George C. Wilson Photos

Sub-Series

Staff Only

Scope and Contents note

From the Fonds:

Photography has always been important to the National Music Camp, and photos exist from the earliest years of the Camp. Beginning in circa 1944, a concerted effort was made each year to fully document camp life. A professional photographer was on site throughout the season, taking high quality, usually staged, photographs. These consisted of group shots of each of the camper cabins, and numerous individual shots of campers and instructors. These photos were developed on-site in the campus darkroom.

The campers at NMC were divided into age groups called Junior, Intermediate and High School. There was also a University contingent from the University of Michigan for many years. The sequence of negatives reflects these divisions. Two other typical divisions are General camp photos and Post-camp photos. General photos are often simply of the High Schoolers who constituted the majority of the campers at NMC, but also include more generic and candid shots of camp life. Post-camp indicates that camp had concluded, and these photos document the routines associated with closing down the camp for the summer.

When the Arts Academy began in the 1962-63 school year, the tradition of photography was continued, and similar high-quality shots were taken of the students. Theses are generally all numbered sequentially, and not divided into the four classes of Freshman, Sophomore, etc. It was around this time that the 4 x 5 large format was supplemented, and then supplanted, by the 120 film medium format, approximately 2.25" x 2.25".

Dates

2018-07-27

Biographical / Historical

George C. Wilson (1908-2001) was an American music educator and conductor. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1931 and earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1938. Wilson began his career as a conductor at Kansas State Teachers College and went on to conduct the band and orchestra at the University of Arizona. He spent ten years as the director of bands at the University of Missouri, from 1946 until 1956. Wilson was elected to the American Bandmasters Association (ABA) in 1948, became its president in 1965, and was named an honorary life member in 1998. He helped organize the 1966 conference of the International Society for Music Education, the first to be held in the United States. Wilson dedicated much of his life to the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan, later renamed the Interlochen Arts Camp, and was elected its vice-president and director in 1950.

Extent

50 Photographic Prints : 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; Wilson (at podium) speaking w/ unknown men 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; Wilson (sitting in back, right) speaking, w/ unknown men 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; Wilson (left) with Dr. Carl Neumeyer (right) 3 photos; 5x7"; black & white; headshot of WIlson 2 photos; 5x7"; black & white; headshot of Wilson 1 photo; 5x7"; black & white; headshot of Wilson 1 photo; 5x7"; black & white; headshot of Wilson 3 photos; 5x7"; black & white; headshot of Wilson 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; Wilson speaking to two unknown women 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; Wilson (left) with Raymond Dvorak 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; closeup of Wilson 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; Wilson speaking with microphone 2 photos; 8x10"; black & white; 2 copies of photo of Wilson w/ music score 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; Wilson with his wife 1 photo; 5x7"; black & white; Wilson conducting 1 photo; 5x7"; black & white; Wilson & wife presenting unknown man with award 1 photo; 5x7"; black & white; from left: Verne Hawes, George Wilson, Clyde Vroman 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; Wilson (on left), with a Chilean student and Karl Haas (right) 3 photos; 1 5x7" and 2 8x10"; black & white; promotion photo of Wilson with baton 1 contact sheet of 12 photos; 8x10"; black & white; 10 headshots of Wilson; 2 photos of unknown woman 1 photo; 8x10"; black & white; headshot of Wilson 8 photos; 3x5"; black & white; headshots of Wilson, multiple poses 13 photos; 3x5"; black & white; headshots of Wilson, multiple poses