Dancer Lisan Kay Nimura’s personal collection documents life in the artist studios once inside Carnegie Hall. She taught at Ballet Arts (founded by her husband Yeichi Nimura and Virginia Lee), which was home to well-known dancers and choreographers. Portraits, dance rehearsal snapshots, travel and family photographs, and artwork in this collection span 1900 to 1994. 

Along with Andrew and Louise Carnegie, Walter Damrosch was instrumental in building Carnegie Hall, performing here nearly 850 times. Signed cabinet cards of composers and performers, a reference letter from Franz Liszt, and ephemera are included in this collection that spans 1860 to 1930—all donated by Damrosch’s grandson Blaine Littell. 

Explore material from the 1880s to 1920s, including questionnaires that William Burnet Tuthill—original architect of Carnegie Hall—sent to European theaters as part of his research about performance spaces, a scrapbook of articles and lithographs of his works, and early architectural drawings for the Hall. 

For a glimpse into the Hall’s early history, dive into accounting ledgers tracking rentals and expenses from 1891 to 1925. The Music Hall Company of New York operated Carnegie Hall from its opening in 1891 until Robert Simon Sr. purchased it from Louise Carnegie. The New York Public Library holds the physical ledgers and collaborated with Carnegie Hall to have the ledgers digitized. 

Explore printed concert programs from 1891 to the 1920s, documenting performances from four of Carnegie Hall’s historic stages: the Main Hall, Recital Hall, Chamber Music Hall, and Carnegie Lyceum. Information in these program pages includes artists, repertoire, advertisements, and much more. 

Discover the items that were originally intended to advertise upcoming performances and gatherings. The printed ephemera in this collection documents a variety of events on Carnegie Hall’s stages from the 1890s to 1920s, including concerts and non-musical events such as lectures, meetings, and political rallies. 

Louis Salter was an employee of Carnegie Hall from 1893 to 1925 in roles that ranged from assistant electrician to superintendent. This collection includes more than 100 signatures captured in his autograph book and a series of autographed artist photos, principally from 1912 to 1925. 

Isaac A. Hopper—the original contractor for the Music Hall and for later improvements and additions—kept this nearly 300-page scrapbook of newspaper clippings, essays, photographs, and other material. The pages chronicle his life in New York City politics and the city’s construction and building industries, circa 1890s to 1920s. 

Explore formerly unpublished questionnaires and correspondence from 60 composers—including Alban Berg, Jean Sibelius, Anton Webern, and Edgard Varèse—compiled for the 1934 edition of <i>Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians</i>. The collection was gifted to Carnegie Hall by the family of Robert Geiger, one of the dictionary's editors. 

Four promotional films from the 1950s were shot on stage in the Main Hall and featured prominent musicians of that era. Watch performances by harpsichordist Ralph Kirkpatrick, pianist Claudio Arrau, mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel (accompanied by Ralph Kirkpatrick), and violinist Michael Rabin (accompanied by David Garvey). 

The booking ledgers recorded every event that took place in Carnegie Hall’s various auditoriums and were used to schedule performances from 1955 to 2007. These ledgers include rare documentation of the great artists, managers, and events of various genres that have taken place at the Hall.