A vault of forgotten melodies and breathing life back into old notation: Ball State’s Archives and Special Collections is excited to announce the Sara Shierling sheet music collection is open research. This collection consists of 97 music sheets dating from 1798 to 2001 while many pieces are republished versions. This collection has pieces from the United States, London, and France, and are intended for piano and organ.  

This collection features sheet music of Claude Debussy’s “Golliwogg’s Cake-Walk” from 1908, which is in French. It also includes pieces by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rogers, such as “The King and I: Getting to Know You”, “The Sound of Music”, and “Do-Re-Mi”. Additionally, a music sheet from Joe Beal and Jim Boothe of the iconic Christmas song “Jingle-Bell Rock”. Joe and Jim were the co-writers of Jingle-Bell Rock while Bobby Helms first recorded and released the song in 1957.  

Additionally, this collection has “Easy Marches, Marchas Fáciles” by F. R. Kimball and the music was from 1798 but was republished in 1922. Johannes Brahms is also featured in this collection with his “Hungarian Dance No. 1”, which is also included. There is Wee Sing: Children’s Songs and Fingerplays that contain traditional children’s songs and encourage children to learn through music and movement. This particular one is from 1983.  

The importance of preserving music sheets is a source of musical expression and reflects the cultural and historical practices of music history. When handling proper preservation, archives ensure that music sheets remain accessible for the public, researchers, and future generations to see.  

The Sara Shierling sheet music collection is available at the Ball State University Archives and Special Collections on the second floor of the Alexander Bracken Library.