Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca papers, 1885-1961 | Hogan Jazz Archive

By Samantha Bruner

Printer-friendly |

Collection Overview

Title: Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca papers, 1885-1961

Predominant Dates:1915-1961

ID: HJA/MS 008

Primary Creator: LaRocca, Nick

Extent: 100.0 Linear Feet

Arrangement: The materials have been arranged into twelve series according to medium or subject: newspaper clippings, correspondence, photographs, journals and magazines, sheet music, publicity, business and personal documents, deposition, oversize materials, scrapbooks, books, albums and test pressings. Each series has its own box and folder list.

Date Acquired: 05/18/1960

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The collection contains newspaper clippings, fliers, posters, programs and other publicity materials, along with photographs, books, test pressings of O.D.J.B. records, correspondence and sheet music. The collection also includes five scrapbooks, created by Nick LaRocca.

Biographical Note

Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca (1889-1961) was a self-taught New Orleans cornetist who became the leader of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, which made the first recording of jazz in New York City in 1917. Based on the popularity of the recording and live performances, the O.D.J.B. became a sensation, traveling to England in 1919. After returning to the U.S. in 1920, the band broke up in 1925 and then refomed briefly from 1936-38, after which LaRocca Returned to New Orleans to resume work as a contractor.

Administrative Information

Repository: Hogan Jazz Archive

Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Acquisition Source: Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca

Acquisition Method: Donation

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Newspaper Clippings],
[Series 2: Correspondence, 1917-1960],
[Series 3: Photographs],
[Series 4: Journals and Magazines],
[Series 5: Sheet Music],
[Series 6: Publicity],
[Series 7: Business and Personal Documents],
[Series 8: Deposition],
[Series 9: Oversize Materials],
[Series 10: Scrapbooks],
[Series 11: Books],
[Series 12: Albums and Test Pressings],
[All]

Series 11: Books

Box 27

Books are arranged alphabetically by author or editor.

Item 1: Album of American History: Volume IV - End of an Era, 1948: James Truslow Adams, editor. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Inscribed by Ross Wheaton to Nick LaRocca. Contains a typed annotation by LaRocca.
Item 2: Satchmo: Louis Armstrong, 1954: By Louis Armstrong. New York: Signet Books. Includes a typed annotation by LaRocca.
Item 3: Swing That Music, 1936: By Louis Armstrong. New York: Longmans, Green and Co. Inscribed to Nick LaRocca by Ross Wheaton. Contains a typed annotation by LaRocca.
Item 4: Boston and the Boston Legend, 1935: By Lucius Beebe. Illustrated by E.H. Suydam. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company. Inscribed to Nick LaRocca by Ross Wheaton.
Item 5: The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, 1960, 1961: By H.O. Brunn. Baton Rouge: LSU Press. Three copies, two 1960 editions, one 1961 edition. One of the 1960 editions contains marginalia.
Item 6: Jazz bücherei 5, ein porträt: Red Nichols, 1960: By Horst H. Lange. Published by Pegasus Verlag Wetzlar.
Item 7: Jazz bücherei 8, ein porträt: Nick LaRocca, 1960: By Horst H. Lange. Published by Pegasus Verlag Wetzlar.
Item 8: Who's Who in the South and the Southwest, 1956: Published by Marquis -- Who's Who.
Item 9: Really the Blues, 1946: By Metzz Mezzrow and Bernard Wolfe. New York: Random House. Contains typed annotation by LaRocca.
Item 10: A History of Popular Music in America, 1948: By Sigmund Spaeth. New York: Random House. Contains typed annotation by LaRocca.
Item 11: Transcripts of LaRocca Interviews, 1958: Speakers: Nick LaRocca, Richard B. Allen and Kenneth Trist Urquhart.

Tulane University Special Collections