Jean Eichelberger Ivey (1923-2010) was a composer, pianist, electronic musician, professor, and the founder of the Peabody Conservatory Electronic Music Studio, which she directed from 1969 until her retirement from Peabody in 1997. The Jean Eichelberger Ivey papers contain scores and recordings of Ivey's musical works, writings and notes by Ivey, personal and professional correspondence, programs and clippings, photographs, and other personal and professional papers.

Sounds and Stories began in 2002 as an oral-history project. A Peabody Conservatory musicology seminar of 18 students interviewed dozens of participants in the music of Baltimore's black community to record their memories and to document their world and their legacy. The collection was assembled primarily from 1998 to 2004 and contains oral histories, photographs, and supporting research about African-American musical culture, especially in Baltimore from approximately 1930 to 1960.