Mary Evelene Calbreath sheet music

Collection

Identifier: Coll 1152

Scope and Contents

Sheet music for the song "The Little House" and the piano piece "The Three Bears." Music for both pieces was composed by Mary Evelene Calbreath of Portland, Oregon; the lyrics for "The Little House" are from a poem by Edith D. Osborne. The sets of sheet music were printed in 1923 and 1925, respectively, by Schroeder & Gunther Inc. of New York City. The cover for "The Little House" has a handwritten inscription from Calbreath to Paul Petri, and the cover of "The Three Bears" has a handwritten inscription from Calbreath to Lillian Petri. The inscription to Lillian Petri addresses her as "Mrs. Paul Petri."

Dates

Creation: 1923-circa 1925

Creator

Calbreath, Mary Evelene, 1895-1972 (Composer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical Note

Mary Evelene Calbreath was born in 1895 in McMinnville, Oregon. She studied piano and violin in Berlin, Germany. When she returned to the United States, she shifted to studying vocal music. She worked for 10 years as an assistant to music teacher William Brady in New York before moving to Portland, Oregon. She worked as vocal teacher and was a member of the Oregon Music Teachers Association. She also composed a number of songs and pieces for violin and string quartet. Calbreath died in April 1972.

Sources: Obituary in the Oregonian, April 6, 1972, Women's Section, page 18; "Vocal teacher's death removes great talent," Oregonian, April 9, 1972, Women's Section, page 21.

Biographical Note

Paul Petri was born in 1877 in Newark, New Jersey, and began his music career at age 17, studying in New York, London, and Berlin. In 1904, he married Lillian Jeffreys, who had been born in 1877 in Brooklyn, New York. The couple moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1918. In 1924, Paul Petri become director of the School of Music at Oregon State College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis, while Lillian Petri was head of the Department of Piano and Music Theory. Both retired in 1947. Lillian Petri died in 1955, and Paul Petri died in 1958. In 1961, the Lillian and Paul Petri Foreign Study Fund was established.

Sources: Obituary for Lillian Petri, Corvallis Gazette-Times, July 27, 1955, page 1; obituary for Paul Petri, Corvallis Gazette-Times, September 22, 1958, page 1; "Petri Bequest Offers Foreign Music Studies," Oregonian, December 3, 1961, section 3, page 17.

Full Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 folder (11x14) in shared flat box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Sheet music by Mary Evelene Calbreath (1895-1972) for the song "The Little House" and the piano piece "The Three Bears," with inscriptions from Calbreath to Paul Petri (1877-1958) and Lillian Petri (1877-1955). Calbreath was a vocal teacher and composer from Portland, Oregon. Paul Petri and Lillian Petri taught music at Oregon State College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, September 2025 (RL2025-096).

Related Materials

Other materials at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to Mary Evelene Calbreath and her family include the Mary Evelene Calbreath papers, Mss 1429; the Mary Evelene Calbreath scrapbook, Coll 840; a scrapbook compiled by Mary Evelene Calbreath and her sister Helen Calbreath, which is part of the Performing arts collection, Mss 1523; the John F. Calbreath papers, Mss 1027; and the Calbreath family photograph albums, Org. Lot 1155.