Minnie Sneed Wilcox:

An Inventory of the Minnie Sneed Wilcox Collection at the Texas State Archives, 1920-1945, undated, bulk 1923-1941

Biographical Sketch

May Genevieve "Minnie" (Sneed) Wilcox, referred to as Mrs. N.M. Wilcox in the collection, was born five miles south of Austin on June 16, 1862. She married photographer Nathan M. Wilcox in 1882, and they settled in Burnet, Texas where three of their children were born. They relocated to Georgetown in 1887, where Minnie Wilcox gave birth to their fourth child, Frances M. "Fannie" Wilcox on August 9, 1889, who would go on to serve as the Texas State Librarian from 1932 until 1945.

While in Georgetown, Minnie Wilcox became a prominent member of the music community and was instrumental in the creation of several music clubs, courses, and publications. She taught music lessons out of her home until 1905, when she was elected by the Georgetown School Board to teach music in the public schools.

In addition to teaching, Wilcox herself was a musician and a member of the Grace Church Choir, an organization within the Grace Episcopal Church in Georgetown. She arranged and directed several operettas and organized the Georgetown Music Study Club, a woman's club founded in 1914 for the purpose of enhancing the "serious" study of music among Georgetown women. In 1917, this club merged with two other women's music clubs in a collaborative effort to raise funds and supplies for America's participation in World War I. This amalgamated club became known as the Women's Club.

Wilcox was a founding member of the Texas Federation of Music Clubs (TFMC), first organized in 1915 in Brownwood, Texas, as a chapter of the South Central Region of the National Federation of Music Clubs. Established to help support and organize local music clubs, the TFMC's membership grew from just 22 clubs in 1915 to 320 clubs in 1928. The TFMC also began publishing the official bulletin Texas Music News in 1928, which Minnie helped develop, demonstrating her commitment to staying updated on news about music and music-makers throughout Texas.

In October of 1921, Nathan and Minnie Wilcox moved to Austin to reside with their daughter, Fannie Wilcox. Minnie Wilcox primarily taught music lessons while living in Austin, and newspaper reports indicate that she also opened a kindergarten music school. In 1923, she created the Wednesday Morning Music Club (WMMC) and served as its president until her death almost 20 years later. The WMMC was a study group dedicated to music education. Their meetings would often feature lectures, correlating with performances by Texan composers, musicians, and choirs.

Minnie Wilcox was an active participant in several additional music organizations, securing an honorary membership in the local community Music Teachers Association and a charter membership in the Texas Music Teachers Association. She died on October 19, 1941, in Austin, Texas, at the age of 79 after many dedicated years of promoting the importance of music education throughout Texas.

(Sources include: , Roell, Craig H., "Texas Federation of Music Clubs," accessed October 31, 2018; Gracy, David B.'s The State Library and Archives of Texas: A History, 1835-1962, University of Texas Press, 2010; "Texas Federation of Music Clubs,""Mrs. Wilcox Dies at 79,"Austin American Statesman, Oct. 20, 1941; and "Austin Welcomes New Addition to Musical Circles in Mrs. Wilcox,"Austin American Statesman, Sept. 25, 1921.)

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Minnie Sneed Wilcox collection contains materials documenting the history of three Texas music clubs: the Texas Federation of Music Clubs (TFMC), the Texas Music Teachers Association (TMTA), and the Wednesday Morning Music Club (WMMC). The collection spans from 1920 to 1945, with some undated material. The bulk of the material dates from 1923 to 1941 and details the activities of three Texas music clubs and associations and the role of Minnie Sneed Wilcox in these groups. This collection is comprised of event programs, an artifact, membership certificates, periodicals, and scrapbooks that contain newspaper clippings, correspondence, programs, and telegrams. Other items included in the collection are course of study booklets, financial and research reports, and official club records.

The Wednesday Morning Music Club materials series provides extensive documentation of the club Minnie Sneed Wilcox created on January 23, 1923, in Austin, Texas. This series includes scrapbooks, event programs, course of study booklets, membership rosters, meeting reports, and financial records dating from 1923 to 1945. The records document the club's organized musical events and weekly study group, as well as the personal interests of its club members through the form of essays and research papers on composers, operas, and other music-related topics, including one about the music of George Frideric Handel.

A majority of the series' documents are contained within six scrapbooks compiled by the WMMC's historians. They contain photographs of members, membership rosters, newspaper clippings regarding member and club activities, and programs for events either produced or attended by club members. The scrapbooks also contain the organization's correspondence, which details its involvement with both the TFMC and other Texas music clubs. The scrapbooks additionally include course of study booklets, dating from 1925 through 1945, that include a list of club officers, committees, active members, associate and honorary members, club bylaws and constitution, and a list of events for that year. The WMMC was a chapter of the TFMC, and many of their programs and events coincide with each other, as documented by event and conference programs within the collection.

The Texas Federation of Music Clubs materials series includes fundraising materials, records, an artifact from club events, and several issues of the organization's bulletin Texas Music News (1928-1938). In three cases, two to eight issues of this periodical have been sewn together in chronological order, and several of the issues are addressed to "Mrs. N.M. Wilcox" at her address in Austin, Texas. The records from events include programs and flyers for events hosted by the TFMC, including several programs and daily schedules from the TFMC's Annual Texas Composers Program in Fort Worth, Texas, from April 17 to 18, 1941. The artifact within this series is a name-tag pin for "Mrs. R.L. White," for this same event. The fundraising records include a letter from the president of the TFMC requesting help and support from local chapters for a fundraiser event entitled "An Evening With Music in 1940," arranged by Mrs. Myrtle Artman Montrief. The script and stage directions for the skit are included with this letter.

The Texas Music Teachers Association materials series contains a course of study booklet, the TMTA codes of ethics, and Minnie Wilcox's club membership certificates. The course of study booklet was for the Texas Music Festival, sponsored by the TMTA in Dallas, Texas, from April 1 to 2, 1938. This booklet provided guidelines for what music students should expect to accomplish depending on their year of study. The TMTA code of ethics outlines the responsibilities and expectations of conduct regarding teachers, students, and members of the public that engage with the club, with the ultimate goal being "that the music-teaching profession (may) be honored and understood." Membership with the club had to be renewed annually, and this series contains Mrs. N.M. Wilcox's active membership certificates for the years 1920-1921, 1921-1922, and 1925.

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Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Some fragile materials, such as the six scrapbooks, may not be available for access except through digital copies.

Restrictions on Use

Under the Copyright Act of 1976 as amended in 1998, unpublished manuscripts are protected for the life of the author plus 70 years. The term of copyright for published material varies. Researchers are responsible for complying with the Copyright Law.

Technical Requirements

None.

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Related Material

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item and cite the series), Minnie Sneed Wilcox collection. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1953/059, 1965/218

The materials in this collection were donated by former Texas State Librarian Fannie M. Wilcox to the Texas State Archives, Texas Library and Historical Commission, on June 1, 1954; and August 16, 1966.

Processing Information

Processing and DACS-compliant EAD finding aid completed by Mickey Lanning and Mandy Ryan of the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin, fall 2018

Other Formats for the Records

The scrapbooks in this collection have been digitized and are part of the Texas Digital Archive, available at https://tsl.access.preservica.com/tda/manuscripts-collections/#wilcox.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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