(Digital Collections) Contributing to the Social Welfare History Image Portal at Virginia Commonwealth University

The Frances G. Spencer Collection of American Popular Sheet Music is many things: big, colorful, historically significant and occasionally eye-opening in its imagery and lyrics. And as of this week, you can add another descriptor: a supporter of a project sponsored by the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries.

The opportunity to support the Social Welfare History Project, which is described on its homepage as “chronicling the history of the nation’s response to human need,” came thanks to a connection with a former Baylor staffer. Alice Campbell, formerly of The Texas Collection, is heading up the VCU project in her role as the university’s Digital Outreach and Special Projects Librarian. She reached out to our interim Dean of Libraries, John Wilson, and said she thought nine pieces from the Spencer Collection related to the Prohibition era would make great additions to the project. Everyone here in Waco agreed, and so today there are nine new items in the collection, each digitized from our amazing sheet music collection.

It’s certainly worth checking out the entire project, but we wanted to highlight the covers of the nine pieces Alice selected here in this post so our readers can get a sense of how the Spencer Collection’s materials are supporting this fascinating project.

At The Prohibition Ball: Novelty Song by Alex Gerber and Abner Silver, 1919 (View the full item in our Digital Collections.)

Empty Cellar Blues by Jack Nelson, 1920 (View the full item.)

Every Day Will Be Sunday When The Town Goes Dry by William Jerome and Jack Mahoney, 1918 (View the full item.)

Everybody Wants A Key To My Cellar by Edward Rose, Billy Baskette and Lew Pollack, 1919 (View the full item.)

For If Kisses Are As Intoxicating As They Say, Prohibition You Have Lost Your Sting by J. Russel Robinson, Al Siegel and Billy Curtis, 1919 (View the full item.)

How Are You Going To Wet Your Whistle When The Whole Darn World Goes Dry? by Francis Byrne, Frank McIntyre and Percy Wenrich, 1919 (View the full item.)

It’s The Smart Little Feller Who Stocked Up His Cellar That’s Getting The Beautiful Girls by Grant Clarke and Milton Ager, 1920 (View the full item.)

Oh Doctor by Billy Joyce and Rubey Cowan, 1920 (View the full item.)

Where Do They Go When They Row, Row, Row Three Miles Away From The Shore by Bert Kalmar, George Jessel and Harry Ruby, 1920 (View the full item.)

View all the Spencer Collection’s Prohibition-related titles here, and be sure to check out the other items in VCU’s Social Welfare History Image Portal. Thanks to Alice W. Campbell of VCU Libraries for reaching out to us on this opportunity!