Charles Strothkamp Papers

Overview

Scope and Contents

Biographical Note

Subject Terms

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

Personal and Family Papers

Music

Scrapbooks & Photographs



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Finding Aid for Charles Strothkamp Papers, 1896-1983 | The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

By Joshua Shelly and Scott W. Schwartz

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Collection Overview

Title: Charles Strothkamp Papers, 1896-1983Add to your cart.View associated digital content.

ID: 12/9/128

Primary Creator: Strothkamp, Charles (1896-1983)

Extent: 0.5 cubic feet

Arrangement: Organized in two series: Series 1: Personal and Family Papers, 1911-1983 and Series 2: Sousa Band and Sousa Band Fraternal Society Records, 1911-1981. Each series' content is arranged chronologically.

Date Acquired: 07/07/2012

Subjects: Band Musicians, Military Music, Sousa, John Philip

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Consists of correspondence, contracts, performance route sheets, and photographs documenting Charles Strothkamp's career as a clarinetist in the Sousa Band between 1926 and 1931, as well as his two Selmer clarinets. The papers also include family photographs, military citations and medals, membership cards, school documents, birth and death certificates, and photographs documenting family trips made between 1919 and 1930. Of particular interest are Strothkamp's black and white photographs of the 1929 Colorado train wreck that involved the Sousa Band.

Biographical Note

Charles Strothkamp (1896-1983) was born in Manhattan, New York on November 2, 1896.  His parents were Charles C. and Louise Strothkamp.  He had two younger siblings, Elmer J. Strothkamp who was born in 1899 and Ruth L. Strothkamp who was born in 1903.

Charles began studying clarinet in 1911. He joined the Sousa Band for its 1926 tour as a clarientist and continued on both of the band's 1927 tours, an off-tour concert on June 15, 1929 held in Princeton, NJ, the 1929 tour, and one or more of the 1930 and 1931 tours. In addition he performed in the band's two radio broadcasts held in 1929 and 1930, as well as its March 12, 1931 recording and final April 9, 1931 radio broadcast. While on tour Charles was an avid amateur photographer who took numerous candid photographs of the bands's members, performance venues, and the communities the band played in.

In the first half of 1930, Strothkamp studied stenography and typewriting while attending New York's Drake School of Business. He successfully completed his course work and graduated that same year. During both World War I and World War II he served as a sergeant in the U.S. military. After leaving the Sousa Band he eventually worked for thirty years for the United States Postal Service, serving as a railway postal clerk. He retired from the postal service on December 30, 1965 and remained a lifetime member of the Sousa Band Fraternal Society. Strothkamp remained a bachelor throughout his life and died on July 10th, 1983.

Subject/Index Terms

Band Musicians
Military Music
Sousa, John Philip

Administrative Information

Repository: The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music

Acquisition Source: Marguerite Butler

Acquisition Method: Gift


Box and Folder Listing


Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Personal and Family Papers, 1911-1983],
[Series 2: Music, 1911-1981],
[Series 3: Scrapbooks & Photographs, ca. 1896-1983],
[All]

Series 1: Personal and Family Papers, 1911-1983Add to your cart.
Consists of programs, membership cards, certificates, pamphlets, correspondance, and military medals documenting Charles Strothkamp's personal life and familial relations.
Box 1Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Commencement Program, Class of 1911 (Grade 8), June 28, 1911Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Ruth Strothkamp (sister) Commencement Program, 1916Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Membership cards, Clippings, Banking Documents and Pamphlets, 1918-1966Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Bike Diary, Vol. 4, September 4, 1920-March 18, 1923Add to your cart.
Journal includes a few loose sheets pertaining to biking tucked inside.
Folder 5: Stockton Correspondence, November 17, 1928Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Drake School Certificate and Tuition Card, 1930Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Job Application, 1930Add to your cart.
Folder 8: A.G. Spalding & Bros. Reciept, January 21, 1930Add to your cart.
Folder 9: Bronze Star Medal Citation, Elmer J. Strothkamp (brother), August 16, 1945Add to your cart.
Folder 10: "Long & Faithful Service" Award and Correspondence, military, March 7-April 4, 1955Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Record of Birth of Charles Strothkamp, January 31, 1966Add to your cart.
Date indicates time of copy, not time of birth.
Folder 12: Ruth L. Strothkamp (sister) funeral card, March 7, 1979Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Death notice, funeral card, and Certificate of Death, Charles Strothkamp, 1983Add to your cart.
Folder 14: Expenditure Sheet, undatedAdd to your cart.
Box 5Add to your cart.
Item 1: First Aid Packet - U.S. Army (unopened), ca. 1916Add to your cart.

Unopened first aid packet with raised lettering, "FIRST AID PACKET - U.S. ARMY; CONTRACT NOV. 2- 1916; BAUER & BLACK, CHICAGO, U.S.A.; TO OPEN-PULL RING; PATENT APPLIED FOR"

Condition: Unopened; shows wear and tear; top left edge dented

Item 2: Declaration, Medal, Good Conduct, May 11, 1944Add to your cart.
Item 3: Medal, Campaign and Service Victory, World War II, ca. 1945Add to your cart.
Item 4: Declaration of Faithful Service medal, 10 years, 1955Add to your cart.
Item 5: Declaration of Faithful Service medal, 15 years, 1955Add to your cart.
Oversize Portfolio Case 1Add to your cart.
Item 1: Baptism Certificate, December 20, 1896Add to your cart.
Series 2: Music, 1911-1981Add to your cart.
Consists of two clarinets, correspondence, newsletters, route sheets, programs and maps documenting Charles Strothkamp's career as a clarinetist in the Sousa Band between 1926 and 1931 as well as his membership in the Sousa Band Fraternal Society.
Box 2Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Music lesson notebook, March 4, 1911-April 20, 1912Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Clarinet purchases - correspondence and reciepts, June 29, 1920-March 18, 1940Add to your cart.
Folder 3: Unidentified correspondence re: Sousa Band, March 22, 1925Add to your cart.
Folder 4: Uniform reciept and "Hartmann Tourobe" pamphlet, 1926Add to your cart.
Folder 5: Sousa Band route sheets with notes, 1926-1930Add to your cart.
Folder 6: Maps and hotel information, ca. 1926-1931Add to your cart.
Folder 7: Non-Sousa related musical correspondence, 1926-1982Add to your cart.
Folder 8: Correspondence withy Jay G. Sims, June 21, 1927-August 13, 1931Add to your cart.
Folder 9: List of personnel of Sousa Band, 1928Add to your cart.
Folder 10: Sousa Band contracts, 1928-1930Add to your cart.
Folder 11: Derailed train telegram, September, 1929Add to your cart.
Folder 12: Lieber Correspondence upon leaving Sousa Band, August 13, 1931Add to your cart.
Folder 13: Sousa Band, Atlantic City Steel Pier program and pass, September 5, 1931Add to your cart.
Folder 14: Memorial Concert to John Philip Sousa, program, March 13, 1932Add to your cart.
Folder 15: Sousa Band Fraternal Society - addresses of members, August 1, 1974Add to your cart.
Folder 16: Sousa Band Fraternal Society, March 1, 1980Add to your cart.
Folder 17: John Philip Sousa Post No. 112 Newsletters, 1980-1982Add to your cart.
Folder 18: Sousa Band Society News, July, 1981Add to your cart.
Folder 19: Sousa Oral History Project correspondence, undatedAdd to your cart.
Item 2: Clarinet: H. Selmer, model number 55, M6916, undatedAdd to your cart.

Accession number: 2012-1209128.001 (A-F)

Physical condition: Good

Material composition: Grenadilla wood and nickel-plated brass

Item 3: Clarinet: H. Selmer, model BT, 15742, undatedAdd to your cart.

Accession number: 2012-1209128.002 (A-E)

Physical condition: Good

Material composition: Grenadilla wood and nickel-plated brass

Series 3: Scrapbooks & Photographs, ca. 1896-1983Add to your cart.
Consists of individual and scrapbooks containing candid photographs documenting Charles Strothkamp's and members of his immediate family, family vacations, time playing in different military bands, and his travels with the Sousa Band between 1926 amd 1931.  Nearly all of the photographs contain detailed captions of the scenes and indivdiuals pictured in the images. Of particular interest are Strothkamp's photographs of the 1929 Colorado train wreck that involved the Sousa Band as well as many photographs of the cities and theatres that Band played in during Strothkamp's career, and a candid photograph of Mr.and Mrs. Sousa in their bathing suits at Atlantic Beach.
Box 2Add to your cart.
Folder 20: Family and personal photographs, ca. 1896-1930Add to your cart.
Folder 21: Photographs of Strothkamp, ca. 1912-1918 and ca. 1980Add to your cart.
Folder 22: Signed Sousa photograph, 1927Add to your cart.
Folder 23: Military photographs, ca. 1932-1943Add to your cart.
Includes photographs of Strothkamp's time in military bands.
Box 3Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Young Men's Symphony Orchestra, April 22, 1923Add to your cart.
Folder 2: Scrapbook 1 - Part 1, 1926-1930Add to your cart.
Includes labeled photographs of the Sousa Train wreck (1929), Sousa Band members and towns visited during the Sousa Band tours.
Folder 3: Scrapbook 1 - Part 2, 1926-1927Add to your cart.
Box 4Add to your cart.
Folder 1: Scrapbook 2, 1913-1934Add to your cart.
Includes photographs of young Strothkamp (January, 1913), and family vacations in the late 1920s-early 1930s.
Folder 2: Scrapbook 3, February 2, 1929-November 9, 1930Add to your cart.View associated digital content.
Includes additional photographs of August 9, 1929 Sousa Train wreck, as well photographs taken of cities the Sousa Band toured and family vacation photos.
Oversize Portfolio Case 1Add to your cart.
Item 2: Panoramic photograph of the Sousa Band at the Steele Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey, July 1926Add to your cart.
Black and White Photograph
Item 3: Panoramic Photograph of the Sousa Band at the Steele Pier, Atlantic City New Jersey, July 1926Add to your cart.
Black and White Photograph

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Personal and Family Papers, 1911-1983],
[Series 2: Music, 1911-1981],
[Series 3: Scrapbooks & Photographs, ca. 1896-1983],
[All]

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