© The contents of this finding aid are the copyright of the University of Chicago Library
© 2009 University of Chicago Library
The John Steiner Collection was processed and preserved as part of the "Uncovering New Chicago Archives Project," funded with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Series XI, Audio-Visual, does not include access copies for part or all of the material in this series. Researchers will need to consult with staff before requesting material from this series.
The remainder of the collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Steiner, John. Collection, [Box#, Folder#], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
John Franklin Steiner was born on July 21, 1908 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1929 and a Doctorate in Chemistry in 1933, both from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Steiner married Nina Davis in 1948.
Steiner's interest in music began as a young child. When he was twelve, he became the hat check person at his father's music lodge in Milwaukee. He also took piano lessons and while a student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison he took lessons from Jessie Cohen. He also attended Axel Christianson's music school. As a teenager, Steiner fixed his friends' radios and would hear a variety of music, which prompted him to spend many hours listening to music broadcasts. The interest expanded when his aunt Julianna, who worked at a music store, would bring home chipped phonographs for him to listen to, during the era when not everyone owned a phonograph player. One record that made an early impression was the Dixieland Jazz Band.
Steiner started going to music performances at venues around Milwaukee, such as Humboldt Park, where he heard military and brass bands and songs such as “Tiger Rag” and “St. Louis Blues.” He started going to clubs and concerts in Chicago around 1924, traveling by train or hitchhiking as well as sleeping outdoors in parks and alleys to save money for clubs and albums. He went to music stores as well as theatres including the Oriental, McVicker’s, Chicago, and State-Lake.
Steiner was heavily influenced early on by Chicago music, partially because of its proximity to Milwaukee; it was more difficult for New York music to make its way to the Midwest. The first record he ever bought was by Cleo Brown, the second was Louis Armstrong, and the third Louis Prima. Other early influences include Jelly Roll Morton, whom he heard play at the Alhambra Theater in Milwaukee in 1926, as well as Woody Herman, Chuck Hedges, Bunny Berigan, Gene Schroeder, and Norm Cox. He later said that Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke were his top favorites.
It was in the 1930s that Steiner started visiting the South Side clubs. His first was the Grand Terrace in 1935 where he saw Earl Hines. During this time he wrote for Tempo magazine and was also a correspondent for Jazz Information. With Harry Lim and Helen Oakley Dance he helped create the Hot Club of Chicago in 1935. The club continued into the 1940s by organizing performances of musicians such as Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, Woody Herman, and Artie Shaw.
In the mid-1930s, Steiner moved to Chicago and from 1937-1952 he worked at Miner Laboratories, after which he became the Director of Chemical Research Laboratories. Miner Laboratories was on Clinton Street, located near many “joints” including the Hamilton Hotel, Clark Theatre, Terrace Garden, and Morrison Hotel.
Steiner's interest in recording was prompted mostly through the people he knew, such as his next door neighbor Paul Edward Miller, a writer for Downbeat. In 1938, Steiner met Hugh Davis, an engineer, in a record shop on Melrose Place in Chicago. Davis worked for Seeburg, the jukebox company, and had access to equipment for pressing records. Around 1939, Steiner and Davis started recording music in the clubs. By 1943 they formed S/D Records and recorded musicians such as Squirrel Ashcraft, Cassino Simpson, Jimmy McPartland, and Bud Freeman.
Initially, they ran S/D Records from Steiner's basement but eventually moved to downtown Chicago. As part of the new business, Steiner also started a "record exchange" for collectors interested in rare jazz records. Their focus was on new artists as well as reissuing records from the 1920s and 1930s, many of them from Paramount Records. In 1945, Davis sold out to Steiner and created his own company called Technical Recording Service, though Steiner continued the S/D label for another ten years. After Davis' departure, Steiner moved the headquarters to the Uptown Playhouse Theater, where he worked as their promoter and also lived. Though a fire at the theater in 1946 destroyed most of S/D Records documentation and record stock, Steiner continued to organize recording sessions as well as release reissues.
Starting in 1943, John Steiner began leasing the rights to recordings from Paramount Records, owned by the Wisconsin Chair Company, and releasing them on the S/D label. He bought all the rights to Paramount Records in 1949, which also included the rights to Broadway, Puritan, QRS, Rialto, and others. Steiner continued to reissue early Paramount recordings not just in the United States but also Australia, Japan, England, and Italy. In addition to his reissues, Steiner leased Paramount records to many producers and companies, including Frank Driggs (Biograph Records label from Columbia Records), George Buck (G.H.B. Records), Bill Grauer Productions (Riverside Records), Orrin Keepnews (Milestone Records), and Decca Records. Steiner also managed New York Recording Laboratories in 1946 and became owner in 1948.
During his time in Chicago, Steiner worked with many musicians and often hosted them at his apartment on Ashland and later at his renovated house on Greenview (formerly the Kosciuszko Public Bath) for social events and recording sessions. Some of these artists include Little Brother Montgomery, Lil Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and Austin High Gang Members Jimmy McPartland and Bud Freeman. He recorded some of these musicians for the Paramount Records label and over time he also interviewed many of them.
During the 1950s and 1960s Steiner worked with Bill Russell (American Music Corporation) and together they interviewed many of the classic jazz musicians living in Chicago, such as Natty Dominique, Baby Dodds, Preston Jackson, Jimmy Bertrand, Roy Palmer, Ikey Robinson, and Glover Compton. In 1958, Steiner met Charles Sengstock and a few years later began the massive project of going through microfilmed copies of the Chicago Defender at the Chicago Public Library to create an index of clubs, venues, performances, musicians, and all instances of jazz mentioned in the paper. Steiner also started teaching chemistry at the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1955.
In the 1970s, Steiner helped found the Chicago Jazz Institute, which started as a series of concerts at places such as the Field Museum. Later, he was a founding member of, and very active in, the Jazz Institute of Chicago. He was also involved with the Chicago Jazz Archive at the University of Chicago Library and served on the Visiting Committee to the Department of Music at the University of Chicago.
Steiner retired from his position as a chemistry professor from University of Illinois-Chicago in 1976, at which time he and Nina moved back to Milwaukee. He continued to stay involved in the Chicago jazz scene.
For nearly eighty years, Steiner collected material about jazz music, musicians, recording companies, and many other topics of interest. He was internationally known as an expert on jazz and especially Chicago jazz and often acted as a source or consultant for articles, books, dissertations and theses, documentaries, and other productions of jazz history.
John Steiner died in Milwaukee in June 3, 2000.
The John Steiner Collection contains sheet music, articles, photographs, scrapbooks, correspondence, interviews, ephemera, and publications. The collection spans 140 years and documents Chicago jazz and blues, musicians, clubs, printed music, recording companies, and recording technology. The main focus of the collection is jazz and Chicago jazz, but the collection also documents other music styles such as blues, swing, boogie woogie, minstrel, and rag.
The John Steiner Collection is organized into twelve series: Series I, Personal and Professional; Series II, Correspondence, Series III, Record Industry and Collecting; Series IV, Musicians and People; Series V, Clubs, Events and Ephemera; Series VI, Photographs; Series VII, Subject Files; Series VIII, Printed Music; Series IX, Publications; Series X, Artifacts; Series XI, Audio-Visual; and Series XII, Oversize. Much of the original arrangement and description by Steiner was retained in the guide. Researchers will notice a certain amount of topical overlap between series. See each individual series description for more detail.
Series I, Personal and Professional, contains correspondence, addresses, a stamp collection, academic appointment letters, and documents about the renovations of the Kosciuszko Public Bath into a house. There are also research notes and articles, reports, correspondence, and other material that documents his career as a chemist.
Series II, Correspondence, contains letters with family, friends, musicians and their relatives, students, researchers, authors, editors, producers, collectors, and record dealers, and may include manuscripts, invitations, photographs, advertisements, announcements, and articles. Most correspondence is between Steiner and jazz researchers.
Series III, Record Industry and Collecting, contains job tickets, recording session documents, invoices, catalogs and music lists, and other administrative documents for Paramount Records and S/D Records. There are also catalogs, correspondence, and material about other record companies.
Series IV, Musicians and People, contains articles, research notes, and ephemera about musicians and other people related to the music industry, including record producers, composers, songwriters, conductors, bandleaders, accompanists, singers, dancers, writers, actors, comedians, radio and television programmers and producers, instrument makers, jukebox repairmen, club and ballroom owners, disc jockeys and announcers, agents, record shop owners, architects, collectors, authors, and others.
Series V, Clubs, Events, and Ephemera, contains articles, reviews, publications, maps, advertisements, pluggers, postcards, fliers, programs, playbills, tickets, correspondence, matchbooks, brochures, invitations, research notes, and other ephemera about clubs, club memberships, restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes, lounges, theatres, dance halls, ballrooms, hotels, buildings, schools, universities, concerts, performances, festivals, cruises, and other jazz venues, neighborhoods, events, and people in Chicago and the surrounding area.
Series VI, Photographs, contains photographic prints, negatives, and slides of musicians, clubs, locations, and other subjects. Steiner's research notes contain documentation or attempted verification of musicians' names, where they played and who they played with, as well as where clubs were located, moved to, and who played there.
Series VII, Subject Files, contains articles, fliers, brochures, book reviews, radio schedules, directories, catalogs, correspondence, cartoons, ephemera, essays, book chapters, and research notes. The material documents the history of jazz, Chicago jazz, and other musical styles such as gospel, blues, swing, rock and pop, boogie woogie, country, hillbilly, minstrel, and bluegrass.
Series VIII, Printed Music, contains sheet music, music books, and stock arrangements for jazz and popular music. The majority of the music is for piano, but also saxophone, banjo, and ukulele.
Series IX, Publications, contains magazines, newspapers, and journals primarily about jazz but also the entertainment industry.
Series X, Artifacts, contains print blocks, souvenirs and other jazz related objects, electrical items, and science equipment.
Series XI, Audio-Visual, contains an audio cassette, 8 and 16 mm film, a videocassette, microfilm, and product sample records.
Series XII, Oversize, contains artwork, articles, posters, ephemera, advertisements, records lists, album and sheet music images, and photographs.
Series I, Personal and Professional, is organized into three subseries: Subseries 1, Personal; Subseries 2; Professional; and Subseries 3, Travel.
Subseries 1, Personal, contains addresses, business cards, a personal calendar, class notes from a computer class, invoices for Oxford University Press, and retirement documents. The biographical material includes a family genealogy, interviews and articles about Steiner, as well as his personal reflections on his life and family. Steiner kept articles, documents, and a scrapbook of the renovation and history of his house on Greenview in Chicago, formerly the Kosciuszko Public Bath. The stamp collection contains jazz, United States, and foreign stamps. There are documents about his donations, teaching, and involvement at various universities.
Subseries 2, Professional, includes material from Steiner’s career as a chemist, including patent summaries, applications, research notes and articles, reports, and correspondence between Steiner and chemical companies. Also included is Steiner's Ph.D. Thesis from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, “Studies on the Passive State of Metals."
Subseries 3, Travel, contains maps, postcards, street guides, brochures, ephemera, and notes on his personal travel.
See Series II, III, IV, V, and VII, for additional correspondence. See Series VI for additional photographs.
Series II, Correspondence, is arranged alphabetically and contains letters with family, friends, musicians and their relatives, students, researchers, authors, editors, producers, collectors, and record dealers, and may include manuscripts, invitations, photographs, advertisements, announcements, and articles. The majority of the correspondence is incoming and outgoing from Steiner although there are some third party correspondence.
Much of the correspondence is inquiries from researchers to Steiner about musicians, recordings, venues, and other aspects of jazz history. In many cases he either loaned original material or provided copies of recordings, photographs, articles, interviews, and other documentation. There are also requests for permission to use audio or photographs for publications, radio, television, or film. Some correspondence is from Steiner to other musicians or collectors for information about jazz clubs and musicians in Chicago for Destination Chicago Jazz.
There is correspondence about donations, appraisals, and auctions of jazz collections. Some letters discuss Steiner’s collections at and donations to universities, including the University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Most of the family and personal correspondence includes holiday greetings, invitations, and letters to friends and family about personal events.
See Series I, III, IV, V, and VII for additional correspondence.
Series III, Record Industry and Collecting, is arranged into five subseries: Subseries 1, Paramount and S/D Records; Subseries 2, Record Collecting, Companies, and Catalogs; Subseries 3, Album Labels; Subseries 4, Equipment and Technology; and Subseries 5, Oversize.
Subseries 1, Paramount and S/D Records, contains advertisements, catalogs and record lists from both companies. There are order forms, job tickets, invoices, recording session forms, contracts, copyright applications and renewals, stationery, and other administrative documents about the function of the companies. Also included is information on the history of Paramount Records, S/D Records, and The Wisconsin Chair Company and its subsidiaries.
Subseries 2, Record Collecting, Companies, and Catalogs, contains correspondence, order lists and forms, discographies, fliers, brochures, pamphlets, articles, invoices, newsletters, announcements, record catalogs, journals, and research notes about record companies, store owners, producers, distributors, auctions, collectors, sellers, and musicians. Some of the correspondence is between Steiner and record company representatives and discusses reissues, leases, and other business related to S/D Records or Paramount Records. He also contacted companies about purchasing their releases, record exchanges, international distribution, and royalties. Other letters are requests from researchers or collectors for catalogs, information about the recording label, and availability of records. Most catalogs and discographies are for jazz recordings, but also include blues, folk, swing, gospel, international, and others. There is some information about non-music recordings, such as language, spoken word, instructional audio, and video. Some catalogs are in Italian, French, or German.
Subseries 3, Recording Equipment and Technology, contains catalogs, advertisements, fliers, articles, journals, and research notes about radios, phonographs, cassette tapes, compact discs, record albums, amplifiers, stereos, recording equipment, turntables, speakers, digital technology, and other technology and equipment related to radios, television, record players, and recording.
Subseries 4, Album Labels, contain labels primarily from Paramount Records but also other record companies. Labels are in alphabetical order by record company and include the record number, song title, and/or musician. The folders at the end contain oversize and/or uncut labels, some of which are blank.
Subseries 5, Album Covers and Record Books, contains record sleeves, and album artwork for record companies including Paramount Records, S/D Records, and the F.W. Boerner Company. There are record books and ledgers from the Wisconsin Chair Company and its subsidiaries.
See Series II, IV, V, VI, VIII, IX, X, and XII for additional material on the record industry.
Series IV, Musicians and People, is arranged into two subseries: Subseries 1, Paramount Records Musicians and People; Subseries 2, Musicians and People. Both subseries are arranged alphabetically by last name. As much as possible, given names and nicknames are included as well as different spellings of names.
Most material is primarily about musicians and bands, but also included are other people in the entertainment industry such as record producers, composers, songwriters, conductors, bandleaders, accompanists, singers, dancers, writers, actors, comedians, radio and television programmers and producers, instrument makers, jukebox repairmen, club and ballroom owners, disc jockeys and announcers, agents, record shop owners, architects, collectors, authors, and others. Most of the musicians and people are related to the various types of jazz and blues, as well as vaudeville, gospel, soul, boogie-woogie, swing, bebop, classical, pop, rock, and others. Some of the people are related to African-American or Chicago history.
The folders contain original or photocopied newspaper and magazine articles, correspondence, discographies, advertisements, songs and sheet music, newsletters, journals, announcements and reviews of performances, fliers, programs, ticket stubs, cartoons, stationery, interviews, commentaries, autobiographical and biographical statements, greeting cards, stamps, postcards, record labels, books, album reviews, obituaries, and research notes. The correspondence is between Steiner and jazz researchers, enthusiasts, and historians, as well as record shop owners and the musicians, and may contain notes, discographies, and other documents from researchers.
Newspaper articles are primarily from local Milwaukee and Chicago newspapers, The New York Times, and The New Yorker, with some from other newspapers. Magazine and journal articles are from publications such as Matrix, Record Research, The New Yorker, The Mississippi Rag, 78 Quarterly, Blues News, Jazz Journal, Jazz Monthly, Jazzbeat, IAJRC Journal, Time Magazine, International Musician, and many others. A few articles are in French or German. Authors of articles include Harriet Choice, Leonard Feather, George Hoefer, and Sharon Pease. The “Musician Card File” has typed index cards and research notes about musicians.
See Series II, III, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII for additional material about musicians and people.
Series V, Clubs, Events, and Venues, is arranged into four subseries: Subseries 1, Chicago; Subseries 2, Chicago Defender and Chicago Whip; Subseries 3, Non-Chicago; and Subseries 4, Oversize.
Subseries 1, Chicago, contains articles, reviews, publications, maps, advertisements, pluggers, postcards, fliers, programs, playbills, tickets, correspondence, matchbooks, brochures, invitations, research notes, and other ephemera about clubs, club memberships, restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes, lounges, theatres, dance halls, ballrooms, hotels, buildings, schools, universities, concerts, performances, festivals, cruises, and other jazz venues, neighborhoods, events, and people in Chicago and the surrounding area. There are articles, reviews, and listings from newspapers and magazines, including Coda, Downbeat, Reader, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, and Chicago Daily News, of jazz events and concerts. Harriet Choice, Leonard Feather, Will Leonard, Buck Walmsley, and Studs Terkel are a few of the authors and critics of the articles and reviews. There are also essays and course papers on Chicago clubs, where students and authors would ask Steiner for research help and proofreading.
Subseries 2, Chicago Defender and Chicago Whip, contains articles and drafts of an index completed by Steiner and Charles Sengstock of events, venues, and musicians mentioned in the two newspapers.
Subseries 3, Non-Chicago, contains articles, reviews, publications, maps, advertisements, pluggers, postcards, fliers, programs, playbills, tickets, correspondence, matchbooks, brochures, invitations, research notes, and other ephemera about clubs, club memberships, restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes, lounges, theatres, dance halls, ballrooms, hotels, buildings, schools, universities, concerts, performances, festivals, cruises, and other jazz venues, neighborhoods, events, and people in areas outside of Chicago. The Milwaukee material, primarily articles from Milwaukee newspapers, includes events and venues such as the Hal Leonard Jazz Series, Music on the KK, the Milwaukee Jazz Experience, the Milwaukee Rhythm Club, Round Midday Jazz Series, Milwaukee Public Library, Summerfest, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the Jazz Oasis, and the Red Mill. Most of the New York material is from the New York Times and The New Yorker, and is primarily listings of multiple events, venues, and people.
Some material is photocopies or reproductions. The dates represent dates of actual material or of the content of the photocopies. Often the items contain information about more than one event or venue. Notes are from Steiner's research and sometimes attempted verification of details. Steiner's original folder titles were kept whenever possible.
Subseries 4, Posters, contains oversize posters and advertisements for clubs as well as articles about events in Chicago, Paris, Milwaukee, Minnesota, California, and Wisconsin. Also included are maps of clubs in Chicago and a map of Chez Paree.
See Series II, IV, VI, IX, and XII for additional material about clubs and events.
Series VI, Photographs, contains photographic prints, reproductions, negatives, contact sheets, photocopies, correspondence, articles, postcards, and research notes. Photographs are arranged into three subseries: Subseries 1, Musicians and People; Subseries 2, Locations and Subjects; and Subseries 3, Oversize. See Series IV, Musicians and People, for additional documentation about people and photographs.
Photographs are arranged alphabetically by last name, place, or subject and were given to Steiner, taken by Steiner, or are reproductions from other sources. The dates range from the early 1900s through the 1990s, though some dates are difficult to ascertain because they are reproductions. There are often multiple copies of the same image, sometimes different sizes, and often copies of the same image are found in more than one folder. Some reproductions are of images in books, newspapers, or magazines. Steiner's folder titles and organization were kept as much as possible.
Subseries 1, Musicians and People, contains photographs mostly of jazz musicians but also bands, orchestras, collectors, members of jazz societies, relatives, and audiences. They are of performances, jam sessions, and recording sessions as well as some publicity shots. There are also a few photos of gravestones, homes, advertisements, and marquees. Folders are arranged alphabetically by last name following Steiner's original organization, with the names of other persons in photographs noted whenever possible. Photographs of a band or orchestra are sometimes filed by the leader's name, for instance "Jimmy Noone's Orchestra" is filed under Noone, Jimmy. Many musicians appear in more than one folder. Names are transcribed as written and may be only last or partial names.
Some photographs may have notations not just of musicians and dates, but who took the photograph, where the image came from, and research notes about the people, events, or places. Steiner made notations such as who a musician played with or where they played. Some of the notes contain question marks where he was researching the accuracy.
Subseries 2, Locations and Subjects, contains photographs of clubs, restaurants, venues, buildings, neighborhoods, streets, sheet music, and record albums. The photographs of venues sometimes are not of the original but the former location, therefore are of another building or site. Notes about the location may include what the building was or became, who owned or managed it, which musicians played there, the address, and other documentation.
Subseries 3, Slides, Negatives, and Oversize Prints, contains slides, negatives, and oversize photographs of musicians and locations.
Subseries 4, Scrapbooks, contains a scrapbook of newspaper and magazine images of musicians and a scrapbook of photographs and ephemera Jack Goss created from a European tour.
See Series XII for oversize photographs. See Series II, III, IV, V, VI, and VIII for additional material on musicians, clubs, sheet music, and other related information.
Series VII, Subject Files, contains articles, fliers, brochures, book reviews, radio schedules, directories, catalogs, correspondence, cartoons, ephemera, and research notes. The material documents the history of jazz, Chicago jazz, and jazz in other cities, states, and foreign countries. Other topics include jazz and radio, television, film, books, science and psychology, collecting, museums, columnists and critics, and instruments. There are manuscripts, essays, theses, papers, book chapters, and other writing by Steiner and other authors about jazz and Chicago jazz. There are announcements, directories, meeting minutes, reports, articles, correspondence, fliers, brochures, invitations, membership cards, research notes, and other documents about jazz and music organizations, conferences, journals, exhibits, as well as Steiner's involvement with archives and museums including the Chicago Jazz Archive and William Ransom Hogan Jazz Archive. Also included is material about other musical styles such as gospel, blues, swing, rock and pop, boogie woogie, country, hillbilly, minstrel, and bluegrass. Other historical and cultural topics include Chicago history and figures, African culture, World's Fairs, antiques, women, cartoons and humor, Hull House, Mardi Gras, and prohibition.
See all other series for additional material.
Series VIII, Printed Music, is organized into five subseries: Subseries 1, Sheet Music; Subseries 2, Music Books; Subseries 3, Stock Arrangements; Subseries 4, Articles and Research; and Subseries 5, Oversize.
Subseries 1, Sheet Music, contains published songs primarily for piano, as well as a small amount for other instruments such as trumpet, saxophone, and banjo. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by publisher, then alphabetically by song title within each publisher heading. Songs are noted by title, lyricist(s), composer(s), arranger(s), and date whenever possible. If there is no publisher, it is labeled under the name assigned to the copyright. Publishers often changed names and/or merged; the music is filed under the name printed on the piece. Names are documented as they appeared on the music. Songs listed multiple times means multiple copies of that piece, usuall because of different cover artwork. A song may appear multiple times because it was published by more than one publisher. Some songs are in French, German, or Yiddish. Some pieces are very fragile.
Subseries 2, Music Books, contains song and method books arranged by publisher. There are method books primarily for piano as well as saxophone, banjo, ukulele, and violin. Some are for music by specific musicians, such as Duke Ellington, Jess Stacy, Count Basie, and Stan Kenton. Some books are compilations of jazz, dance, boogie woogie, and other music styles. Oversize music books are at the end with the books are arranged alphabetically by title. The books Abe Oleman, Songs of Charlie Straight, 1909-1930, Songs of Isham Jones, and Songs of Frank Magine contain bound volumes of individual pieces of sheet music.
Subseries 3, Stock Arrangements, contains published stock arrangements arranged alphabetically by publisher. Many are samples and some do not contain all the individual parts. Some arrangements were the property of Sig Meyer. There are a few handwritten arrangements.
Subseries 4, Newspaper Music, contains sheet music published in newspapers, arranged alphabetically by publisher. Most of this sheet music is fragile.
Subseries 5, Articles and Research, contains articles and research notes about Steiner's sheet music collection, composers, music styles, publishers, and other information about published music. There are also photocopies of sheet music and music books, advertisements, chord instruction and cue sheets, and loose and unidentified pieces of music.
See Series III, IV and VIII for additional material about sheet music.
Series IX, Publications, is organized into two subseries: Subseries 1, Publications; Subseries 2, Oversize Publications. This series contains magazines, newsletters, and newspapers primarily from the United States but also the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada, with a few in French, German, or Dutch. There are also a few pamphlets, such as American Jazz Society, Blues Unlimited, The Discographical Society, Jazz Appreciation Society, Jazz Information [UK], and Jazz Times Bulletin. Most of the publications are about jazz, but also blues, rock, and general music. Other publications are about chemistry, audio technology, record collecting, radio, dance, entertainment, venues, organizations, archives, jazz societies, and Chicago. Publications with more than one of the same title have the location in brackets. Not all runs are complete and some may have multiple copies of one issue. Downbeat is located in both subseries.
See Series III, IV, V, and VII for additional publications.
Series X, Artifacts, contains print blocks, souvenirs and other jazz related objects, electrical items, and science equipment. The print blocks are images of musicians and scenes used for album cover art from various recording companies, primarily Paramount Records and Vocalion. The Paramount and S/D Records print blocks are originals. Others may be reproductions Steiner made from Chicago Defender advertisements and other sources. Known artists are listed and many print blocks are unidentified.
Souvenirs and other jazz artifacts include a framed record etched with "1st Record Grafton June 29, 1917," card sets of "Heroes of the Blues" and "Early Jazz Greats" by Yazoo Records, salt and pepper shakers of RCA Record's "Nipper" and a gramophone, Baby Dodds' drumsticks, Compton Glover's cigarette lighter and pocket knife, and a Duke Ellington pin. There are also matchbooks from London House and buttons from the Jazz Institute of Chicago, WBEZ, Columbia Records, Blue Note Records, White City Ballroom, "Dan the Piano Man," The Night Pastor, and others.
The electronics and recording pieces include wires, cords, and other parts. The science equipment is slide rules, and "addometer," and drawing instruments.
See Series III for additional material about the recording industry.
Series XI, Audio-Visual, contains an audio cassette, film, a videocassette, microfilm, and product sample records. The audio cassette is about the Talking Machine companies of Chicago. There are 16 mm films of Baby Dodds, Ben Conroy, and Alex Lovejoy and Edna Mae Harris, an 8 mm film of a news story about Chicago public bathhouses, and a videocassette of jazz specials from Channel 11 in Chicago. Also included are microfilms of minutes from the Precision Machine Company and Louis Panico's "The Novelty Cornetist." There are product sample records, which are a promotional record with marketing materials, from various companies from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
This series does not include access copies for part or all of the material in this series. Researchers will need to consult with staff before requesting material from this series.
Series XII, Oversize, contains oversize items from other series. There is material about musicians, clubs, events, exhibits, and the recording industry, arranged by size. The artwork includes sketches, ink paintings, and prints, mostly of musicians and musical scenes, created by jazz and other artists.
The Personal material includes book covers from books about jazz, music, and Chicago, a poster about chemistry, and architectural plans from Steiner's house in Chicago.
The Record Industry and Collecting material contains advertisements, record lists, and album and sheet music images from Paramount Records, Broadway Records, and others. Also included are negatives for Steiner's reissue of "The Paramount Book of Blues." advertisements, mock-ups of advertisements, record lists, and album artwork for record companies including Paramount Records, S/D Records, and the F.W. Boerner Company. There are also photocopies of articles on the litigation of "Livery Stable Blues."
The Musicians and People material includes ephemera as well as articles about musicians from publications including the Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, Life, Christian Science Monitor, Mississippi Rag, Time, the New York Times, and various Chicago and Milwaukee newspapers.
The Clubs, Events, and Ephemera material is primarily posters for jazz festivals events from New Orleans, France, Mexico, and the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. Other jazz posters are of Duke Ellington, Republic Airlines, the history of jazz, and "The Jazz Family Tree."
The Photographs are originals and reproductions of jazz musicians and Chicago clubs.
The Subject Files material includes articles and other ephemera about music, jazz, and Chicago jazz. The Saturday Evening Post articles are signed by the "Houle Band at Ashcraft's" including Squirrel Ashcraft, Clark Terry, Howard Kennedy, Phil Atwood, Fred Wacky, Jack Howe, Bud Wilson, Pops Kenyan, and Bill Priestly. Also included are exhibit materials, primarily reproduced photographs and items used for display purposes, as well as posters and other ephemera about the exhibits. There are also calendars featuring jazz, vintage radios, and Hull House.
See Series III, IV, V, VI, and VII for additional material.