Collection inventory

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Kirk Ridge Papers

An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives

Finding aid created by: Anna Obermayer
Date: 2015

Revision history:
June 2022	Stylistic updates (MAM)

Biography

Kirk Ridge was an American musician who taught at Syracuse University and served as Director of its School of Music. Ridge was born December 28, 1895. He studied at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and received his bachelor's degree in 1918. He served in the 64th infantry from June 1918 to June 1919 and did see combat while stationed in France. After his service ended Ridge studied with two composers, Zygmunt Stojowski in New York City from 1920 to 1923 and Severin Eisenberger in Vienna from 1924 to 1926. In 1923 Ridge composed the song "Blue Flower," which was published by G. Schirmer Inc. Ridge taught at Oberlin from from 1926 to 1927 before coming to Syracuse. He was appointed to a professorship at Syracuse University in 1928.

Ridge served as the chairman for the graduate committee at the Syracuse University School of Music. He also often organized school concerts, traveled with students on tour and oversaw prospective students' auditions. To work under Ridge was a much coveted honor among the School of Music students. In 1961 he became acting director of the School of Music. In 1962 his title was officially changed to Director of the School of Music, a position he held until he retired. Ridge retired on June 30, 1964. He was honored with the title Professor emeritus of Piano and Director emeritus of The School of Music at the time of his retirement.

Scope and Content Note

The Kirk Ridge Papers span from 1905 to 1959, but the bulk of the materials are concentrated from 1927 to 1928 and from 1958 to 1959. The papers include portraits, newspaper clippings, programs, notes and drafts related to Ridge's concert tours from 1927 to 1928. Because he toured in Germany some of these documents are in German. The Kirk Ridge Papers also include a folder of correspondence from 1958 to 1959, all related to his teaching at the Syracuse University School of Music.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

The University Archives holds a clipping file and a portrait file on Kirk Ridge.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Ridge, Kirk, 1895-1991.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.

Subjects

Music -- 20th century.
Music -- Instruction and study.
College teachers.
Higher education.

Types of Material

Concert programs.
Drafts (documents)
Portraits.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Kirk Ridge Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of J. Avery Head in 2008.

Processing Information

Materials in this collection were placed in acid-free folders and an acid-free box. The newspaper clippings were photocopied.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically.

Table of Contents

Papers

Inventory