Grace Notes in American History: 200 Years of Songs from the Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection

Description

This exhibition highlights over one hundred popular songs and instrumental compositions drawn from Johns Hopkins University's renowned collection of 19th and early 20th century sheet music. Together the works on view provide unique insights into the evolution of American popular culture, from the Great American Songbook and Harlem Renaissance, to Baltimore music publishers and national movements for suffrage, emancipation, and labor.

Highlights include a manuscript claiming to be penned by Edgar Allan Poe; songs autographed by Ira Gershwin and Amelia Earhart; sheet music from Baltimore's First Lady of Jazz, Ethel Ennis; and a collection of songs lithographed by Hoen & Co, a Baltimore printing company whose building still stands in Harbor East. Also on view are correspondence from the Lester Levy papers and objects related to sheet music production.

The exhibition runs March 15 through July 31, 2022.

Exhibition hours:

• Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. (excluding Easter, April 17)
• Monday – Wednesday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (excluding Independence Day, July 4)
• Thursday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

All in-person events at Johns Hopkins must follow university COVID-19 policies. See current guidelines online.