Researcher(s)
- Alejandro Lobo, Music Composition, University of Delaware
Faculty Mentor(s)
- Maria Purciello, Music, University of Delaware
Abstract
While many Delawareans closely connect the DuPont family with their business advancements and contributions to Science and Technology, not many are aware of the key role they played in unifying the musical culture that existed among disparate communities located along the Brandywine between 1890-1920. During the 1800s, these communities were made up of Irish, Italian, and French immigrant families, each with their own musical taste, techniques, and performance culture. By the turn of the 20th century, as social and cultural interaction between these communities increased, so did their music. This was in no small part due to families like the DuPonts who actively created opportunities for the Brandywine residents and their musical habits to interact.
Manuscripts, scores, aural histories, and historical sources at the DuPont Hagley Estate, home of the Eleutherian Gunpowder Mills, help to fill a gap in Delaware’s researched cultural history. This gap was realized as a result of historians’ overwhelming focus on the area’s economic contributions, instead of on the drastic cultural changes instilled by new institutions for community music education and music performance that led to a more accepting musical community.
My research looks at three major demographics of this area – Irish immigrants, women in the domestic sphere, and the French DuPonts – and examines how their relationship with music evolved alongside the social and cultural identity of the Brandywine region at the turn of the 20th century. During this period, the community became more united and members of each of these groups were brought together in part due to the creation of regional bands like the Tankopanicum orchestra. The establishment of new shared performance venues further broke down the walls that previously limited Brandywine music development during the 19th century.