Click a title below to view an image.
This collection includes over one hundred books and over 5,000 pieces of American sheet music dating from the 1790s to the 1940s. The books have been cataloged in the Library's online catalog, and the sheet music has been inventoried on an Excel spreadsheet. Sample images from the sheet music are available. A journal article was published in the Virginia Libraries in 2004.
Beginning in the Spring 2015, students in Music 305 began to research the back stories and history behind some of the music in the Josephine L. Hughes Collection. Continuing in the Fall semester, more research was conducted and this work culminated in a Spring 2016 performance, called "Parlor Songs: A Musical Soiree ..." where the students described their findings and then performed the piece of music. It was an exciting event. The research will continue, and is posted together on this page.