips, June 3, 1930, and a handwritten essay by Florence Jenney Hall entitled "Folk Song in America", n.d.
Series IV. Scrapbook & Memorabilia, 1907-1925 (.4 l.f.)
The scrapbook contains various keepsakes (e.g., photographs, cards, announcements, programs, letters) accumulated by Hall during his last year of high school and first year at Oberlin; notations in his hand are inscribed throughout. Programs and other printed matter found in his scrapbook offer an account of his early interests and work as a musician. News clippings he gathered as a faculty member at The College of Wooster and at Oberlin nearly all deal with musical subject matter; most are recital and concert reviews. Hall's certificate of membership in the American Guild of Organists, September 27, 1915, has been classified here along with programs from piano recitals he gave while at Wooster and Oberlin, 1915-1920.