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Helen E. Plinkiewisch Papers, 1888-1995

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Plinkiewisch, Helen.
Title
Helen E. Plinkiewisch Papers
Dates
1888-1995 (inclusive)
1925-1990 (bulk)
Quantity
2.75 cubic feet, including 250 photographs and slides and 1 cassette tape, (6 boxes, including 3 oversize boxes)
Collection Number
MSS Plinkiewisch
Summary
The Plinkiewisch Papers document the education, music teaching career, and related activities of music educator Helen E. Plinkiewisch and include diaries and journals, teaching records, musical compositions, a sound recording, and photographs. Plinkiewisch graduated from Oregon State Agricultural College in 1929 and had a long and successful career as a music educator in the public schools of Garden City (Long Island), New York.
Repository
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Helen Edwina Plinkiewisch, a 1929 graduate of Oregon State Agricultural College, had a long and successful career as a music educator in the public schools of Garden City (Long Island), New York.

She was born in 1908 in Portland, Oregon, and attended public schools in that city. After graduating from Jefferson High School in 1925, Plinkiewisch attended Oregon State Agricultural College, and received a diploma in music and theory in 1929. While at Oregon State, she was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority; was president of Euterpe, the women's music honorary society; was a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society; and was the accompanist for the Madrigal Club. After studying piano in Vienna and Rome for a year, she earned a B.S. in Music Education in 1931 from New York University and an M.S. in Education from Columbia University in 1934. In 1955, Plinkiewisch earned a Doctorate in Education (Music Education major) from Columbia. In 1935, she began teaching music at the Stewart School in Garden City, New York; she taught there until her retirement in 1974. At Stewart School, Plinkiewisch began to introduce her students to opera. She had them design and perform an abbreviated version of an opera to be performed by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Plinkiewisch received many accolades for her work in introducing opera to children.

She also taught part time at New Paltz State University (1953); Hofstra University (1953-1970); and Adelphi University (1972). Plinkiewisch wrote a number of musical compositions, a number of which were published, and wrote articles for several music magazines and journals. She served as an advisory member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild's Education Committee, and was a board member of several local music organizations. Helen Plinkiewisch died in 1994.

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Content Description

The Helen E. Plinkiewisch papers are organized into six series, most of which document her education and career as a music educator. This collection is valuable for researchers interested in Plinkiewisch as a person, but also those interested in musical education or composition and student life at Oregon State Agricultural College in the 1920s.

Included in the collection is an assortment of personal materials such as diaries and journals, family records, musical performance and student event announcements, diplomas and awards, and a sketchbook created by her mother. Materials related to her education include musical textbooks, research materials, and annotated drafts of her doctoral dissertation at Columbia University on the music of Charles Ives, Roy Harris and Aaron Copland. Items related to her professional life as an educator and composer include documentation related to her efforts to incorporate opera into the grade school curriculum in New York, teaching records, materials related to professional organizations, and musical compositions. There are photographs that cover the topics represented in the textual materials, with highlights being pictures of a trip to Europe, her family, student productions, and professional performances.

Several photographs from the collection and other information about Plinkiewisch are available in Oregon Digital.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Helen E. Plinkiewisch Papers (MSS Plinkiewisch), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into six series: 1. Biographical and Personal, 1905-1995; 2. Organizations, 1923-1991; 3. Musical Compositions, 1929-1990; 4. Teaching Records, 1932-1989; 5. Training and Education Records, 1890-1956; 6. Photographs, 1888-1985.

Acquisition Information

The papers came to OSU in 1995 as part of a gift from Plinkiewisch's estate to fund scholarships in the Music and Art Departments. The College of Liberal Arts transferred the collection to the University Archives.

Processing Note

A finding aid was prepared for this collection in 1995.  In 2016, the collection was re-processed and the finding aid revised to bring it into compliance with current descriptive standards and practice.

Related Materials

A photograph of Plinkiewisch is located in Harriet's Photograph Collection (HC 585). A painting of Plinkiewisch is located at the OSU Music Department.

Additional information about the Petris and the Music Department can be found in the Music Department Records (RG 148) and the Lillian Jeffreys Petri Collection (MSS Petri).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Composition (Music)
  • Music teachers--New York (State)--Garden City.
  • Music teachers--Training of--New York (State)--New York.
  • Music teachers--Training of--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • Music--20th century.
  • Music--Instruction and study--Juvenile.
  • Music--Performance.
  • Opera--Juvenile--Production and direction.
  • Pianists--Oregon.

Personal Names

  • Copland, Aaron, 1900-1990.
  • Harris, Roy, 1898-1979.
  • Ives, Charles, 1874-1954.
  • Petri, Lillian Jeffreys. (creator)
  • Petri, Lillian Jeffreys.
  • Petri, Paul, 1877-1958.
  • Plinkiewisch, Helen.

Corporate Names

  • Columbia University. Teachers College.
  • Oregon State Agricultural College. School of Music.

Geographical Names

  • Europe--Description and travel.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Audiocassettes.
  • Photographic prints.
  • Slides (photographs)

Finding Aid Authors: Finding aid prepared by Tiah Edmunson-Morton..
2016

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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