Fadettes of Boston

File:1897 Fadettes Orchestra Boston USA.png

The group incorporated in 1895 as "the Fadettes of Boston",University of Iowa Libraries. [http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/traveling-culture/chau1/pdf/fadettes/1/brochure.pdf The Fadettes Womans Orchestra of Boston] brochure, ca.1910 named after Fanchon Fadette, the titular character of George Sand's novel La Petite Fadette.{{cite book|last=Macera|first=Rosaria|title=THE UNFINISHED SYMPHONY|year=1996|url=https://www.rosariamacera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/The-Unfinished-Symphony_Rosaria-Macera.pdf}} The original group of six expanded to twenty by 1898,Judith Tick. "Women as Professional Musicians in the United States, 1870-1900." Anuario Interamericano de Investigacion Musical, Vol. 9 (1973), pp. 95-133 with "a first violin and director, four additional first violins, four second violins, two violas, two violincellos, two contrabassos, kettle-drums and a bass, two flutes and piccolo, two clarinets, two cornets, two French horns, three trombones, snare-drum and 'traps,' and piano-forte."{{Citation |publisher = The Success Company |location = New York |title = Occupations for women: A book of practical suggestions, for the material advancement, the mental and physical development, and the moral and spiritual uplift of women |author = Frances E. Willard |date = 1897 |oclc = 2665928 |ol = 24361133M }} Nichols was in charge of the orchestra for 30 years, having musically and professionally trained over 600 women.Mary Brown Hinely. "The Uphill Climb of Women in American Music: Performers and Teachers." Music Educators Journal, Vol. 70, No. 8 (Apr., 1984), pp. 31-35

In 1898, vaudeville manager B.F. Keith booked them into his theatres all over the United States. According to Nichols, between 1890 and 1920 the Fadettes gave over 6,000 concerts, half of them as headliners in first-class vaudeville theatres. At a concert in Pittsburgh in 1902, for instance, the Fadettes played marches, waltzes, songs and arias by Frederic Field Bullard, Daniel Auber, Karl Michael Ziehrer, George M. Rosey, Victor G. Boehnlein Boehnlein. Victor G. The Gartland March. n.d. Boston, MA: Walter Jacobs, 1907. Print. and others."Fadettes win approbation: women's orchestra delights admirers of good music at exposition." The Pittsburgh Press - Sep 20, 1902 The group also performed at the Los Angeles Orpheum.Stan Singer. "Vaudeville in Los Angeles, 1910-1926: Theaters, Management, and the Orpheum." Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 61, No. 1 (Feb., 1992), pp. 103-113

At the time, many orchestral instruments were considered unbefitting of women, thus the band was challenging gender norms.Macleod, Beth Abelson. “‘Whence Comes the Lady Tympanist?’ Gender and Instrumental Musicians in America, 1853-1990.” Journal of Social History, vol. 27, no. 2, 1993, pp. 291–308. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3788304. Accessed 12 Apr. 2025. The performers "wore shimmery gowns."Beth Abelson Macleod. "'Whence Comes the Lady Tympanist?' Gender and Instrumental Musicians in America, 1853- 1990." Journal of Social History, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Winter, 1993), pp. 291-308 Among the musicians were Annie Andros Hawley,{{Citation |publisher = New England Historical Pub. Co. |location = Boston |title = Sketches of representative women of New England |date = 1904 |oclc = 123500907 |ol = 7194233M }} Mildred Rogers, and Lillian Thain (violin).{{Cite book|author=|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mwwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Lillian+Thain+composer&pg=PT28|title=Billboard|date=1943-09-04|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|language=en}}

File:Caroline B Nichols 1864 1939 USA.png|Portrait of Carrie Nichols, conductor, ca.1897

File:Ethel Atwood b1870 USA.jpg|Portrait of Ethel Atwood, orchestra founder, business manager and musician, ca.1893

File:1906 Keiths TremontSt Boston USA byDetroitPublishingCo LC.jpg|Entrance to Keith's Theatre, Boston, with poster for the Fadettes, 1906

File:1909 Fadettes PittsburghPress January17.png|Newspaper spread about the Fadettes, Pittsburgh Press, 1909

File:1910 motto Fadette Orchestra of Boston brochure detail.png|Detail of promotional brochure, 1910

File:Morning Serenade, Berliner.png|Label of a Berliner Gramophone record; "Morning Serenade", played by the original quartet and recorded in Aug 10, 1897{{Cite web |title=Berliner matrix 830. Morning serenade / Boston Fadettes Ladies Brass Quartette |url=https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/2000148228/830-Morning_serenade |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Discography of American Historical Recordings}}

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• Boston Fadettes Ladies Brass QuartetteWorldCat. Boston Fadettes Ladies Brass Quartette. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45485101 Morning Serenade], recorded on Aug. 10, 1897.
• Boston Fadette Lady Orchestra
• Boston Fadette Orchestra
• Boston Fadettes
• Fadette Ladies' OrchestraFadette Ladies' Orchestra, no.25 Winter Street. Boston Almanac, 1894"Fadette Ladies' Orchestra ... Mrs. Carrie B. Nichols as leader and Miss Ethel Atwood business manager." cf. Public Opinion v.14, no.1, Oct. 8, 1892
• Fadette Orchestra
• Fadette Women's Orchestra
• The Fadettes
• The Fadettes Orchestra
• Fadettes Women's Orchestra

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• "Fadettes took name from a Sands novel." The Pittsburgh Press - Jun 16, 1907
• Blanche Naylor, The Anthology of the Fadettes. Boston, 1937.

• Johns Hopkins University, Levy Sheet Music Collection. Marie Louka (composer). [http://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/15951 The Fadettes; March & Two-Step]. Philadelphia: World Publishing Co., 1904. "Dedicated to Mrs. Caroline B. Nichols, Director of the Fadettes of Boston, The Famous Ladies' Orchestra."

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Category:Cultural history of Boston

Category:Disbanded American orchestras

Category:Musical groups established in 1888

Category:Musical groups disestablished in the 1920s

Category:Orchestras in Boston

Category:Women's orchestras

Category:1888 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:1920s disestablishments in Massachusetts

Category:Women in Boston

Category:History of women in Massachusetts