El Paso Music History

The C. L. Sonnichsen Special Collections Department is located on the sixth floor. The book collections include the Chicano Collection, the Judaica Collection, the S. L. A. Marshall Military History Collection, the Southwest and Border Studies Collection, as well as collections of art and rare books. In addition to printed sources, the department has manuscript and archival collections available. There is also an oral history collection documenting the region.  If you are looking for a specific item, please call ahead and make an appointment at (915) 747-5697.  Click here to see their hours. 

MS001, UTEP collection. Includes materials from the Music Department. 

MS024, Willie Agner music collection. Small collection of sheet music.  Less than one inch. 

MS062, Olav E. Eidbo papers. Date range 1956-1985.  Information about the Music Department at UTEP compiled by a faculty member. 2 inches of material. 

MS231, Cleofas Calleros papers.  Calleros, a avocational historian, writer, and civic leader, kept the programs for many of the performances he attended in El Paso.  24 linear feet

MS292, Sarame Raynolds papers.  Correspondence of Sarame Raynolds, an aspiring opera singer from El Paso.  8 inches.

MS359, El Paso Theater Programs (artificial collection, but predominantly 1960s-1990s) 

MS361, Casimiro Giron papers.  Posters and photographs of a band leader.  

MS371, Betty Ligon papers.  Papers of a journalist who was an arts reporter for the El Paso Herald-Post and later El Paso Inc.  7 linear feet. 

MS407, Andrews family papers.  Relates to choral music in El Paso.  4 inches.

MS456, Francis Moore collection.  Recordings and programs of Francis Moore, a concert pianist whose career began in El Paso.  2 inches.

MS488, Claude Herndon music collection.  Claude Herndon was the premier piano teacher in El Paso for many years.  This collection includes a large quantity of sheet music for piano and some publications on piano instruction.  38 linear feet. 

MS575, James Curtis Warren papers.  Curt Warren was a long-time member of the UTEP Music Dept. and leader of the UTEP Jazz ensemble.  3 feet.

MS576, Woman’s Club of El Paso records.  This oldest women’s organization in El Paso had a performance venue in its clubhouse.  The McDowell Club was a branch of the organization dedicated to music; men could join as well as women, but all members had to try out to belong.  

MS609, Wayne Lorentzen papers.  Medical doctor from El Paso who was also a musician.  Both his mother and sister taught music. 

MS625, Robert M. Stevenson papers.  Dr. Stevenson was a leading expert on Latin American music.  He wrote several books, including a short monograph on the history of music in El Paso. 

MS632, Cristina Casas Palmer UTEP ballet research files.  Contains information about ballet performances and dancers in El Paso.