W.C. Handy Music Festival collection, 1948-2003 | UNA Archives and Special Collections

Collection Overview

Title: W.C. Handy Music Festival collection, 1948-2003

Primary Creator: W.C. Handy Music Festival collection, 1948-2003

Extent: 28.0 Boxes

Arrangement: The physical archival collection contains 28 boxes. Select materials from the W.C. Handy Collection, including photographs, festival posters, signed sheet music, and news articles, are digitized and available online at UNA's digital archival repository, Digital Commons. Documents are available at this link https://roar.una.edu/handy_documents/, while photographs and posters are available here https://roar.una.edu/handy_images/.

Abstract

The WC Handy Music Festival is held in Florence, Alabama every year to honor Handy's musical achievements. The Music Preservation Society of Alabama Shoals created this week-long festival in 1982.

For more information on William Christopher Handy's impact on music and the Shoals, Alabama visit this LibGuide from Collier Library: https://libguides.una.edu/wchandy.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The WC Handy Music Festival Collection (1948-2003) includes correspondence, miscellaneous papers, newspaper clippings, magazines, t shirts, hats, and pins.

Biographical Note

William Christopher Handy was born on November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama. During his youth, Handy's family discouraged his intrest in music. In high school, he secretly joined a blues band and played cornet. After high school, Handy went on to have a successful career in music. He became a very famous American composer and musician and is known as the father of the Blues. Handy passed away on March 28, 1958 in New York City.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[Box 6],
[Box 7],
[Box 8],
[Box 9],
[Box 10],
[Box 11],
[Box 12],
[Box 13],
[Box 14],
[Box 15],
[Box 16],
[Box 17],
[Box 18],
[Box 19],
[Box 20],
[Box 21],
[Box 22],
[Box 23],
[Box 24],
[Box 25],
[Box 26],
[Box 27],
[Box 28],
[All]

Box 12

Item 1: newspaper clippings 1992
Item 2: magazines 1992
Item 3: festival correspondence 1992
Item 4: festival correspondence in binder including info requests, board of directors, calendar, etc.