Finding Aid
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Records of the Department of Theatre Arts Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department. Copyright: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials. Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement. Acquisition and Processing Information: These materials were transferred to the University Archives from the Dept. of Theatre Arts at various times. They include accessions coordinated by David Thayer, prof. emeritus, in 2003 and 2004. Guide posted to the Internet January 2007; updated March 2009. Photographs: Series IV, Series VIII |
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Scope and Content Note
The Records of the Department of Theatre Arts consist of eleven series: Scrapbooks, Playwrights Workshop Scripts, Index Card Files, Program-Picture Files, Theatre Building, Administrative, Play Programs, Audiovisual Materials, Student Organizations, Iowa Shakespeare Festival, and Iowa Community Theatre Association.
Series I: Scrapbooks. Arranged chronologically by year. Includes newspaper clippings, playbills, and programs. Each entry in the Box Contents List below represents one volume. Housed in oversized flat boxes. 42.0 ft.
Series II: Playwrights Workshop Scripts. Arranged alphabetically by name of author. Consists of three accruals received at the archives on separate occasions; authors may be represented in one or more of these accruals. 67.5 ft.
Series III: Index Card Files. The series consists of 11 sub-series. 9.0 ft.
- Productions by Author
- Experimental Theatre Productions by Author
- Masters Theses by Author
- Masters Theses by Topic
- Doctoral Candidates by Author
- Dissertations by Topic
- Productions by Director
- Productions by Designer
- Productions by Title (1920-2000)
- Productions by Date (1920-2000)
- Talent by Name (1930-1980)
Series IV: Program-Picture Files. A majority of student productions from about 1921 to 2000 are represented, arranged alphabetically by name of production, including Summer Repertory Theatre. Files include programs, playbills, photographs of sets and actors, and other information pertaining to the specific production. 37.5 ft.
Series V: Theatre Building. Pertains to the development and management of the Theatre Building, constructed in 1936. 7.5 ft.
Series VI: Administrative. Includes Federal Theatre Project, faculty and staff minutes, correspondence. 9.0 ft.
Series VII: Play Programs. Arranged chronologically by year. Files include Mainstage publication, Iowa Shakespeare Festival, Iowa New Play Festival, Iowa Playwrights Festival, and Summer Rep. 3.0 ft.
Series VIII: Audiovisual Materials. 9.0 ft.
Series IX: Student Organizations. Includes Purple Mask, University Players, University Theatre Student Board of Governors, Out-of-Door Players, and National Collegiate Players Pi Epsilon Delta. 2.0 ft.
Series X: Iowa Shakespeare Festival. 1.0 ft.
Series XI: Iowa Community Theatre Association. Documents collaborative productions between the University and community-based companies. 0.25 ft.
Historical Note
Courses pertaining to public performance - speaking, acting, interpretive reading, debate and other activities - may be traced to 1855, the first year of classes at the University of Iowa. According to H. Clay Harshbarger's paper, "Some Highlights of the Department of Speech and Dramatic Art," cited in Related Materials below, one of the nine departments of the University in 1855 was Intellectual Philosophy, "embracing Intellectual Philosophy, Logic, Rhetoric, Oratory, and Elements of Criticism."
By 1900, courses in "expression in voice and action," "literary interpretation" and the "function of imagination and dramatic instinct in expression" appeared in the University's general catalog. The arrival of Edward Charles Mabie in the summer of 1920 as a professor of speech was a significant turning point in the development of performance art at UI. Mabie was named head of the newly named Department of Speech and Dramatic Arts in 1925, a position he held for over 30 years, until his death in 1956.
During this period instruction in theatre arts at the University of Iowa expanded substantially, highlighted by the dedication of the Theatre Building in 1936, Mabie's leadership as a regional director of the Federal Theatre Project, and a considerable expansion of the department's curriculum.
At various times in its history the department's name has encompassed several disciplines: dramatic art, theatre arts, public speaking, and communication studies. The Harshbarger paper and other works cited below discuss in more detail the administrative history of the program, its relationship with other academic programs, and its numerous name changes through the years.
Related Materials
Davee, Paul W. "Definition of the philosophy underlying the recognition and teaching of theatre as a fine art in the liberal arts and graduate curricula at the State University of Iowa." Ph. D. dissertation, University of Iowa, 1950.
Gilman, Rebecca. “Sesquicentennial: Theatre in Iowa City: Upon the 150 th Birthday of Iowa City, a Brief Theatrical Look Back.” In Historical Papers Collection (RG 01.01.03)
Harshbarger, H. Clay. "Some Highlights of the Department of Speech and Dramatic Art." In Historical Papers Collection (RG 01.01.03)
Papers of H. Clay Harshbarger (RG 99.0187)
Jones, Elinor F. "The University Theatre." Iowa City, 1945. 21 pp. In "History of the University of Iowa, Miscellaneous Papers," 4. Archives LD2568 .H58 1942 v. 3-4.
Koch, John Charles. "The Federal Theatre Project: Region IV--A Structural and Historical Analysis of How It Functioned and What It Accomplished." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Nebraska, 1981. 339 pp. Dissertation Abstracts International 42: 913-A. Ch. 2, "The Iowa Federal Theatre Project," pp. 18-39. Media Services 26420.
Papers of Edward Charles Mabie (RG 99.0188)
Organizations and Clubs Vertical Files Collection, including Dramatic Club, No Shame Theater, Purple Mask, University Players (RG 01.15.04)
Sellen, Eric. "Dream to Reality: Getting a Theatre Building, 1920-85." In Theatre Building, the University of Iowa: Dedication Playbook, September 1985, pp. 6-12, illus., plans. Iowa City, 1985. Archives, in Buildings and Grounds Vertical File (RG 01.15.02) in"Theater Building" folder.
Subject Vertical Files Collection, Speech and Dramatic Art category (RG 01.15.05)
Young, William C. Famous American Playhouses, 1900-1971. Documents of American Theatre History, 2. Chicago: American Library Association, 1973. 297 pp., illus., plans, notes, bibliog. "University of Iowa," 2: 201-205. Theatre Building. Main.
Additionally, materials pertaining to noted alumni of the University of Iowa's dramatic arts program, such as Tennessee Williams, may be found in various sources, including citations in the University Archives' online bibliography at http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/archives/histb/.
Box Contents List
Oversize Box 1:
1882 - 1913
1921
1921 - 1923
1921 - 1927
Oversize Box 2:
Drama League Convention, 1923
1923 - 1924
1924 - 1925
Oversize Box 3:
1925 - 1926
1926
1927 - 1928
Oversize Box 4:
1927 - 1928
1928
1929 - 1930
Oversize Box 5:
1930 - 1931
1931 - 1932
1932 - 1933
Oversize Box 6:
Summer Session 1933
1933 - 1934
Summer Session 1934
1933 - 1935
1934 - 1935
Oversize Box 7:
Summer Session 1935
1935 - 1936
Summer Session 1936
1936 - 1937
Oversize Box 8:
1937 - 1938 and Summer Session 1938
1939 - 1940
1940 - 1941
Oversize Box 9:
1941 - 1942
1942 - 1943 and Summer Session 1943
1943 - 1944 and Summer Session 1944
Oversize Box 10:
1944 - 1945
Summer Session 1945, 1945 - 1946 and Summer Session 1946
1946 - 1947
Oversize Box 11:
1947 - 1948
1948 - 1949 ("28th Season")
1949 - 1950, 1950 - 1951, and 1951 - 1952
Oversize Box 12:
Summer 1954 and 1954 - 1955
1955 - 1956
Summer 1956 and 1956 - 1957
1957 - 1958
Oversize Box 13:
1958 - 1960
Summer 1959 and Summer 1960
1960 - 1961
Summer 1961 and 1961 - 1962
Oversize Box 14:
August 1962 - August 1963
1963 - 1964
May 1964 - July 1965
August 1965 - August 1966
Oversize Box 15:
August 1966 - July 1967
July 1967 - December 1968
December 1968 - February 1971
August 1972 - July 1973
Oversize Box 16:
August 1973 - July 1974
March 1974 - April 1976
March - April 1976
April - July 1976
Oversize Box 17:
July - June 1978
September 1978 - March 1981
Oversize Box 18:
March 1981 - July 1983
August - December 1983
Playwrights Workshop, 1976 - 1979
Oversize Box 19:
November 1983 - May 1984
June - November 1984
November 1984 - April 1985
Oversize Box 20:
April - August 1985
September 1985 - March 1986
Oversize Box 21:
March - September 1986
September 1986 - April 1987
Oversize Box 22:
May - November 1987
October 1987- December 1988
Oversize Box 23:
August 1988 - July 1989
July 1989 - March 1990
Oversize Box 24:
March 1990 - August 1991
July 1991 - August 1992
Oversize Box 25:
September 1992 - May 1993
March 1993 - April 1994
Series II: Playwrights Workshop Scripts
Box 1:
Alexander - Anderson
Box 2:
Anderson - Ayme
Box 3:
Baber - Bach
Box 4:
Bach - Baker
Box 5:
Baldwin
Box 6:
Bandel - Bein
Box 7:
Belasco and Fyles - Blanning
Box 8:
Blanning - Boorman
Box 9:
Bosakowski - Boynton
Box 10:
Boyt - Brennan
Box 11:
Bristol - Brussell
Box 12:
Buelow - Buzzard
Box 13:
Cameron - Chenery
Box 14:
Chenery - Cobin
Box 15:
Coffey - Collie
Box 16:
Collins - Conkle
Box 17:
Conkle - Corrington
Box 18:
Cornell - Crain
Box 19:
Crain - Davidson
Box 20:
Davis - Drake
Box 21:
Drennan - Evans and Roberts
Box 22:
Falk - Flavin
Box 23:
Flavin - Fyles and Belasco
Box 24:
Gaiser - Geddes
Box 25:
Geddes - Glagolin
Box 26:
Glagolin - Graham
Box 27:
Graham - Hanson
Box 28:
Hanson - Heinberg
Box 29:
Heines (Julich) - Hill
Box 30:
Hill - Hurn
Box 31:
Impink - Jenkins
Box 32:
Johnson - Joseph
Box 33:
Justice - Knapp-Jones
Box 34:
Knauf - Lamb
Box 35:
Lambert - McCown
Box 36:
Lawrence - Lee
Box 37:
Lee - Lloyd
Box 38:
Lippman - Lyman
Box 39:
McCarty - McMahon
Box 40:
Magdaleno - Maibaum
Box 41:
Maibaum - Mann
Box 42:
Manning - Michael
Box 43:
Michael - Morris
Box 44:
Morton - Nicholson and Robinson
Box 45:
Nidess - Osborn
Box 46:
Osborn - Pawley
Box 47:
Pawley - Power
Box 48:
Power - Quinn
Box 49:
MRR; Ray - Richardson
Box 50:
Richardson - Roberts
Box 51:
Roberts - Rule
Box 52:
Rush - Sherman
Box 53:
Shine - Smith
Box 54:
Smith - Stein
Box 55:
Stern - Straub
Box 56:
Strong - Trumbauer
Box 57:
Tull - Waldbaum
Box 58:
Walkup - Weber
Box 59:
Wesker - Whiting
Box 60:
Whitman - Woodworth
Box 61:
Woodworth - Zollo
Box 62:
Pryor, Corrado, Blessing, Mabie
Box 63:
Green, Lamb, Loughery, Jones
Box 64:
Baldwin, Richardson, Liljenquist, Blecker, Warren, Lolos, Wesker
Box 65:
Andringa - Bennett
Box 66:
Berg - Bitterman
Box 67:
Bitterman
Box 68:
----.
Box 69:
Blakely
Box 70:
Blanning - Blumstein
Box 71:
Bosakowski - Carlson
Box 72:
Carter - Clark
Box 73:
Clark - Collie
Box 74:
Corrado - DiMaggio
Box 75:
Dimitrijevic - Drobny
Box 76:
Feffer - Forsythe
Box 77:
France - GeBauer
Box 78:
GeBauer - Hanway
Box 79:
Haustein - Johnson
Box 80:
Johnson - Kirchmeier
Box 81:
Kirchmeier - Lapadula
Box 82:
Loughery - Metzgar
Box 83:
Mowat - Nelson
Box 84:
Nemeth - Pederson
Box 85:
Pederson - Prestininzi
Box 86:
Prestininzi - Schaefer
Box 87:
Schlesinger - Scott
Box 88:
Shade
Box 89:
Singer
Box 90:
Stark - Torrevillas
Box 91:
Weholt
Box 92:
Weholt - Whitman
Box 93:
Whitman - Wylie
Box 94:
Wylie
Box 95:
Scott, Bashara
Box 96:
Bell - Greene (1974-1978)
Box 97:
Bosakowski, Carlson, Cloud, Coffey, Collie, Greene, Impink, Minx, Nigro, Scott, Ward
Box 98:
A - Bi
Box 99:
Bi - Br
Box 100:
Bu - C
Box 101:
D - Ge
Box 102:
Gi - Jones
Box 103:
Jones - Le
Box 104:
Li - Mar
Box 105:
May - Mow
Box 106:
N - Po
Box 107:
Pr - R
Box 108:
Sa - Si
Box 109:
Sm - T
Box 110:
U - Z; Misc.
Box 1:
Productions by Author, A - S
Box 2:
----. T - Z
Experimental Theatre Productions by Author, A - Z
Masters Theses by Author, A - Z
Masters Theses by Topic, A - C
Box 3:
----. D - Z
Doctoral Candidates by Author, A - Z
Dissertations by Topic, A - Z
Productions by Director, A - H
Box 4:
----. I - Z
Productions by Designer, A - F
Box 5:
----. G - Z
Box 6:
Productions by Title, A - Z
Box 7:
Productions by Date, 1920 - 1955
Box 8:
----. 1956 - 2000
Box 9:
Talent File, A - Ca
Box 10:
----. Ce - F
Box 11:
----. G - I
Box 12:
----. J - Ma
Box 13:
----. Mc - Q
Box 14:
----. R - S
Box 15:
----. T - Z
Series IV: Program-Picture Files
Box 1:
A - Ar
Box 2:
Ar - Be
Box 3:
Beg - Cal
Box 4:
Cal- Com
Box 5:
Com - Dev
Box 6:
Dia - Fai
Box 7:
Fal - Gir
Box 8:
Gir - Hea
Box 9:
Hec - In the
Box 10:
In the - Jun
Box 11:
Jun - Lif
Box 12:
Lif - Man
Box 13:
Man - Mid
Box 14:
Mid - New
Box 15:
New - Par
Box 16:
Par - Ran
Box 17:
Ras - Sea
Box 18:
Sea - Ski
Box 19:
Ski - Sum
Box 20:
Summer Rep, 1977-1988
Box 21:
Summer Rep - Tam
Box 22:
Tam - Tre
Box 23:
Tre - Wel
Box 24:
Wes - Wom
Box 25:
Won - Z
Box 1:
Equipment, stage, lighting contracts and plans, 1981-1992
Construction and air condition specifications for building, 1935 [?]
Box 2:
Building plans and budget, including addition, 1972-1985
Box 3:
Building maintenance and expansion files, 1982-1990
Costume shop renovation, 1988-1989
Hancher Auditorium steam line construction, 1990
Box 4:
Design and Production Committee minutes, 1996-1997
Lighting control installation: memoranda, correspondence, plans, 1997
Box 5:
Sound system and cue monitor system upgrading, 1986
Mechanical and electrical specifications, 1982-1983
Kliegl Brothers Lighting field service package, 1983
Iowa River Corridor and River Terrace Study (draft), Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., January 1995
Iowa River Corridor Landscape Master Plan, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., December 1995
Theatre Building Equipment, 1983-1987
Box 1:
National Theatre Conference
Correspondence, 1936 - 1938
[See also: Papers of Edward Charles Mabie, box 22]
Box 2:
"The Federal Theatre,” 1936 - 1938 (incomplete)
Federal Theatre correspondence
Midwest states
Box 3:
National Theatre Conference
Box 4:
Federal Theatre
Correspondence, 1935 - 1938
"Play Bureaus”
Applications
Proposals
Box 5:
Federal Theatre
"Play Bureaus”
Box 6:
Federal Theatre on peripheral
Phone calls
Miscellaneous
Box 7:
New theatre budget estimates
New theatre bills
Counter weight plans
Requests for information
"Two Hundred were Chosen,” by E.P. Conkle (production details)
"Blue Jeans,” by Marvin Flavin (criticisms)
Box 8:
Archives of Speech [See also: Papers of Edward Charles Mabie, boxes 14 & 34]
Notes and minutes of Committee on Communication
Box 9:
National Theatre Conference minutes, 1935
American Educational Theatre Association, 1946
Box 10:
"Western theatre,” 1935
Outline for "An Introductory Course in Dramatic Production”
Experimental play production
"Drama in Theory and in Practice”
"A Survey of Drama Study in the High Schools of Illinois”
"Treatment of Stuttering”
Box 11:
WPA materials
Box 12:
Play production festivals in order from 1926
Box 13:
Correspondence, A - Z, 1956 - 1959
Staff meeting minutes, 1959 - 1963
Box 14:
Correspondence, A - Z, 1960 - 1962
Box 15:
Correspondence, A - L, 1945 - 1955
Box 16:
----. M - Z. 1945 - 1955
Box 17:
Long plays produced, 1921-1932
Opera, Summer 1957
Opera, 1959
Department of Speech and Dramatic Art minutes, 1960-1963
Summer Opera committee meeting, 1962-1963
S.A. - Dramatic Art
Dramatic Art minutes, 1959-1960
----. 1958-1959
Graduate College
Biennium report (equipment needed, salary increase), 1957-1959
Fine Arts Roundtable
Ford Foundation program for directors, 1958-1959
Governor's Art Commission
Minutes of Departmental meetings and Departmental reorganization material, 1956-1958
Materials for History of Department of Speech and Dramatic Art, State University of Iowa, F.C. Chenoweth
Box 1:
Undated; 1889 - 1951
Box 2:
1952 - 1971
Box 3:
1972 - 1984
Box 4:
1985 - 1991
Box 5:
1992 - 1999
Box 6:
2000 -
Series VIII: Audiovisual Materials
Box 1-6:
Films, videotapes and audio recordings (unprocessed), bulk 1970-1990
Box 7:
Photographs (unprocessed; some identified), bulk 1970-1990. Include Dan Coffey and Duck's Breath Mystery Theater.
Series IX: Student Organizations
Box 1:
National Collegiate Players Pi Epsilon Delta (Purple Mask/Scarlet Mask chapter) membership record book, 1921-1953
----. Banquet and awards files, 1960-1967
Box 2:
----. Creed, correspondence, 1921-1971
----. 1930-1936
Box 3:
University Players minutes book, 1928-1934
----. Permanent point record book, 1930-1931 [includes Richard Maibaum]
----. 1931-1932
----. Minutes book, 1916-1927
Out-of-Door Players minutes and members book, 1921-1925
[?] minutes book, 1944
University Theatre Student Board of Governors record book, 1943-1958
University Theatre Student Board of Governors financial and social files, 1953-1959
Box 4:
----. 1942-1955
Series X: Iowa Shakespeare Festival
Box 1:
1982-1984
Box 2:
1984-1985
Series XI: Iowa Community Theatre Association
Box 1:
Newsletters, 1967-1973
