8 boxes

Agency History/Biographical note:
William Churchill Hammond was born November 25, 1860, in Rockville, Connecticut, to Joseph Churchill Hammond, Jr. and Katharine Isham Burr Hammond. He began his career as an organist in 1876 at the Second Congregational Church in Rockville and served in that position until 1884. Hammond also studied music with B.F. Leavens, N.H. Allen, and S.P. Warren in Hartford, Connecticut and New York City in 1876. In 1884, he played organ at the Pearl Street Congregational Church in Hartford, Connecticut. He went to Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1885 to play organ for the Second Congregational Church. He was there from 1885-1949 and also formed the choir at that church. In 1896, Hammond was a founder of the American Guild of Organists. He married Fanny Bliss Reed in 1898 and they had two sons, William Churchill Hammond, Jr. and Lansing Van der Heyden Hammond. Hammond was a music teacher in Holyoke and taught organ at Smith College from 1889-1899. He joined the faculty of Mount Holyoke College as a music professor in 1899. In 1924 Hammond took over direction of the Mount Holyoke Glee Club. He was also given an honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Mount Holyoke in that year. He remained at Mount Holyoke College until 1937. Hammond died on April 16, 1949, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, at the age of eighty-eight.

Scope and Content:
The William Churchill Hammond Papers consist of scrapbooks, correspondence, material relating to "White's Air" (a folksong that Hammond arranged for organ), music programs, biographical information, memorabilia, sound recordings, and photographs. The twenty scrapbooks dating from 1868-1950 and the music programs,  1896-1942, provide an overview of Hammond's life and work. In particular, these documents reflect his service as organist and choir director for the Second Congregational Church in Holyoke, Massachusetts, from 1885-1949; his work as a music professor, organist, and director of the Glee Club at Mount Holyoke College, 1899-1937; and his association with the American Guild of Organists, which he helped to establish. The scrapbooks also include information concerning both his family and the William Churchill Hammond Memorial Fund established by Mount Holyoke College after Hammond's death in 1949. Material in the collection relating to "White's Air" includes copies of the score, information about the song's history, and two copies of a sound recording of "White's Air" and "The March of the Magi Kings" performed by Hammond. Correspondence in the collection is limited to brief professional letters between Hammond and the Mount Holyoke College President's Office dating from the 1930s-1946. The photographs, ca. 1903-1946 and 1964, consist of formal and informal photographs of Hammond alone and with others as well as several photographs of family members, including his son, William Churchill Hammond, Jr.

Cite as: William Churchill Hammond Papers, Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections, South Hadley, MA.

Access Restrictions: Unrestricted

Series List:


• Scrapbooks , 1868-1950 , 6 boxes
• Correspondence , ca. 1930s-1946 , 1 folder
• "White's Air" Material , 1916-1949, 1962 , 1 folder
• Music Programs , 1896-1942 , 9 folders
• Biographical Information , 1898-1949 , 2 folders
• Memorabilia , 1915-1949 , 2 folders
• Sound Recordings , ca. 1920s , 1 folder
• Photographs , ca. 1903-1946, 1964 , 5 folders