Collection Title: Van D. Valentine Collection
Series Number: MS76-02
Processed and Cataloged by: Originally processed by Cecilia Droege in 1976. Reprocessed by Dieter C. Ullrich on July 12, 2010.
Date Listed: July 12, 2010
Date Span: 1924-1984 (bulk 1924-1948)
Size of Collection: 3.0 linear feet.
Number of Boxes: 1 legal half size document case and 2 oversized boxes.
Type of Material: Scrapbooks, photographs, newspaper clippings, record albums and audio cassettes.
Condition of Material: Fair with minor tears, fading and foxing due to age and improper storage.
Arrangement: Organized by creator; Chronological arrangement.
Biographical / Historical Information: Van Della Valentine was a musician and Assistant Post Master at Murray, Kentucky from the 1925 to 1965. He was born in Calloway County, Kentucky on May 5, 1904. He attended local public schools and graduated from Murray High School in 1923. He was a self-taught musician and was a member of the Murray State Band from 1925 to 1939. Valentine was one of the founders of the Kentucky Stompers Dance Band, the first dance band to play at the Murray State campus and a popular band in western Kentucky and Tennessee. He was also one of the original members of the West Kentucky Symphony Orchestra in 1946. During the later years of his life, he managed a music studio in town. Valentine died at Murray on December 2, 1984.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of scrapbooks kept by Van D. Valentine related to development of the Music Department of Murray State Normal School and Teachers College from 1925 to 1948. Scrapbooks contain photographs, newspaper clippings, programs and miscellaneous ephemera associated with the Murray State Band, West Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and the Kentucky Stompers Dance Band. Included with the collection are biographical information, a history of Music Department at Murray State during the 1920s and 1930s, photographs and audio cassette of the 50th reunion of the Kentucky Stompers Dance Band and sheet music of popular dance music of that era for violin and saxophone.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Valentine, Van D., 1904-1984
Murray State University. Dept. of Music – History.
West Kentucky Symphony Orchestra (Paducah, Ky.)
Kentucky Stompers Dance Band.
Murray (Ky.) – History.
Additional Sources: See My Memoirs by Van Della Valentine.
