William Steinway Diary
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: 1996.3031 (NMAH Acc.)
name: label: Creator
content: Steinway, William
label: Donor
content: Steinway, Henry Ziegler
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Musical History
label: Collection Creator
content: Steinway, William
label: Collection Creator
content: Steinway, Henry Ziegler
label: Collection Creator
content: Steinway family
label: Collection Creator
content: Steinway & Sons
label: Collection Creator
content: Krüsi, Bartholomew, Rev.
topic: label: Topic
content: Piano makers
creator: label: Creator
content: Steinway, William
label: Donor
content: Steinway, Henry Ziegler
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Musical History
setName: label: See more items in
content: Steinway & Sons Records and Family Papers
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 9 Volumes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1861-1896
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Mr. Henry Z. Steinway donated the William Steinway diaries on April 2, 1996.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0178, Series 1
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Volumes
label: Type
content: Diaries
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Subseries 1: Diary, April 20, 1861 - May 31, 1869. Subseries 2: Diary, June, 1869 - December 31, 1873. Subseries 3: Diary, January 1, 1874 - December 31, 1875. Subseries 4: Diary, January 1, 1876 - December 31, 1877. Subseries 5: Diary, January 1, 1878 - December 31, 1880. Subseries 6: Diary, January 1, 1881 - December 31, 1885. Subseries 7: Diary, January 1, 1886 - December 31, 1889. Subseries 8: Diary, January 1, 1890 - December 31, 1893. Subseries 9: Diary, January 1, 1894 - November 8, 1896.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Diaries
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Contained in nine volumes. It records William Steinway's daily activities, his observations on current events, and his comments on business activities. He began the diary in the year of his marriage and continued writing until shortly before his death. The handwritten diary pages are fragile and the volumes have been disassembled; researchers must use the positive microfilm copies or consult the digital version scheduled to be on-line.
label: Scope and Contents
content: William Steinway's nine-volume, 2500-page diary provides an intimate view of the life of one of the piano world's great innovators, a prominent German-American, and a key figure in the musical, cultural, political, financial and physical development of New York City. Spanning 36 years, the Diary begins three days before William's marriage in 1861 and ends three weeks before his death in 1896.
label: Scope and Contents
content: In near-daily entries, William records the evolution of his business and family life--two worlds that were closely intertwined; the fact that almost all Steinway men worked at Steinway & Sons underscores this fact. William recorded the firm's most public celebrations, such as international recognition at the 1867 Paris Exposition, as well as its labor issues and the fierce competition between 19th-century pianomakers. Likewise, William shared more intimate aspects of his life, including a painful divorce, the births of stillborn children, and his physical suffering from rheumatism and gout. Daily entries further reflect current events, such as the defense of the Steinway & Sons factory during the 1863 New York City Draft Riots, as well as the centrality of the German community to his life, especially the Liederkranz singing society. William's hand in the development of Western Queens, particularly Steinway Village and Astoria, is a recurring theme in the Diary, as is his key role in the development of New York City's rapid transit system and the Bowery Bay/North Beach Amusement Park (now LaGuardia Airport) which rivaled Coney Island in its day. William's entries are sometimes terse, providing enough detail for him to recall a situation but not enough for later readers to understand. Lapses into German, liberal use of abbreviation, and coded marginalia can further complicate one's comprehension of the Diary.