About the Collection

Frederick Caldecott Slee (1870-1954) and his wife, Alice (1875-1956), were outstanding members of the Buffalo community and generous benefactors to the University at Buffalo. Frederick Slee was an amateur musician who composed music and also played the viola, violin, violoncello, and piano. The Slees were devoted fans of chamber music and the music of Beethoven, especially the string quartets. They built a special music room in their Saybrook Place home with a raised platform for performers. The room was used most Sundays for recitals with friends.

The Slee Family Collection contains eighteen photographs of friends and family. The majority of the family photographs are of Frederick C. Slee and his wife, Alice. There are also two photographs of Slee's Sunday morning string quartet, taken in his music room.

The collection also contains the Log of the Good Yacht Althea, consisting of 46 typescript leaves with thirty 2 x 3" photographs attached (enlargements of these photographs are available separately in the online collection). The contents, written by Louis Wright Simpson, describes a three week sailing journey taken aboard Frederick Slee's yacht Althea in 1914 with Frederick Slee, George T. Moseley and Simpson. The sailing trip went from Buffalo in Lake Erie, through the Welland Canal into Lake Ontario, up the Western shore of Lake Ontario and back again to Buffalo. The journey took place July 11 to August 1, 1914. The three men learned about the outbreak of World War I only upon docking in Buffalo.

Please see the finding aid for a complete description of the collection.