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 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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