Catalog Record:
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
Gift, Estate of Susannah Armstrong Coleman, circa 1987.
The Susannah Armstrong Coleman Collection was processed by Cheryl Dempsey in June 1992. This finding aid was revised by Christopher Hartten and coded for EAD by Janet McKinney in June 2009.
The status of copyright on the materials of the Susannah Armstrong Coleman Collection is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The Susannah Armstrong Coleman Collection is open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Performing Arts Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use. Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: container number, Susannah Armstrong Coleman Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Susannah Armstrong Coleman (1897-1985) was an American pianist, composer, and teacher. Born in Chicago, Coleman began her musical studies locally with Hilda Brown before earning a bachelor's degree at the Northwestern University School of Music in 1919. There she studied piano with Victor Garwood, Josef Lhevinne, and Arne Oldberg, the latter with whom she also studied composition. She continued her piano studies abroad with Artur Schnabel from 1924-1925. Between 1930 and 1946, Coleman composed extensively while in summer residence on fellowship at the MacDowell Colony in Peterboro, New Hampshire. She moved to New York in 1934 and married former Colony member Laurence Vail Coleman four years later. The couple spent the remainder of their lives in the Washington, D.C. and Charlottesville, Virginia, areas while also travelling extensively throughout Europe and the Carribean. Over the course of her lifetime, Susannah Coleman won prizes for numerous compositions, including awards from Mu Phi Epsilon for her Blue Symphony and Mother Goose Suite.
The Susannah Armstrong Coleman Collection spans the period 1912-1953; the bulk of the materials date from 1930-1949. The collection includes music manuscripts, organizational publications, correspondence, programs, photographs, biographical notes, clippings, and miscellaneous items. Correspondence principally consists of greeting cards from Mrs. Coleman's friends and acquaintances. The clippings focus on collegiate programs and the activities of her instructors at the Northwestern University School of Music. Pamphlets and publications of Mu Phi Epsilon and Pi Kappa Lambda portray Coleman as an invested member who actively contributed to organizational events.
The Susannah Armstrong Coleman Collection is organized into nine series: