Polly H. Carder collection on George F. Root
Collection
0095-SCPA
George Frederick Root (1820-1895) was an American songwriter and music educator. He is perhaps best known for his song "The Battle Cry of Freedom," which was written and rose to popularity during the U.S. Civil War. The Polly H. Carder Collection on George F. Root contains original published scores and songbooks from the period 1852-1907 and photocopied scores collected by Polly H. Carder, author of the book George F. Root, Civil War Songwriter: A Biography. The collection also contains a short article, "The Last Days of George F. Root," written by Root's daughter, Clara Louise Burnham.
The collection is open for research use. Materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room during SCPA’s operating hours. Please contact the curator for an appointment or if you have questions related to digital access of the materials.
Copyright was not transferred to the University of Maryland with the gift of any copyrighted materials. All rights remain with the creators and rights holders. The University of Maryland Libraries is granted permission for the use in scholarly research by the Libraries’ patrons under fair use in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
To inquire about duplication of materials for research or for publication, please contact SCPA’s curator.
8 Linear Feet
258 Items
English
George Frederick Root (August 30, 1820 - August 6, 1895) was an American songwriter and music educator perhaps best known for his song "The Battle Cry of Freedom." Root, born in Sheffield, Massachusetts and named after George Frederick Handel, began his music training at home with his father. He did not begin formal music training until he moved to Boston at the age of 18. While in Boston, Root taught voice and music education under the tutelage of Lowell Mason and was the choir director at the Mercer Street Church. Also during this time, Root began publishing collections of choral songs and teaching methods, such as The Young Ladies' Choir (1846).
In 1853, after returning from a few years of voice lessons in France, Root helped Mason organize the first Normal Musical Institute in New York City for training music teachers. Root composed some of the earliest examples of secular cantatas in American music, including the "The Flower Queen" (1852) and "The Haymakers" (1857). Root also began publishing parlor songs in the 1850s, at first under the pseudonym G. Friedrich Wurzel. Early popular songs include "The Hazel Dell" (1852), "There's Music in the Air" (1854), and "Rosalie, the Prairie Flower" (1855). In 1861, three days after the outbreak of the Civil War, Root composed "The First Gun is Fired! May God Protect the Right!" Of Root's more than two hundred songs, approximately thirty of them were written during and about the war, including "The Battle Cry of Freedom" (1862), "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! (The Prisoner's Hope)" (1864), and "Just Before the Battle, Mother" (1864).
In 1860, Root became a partner in the publishing company Root andamp; Cady, which was founded in Chicago by his brother, Ebenezer Root, and C. M. Cady. After the war, Root continued writing songs and compiling songbooks, many of which were first published by Root andamp; Cady. Root continued to support various social causes with his music, such as the temperance movement and the organized labor movement. When Root andamp; Cady was nearly destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, Root discontinued his association with the publishing company and focused on writing music. Root died in 1895 at his summer home in Maine.
This collections consists of three series:
Gift of Dr. Polly H. Carder, April 2011. A small selection of materials was purchased by Special Collections in Performing Arts in Fall 2011.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library