Main Version | Raw XML File (83k)
Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo

A Guide to the Louise Daggett Fischer Papers, 1863-1966


Descriptive Summary

Creator: Fischer, Louise D. (Louise Daggett), 1872-1959
Title: Louise Daggett Fischer Papers
Dates: 1863-1966
Creator Abstract: Minnesota native Louise Daggett (1872-1959) moved to San Antonio, Texas, with her family in 1891. She studied and taught music throughout her life and was a long-time member of local and state musical organizations as a composer and performer. Married to businessman Albert M. Fischer of San Antonio, she had one daughter.
Content Abstract: Creative works, correspondence, legal and financial documents, printed material, scrapbooks and scrapbook material, and photographs created or collected by Louise Daggett Fischer are found in her papers, documenting her personal and family life and emphasizing her musical interests as a composer, performer, and clubwoman in San Antonio, Texas.
Identification: Col 935
Extent: 10.29 linear feet (8 document boxes, 8 oversize boxes)
Language: Materials are in English.
Repository: Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas

Biographical Note

Emma Louise Daggett was born in Ottertail City, Minnesota, on 1872 April 3 to Lorenzo Dow and Mary Frances Reynolds Daggett, the oldest of the couple's four children. Her father was a piano and pipe organ tuner who also gave piano and voice lessons. In 1891, he moved the family from their home in Erie, Pennsylvania, to San Antonio, Texas, for health reasons.

In 1898, Louise married Albert Martin Fischer, a local businessman. They owned and operated the Fischer Drug Store, located in an adobe building at the corner of Alamo and Houston streets. Their only child, Katharine Louise, was born in 1900.

Louise Daggett Fischer was a noted pianist, composer, and arranger and was a member of several musical societies in San Antonio and Texas. She was the first member invited to join the Tuesday Musical Club (1901) and began writing arrangements for the group. This work led to her charter membership in the Composers' Club (organized in 1927), and she served as the organization's dean for three years in the late 1930s. In addition, she served as Chairman of the Junior Tuesday Musical Club and suggested the formation of the Manuscript Group within the Texas Federation of Music Clubs.

Mrs. Fischer won many awards for her compositions, including prizes from the Composers' Club and several offered by the Manuscript Group. Her works were frequently performed in recitals presented by the Tuesday Musical Club, the Composers' Club, and Our Lady of the Lake College in San Antonio; at state meetings of the Texas Federation of Music Clubs; during annual observances of Music Week; and on at least one occasion on a national radio broadcast.

Louise Daggett Fischer died in San Antonio on 1959 July 7 at the age of eighty-seven.

Scope and Content Note

Creative works, correspondence, legal and financial documents, printed material, scrapbooks and scrapbook material, and photographs created or collected by Louise Daggett Fischer are found in her papers, documenting her personal and family life and emphasizing her musical interests as a composer, performer, and clubwoman in San Antonio, Texas.

The greater portion of the papers is associated with Fischer's musical activities, including her work as a composer of songs, chamber music, solo instrumental pieces, and choral works, which are represented by over thirty complete scores in addition to notes and sketches. A much smaller amount of material is associated with general personal and business activities, including a few items associated with her husband's business, Fischer's Drug Store.

 

Organization of Collection

This collection is organized into three series.
Series 1: Musical activities
Series 2: Business and personal papers
Series 3: Photographs

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

No restrictions. The collection is open for research.

Usage Restrictions

Please be advised that the library does not hold the copyright to most of the material in its archival collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure those rights when needed. Permission to reproduce does not constitute permission to publish. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright, literary property rights, and libel.

Index Terms

Personal Names
Fischer, Louise D. (Louise Daggett), 1872-1959.
Fischer, Albert M.
Fischer, Katherine, d. 1984.
Organizations
Composer's Club (San Antonio, Tex.)
Fischer's Drug Store (San Antonio, Tex.)
Tuesday Musical Club (San Antonio, Tex.)
Subjects
Music--Texas--San Antonio--Societies, etc.
Women composers--Texas--San Antonio.
Genres/Formats
Personal papers.
Correspondence.
Financial records.
Legal documents.
Notebooks.
Photographs.
Printed ephemera.
Scores.
Scrapbooks.

Separated Material

The Geology and Mineral Resources of Bexar County by E. H. Sellards (Austin: University of Texas, 1919) has been separated from the collection and is part of the general library collection (call number 551 S467g c.2).

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Louise Daggett Fischer Papers, 1863-1966, Col 935, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Katherine L. Fischer and Ella Daggett Stumpf, 1979 November.

Processing Information

Processed by Andy Crews, Lynda Howell, and Kathy Rankin, 2002 December.

Additional processing by Warren Stricker, 2003 August.

Finding aid edited and encoded by David Gallin-Parisi, 2011 August.

Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Series 1: Musical activities

Forming the bulk of the papers, this series gathers together correspondence related to music, musical scores, material associated with musical organizations, and general musical information. Further divided into subseries by form and subject matter, significant items include compositions by Fischer in various stages of the creative process, from preliminary sketches and exercises found in notebooks to completed manuscript and printed scores. Writing for a variety of performers, the works include songs, chamber music, choral works, and solo pieces. Several compositions exist in multiple arrangements for various instrumental and vocal combinations. Frequently found with her scores are correspondence related to copyright and permission for the use of poems set to music and occasionally some performance-related material such as programs. Over thirty of her works exist in complete form.
A small number of works by other composers, arranged by Fischer, also exist in manuscript form.
Collected music consists primarily of published works by various composers, including familiar classical masters and Fischer's friends and colleagues.
Fischer's musical studies and research are represented by notebooks and scrapbooks reflecting her interest in particular composers and other aspects of music, such as bells, sounds in the natural world, and the physics of sound.
Fischer was a member of a number of local and state musical organizations. Her long association with the Tuesday Musical Club led to the creation of three notebooks documenting the history of the organization (at least one other notebook, the first in a numbered series, is not found the papers), gathering notes, photographs, and printed material. Programs and a fairly complete set of yearbooks dating from 1922-1966 are also found. Other organizations are represented by a smaller amount of material; material on the Composers' Club consists of a notebook on club history, programs, notes and yearbooks. Miscellaneous material for the Texas Federation of Music Clubs is also part of the papers.
Box Folder
1 Correspondence
1 1928-1953, undated
2 Notebook: "Business letters," circa 1930-1939
Compositions by Louise Daggett Fischer
Notebooks
3 Allemande, Bourree, arrangements, 1929
4 Counterpoint, volume II, 1929-1930
5 Modal exercises, 1931
6 Early Hebrew music, 1932
7 Reverie, Sailing Away, A Cradle Song, 1933
8 Sketches and exercises, 1933
9 How the Wog became a Frog, etc., 1941
10 Book I: Questing Duo, Chiaroscuro, 1939, undated
11 Book II. String Quartet, etc., undated
12 Book III, undated
13 Book IV. Etude in 7/8 rhythm, etc., 1940, 1943, undated
14 Kyrie, Agnus Dei, Sanctus, Gloria, 1946
15 Mass in D-flat, 1946-1947
16 Wood Violets, etc.
17 Lambkins, A Song of Thanksgiving, undated
18 A Prayer for Courage, sketches, undated
19 Star Cop, sketches, undated
20 Pastorale, sketches, undated
21 Sketches, undated
22 Sketches, transcripts, undated
Box Folder
Tall 2 Scores
Box Folder
Tall 2 23 “An album leaf: for four violins and piano,” manuscript and copyright material, 1932
24 “An album leaf: cello solo with four violins and piano accompaniment,” manuscript, undated
25 “Allemande – String Quartet,” manuscripts, undated
26 “Anthems: A song for Christmas or Mother’s Day,” words by Minnie Case Hopkins, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1928-1929
27 “The beautiful land of Nod: Four Part Chorus for Women’s Voices with String Quartet and Piano accompaniment,” words by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1929
28 “A birthday song,” words by Maude K. Yates, manuscripts and copyright material, 1929
29 “Bourrée: string quartet,” manuscript, undated
30 “A Celtic plaint: Theme in the 1st Gregorian Mode, string quartet,” manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1931-1935
31 “A Celtic plaint: Theme in the 1st Gregorian Mode, arranged for organ,” manuscripts and copyright material, 1931
32 “Clouds,” words by Sidney Stone Field, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1928-1929
33 “Embers,” manuscripts, copyright material, 1939
34 “Esther," manuscript, undated
35 “An evening song (Now the day is over),” mixed quartet, words by S. Baring-Gould, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1928-1932
36 “Freedom,” soprano with violin obbligato and harp accompaniment, words by Hester King, manuscripts and copyright material, 1934
37 “Healing waters,” manuscript, undated
38 “How the polly wog became a frog,” words by Dr. W. H. Pomeroy, manuscript, undated
39 “I thought,” words by Cristel Hastings, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1928-1930
40 “If I were king of Ireland,” words by Alfred Perceval Graves, manuscripts and copyright material, 1930
41 “An Irish trilogy” (I. “Glendalough”; II. “The Banshee”; III. “A Jig”), piano duo, four violins and piano, manuscripts and copyright material, 1935-1937
Box Folder
Tall 3 42 “Kyrie,” women’s voices in three parts, manuscripts and copyright material, 1932
43 “Lambkins,” words by Francesca Talk Miller, manuscripts, copyright, correspondence, 1930-1950
44 “Longing,” various arrangements, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1931
45 “The lost lagoon,” words by E. Pauline Johnson, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1936-1942
46 “Love meets our needs,” words by Hazel Harper Hannis, manuscripts and copyright material, 1930
47 “Meet Him in the morning,” manuscript and correspondence, 1928
48 “O lovely May,” manuscripts and copyright material, 1932
49 “Pastorale,” various arrangements, manuscripts, undated
50 “A prayer for courage,” words by Grace Noll Crowell, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1929-1938
51 “The puppy parade,” piano duet, manuscripts, undated
52 “Questing,” manuscripts, printed copy, copyright, correspondence, 1935-1947
Box Folder
Oversize 9 “Questing,” additional printed copies, 1935-1947
Box Folder
Tall 4 53 “Reverie,” various arrangements, manuscripts and copyright material, 1930
54 “Sailing away,” words by Tristan Marc, manuscripts and copyright material, 1935
55 “Scherzo,” piano duo, manuscripts, undated
56 “Sketch #1, Eglantine (Rose de Chemin),” manuscripts and copyright material, 1940-1941
57 “Sketch #2,” manuscripts, copyright material, printed, 1943-1951
58 “A slumber song,” manuscript and copyright material, 1935
59 “The star cop,” words by Katharine L. Fischer, manuscripts, correspondence, copyright material, 1931-1932
60 “That funny little pup,” words by Katharine L. Fischer, manuscripts and copyright material, c. 1935
61 “Theme in the Hypo-Dorian or the 2nd Gregorian mode,” for organ, manuscript, undated
62 “Theme in the Phrygian or 3rd Gregorian mode,” for organ, manuscript, undated
63 “The Tuesday Musical Club’s forty-fifth anniversary song, 1901-1946,” manuscript, 1946
64 “A twilight meditation,” violin and piano, trio for violin, cello and piano, manuscripts and copyright material, 1933
65 Violin obbligati, “Freedom” and “Clouds,” manuscripts, undated
66 Unidentified and incomplete, manuscripts
Arrangements by Louise Daggett Fischer
67 Anonymous, “The Origin of the Harp,” arranged by Louise D. Fischer for vocal duet with harp accompaniment, manuscript, undated
68 Franck, Caesar, “Prelude, fugue, and variations,” arranged by Louise D. Fischer, manuscripts, printed, 1928
69 Hawley, C. B., “Land of Nod,” arranged by Louise D. Fischer for violin solo with violin and cello accompaniment, manuscript, 1928
70 Lake, Mary Daggett, “Have you ever been to Texas in the spring,” arranged by Louise D. Fischer, manuscript, 1928
71 Lieurance, Thurlow, “By the waters of Minnetonka,” arranged by Louise D. Fischer, manuscript, undated
72 Scott, John Prindle, “Sun of my soul,” arranged by Louise D. Fischer, manuscripts, printed, correspondence, 1927
73 Thern, Carl, “Genius loci,” arranged by Louise D. Fischer, manuscript, 1928
74 Tivindelli, P. A., “Joy with sorrow,” arranged by Louise D. Fischer for violin solo with three violins and cello accompaniment, manuscript, printed, 1928
75 Copyright records
Box Folder
Tall 5 Notes
76 Notebook: Orchestration Note Book, exercises
77 Notebook: Bird Calls and Sounds, appended loose notes and clippings, 1942
78 Notes: Chinese music
Box Folder
Oversize 15 Notebook: General music, 1918-1928
Notebook: General music, 1931
Notebook: General music, 1935
Notebook: General music, 1936
Box Folder
Tall 5 79 Notebook: General, incomplete
80 Notes: found sounds
81 Notes: general
Collected music
82 Bach, Johan Sebastian, "Air," printed
83 Balfe, Michael William, “The Bohemian Girl: An Opera in Three Acts,” printed, 1902
84 Beethoven, Ludwig von, “Concerte fur Pianoforte,” op. 73, printed
85 Botts, Ida Bassett, “Our yesteryears,” printed, 1936
86 Brack, Ione Nerissa, “I thought,” words by Crystal Hastings, manuscript, 1937
Brack, Ione Nerissa, “No Summer,” printed, 1938
Brack, Ione Nerissa, “Snow toward evening,” manuscript, undated
87 Bruch, Max, “Fair Ellen: a Cantata,” printed, 1911
88 Cecil, Richard, “I will arise,” printed, undated
89 Chopin, Frederic, "Concert fur Piano forte,” op. 11
Chopin, Frederic, “Nocturne, op. 9, no. 1,” printed, undated
90 Clough-Leighter, H., “In royal David’s city,” printed, 1904
91 Coenen, W., “Come unto me,” printed, undated
92 Davidica, Sister M., “Vocation, or Divine call,” manuscript, undated
93 Debussy, Claude, “The Blessed Damozel,” manuscript copy and printed, 1908, undated
94 Dubois, Theodore, “The Seven Last Words of Christ,” printed, 1927
95 Eaton, H. Grace, “Carol” and “Benediction,” printed, undated
96 Elaine, Sister Mary, “Mass in honor of Blessed Martin de Porres,” printed, 1945
97 Ellis, James G., “Leave it with Him,” printed, 1917
98 Franck, César, “Panis Angelicus,” manuscript copy, undated
99 Franck, César, “Priére,” manuscript copy, undated
100 Gipprich, F. P. M., “Love’s golden dream,” manuscript, undated
101 Graebner, Bertha, “Peace,” manuscript, undated
102 Greenlund, Alys, “Bethlehem road,” printed, 1950
103 Hahn, Carl, “Come unto Me,” manuscript, undated
Hahn, Carl, arranger, “The lost chord,” manuscript, undated
104 Harrington, Bess Farmer, “Dere’s a home beyond the river,” manuscripts, undated
Harrington, Bess Farmer, “The Lord is my shepherd,” manuscript, undated
Harrington, Bess Farmer, “This night in Spain,” manuscript, 1935
105 Harty, Hamilton, arranger, “My Lagan Love: Song from Three Traditional Ulster Airs,” manuscript copy, undated
106 Liszt, Franz, “Fantasie uber Ungarische Volksmelodien,” printed
107 Little, Jack, “Fiesta” and “Siesta,” manuscript, 1945
108 Marcia, “Fourth District Federation song,” words by Childs, Ida May, manuscript, undated
Box Folder
Tall 6 109 Marsh, W. J., “A Flour Wreath: Song Suite,” printed, 1923
Marsh, W. J., “Hail! Day of Gladness,” printed, 1952
Marsh, W. J., “Nine Carols for Christmas,” printed, 1941
110 Maunder, J. H., “Penitence, Pardon and Peace: A Short Lenten Cantata,” printed, 1898
111 Mears, Ione Brack, “The Lord’s prayer,” printed, 2 copies, 1941
112 Mendelssohn, Felix, “Lieder Ohne Worte,” op. 9, nos. 1-6, printed, 1894
113 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, “Sonate D Dur fur 2 Pianoforte 4 Handen,” printed
114 Neidlinger, W. H., “The Birthday of a King,” printed, 1890
115 Neuland, Wilhelm, “Moonlight on the Rhine,” op. 39, printed
116 Nevin, Ethelbert, “The rosary,” 13/15, 1898
117 Owen, Julia D., “Texas bluebonnet song,” printed, 1922
118 Parker, Effie Jackson, “To the Christ-Child,” printed, 1940
119 Peeples, Katherine B., “The Lost Lagoon,” manuscripts, undated
120 Rawls, Kathryn Hill, “The Balloon Man,” printed, 1948
121 Rodesney, M. A., “O.L.L. Cheer Song,” printed, 1932
122 Siéroslawskiego, Jósefa, “Zbiór Kolęd,” 1922
123 Smart, Henry, “Run up the sail,” printed, undated
124 Steinfeldt, John M., “Missa in honorem Sti. Thomae Apostoli,” printed, 1940
125 Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich, “Concerto pour le Piano,” printed
126 Venth, Carl, “Album of fifteen songs,” printed, 1922
127 Ware, Harriet, “Woman’s Triumphal March,” printed, 1927
128 Weber, Carl Maria von, “Concertstuck fur Pianoforte,” op. 79, printed
129 Weimar, Fritzi, “My song to mother,” manuscript, undated
130 Wiggins, Alvin S., “The barefoot trail,” printed, 1920
131 Wollenhaupt, H. A., “Spinning song,” printed, 1863
132 Unidentified, “A Change of Mind/La Bas Trinque/Fair, Isabeau was Walking/Shepherdess, Whence Come You?,” manuscript
133 Fragments
Box Folder
Oversize 16 Musical organizations
Tuesday Musical Club
Notebooks: Volumes II, III, IV
Box Folder
7 134 Programs
135 Notes
Box Folder
Oversize 14 Yearbooks, 1923-1966
Junior Tuesday Musical Club yearbook, 1956-1957
Box Folder
Oversize 16 Composer's Club
Notebook
Box Folder
7 136 Programs
137 Notes
Box Folder
Oversize 14 Yearbooks, 1929-1930
San Antonio Musical Club
Yearbook, 1922-1923
Box Folder
7 Texas Federation of Music Clubs
138 Correspondence
139 Printed material
General printed material
140 Invitations and programs
Books and pamphlets
141 Cohon, A. Irma, An introduction to Jewish music in eight illustrated lectures, incomplete, possibly 1923
142-143 Famous Composers and their Works. Boston: J. Millet Co., incomplete, possibly 1891.
144 Gehrkens, Karl Wilson, The Fundamentals of Music. Boston: Oliver Ditson Company, 1923.
145 Assorted pamphlets and brochures
Clippings
146 General Music
147 Bells
148 Sounds
149 Sounds in nature
Box Folder
Oversize 10 Scrapbooks
"MacDowell"
"Nature Music"
Richard Wagner
Box Folder
Oversize 11 "Chopin"
"Grieg"
"Music"


 

Series 2: Business and personal papers

This much smaller portion of the papers is associated with business and personal activities of Louise Daggett Fischer and her family and consists of a miscellany of items, arranged by type.
Correspondence is made up of scattered letters from family and friends. A body of letters from the 1940s was received from Chinese military officers whom Fischer had assisted with English language studies while they were in San Antonio.
A few items are associated with Fischer's Drug Store, the San Antonio business owned by Albert M. Fischer, including two daybooks, a lease, financial documents, and some printed items. Other personal material includes Mrs. Fischer's grade reports from Westmoorland College, individual items from several organizations, printed ephemera, clippings, and scrapbooks and albums. Also found in the papers are plaster casts of the hand of Elsa Sternsdorff, described as a pianist and one of Mrs. Fischer's music teachers.
Box Folder
8 Correspondence
150 General, 1918-1946, undated
151 Chinese officers, 1945-1947
Legal documents
152 Lease, 1909
153 Promissory note, 1917
Financial documents
154 Daybooks, 1917-1918
155 Daybooks, 1920-1924
156 Bills and receipts
157 School material: Our Lade of Lake College, Westmoorland College, 1930-1932, undated
Organizations
158 Alamo Country Club, undated
Box Folder
Oversize 14 San Antonio Conservation Society yearbook, 1955-1956
Box Folder
8 159 Texas Pharmaceutical Association, 1915, 1921
160 Travis Club, 1912
161 Creative works: poetry
Printed material
162 Sugar certificates, 1918
163 Invitations, cards, announcements
164 Advertising and promotional material
165 Menu
166 Calling card
167 Napkins: Louise D. and Albert M. Fischer anniversary, 1948
168 Pamphlets
169 Periodicals
170 Programs
171 Printed poetry and quotations
Clippings
172 Poetry
173 Family
174 General interest
175 Notes
Box Folder
Oversize 9 Scrapbooks and albums
Autograph album, Lorenzo Dow Daggett, 1877-1894
Box Folder
Oversize 12 "Pickings," Albert M. Fischer
"Beautiful Thoughts Illustrated," Albert M. Fischer, 1907
Botany
Box Folder
8 176 Loose scrapbook pages
Box Folder
Oversize 13 Artifacts: plaster casts


 

Series 3: Photographs

This series consists of a small number of photographic portraits and snapshots of family, friends, and colleagues from the musical world.
Box Folder
8 177 Albert M. Fischer, 3 items
Mary Frank Reynolds Daggett, 1 item
178 Roe Daggett Johnson and Ever Johnson, 3 items
179 Louise D. Fischer, Jennie Sachs, Mrs. Hesse, and unknown, 1 item
Gilbert Schramm, Alena Howerson, Pat Means, Gus Bonnet, Louise Daggett, Marion Dove, Ben Hammond, "The Mets," 2 copies, 1896
Carolers, 1 item, 1928-1929
180 Percy Grainger, 1 item, 1921
William J. Marsh, 1 item, 1927
Box Folder
Oversize 10 Katherine B. Peeples, 1 item, 1924
Box Folder
8 180 Plants, snapshots, 9 items