Manuscripts Collection
Frances Theresa Densmore was born in Red Wing, Minnesota on May 21, 1867, the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Adelaide (Greenland) Densmore.
Densmore studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (1884-1886) and at Harvard University (1889-1890). In 1893 she began studying the music of American Indian peoples and eventually became an authority in American Indian ethnomusicology. Working with the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution, and other organizations, she recorded the music of many Indian tribes in the United States. Densmore died in Red Wing on June 5, 1957.
The papers discuss Dakota and Ojibwe music, ceremonies, stories, and crafts. They include a transcript of an interview with Good Star Woman, recalling the Dakota Conflict (1862); a list of Dakota place names provided by Makawastewin; sketches of Ojibwe leaders White Fisher, White Cloud, Flat Mouth, and Hole-in-the-Day; and transcriptions of songs she recorded in British Columbia in 1926.
Also included are reminiscences of several Red Wing pioneers, giving information on Red Wing; missionary experiences; banking; Norwegian, Belgian, and German immigration; and other aspects of the area's history.
A print version of this finding aid is available in the repository; filed as P763.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should
Accession number: [unnumb.]; 3866; 3902; 6573; 7213; 11,021; 12,722
Processed by: Dennis Meissner, March 2004
Catalog ID number: 001718170
Catalog ID number: 09-00026061
These six small manuscripts (typescripts) are housed in a single folder.
Three radio talks aired on WCCO Radio, Minneapolis, all dealing with Minnesota Indian peoples. The talks were produced under the auspices of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Radio Talk No. 1 (February 23, 5 pp.) discusses Dakota and Ojibwe music, especially as used in peace ceremonies, honoring tribal leaders, curing illness, and love songs. Radio Talk No. 2 (March 2, 5 pp.) relates aspects of the the lives of several Ojibwe chiefs, especially White Fisher (Wobijig), White Cloud (Wabanaquot), Flat Mouth (Eshkebugokoshe), Hole-in-the-Day (Bugonegijig), and Wadena. Radio Talk No. 3 (March 9, 6 pp.) deals with traditional Ojibwe stories and industries. Densmore explains that changes occurred in the stories after white contact, including the incorporation of European fairy tales and legends. Industries include timekeeping, homemaking, maple sugar production, fishing, hunting, trapping, and gathering fruits, vegetables, and wild rice.
Densmore relates the origins and significant events comprising the Dakota Conflict of 1862 as remembered by a Dakota woman, Good Star Woman (Wicahpewastewin, also known as Dorine Blacksmith), who was eight years old at the time of the events.
A narrative of the events that led to Densmore's study of Dakota and Ojibwe music in Minnesota; information on the Ojibwe Midewiwin ceremony, the death of Ojibwe chief Flat Mouth, and various Indian celebrations; and her tribute to Indian and white friends.
Typescript reminiscences relate aspects of the early history of Red Wing beginning with McIntire's 1856 arrival at age twelve. He notes early businesses and buildings, settlers, Dakota Indians in the area and their activities, and steamboat and barge traffic on the Mississippi.
The rough draft, which was transmitted to the Minnesota Historical Society in 1950, is based on notes that Densmore made in 1908 or 1909 while she was working at White Earth. She relates the history of the Warren family in the Ojibwe country, beginning in 1671. She relates the life of Julia Warren from her 1833 birth at La Pointe, the daughter of fur trader Lyman Warren, through her career as an Indian school teacher, and her 1925 death in Detroit Lakes.
A two-page fragment of a story written by Densmore at age six. It is accompanied by an undated Densmore note explaining it.
Densmore conducted oral history interviews with five early settlers, and then prepared the typescript summaries that are included here.
Describes Colby's experiences as an Episcopal missionary to the
Ojibwe Indians at White Earth and Leech Lake. The manuscript was later
published in
Grow gives information on the first banking enterprises in Red Wing, early bankers, and other financial leaders.
Information on the migration of the Andersen family from Norway, her birth in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and the family's move to Minnesota in 1862. She discusses covered wagon travel, wheat harvesting, Indians, early Red Wing churches and church leaders, the Civil War, food preparation, and clothing.
Sherman gives information on his family history, the Philleo and Densmore families, early Red wing business enterprises, Richter's grocery store, which Sherman later operated, schools, stage coach lines, hotels, food, amusements (fairs, circuses), and members of the Hubbard family.
Diepenbrock relates her family's emigration from Belgium, her birth in New York state in 1845, the family's arrival in Red Wing in 1861, and pioneer life in Red Wing. The remainder is largely concerned with her husband George's family and their emigration from Germany.
Copies of holograph sheet music transcriptions of 75 songs recorded by Densmore in 1926. The Indians were said to be from widely dispersed parts of British Columbia, but had gathered at Chilliwac, B.C., for the annual picking of hops. The transcriptions, accompanied by a typed song list, were apparently gathered for transmittal to Twentieth Century-Fox Studios. The transcribed and recorded songs are the property of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
Consists of 55 black and white prints, with captions, mounted on scrapbook pages. The photographs comprised the illustration plates that accompanied this publication by Densmore, which appeared as part of the 44th annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology.
A collection of 90 black and white photographic prints taken by Densmore, captioned and mounted on scrapbook pages, which comprised the illustration plates for this publication. The images consist of Chippewa people, buildings and structures, items of clothing, and artifacts.