Born in Northbridge, Massachusetts in 1918, Christopher Alexander Peloquin was a successful liturgical music composer and choir director. Prior to the beginning of his professional music career, Peloquin served as bandmaster for the 314th Army Band during World War II. He went on to work for the Catholic Hour TV Broadcast, which he was part of for 13 years. to his time working for the Catholic Hour TV Broadcast, which he was a part of for 13 years. He served as the director of music ministry at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence, Rhode Island from 1950-1991. In addition to this, he served for 38 years from 1955 to 1993 in Boston College's Faculty of Music as a composer in residence. He also conducted a professional choir called the Peloquin Chorale for 23 years from 1963 to 1986. Peloquin's distinguished career included a 1968 collaboration with poet Thomas Merton (“Four Freedom Songs”), directing the choir for a 1979 papal mass in Chicago, and leading the 1980 premiere of Dave Brubeck's "Mass to Hope! A Celebration." He died in 1997 at the age of 78 in Providence, RI.
The collection is comprised of materials collected by Sister Gail Himrod in the course of conducting biographical research on C. Alexander Peloquin. This research was intended to eventually be published as a biography of Peloquin. Materials include correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, magazine articles, CD and audiocassette recordings of performances, published and unpublished musical scores, and large format group photographs. The biographical research is primarily photocopied material from other repositories, and was originally organized into plastic sleeves housed in three-ring binders. The binders have been dismantled, but the original organization has been maintained.
Providence College Archives and Special Collections owns the property rights to this collection. Consideration of the copyrights is the responsibility of the researcher.
This collection is open to researchers with no restrictions.
Author Last Name, First Name Middle Name or Initial. Title or description of material. Day month year. C. Alexander Peloquin research collection. SC056, Box number, Folder number. Providence College Archives and Special Collections, Phillips Memorial Library. URL if applicable.
The collection is organized into four series:
Given to the Archives in 2024 by Sister Gail P. Himrod, retired Associate Professor of Music at Providence College.
Collection processed by Liam Back, 2025.
Research binders were collected and maintained by Sister Gail Himrod in her residence until their donation to the Archives.
No accruals are expected.
Conservation activities entailed unrolling and flattening large format photographs.
This series is comprised of the content of the 10 binders of biographical research conducted by Sister Gail Himrod. The material includes primarily correspondence and newspaper clippings grouped by year into sections, starting from 1940 and continuing into the early 2000s. Research binders were dismantled, but the original order and grouping of materials have been maintained.
This series contains published and unpublished scores for Peloquin’s musical compositions. Some works are grouped into sections, e.g., Psalms, Mass booklets, MISSA Choir, etc. Individually produced pieces are accompanied with their specific reference number.
CD and audio cassette tape format audio recordings of performances of Peloquin’s pieces and interviews.
Nine copies of large format photographs of the Peloquin Chorale, taken by Paramount Photography Studio. Peloquin appears in the center of the group.