In 1935 Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953), one of the great patrons of music, created at the Library of Congress the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation for the support of chamber music. Her aim, Mrs. Coolidge wrote in that year's Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress, was "to make possible, through the Library of Congress, the composition and performance of music in ways which might otherwise be considered too unique or too expensive to be ordinarily undertaken.
(Special Collections Library of Congress)