Daniel Farrell '18 Rehearsing
in Terry Concert Hall.
Thus, Watkins calls his research “uncharted
territory” and is enthusiastic about its
storytelling potential. The research focuses
on Hanson’s activities with the College of the
Pacific, his home life in Nebraska, his studies at
Northwestern University, and his time in Rome.
However, none of this research would have
occurred if not for Watkins discovering
a catalogue of piano music that Hanson
reportedly wrote while in California. Watkins
wanted to know what Hanson was doing
there and what had inspired the impressive
collection. Soon, Watkins found himself
pouring over newspapers and social columns.
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“These old articles are fascinating. Every
time there was a party, someone recorded
it—the kind of cake served, the cars guests
arrived in, who came with who, who they
danced with, what people wore.” Watkins
says it has been as much a study of one man
as it is a glimpse into an American era.
“Somebody should write a book, I said to my
wife, and then that somebody turned out to
be me." him. California, Nebraska, and New York had
Watkins on the road, and not just once. “I
have one more trip to make, back to Eastman
for an exclusive look at some letters,”
Watkins told WAVE magazine in June. The
collection of letters, written by Hanson on
a daily basis, were mailed from California
to Nebraska where his mother lived. “The
papers are in very poor condition, but contain
the details of Hanson's pre-Eastman life for
which I have been searching.”
Watkins’ wife, Dr. Marguerite Richardson,
Associate Professor of Strings at JU, has
since traveled that path of discovery with “Apparently, Hanson's mother stored them in
a photo album and the original paper can't be
removed without destroying it all. Six years’