Rose Ettinger papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA0063

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The Rose Ettinger papers measure 12 linear inches and date from 1880 to 1929. The collection consists almost exclusively of letters written by Ettinger to her family in Waterloo, Iowa from Chicago, where she studied, and from Europe, where she performed in recital from 1895 until 1907. In these letters she tells of her personal and professional life, including details of her training, concert activities, and extensive travel experiences.

Correspondents include Sarah Hershey Eddy, Clarence Eddy; Ettinger's husband Francis Braun, her parents E. Blanche and Alonzo L. Ettinger, her sister Mabel, and her brother, Victor.

The biographical folder includes, in addition to information about Rose Ettinger, sketches of Sarah Hershey Eddy, Clarence Eddy, Marie Brema, and Mathilde Marchesi.

The photographs consist primarily of portraits of Rose Ettinger taken during her training and professional career, along with a portrait of Rose and her husband Francis Braun and Rose with Sarah Hershey Eddy. Also included are childhood portraits of Alice (Rose), a photograph of Rose's mother Blanche, her sister Mabel, and her brother Victor in front of the family home in Waterloo, Iowa, and one of her husband Francis.

PARTIAL INDEX TO CORRESPONDENTS

Braun, Arthur: January 24, 1899; Braun, Francis, November 19, 1899; Braun, Francis, 1900-1901; Braun, Francis, 1903-1904; Braun, Francis, 1908-1909.

Eddy, Clarence, January 23, September 9, 1894; Eddy, Clarence, May 13, May 20, July 23, 1895; Eddy, Clarence, January-April, 1896; Eddy, Clarence, February 6, 1897; Eddy, Sarah Hershey, April 10, April 12, April 19, 1893; Eddy, Sarah Hershey, January 29, April 30, May 3, July 23, 1895; Eddy, Sarah Hershey, January-April, 1896.

Ettinger, Alonzo L., September 17, 1899; Ettinger, Blanche, August-December, 1898; Ettinger, Blanche: January 6, 1899; Marchesi, Mathilde, September 11, 1896.

Dates

Creation: 1880-1929

Creator

Ettinger, Rose, 1877-1909 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Biographical / Historical

Rose Ettinger was born Alice Ida Ettinger on February 10, 1877, in Oregon, Illinois to E. Blanche Ettinger and Alonzo L. Ettinger. She moved to the state of Iowa at the age of four and in 1887 moved to Waterloo, where her father was a businessman. At the age of fourteen she went to Chicago to study voice with Hans Balatka for two terms and then continued her studies with Sarah Hershey Eddy (1837-?) for periods of seven to ten weeks at a time between 1893 and 1895.

At the suggestion of Mrs. Eddy, she changed her name from Alice to Rose. Mrs. Eddy was the founder of the Hershey School of Musical Art and was married to Clarence Eddy (1851-1937), a noted organist and composer. She was the daughter of Benjamin Hershey, a prominent Muscatine, Iowa lumber merchant. In the summer of 1895 Ettinger travelled to Europe with Mrs. Eddy to begin her concert career. From the fall of 1895 until late 1897 she studied in Paris with Mathilde Marchesi (1821-1913), a renowned German mezzo-soprano and pedagogue.

On May 12, 1896, she appeared at the Trocadero in Paris with Clarence Eddy before a crowd of 4000. Ettinger visited Waterloo in the summer of 1897 and that fall returned to Europe to perform extensively on the continent, including a concert to honor Massenet and one in Potsdam for the German empress. On December 7, 1899, Ettinger married baritone Francis Braun of Liverpool, England, son of Marie Brema (1856-1925), the noted English contralto. In 1905 Ettinger won the medal of science and art in Dessan, Germany, presented by the Duke of Anhalt. She continued her career in Europe but stopped performing in 1907 because of poor health. Ettinger died of a cerebral hemorrhage on May 13, 1909 at the age of thirty two and was buried in Brompton Cemetery, Kensington, London.