June 19, 1924.
My dear Miss Addams:
For many years I have watched your glorious and untiring efforts to organize the world on some peace basis.
In the meantime without pretense, a little band of people have been quietly and gradually reaching out with the same purpose in view, but in a different realm of consciousness.
The International Music Festival League, incorporated in 1915 has done an unlimited amount of work throughout the country in stimulating people to organize in choruses, bands and orchestras. It is our belief that music is one of the best needles to carry a thread. We could not have war without music; our churches would not exist without music; in fact life would be rather empty. But the real error has been in its misuse. Our desire has been to make it carry the thread of peace. Dissonance in music becomes harmony when the body of tone becomes big enough.
We have had quite some correspondence with prominent musicians in Europe and South America and have their moral support but I am wondering if our work would not be more effective if the people who are to be interested in other countries were linked up with your movement. As you see by the letter head we are actively operating in Philadelphia, anticipating that the [Sesquicentennial] celebration can be focused into a great peace festival and as you see by the enclosed clipping we are progressing along that line to quite some extent.
I am writing you this lengthy letter in hopes you will be willing to serve on our National Committee, the organization of which is for the purpose of raising funds to send a chorus of 500 singers from Boston, New York and Philadelphia, to Europe next summer as advanced publicity for the celebration of the One Hundred and [page 2] Fiftieth Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence in this country.
As your contribution to this committee we ask if you would kindly submit a list of names and addresses of such prominent workers in other countries, as in your judgment would use wisdom in securing choral organizations or important musicians in those countries to extend to the [Sesquicentennial] Chorus an invitation to visit their city or country on the proposed tour.
If you think that it would be as wise to have these members extend the invitation direct that might solve the problem without further consideration. However, I am rather of the opinion, after my experience with England, that unless the invitation comes from some local musical organization, great difficulty will be encountered in our getting the happy [cooperation] of the people.
Hoping we may be of mutual value in this great movement to effect peace, I am
Faithful to the cause
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