Libraries acquires the Weldon Kees, Bob Helm sheet music collection

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries have purchased 233 pages of Weldon Kees' unpublished sheet music, lyrics and poetry that were for sale in Berkeley, Calif.

The purchase was possible thanks to individual contributions, a successful concert/fundraising event, and donations by UNL's School of Music and Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, and the Friends of the UNL Libraries.

Kees (1914-55), a UNL graduate and native of Beatrice, published poetry, prose, directed art films and exhibited his art works in New York with artists like Robert Motherwell. Scholarly interest in his work remains strong. Kees' poetry has drawn the attention of such renowned poets as Donald Justice and Dana Gioia, and the University of Iowa Art Museum held a show of his art works in the 1990s.

While living in San Francisco in the 1950s, Weldon Kees was on the fringes of the "Beat Generation." Kees and his collaborator, Bob Helm, composed and wrote lyrics to many ragtime jazz pieces performed in San Francisco Bay Area nightclubs.

The collection contains several versions of each song on which they collaborated and shows how the music developed. Notes of the lyrics to some of the pieces show them to be "delightfully playful" while others have a "dark edge," according to Katherine Walter, chair of digital initiatives and special collections for UNL Libraries.

"This collection of sheet music enhances the already existing collections of Kees' materials housed at the Sheldon and the Lincoln City Libraries," Walter said.

The materials are available for study by visiting the University Archives and Special Collections at Love Library, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday.

CONTACTS: Katherine Walter, Professor, UNL Libraries, (402) 472-3939; and
Joan Barnes, Development & Outreach Librarian, UNL Libraries, (402) 472-6987