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Local figure

Benjamin Swalin

Benjamin F. Swalin (1901–1989) took a position in the University of North Carolina's Music Department in Chapel Hill in 1935 and led the North Carolina Symphony from 1939 to 1972. His wife, Maxine M. Swalin, joined him in North Carolina in 1936 and served as the symphony's executive assistant.

Source: UNC Libraries: Benjamin F. Swalin and Maxine M. Swalin Papers, 1903-2006

Also found in catalogs as Benjamin F. Swalin, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin) Swalin.

7 indexed works are connected with this person.

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

An ear to myself

Swalin, Maxine M. · 1996

Maxine M. Swalin's memoir, published by the author in 1996, ix and 145 pages with illustrations and portraits. Her account follows her from Waukee, Iowa, to Chapel Hill and describes her ties to the North Carolina Symphony and to Benjamin F. Swalin, 1901 to 1989, who led that orchestra for more than thirty years.

Benjamin Swalin, North Carolina Symphony, circa 1940s

Morton, Hugh M. · 1940

Benjamin Swalin, director of the North Carolina Symphony, applauds a violin soloist while the orchestra sits behind them, at a concert at UNC-Chapel Hill. Hugh Morton photograph, probably from the 1940s.

Benjamin Swalin, North Carolina Symphony, circa 1940s

Morton, Hugh M. · 1940

Benjamin Swalin, director of the North Carolina Symphony, stands at right with a violinist and the orchestra at an unidentified event at UNC-Chapel Hill in the 1940s. Hugh Morton took the black-and-white sheet film negative.

Swalin, Benjamin and Maxine (Chapel Hill Historical Society vertical file)

Benjamin Swalin, longtime director of the North Carolina Symphony, and his wife Maxine are the subjects of this folder of photocopied newspaper articles, promotional materials and a report with notes. Chapel Hill Historical Society Vertical File Collection, Individuals and Families series, box 8. Undated.

Swalin, Benjamin: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Portrait of Benjamin Swalin, longtime conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, undated. One print from the Chapel Hill Historical Society's Prints and Photographs Collection of Chapel Hill people.

Swalin, Dr. Benjamin: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

1942

Two photographs of Dr. Benjamin Swalin dated 1942, one showing him conducting and one with two companions after a lecture he gave in Hill Hall. Part of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's UNC Faculty and Administration photographs.

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Benjamin F. Swalin and Maxine M. Swalin papers, 1903-2006

1903

Papers of Benjamin F. Swalin (1901-1989) and Maxine M. Swalin, 1903 to 2006, roughly 7,000 items in 18.9 linear feet, part of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 4962. Subjects include the North Carolina Symphony, conductors and women musicians in the state, government aid to music, music appreciation in elementary schools, the music department at Chapel Hill, and the teacher Adeline McCall.

UNC

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

  • Rebecca Wall Collection · NC 785.062 SWA Hard-circus Road: The Odyssey of the North Carolina Symphony Swalin, Benjamin F. · 1987

    Benjamin Swalin, who conducted the North Carolina Symphony for more than three decades, tells the orchestra's history in this 1987 volume published by the Chapel Hill Museum. 158 pages with illustrations.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 2 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Benjamin Swalin joins the UNC music faculty Benjamin F. Swalin, a violinist with a Vienna doctorate, took a position in the University of North Carolina's Music Department in 1935. He went on to direct the North Carolina Symphony from 1939 to 1972, and by 1946 was on indefinite leave from the department for the symphony. People: Maxine M SwalinSearch the index · UNC Libraries: Benjamin F. Swalin and Maxine M. Swalin Papers, 1903-2006
  2. Swalin's newly professional North Carolina Symphony plays Memorial Hall Benjamin Swalin brought the North Carolina Symphony to Memorial Hall after an expansion campaign that let him hire a professional orchestra for the first time. The Daily Tar Heel's critic, a longtime skeptic, wrote that it had become the most capable musical organization then playing in the state.Search the index · Daily Tar Heel (DigitalNC): editorial on Dr. Swalin and the symphony, April 25, 1946, p. 2

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

  • Memorial Hall University buildings and grounds · Chapel Hill · 1 event here

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Search further

The index lists works with an Orange County connection. To find everything else about Benjamin Swalin, search these catalogs.

Books about Benjamin Swalin

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Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Searched with the catalog heading Swalin, Benjamin F. (Benjamin Franklin), 1901-1989, so the results are about this person and not others with the same name. Each link opens that catalog’s own results in a new tab. The Friends have not reviewed what they return.

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