Collection is open for research.
Gift of Glen E. Dodge, October 1973 (Lib. Acc. 12721).
Mary V. Dodge was born Mary Bourne Thompson in 1876 in Arkansas. As a child, she was introduced to the violin while attending a school run by Catholic nuns; the instrument became so important to her that she later changed her middle initial to "V," for "Violin." She moved to Portland, Oregon, in the 1890s, where she taught at the Shattuck School. In 1910, she married Mott Dodge, a civil engineer. Soon after, the couple moved to Burns, Oregon, when Mott Dodge got a job platting roads. While in Burns, Mary V. Dodge played violin for the local children, and then established a children's orchestra, the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra. The Sagebrush Symphony played its first concert in Burns in 1912, and in subsequent years toured throughout Oregon. These tours were interrupted by the United States' entry into World War I, and the orchestra disbanded when Dodge moved back to Portland in 1918.
In Portland, Dodge became the music director at Irvington School. In 1923, she engaged Russian immigrant Jacques Gershkovitch to lead this orchestra, which became the Portland Junior Symphony (later the Portland Youth Philharmonic) and gave its first public performance on February 14, 1925. Dodge continued to teach violin. She died on New Year's Eve, 1954.
Sources: Articles in the Oregonian, 1925-1984; "Recollections of Mary V. Dodge" by Janet Dodge Martin, Portland Youth Philharmonic,
Mary V. Dodge papers, Mss 1455, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection was titled "Mary Bourne Thompson Dodge papers" prior to December 2023.
The collection consists of papers of and relating to Mary V. Dodge, a violinist and music teacher who lived in Portland, Oregon, and Burns, Oregon. Materials include correspondence to Dodge; programs for concerts by Dodge's students and orchestras that she led; materials relating to the history of the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra and the Portland Junior Symphony (later the Portland Youth Philharmonic) and Dodge's involvement with both orchestras; information about Dodge's method of teaching violin; and teaching certificates.
Photographs of and relating to Dodge were cataloged as Org. Lot 735, the Mary V. Dodge photographs, at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.