Discovering Mary Ford

Project Overview and Objectives

The primary objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive research collection documenting the life, career, and legacy of Mary Ford. This collection is intended to serve as the foundation for a future museum exhibit, digital archive, or educational display highlighting her contributions to American music history. It is also designed to provide future Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) students with a well-organized starting point for an Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) or Major Qualifying Project (MQP). Although Mary Ford is often remembered alongside other musicians, this project seeks to recognize her individual achievements as a vocalist, guitarist, recording artist, and pioneer in multitrack recording technology.

A second objective is to organize and preserve all research materials in a centralized repository. Bibliographic information is maintained in Zotero, while research resources are cataloged in Microsoft Excel. The collection includes books, scholarly articles, newspapers, photographs, recordings, archival documents, websites, and other primary and secondary sources. Organizing these materials into a searchable collection allows future researchers to efficiently locate information and supports the development of museum exhibits, educational materials, and additional scholarly research.

The project also examines existing museum exhibits, interpretive displays, and digital exhibitions to identify effective methods of communicating historical information to public audiences. These resources provide guidance on exhibit design, storytelling, visitor engagement, accessibility, and educational interpretation.

Finally, the project offers recommendations for future research and exhibit development. These include suggestions for interactive technologies, artifact acquisition, educational programming, digital experiences, and partnerships with museums, archives, and educational institutions that could further preserve and share Mary Ford's legacy.

Collection of Research Resources

This section serves as the project's primary research repository and contains both primary and secondary sources related to Mary Ford. Resources are organized by category to simplify future research and exhibit development.

Documentation

The complete research database is available as an Excel workbook on WPI SharePoint.

• View the Mary Ford Research Collection (Excel)
• Open PowerPoint (Microsoft Office Online)

Academic Articles

Scholarly journal articles, conference papers, theses, and dissertations discussing Mary Ford, Les Paul, recording technology, popular music history, women's contributions to music, and the cultural significance of recording innovation.

Books

Published books covering Mary Ford, Les Paul, twentieth-century popular music, recording technology, and related historical subjects. These works provide historical context and detailed accounts of their lives and careers.

Newspaper Articles

Historical and contemporary newspaper articles documenting performances, television appearances, concerts, interviews, and significant events throughout Mary Ford's life and career. These sources provide valuable contemporary perspectives and primary historical evidence.

Audio Recordings

Radio broadcasts, studio recordings, television audio, and other recordings featuring Mary Ford. These materials provide insight into her vocal style, musicianship, and recording techniques.

YouTube Recordings

Historical performances, television appearances, interviews, documentaries, restored footage, and archival recordings available through YouTube. These resources preserve visual and audio material that may not be readily accessible through traditional archives.

Websites and Articles

Museum websites, educational organizations, digital archives, biographies, scholarly publications, magazine articles, and online historical resources relevant to Mary Ford and her career.

Spotify and Social Media

Streaming playlists and social media content documenting Mary Ford's continued cultural influence and public recognition. This collection includes Spotify playlists and selected social media posts that promote or preserve her musical legacy.

Documentary

Documentaries examining the lives, careers, and musical partnership of Mary Ford and Les Paul.

Information on Museum Exhibits

Resources related to museum planning and exhibit development, including exhibit design guides, interpretive planning resources, accessibility standards, conservation practices, visitor engagement strategies, exhibit evaluation methods, interactive technologies, and examples of successful museum exhibitions.

The purpose of this collection is to provide future researchers with practical guidance for developing a museum exhibit dedicated to Mary Ford. By documenting successful storytelling techniques, artifact presentation methods, and educational strategies, these resources serve as references for future exhibit planning.

Current Museum Contacts

Mahwah Museum

• kpokrowski@icloud.com
• director@mahwahmuseum.org

Les Paul's House of Sound

• guestservices@discoveryworld.org
• SBrown@discoveryworld.org

Les Paul Foundation

• info@lespaulfoundation.org
• sue@lespaulfoundation.org

Museum Exhibit Examples

This section contains examples of physical and digital museum exhibits that demonstrate various approaches to storytelling, artifact presentation, visitor interaction, and educational interpretation. These examples may serve as models for future exhibit development centered on Mary Ford.

Recommendations for Future Exhibit Development and Research

This section presents recommendations developed throughout the project. Suggested areas include exhibit concepts, interactive technologies, artifact acquisition opportunities, educational programming, digital experiences, and partnerships with museums, archives, and educational institutions.

Although this project establishes a substantial research foundation, numerous opportunities remain for expansion. Future research could include locating unpublished photographs, personal correspondence, recording notes, contracts, manuscripts, and other archival materials that have not yet been digitized. Conducting oral history interviews with family members, historians, museum professionals, musicians, recording engineers, and private collectors would further preserve firsthand knowledge of Mary Ford's life and contributions.

Additional work could focus on transforming this research collection into a public educational resource through the development of a searchable digital archive, artifact catalog, interactive timeline, listening stations, augmented reality experiences, and other digital exhibits designed to engage diverse audiences.

Intended Use

This collection is intended to consolidate research on Mary Ford into a single, organized repository. It provides future researchers with a foundation for continued scholarship while supporting the planning of museum exhibits, educational programming, digital archives, and public history initiatives. By bringing together dispersed sources, identifying opportunities for future research, and documenting exhibit development resources, the project aims to promote broader recognition of Mary Ford's lasting contributions to music history and recording technology.

External Links

• Les Paul Foundation
• Mahwah Museum
• Les Paul's House of Sound
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

WPI Student Contributors

Ryan Fish