TRUS 49X: Frederick P. Cabot Subject Files, 1898-1932, bulk: 1918-1931

Records created in establishing the BSO's first board of trustees (1918) and in carrying out its functions for the first fifteen years under Frederick P. Cabot's leadership. The records also reflect Cabot's role as a trustee of the BSO Pension Institution. Also included is some pre-1918 material, mostly inherited from the orchestra's founder, Henry Lee Higginson. The records consist of correspondence; newspaper clippings; programs and brochures; transcripts of speeches; press releases; lists of patrons, trustees, contributors, and invitees to various functions; legal documents such as indentures, writs, and contracts; financial documents, e.g. payroll charts, sales receipts, auditors' reports, and tax returns; and trustees' incorporation documents, by-laws, agendas, resolutions, and minutes. The records document the history of the establishment and early operations of the trustees; fundraising campaigns, including various bequests, contributions, and the operation of the Endowment Fund; litigation by musicians and patrons; the planning and early development of the Esplanade concerts; tour planning and itineraries, e.g. a proposed 1930 European tour; and recruitment, hiring, salary scales, and immigration issues concerning conductors and musicians. The largest single group of materials relates to the founding and operations of the BSO Pension Institution, including contributors, beneficiaries, contracts and negotiations, and investments and dividends. Also well documented is the issue of the musicians' proposed unionization, in particular the labor disputes of 1920 and the response of management and the public. In addition, there is material on early experiments with broadcasting, including efforts to transmit BSO concerts by radio in the early 1920s. Among the correspondents are Wilhelm Gericke, Pierre Monteux, Ernest Bloch, Henry Lee Higginson, Serge Koussevitzky, and Henri Rabaud. There are also materials concerning Agide Jacchia, Georges Longy, Alfredo Casella, Arturo Toscanini, Karl Muck, and Henry Wood.