Libraries, Pianos and the Female Invasion

We often give tours of the Snohomish Library to various groups. These could be school groups, community groups, or visitors from other library systems coming to admire our wonderful building.

A popular stop on these tours is the piano that is in our meeting room. Popular because the story that accompanies it ties it to the earliest library in Snohomish.

1873 saw the formation of The Atheneum Literary Society in the city of Snohomish. Its founding members contributed books from their private collections to create a library of over 300 volumes.

On September 14, 1877 the Society opened a two-story building on First St and Avenue D.
It is at this point in the story that the piano makes its appearance.

On page 50 of The Snohomish Story: from ox team to jet stream (Snohomish Homestead Centennial July 21-26 1959) it states:
"In February 1878 the women of the community raised funds to buy a piano and had it installed in the new library. This piano was, without doubt, the first such instrument to be found in Snohomish County."

This by itself makes for a pretty good story. However, in the Snohomish Library's pamphlet file we have a collection documents from the library's history and one in particular that puts a slightly different spin on it.

This documented is headed "Snohomish Library and the Community It Serves" and is dated June, 1984. It states:
"The Society erected an impressive, two-story structure on First Street and Avenue D and in 1877, women members were recognized. (Earlier, some ladies presented a piano to the club - thought to be the first in Snohomish County - and, as the men must have been aware of the campaign for funds raised over a period of two years to purchase it, the women were invited to join the club!)"

This makes it sound like the women of the community had to buy their way into the Society with the piano, making for a much better story. A story that this male librarian, surrounded and outnumbered by females, finds very amusing.

Checking this story is very difficult because our newspaper archive does not stretch back to the years 1877-1878. Also, we don't have any proof that the piano in our meeting room is the piano donated to the Atheneum.

However, it appears that the age of the piano at least pre-dates the time it would have been presented to the Atheneum.

The piano was manufactured by the Chickering Bros. out of Chicago and the serial number inside is 12995.

A little research in the Pierce Piano Atlas shows that pianos made by the Chickering Bros with serial numbers between 10000 and 15400 were made between 1850 and 1855. Making it a very good possibility that this is the very same piano from 1878.

Nate - Snohomish Library Reference