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Grace Moore Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MS-3666

  • Staff Only

The Grace Moore Papers detail Moore’s career as an opera singer and actress from Tennessee. Correspondence, notes, photographs, concert programs, movie and play scripts, along with newspaper clippings, fan club publications, vinyl performance records and a series of scrapbooks that follow the life, career, and death of Grace Moore are included. Performance posters and a series of sheet music used, performed, and signed by Grace Moore are also included, along with a group of letters written by famous composers and assembled by Miss Moore.

Series I. Correspondence, 1916-1981 This series includes personal correspondence (Sub-series A) with letters to Ben Bower, and Helen Ruth Matthews, Grace Moore’s Secretary, along with telegrams to her husband and friends. This series also consists of business correspondence (Sub-series B) regarding Moore's finances and her dealings with the Metropolitan Musical Bureau, Inc. Handwritten notes and telephone messages (Sub-series C) are also included. The fan mail grouping (Sub-series D) is comprised of messages held for personal responses, photograph requests, and responses from Moore.

Series II. Photographs, 1930-1939 This series consists of photographs of Moore from her performances and movie sets such as “One Night of Love,” “King Steps Out,” and “I’ll Take Romance.” Signed photographs of Moore along with photographs from various movies in which Moore did not act are also included.

Series III. Programs, 1928-1954 This series consists of programs featuring Moore (Sub-series A) including her debut concert, and programs honoring Moore (Sub-series B).

Series IV. Scripts, 1934-1940 This series consists of bound scripts from movies, radio shows, and plays. Many of these scripts include revisions and handwritten notes. Series V. Newspaper Clippings, circa 1947-1948, 1980-1989 This series consists of newspaper clippings that span the life and death of Moore and includes articles related to her personal life, performances, death, as well as articles about her hometown, induction to the Hall of Fame, biographies, and family.

Series VI. Fan Club Publications, 1936-1947 This series consists of fan club newsletters titled “Fan Club News” which cover Moore’s career and death.

Series VII. Scrapbooks, 1924-1953 This series consists of a collection of scrapbooks from multiple sources, including scrapbooks that have been taken out of their original binding from 1930-1940 compiled by her secretary Helen Ruth, along with 18 scrapbooks still in their original binding covering Moore’s life and career. These scrapbooks include newspaper clippings, photographs, programs, letters, telegrams, correspondence and various ephemera.

Series VIII. Sheet Music, 1838-1958 This series consists of five sheet music boxes. It includes individual sheets of music (Sub-series A) arranged by date as well as sheet music personalized and annotated by Moore and various composers (Sub-series B), including music signed by Moore, and sheet music signed by composers addressed to Moore. Compilations and collections of music arranged by title (Sub-series C), handwritten sheet music (Sub-series D), and materials related to music (Sub-series E) consisting of letters by composers, and the singing method of Manuel Gracia, are also included.

Series IX. Promotional Material, 1949 This series consists of re-releases of promotional movie posters and large performance posters.

Series X. Vinyl Records, undated This includes eight vinyl records of Moore’s performances and souvenir albums.

Dates

  • 1838-1989
  • Majority of material found within 1930-1947

Conditions Governing Access

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Conditions Governing Use

The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

13 Linear Feet

Abstract

The Grace Moore Papers detail Moore’s career as an opera singer and actress from Tennessee. Correspondence, notes, photographs, concert programs, movie and play scripts, along with newspaper clippings, fan club publications, vinyl performance records and a series of scrapbooks that follow the life, career, and death of Grace Moore are included. Performance posters and a series of sheet music used, performed, and signed by Grace Moore are also included, along with a group of letters written by famous composers and assembled by Miss Moore.

Biographical/Historical Note

Grace Moore (Mary Willie Grace Moore), nicknamed the “Tennessee Nightingale,” was born December 5, 1898, in Slabtown (now Del Rio), Cocke County, Tennessee, to Colonel Richard Lawson Moore and Tessie Jane Stokely. Tessie Jane Stokely descends from the famed Stokely and Huff families of Cocke County, with her parents being William Russell Stokely and Emmaline N. Huff. Grace’s father, Richard Lawson Moore, a “foreigner” from North Carolina arrived in Del Rio to work as a commissary clerk in Nough, four miles west of Del Rio. Tessie and Richard’s marriage threw the Stokely-Huff dynasty into a “tizzy” as Tessie was expected to marry someone within the community as most of her relatives had. Moore had no interest in settling permanently in Del Rio, and when Grace was five, he moved the family to Florida Street in Knoxville to work as a traveling salesman. Tessie and Grace missed the farm life of Slabtown and despised urban living, especially since they were living in what was considered a red-light district. Grace was bullied and mocked at school for her country roots, and she describes these years as “traumatic” in her autobiography You’re Only Human Once (1944).

After a few years, Richard Moore moved the family to Jellico, a town bordering Kentucky, and he began planning to start a wholesale business of his own. Grace spent her adolescence here, attending high school and captaining the women’s basketball team. Her fierce attitude and stubbornness led to conflicts with authority, specifically her father. She often escaped into the nearby hills for solace after facing the consequences of her actions. Her family attended First Baptist Church where Grace joined the children’s choir and performed her first solo, “Rock of Ages.” One day, at a party in Williamsburg, Kentucky, Grace was dared to dance by one of her admirers, and, being herself, she immediately accepted the offer. As she was dancing around someone warned her about her father’s strict rules that forbid dancing, so she fled home. Her father’s reaction was violent, and he accused her of committing a mortal sin against God. She even had to give an apology for this incident at a Sunday service, prompted by her own father and Brother Martin, the leader of this congregation. This incident shaped her, not because of any guilt, but rather because of pure indignation towards the humiliation she experienced. She believed in a “joyous God” and disagreed with the church’s stern and disciplinary interpretation of him.

In 1916, Grace decided to attend Ward-Belmont School for Girls (now Belmont University) in Nashville to receive singing missionary training until she was expelled in January 1917 for “inappropriate conduct.” Grace then enrolled at the Wilson-Greene School of Music in Washington D.C. where she excelled up until she decided to move to New York City. She began performing in nightclubs like the Black Cat Café and on the vaudeville circuit, performing musical comedies by Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern. She met Dr. P. Mario Marafioti, a popular physician for Met singers, during this time; she sought him out for medical advice on her voice and how to improve it. She soon grew tired of musical comedy and sailed to Europe to train in operatic methods with various composers in France and Italy. After three auditions, Grace signed a contract with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and she debuted in 1928 as Mimi in La Bohème”; she went on to perform for sixteen seasons with the Met.

As movies became more popular, Grace was attracted to the success and landed her first on-screen musical role as Jenny Lind in A Lady’s Morals in 1930 for MGM Studios. She later had roles in New Moon (1930), One Night of Love (1934), Love Me Forever (1935), The King Steps Out (1936), When You’re In Love (1937), I’ll Take Romance (1937) and Louise (1939). After New Moon’s lukewarm success, Moore sailed to Europe for vacation in May 1931, and it was on this trip where met her husband, Valentin Parera, a Spanish movie actor. They met aboard the ship Ile de France and were married in Cannes just a few weeks later on July 15, 1931. Throughout the 1930s they maintained homes in Hollywood, Cannes, and Connecticut. Near the abrupt end of her life, Grace published an autobiography titled You’re Only Human Once (1944) which details much of her life and success. Moore continued to travel the world, touring and performing for wide audiences up until January 26, 1947, when she was tragically killed in a plane crash in Copenhagen, Denmark at the age of 48. Grace Moore is buried at Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga, Tennessee alongside her family. In 1953, her autobiography was turned into a movie called So This Is Love, starring Kathryn Grayson as Grace. Author Rowena Rutherford Farrar published a biography, Grace Moore and Her Many Worlds (1982), providing even more information about Grace’s short, yet fascinating life.

Arrangement

This collection consists of 27 boxes divided into 10 series.

Series I. Correspondence, 1916-1981 A. General Correspondence, 1916-1981, undated B. Business Correspondence, 1930-1936, undated C. Handwritten Notes and Phone Messages, undated D. Fan Mail, 1934-1935, undated

Series II. Photographs, 1930-1939

Series III. Programs, 1928-1954 A. Programs Featuring Grace Moore, 1928-1954, undated B. Programs Honoring Grace Moore, 1935 May 17, 1937 December 1

Series IV. Scripts, 1934-1940

Series V. Newspaper Clippings, circa 1947-1948, 1980-1989

Series VI. Fan Club Publications, 1936-1947

Series VII. Scrapbooks, 1924-1953

Series VIII. Sheet Music, 1838-1958 A. Individual Sheets of Music, 1867-1958, undated B. Sheet Music Personalized by Grace Moore and Various Compsers, 1920-1944, undated C. Compilations, Albums, and Collections of Sheet Music, 1838-1954, undated D. Miscellaneous Sheet Music, 1930, 1938, undated E. Material Related to Music, 1861-1913, undated Series IX. Promotional Material, 1949, undated

Series X. Vinyl Records, undated

Previous Citation

Portions of this collection were previously listed as MS.0047, MS.1025, MS.1111, MS.2341, and MS.2008.

Acquisition Note

This collection is property of the University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville, Special Collections. Part of the Grace Moore Collection was donated to Special Collections by Miss Mae Walker in 1986.

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480