From: Jo Morello
Question: I am researching
the kinetoscope and Enos Rector's role in its invention.
Specifically, I am trying to locate one of Rector's early
kinetoscopes. Can you point me in the right direction?
Answer: Dear Ms.
Morello:
The only Rector I know who was associated with the kinetoscope
and kinetography was Enoch Rector. If he was supposed
to be in Texas as part of his work with and for Thomas
Edison, your best source of information will be the editors
of the Thomas A. Edison Papers at Rutgers. Email them
from this Webpage:
http://edison.rutgers.edu/contact.htm
Their knowledge on things Edisonian is encyclopedic.
Mary-Jo Kline
From:
Tom Fatsis
Question: I found your site through
a literary search engine. I am writing this letter to
inquire about how I could become a Martin Luther King
historian. I wish to set up a web page (as a starting
point and expand there after) for educational and reference
purposes to display King's vision/philosophies, his
struggles, his works, including speeches and quotes,
video feeds/pictures, timelines, major influences such
and Gandhi and Henry Thoreau, awards won, etc. I also
wish to work in conjunction with other civil rights
historians and King dedicated facilities down the road
for joint projects and such. I will ask for the copyright
permission for his works, of course.
I live in Toronto, Canada, and I know that King's influence
was primarily focused in the United States. However,
his vision and philosophies never knew any borders.
If there's any information you can provide me to help
lift my goal off the ground it would be greatly appreciated.
Answer: Dear
Mr. Fatsis:
I think that your best source for advice and encouragement
here will be the editors of the Papers of Martin Luther
King Institute at Stanford University in Palo Alto,
California. These scholars have been working on King's
papers (and publishing several volumes so far) for twenty
years.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/index.htm
I think that you'll find the "Additional Resources"
section of their website a useful starting place for
reading and the editors themselves a good resource as
your studies progress.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/additional_resources/
Good luck -- I think you'll have a wonderful time pursuing
this project.
Mary-Jo Kline
From: Becky Lombard
Question:
My
name is Dr. Becky Lombard. I teach at the New Orleans
Baptist Theological Seminary in the Music Department.
I am looking for a piano piece by Louis Gottschalk. I
was told that it was played during the funeral procession
for Lincoln. The person who mentioned this heard it introduced
and played on public radio. They are lay folks, so I wonder
if they heard the story correctly.
I did find, in his NOTES OF A PIANIST on page 284, a description
of a gathering honoring Lincoln after his death at which
he played UNION.
Can you help with this? Is there any citing of his music
being played by someone else during the procession?
Do you have a large collection of materials of Gottschalk?
Thanks so much
Answer: Dear
Becky:
Have you consulted this website? I think you'll find their
suggestions for recent biographies and other resources
will be useful:
http://www.louismoreaugottschalk.com/
There were "funeral processions" in almost every
city where the train carrying Lincoln's corpse from Washington,
D.C., to Springfield, Ill., stopped.
You might also email Public Radio -- they do a good job
of keeping track of music played on their new broadcasts,
and they may be able to help you pinpoint the reference
that your friends heard.
The Gilder Lehrman Collection, unfortunately, does not
specialize in American music.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Mary-Jo Kline |
