This collection represents a compilation of correspondence received by Ernst Bacon, and a few carbons of letters by him, between 1910 and 1989. During this time Bacon was an active participant in the musical community of the U.S., while maintaining friendships and collaborations with a variety of artists and musicians, both domestically and in Europe. Bacon and his wife were also active in the late 1920s and early 1930s in assisting artists and musicians to escape the growing Nazi movement. Bacon worked as a conductor and composer, as well as a professor of music. He directed the San Francisco Federal Music Project from 1935-1937. The majority of the correspondence, however, postdates this period and is generally of a more personal than professional nature. Some of the letters involve either soliciting recommendations or forwarding copies of recommendations for various honors among Bacon and his colleagues. Bacon's own accomplishment of achieving a Guggenheim Fellowship is recorded in a letter from the Guggenheim Foundation included in the collection.