Collection is open for research.
Gift of Glen E. Dodge, October 1973 (Lib. Acc. 12721, Photo Acc. 973D003).
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 photographs, Org. Lot 735, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection contains material that was previously part of Photo File #188-A and Photo File #474-A at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library. Collection was titled "Mary Bourne Thompson photographic collection" prior to December 2023.
Photographs of and relating to violinist and music teacher Mary V. Dodge and her career. Roughly half the images, including some duplicates, are portraits of the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra of Harney County, a rural Oregon youth orchestra that Dodge founded and led. The collection also includes photographs of Dodge; an image of her house in Portland; and photographs of other musicians, many of them children. In addition to Dodge, identified people include J. Eoff, "Dimples" Griffing, Glen E. Dodge (son of Mary V. Dodge), Jacques Gerskovitch, Glenn Reeves, Catherine Reeves, Robert Robinson, and Roselle Reed. Also included are two photographs of violin-shaped parade floats (one identified as a Portland Rose Festival float), and an unidentified landscape scene.
Papers were separated to manuscript collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library and and cataloged as the Mary V. Dodge papers, Mss 1455.
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.