Peter Gardner collection

Collection

Identifier: MS 0779

Staff Only

Finding aid note: Request access to this digital material (stored on Fondren Library's nearline / non-public server) by contacting Woodson Research Center staff at woodson@rice.edu. Please use the Identifier number in your request.

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of digitized wav and mp3 files, along with jpeg images of the original 2-track audio reels created by Peter Gardner. This audio mainly covers live recordings at the Jewish Community Center and live tapings of the radio show "The Sampler."

Dates

Creation: 1959 - 1966

Conditions Governing Access

Request access to this digital material (stored on Fondren Library's nearline / non-public server) by contacting Woodson Research Center staff at woodson@rice.edu. Please use the Identifier number in your request. This material is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish from this material must be obtained from the Peter Gardner family, as well as any content copyright holders.

Biographical / Historical

Born in 1933, Peter Gardner grew up in Cleveland. He attended Haverford College in Pennsyylvania receiving a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in Music.

From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, he toured the United States and Europe with his then wife, Isabelle Ganz, under the stage name The Gardners. They recorded two albums, entitled "Peter and Isabel; The Gardners" (1962) and "Folksongs Far and Near" (1963).

The couple eventually settled in Houston in 1962, when Peter Gardner became the Director of Adult Activities at the Jewish Community Center. In this role, he organized a seasonal folk music series. Starting in 1965 and ending in 1966, he hosted the KRBE show "The Sampler" from his home at 716 W. Alabama in Houston.

During this time period, he opened up his home to pickin' parties where folk singers Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt met. The Jewish Community Center folk series influenced a generation of Houston folk musicians with performances by John A. Lomax, Jr., Lightnin' Hopkins, and Mance Lipscomb.

In 1969, Peter Gardner moved to the Boston area. He became a practicing psychotherapist, as well as a consultant. He lived in the area until he passed in 1993.