Marian Wilson Kimber, Eleanor Waltzes: Women’s Music and Poetry for Eleanor Roosevelt During the Great Depression
As First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt frequently addressed the concerns of American women. She communicated through press conferences, radio broadcasts, and her newspaper column. She also traveled widely, witnessing the abject poverty of the Great Depression first hand. Roosevelt’s 1933 article, “I want you to write to me,” generated not only thousands of letters from American citizens, but also 38 boxes of their music and poetry, now held by the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York. Eleanor Waltzes is a lecture-recital featuring never before heard compositions and poems from the collection that capture women’s responses to Roosevelt and their relationship with her.
After an introductory lecture, the program’s musical portion features songs and instrumental music often named for Roosevelt, such as the Eleanor Roosevelt Waltz and Our Lady Eleanor. The trio, My Day, recalls Roosevelt’s daily column, and Madeline Bush’s Hymn for Peace was sent to her by the African American activist, Mary McLeod Bethune. The poems to be recited between the compositions describe the suffering of the 1930s, such as Virginia Norton’s “We’re on Relief” and Addie Henderson’s “A Song of Hope,” praising the New Deal. Some texts document Roosevelt’s activities, such as schoolgirl Cora Rundle’s account of the First Lady’s visit to West Virginia miners. Eleanor Waltzes is a vivid depiction of the remarkable leader who created hope during a difficult time in the nation’s history, inspiring musical and poetic outpourings from American women.
In the introduction to “Eleanor Waltzes,” Marian Wilson Kimber describes how Eleanor Roosevelt changed the relationship of the First Lady with the American people. In 1933 she published an article called “I want you to write to me,” and letters documenting Americans’ Depression-related suffering poured into the White House. Wilson Kimber explores the songs and poems American women also sent to Mrs. Roosevelt, which are heard on the following concert, held at the University of Iowa.
Marian Wilson Kimber is Professor of Musicology at the University of Iowa and incoming editor of the Journal of the Society for American Music. Her publications have treated Felix Mendelssohn, Fanny Hensel, and women’s musical activities. Wilson Kimber’s 2017 book, The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word, won SAM’s H. Earle Johnson Subvention. Her recent publications include articles about women’s peace songs for Eleanor Roosevelt in Music & Politics and the construction of Dvořák mythology in Annals of Iowa, as well as a chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach. Wilson Kimber’s book about the roles of clubwomen activists in shaping American music is forthcoming from the University of Illinois Press. She also writes for the blog, Women’s Song Forum. As a spoken word performer, Wilson Kimber has performed pieces by women composers with the duo, Red Vespa, and with Iowa Percussion.
Featuring Sarah Hachtmann, soprano; Wendi Griffiths, reciter; Halie Augustus, piano; Rachel Walter, violin; Caleb Estrada-Valentín, flute; and Katie Forbush, violoncello