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Brown University Library Collections

Performing Arts Collections

Africana Studies / Rites and Reason Theatre
The dates for the Africana Studies / Rites and Reason Theatre collection ranges from 1970 to 2006. This collection consists of nine series which focus on the growth and development of not only the Department of Africana Studies, but on the growth of the Rites and Reason Theatre. ...more information
Barker (Sarah Elizabeth Minchin)
Sarah Elizabeth Minchin Barker (also known as Sally Barker) was an actress and director whose career was highlighted by the work with The Players at the Talma Theatre and the Barker Playhouse Theatre. She was active in dramatic events at Pembroke, where she taught theatre. Her husband, Henry Ames Barker, 1861-1929 (Brown class of 1893) was a guiding influence and a director of the Players. He was the son of Mayor Harry Barker of Providence and active himself in the civic and cultural affairs of the city. ...more information
Blossom (Barbara) Play Scripts
Barbara D. Blossom was born ca. 1940 and is married to Sanford H. Gorodetsky. She is an actress associated with Trinity Repertory Company in Providence through the 1992-93 season and has played roles in several films and television shows. This collection consists of 22 play scripts, some with manuscript annotations, compiled by Barbara Blossom. The plays were not necessarily performed at Trinity Repertory Company. There is also a printout of a PowerPoint presentation on Sissieretta Jones (Black Patti) and a framed needlepoint titled: All the World's a Stage. ...more information
Bornstein (Kate)
This collection consists of the papers of Kate Bornstein, performer, playwright, author, and transgender activist who graduated from Brown University as Albert Bornstein in 1969. The collection documents Bornstein's personal and professional life and trans activism, and includes biographical information, correspondence, diaries, conference material, draft writings, writings by other authors, subject files, print material, ephemera, photographs, and electronic records dating from 1910-2018. The Bornstein papers were curated by the Nancy L. Buc '65 Pembroke Center Archivist on behalf of the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive and the John Hay Library. ...more information
Brown (Ben W.)
These papers consist of notebooks, manuscripts, speeches and addresses, and correspondence documenting the teaching career of Ben W. Brown at Brown University. He was professor of English, theatre and public speaking, as well as Director of the Sock and Buskin, from 1921 to 1955. ...more information
Brown University Archives - Theatre
This collection contains theatre programs, photographs, posters, museum objects, announcements and newspaper clippings of productions mounted by various theatrical groups at Brown University, including Hammer and Tongs, Sock and Buskin, Komians, Brownbrokers, Rites and Reason, and Production Workshop.

1872 to the present. ...more information
Bryson Dance
The collection focuses on the development of ballet from the time of Nijinsky, Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. It includes biographies, memoirs, histories of ballet companies, and the stories of individual ballets. There are many illustrated works and limited editions on costume and stage sets, as well as depictions of the ballets themselves. Photographs included in the works are often by highly respected photographers such as Richard Avedon and George Platt Lynes. ...more information
Bryson Dance ephemera
The collection focuses on the development of ballet from the time of Nijinsky, Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. It includes photographs, performance programs, newspaper clippings, tickets, and dealer catalogs that contains items related to dance. This collection inlcudes photographs and programs related to the following dancers: Addison Fowler, Florenz Tamara, Helen Gondreau, and Arthur Corey. This is the manuscript and ephemera portion of the Bryson Dance Collection. ...more information
Capone, Clifford
Photographs, correspondence, playbills, and playscripts used and created during the career of Clifford Capone who was a costume designer for theater productions and movies based in New York City. He worked for film directors Woody Allen and Gordon Willis among others. ...more information
Cushman (Asa) Plays in Parts and Prompt Copies
Plays in manuscript parts and prompt copies, the working library of a mid-19th century actor-manager. Includes 24 American and 21 English plays in manuscript, and 385 English and American printed plays of the 18th and 19th century, with Cushman's notes. Notable for a copy in parts of Uncle Tom's Cabin; Cushman was the original Tom Loker in the 1852 production of George Aiken's version of the play. ...more information
Dance Company Press Kits
Press kits and promotional materials for dance companies in the United States, Canada, Russia, and Europe dating from 1882-2007. This collection includes materials for well-known companies such as Agnes DeMille, Martha Graham and the Bolshoi Ballet as well as many smaller dance companies. The majority are located on the East Coast of the United States. Of note are programs and advertisement for Anna Pavlova and Rudolf Nureyev. ...more information
Downs (T. Nelson)
Thomas Nelson Downs was a self-taught magician, specializing in coin tricks, who over the course of his career, performed in vaudeville acts all over the country, owned a vaudeville house, sold magic supplies, and wrote several books of magic instruction. This collection contains his correspondence with fellow magician Edward "Tex" McGuire, documentation of tricks (or "effects"), patents, advertisements, news clippings, photographs, and show programs. ...more information
Eddy (Clifford M. and Ruth M.) musical compositions
This collection consists primarily of printed and manuscript music composed by Clifford M. Eddy, Jr. and his daughter Ruth M. Eddy. Also includes correspondence and poetry. ...more information
Fuller (William O.)
The William O. Fuller papers consist of 58 items for the period 1849-1968. The papers include letters from Fuller to his family, as well as several letters to Fuller from Franz Liszt, Carl (Charles) Mayer, and others. Fuller (1828-1910) was a music teacher in Providence, Rhode Island. ...more information
Gleeson (Alice Collins)
The Alice Collins Gleason papers consist of scripts and preparation sheets for radio plays about early Rhode Island history written for elementary and junior high schools in Rhode Island. The plays date from 1935-1937. ...more information
Hamilton (Mary) Letters
The Mary Hamilton letters contain fourteen letters to or about Mary Hamilton, covering a period of two decades, from 1905 to 1926. Within this group are letters from George Bernard Shaw, Harley Granville-Barker, J.E. Vedrenne, John Galsworthy, Algernon Blackwood, Lena Ashwell, and David Belasco. The seven letters from G.B. Shaw provide great insight into Shaw�s own philosophies and the workings of early 20th century American and British theatre. Associated with the November 2, 1908 letter from G.B. Shaw is a photograph of him with his signature on the back. Letters from the others also offer much information about how theatres were managed and directed, actresses were chosen and playwrights collaborated. ...more information
Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays
The Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays is composed of approximately 250,000 volumes of American and Canadian poetry, plays, and vocal music dating from 1609 to the present day. It is perhaps the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind in any research library. The works of most well-known (and many thousands of little-known) American and Canadian poets and playwrights, from the 18th century to the present day, are held comprehensively. There are significant holdings of early American literature, hymnals, songsters, little magazines, contemporary fine printing, extensive collections on Walt Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe, women's writings, gay and lesbian literature, modern first editions, Yiddish-American literature, and French-Canadian literature. The Collection is fully cataloged, with records available in Josiah, the Library's online catalog.. Includes periodicals, broadsides, recordings, films, electronic resources, manuscripts, prints and photographs. ...more information
Janet Mansfield Soares Dance
This is a collection of 128 publications related to the history of dance in the United states and Europe ranging in date from 1905-2017. The publications are in English with a few titles in German and Italian. ...more information
Langdon (William Chauncey)
Collection of pageants directed and organized by Langdon, founder and President of the American Pageant Association, and also includes scripts, correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia relating to other pageants of the early 20th century. Some pageants are classified in the Harris Collection, but most of them are part of the Langdon Papers. ...more information
Maas (Willard)
The Maas Papers consist of approximately five hundred letters, manuscripts, page proofs, photographs, drawings, play scripts, and film scripts from the period 1931-1967. ...more information
Miller
The Miller Collection, consisting of approximately 40,000 volumes, is the personal library of Bernard, Saul, and George Miller, amassed over a period of fifty years and donated to Brown University in the early 1990s. The Collection consists primarily of 20th-century American imprints, but also includes significant sections of 19th-century joke books, British imprints, and works in Russian, Hebrew, French, German, and Italian. The Collection includes early humor material, such as Joe Miller's Jests, or The Wit's Vade-Mecum (London, 1739), and Yankee Notions, or, The American Joe Miller, by Sam Slick (London, 1839). There are also sections of comic novels, familiar essays by humorists, political satire, light verse, theatrical memoirs of comedy performers, vaudeville routines, collections of political cartoons, paperback joke and cartoon books, and playscripts; and a notable section of "Army joke books", pulp periodicals from the World War II era.
Materials in this collection, which comprise a part of the cultural and historical record, depict offensive and objectionable perspectives, imagery, and norms. ...more information
Paterson (William)
The William Paterson Papers, dating from 1919-2003, includes photographs, plays in manuscript, an autobiography in manuscript, a pen and ink drawing, clippings, military decorations, acting awards, pamphlets, and other documents. Paterson, a Brown University graduate (Class of 1941) and a World War II veteran, was an actor by profession. He joined the Cleveland Playhouse in 1947 and worked there for the next 20 years. In 1967 he joined the American Conservatory Theatre where he remained for over 30 years. He also occasionally performed in television and film productions. ...more information
Pembroke College Clothing
The Pembroke College Clothing collection includes dresses, tops, skirts, and jumpsuits, likely produced by Pembroke College students for sewing lessons or theatrical productions. The clothing was made approximately between the 1920s through 1970 though these dates are only estimated based on garment style. ...more information
Phonorecords (Special Collections)
Phonorecords in special collections include those collected for the Harris Collection, focusing on recordings of poets reading their works, American folk music, and cast recordings of musical plays. Other collections include approximately 1,000 78 recordings, primarily of popular music. The Archives has recordings of speeches and events at Brown University. A few other named collections include small sections of phonorecordings appropriate to the subjects of the collections. ...more information
Providence Black Repertory Company
The Providence Black Repertory Company (Black Rep) was a 501c3 non profit arts organization based in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. It offered programming inspired by the cultural traditions of the African Diaspora in Theater, Education, and Public Programs. It operated from 1996 until 2009. ...more information
Reynolds (Horace Mason)
Correspondence, account books, ledgers, invoices, documents, and music music relating to Gottlieb Graupner, John Rowe Parker and the music-publishing industry in Boston, Massachusetts from 1802-1838, collected by writer/editor Horace Reynolds. ...more information
Rhode Island Feminist Theatre
Theatre group founded in 1973 in Providence, Rhode Island. Members often collaborated on the writing of plays. Performances were given in Providence, Boston, and on national tour. The collection includes scripts, publicity, reviews, articles, promotional and touring material, posters, playbills, photographs, and other files. ...more information
Rhode Island Sheet Music
A collection of over 2,500 pieces of sheet music related to Rhode Island. It contains works by Rhode Island composers and lyricists, titles issued by Rhode Island publishers, cover illustrations of Rhode Island scenes, buildings, and well-known Rhode Islanders. It also includes many works that take Rhode Island as their subject. The sheet music dates from the early 1800s to the 1980s ...more information
Robinson (Blondie)
A collection of 77 vintage photographs, primarily from the early 20th century, the bulk of which is dated between the years 1915 and 1925, formerly owned by Blondie Robinson, an accomplished African-American vaudeville performer of that era. The heart of this collection is comprised of photographs directly associated with Robinson himself that represent a visual composite of his professional life on stage, both as a solo performer and in collaboration with others. It offers substantive documentation about Robinson's repertoire of stage acts and his versatility as a vaudevillian -- the various characters he portrayed on stage, including blackface caricatures, his comedic sensibility, the sheer physicality of his performances, and the various costumes and props that he used. This collection also contains a significant number of photographs of other vaudeville performers, primarily but not exclusively African American, all of whom were professional associates of Robinson. Also of note in this collection are a few informal photographs of Robinson, alone and with others, some of whom are presumed to be members of Robinson's family and may even include images of his wife and daughter. Last but not least, this collection also includes useful pieces of textual information found on some of the photographs in the form of signatures, inscriptions, photographers marks, and annotations. ...more information
Russell (John C.)
The John C. Russell papers are a collection of the late playwright's scripts, notebooks, journals, correspondence, photographs and personal documents, most of them produced during the six years before his death in 1994. ...more information
Sargent (Frances Herriott)
This collection of about 285 items traces the evolution and production of the play "Porgy" and its operatic expression, "Porgy and Bess". The collection is composed of the professional and personal papers of the assistant stage manager, Frances Herriott (later Frances Herriott Sargent), and provides insight into the major elements of production as well as the personal relationships of cast members and stage professionals. ...more information
Screenplays, 1938-1980
Collection consists of 81 dialogues and post production scripts. Motion picture studios represented include: ABC, Paramount, Columbia, MGM, RKO, Republic, 20th Century Fox, United Artists, Universal, Warner Brothers, World Entertainment, and British film companies. Includes scripts for well-known films such as Chinatown, Love Story, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and many others. ...more information
Scribner (Edwin)
Edwin Scribner was born in Logansport, IN on 15 February 1879. On 27 July 1898, he quit his job in the Master Mechanics office of the Pan Handle Railroad in Logansport and, as he states in the first volume of his diary, "From that date the theater has been my interest and occupation in life.” He attended Edmund Mortimer's School of Dramatic Art and Elocution in Chicago, IL starting on 28 July 1898. He spent his life as an itinerant actor and a playwright, writing at least 50 plays many of which were published. He died in Waterville, ME on 23 Sep 1964. This collection contains unpublished typescripts for plays written by Edwin Scribner. The photographs include 5 portraits of Edwin and 5 scenes from a play in which he starred. The collection also contains a 2 volume diary written by Edwin from 1898-1921. The diary contains a running tally of all the plays in which he performed and the cities and towns he visited as part of various acting troupes. He also lists all the plays and movies he goes to see. It is an interesting and intimate record of the life of an actor who is constantly traveling. ...more information
Shakespearian Advertiser printing blocks
Wood engraving printing blocks created by Edward S. Jones to illustrate a booklet titled "The Shakespearian Advertiser" published by Harlen P. Boyce in Providence, RI in 1871. The images are comic illustrations of quotes from various plays by William Shakespeare. ...more information
Shaw (George Bernard)
In 1991 the Brown University Library acquired a collection of George Bernard Shaw material formed by Sidney P. Albert, professor emeritus of philosophy at California State University-Los Angeles. The collection is rich in manuscript material, including autograph and typed letters, post cards, notes, inscriptions and signed photographs as well as costume designs and a fragment of music in Shaw's hand. There are more than 2,000 books by and about Shaw and a strong collection of ephemera - pamphlets, "rough proof" rehearsal copies of plays, programs, press clippings, film stills, posters, publicity photographs, recordings, photographs of Shaw's 1933 visit to Hollywood, and publications of Shaw societies in London, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. More than 200 periodicals containing pieces by or about Shaw round out the collection.
The Brown University Library also holds the correspondence between Shaw and his American publisher, Dodd, Mead & Company. ...more information
Sheet Music
The Sheet Music Collection, an outgrowth of the Harris Collection, contains approximately 500,000 pieces of sheet music, largely American imprint vocal music dating from the late 18th century to the present day; the bulk of the titles date between 1800 and 1950.

Owing to its size, the Collection is divided into a number of sections. The largest is the section of vocal music, some 150,000 pieces, with an additional 35,000 pieces representing songs from the musical theatre, films, radio, and television shows. Afro-Americana accounts for perhaps 10,000 titles, of which perhaps 2,500 (mainly from the 19th century) are fully cataloged. There are another 2,000 pieces of cataloged music relating to World Wars I and II, and perhaps 1,500 cataloged musical settings of American poetry; there are another 1,500 uncataloged pieces belonging to these categories. Sheet music from the Confederacy is keyed to the citations in the Crandall bibliography; pre-1800 music is keyed to Sonneck-Upton, and music from 1801-1825 is filed by Wolfe number. Approximately one-third of the titles cited by Wolfe are in the Collection. There are also smaller (less than 2,500 pieces each) sections of: color lithographs; works by Boston lithographers; Endicott lithographs; Union imprint Civil War music; Latin American music; Yiddish-American music; Harrigan and Hart music; silent film music; dance folios; theatre music (non-vocal); music dealers' stamps; Canadian music.

Note: Only approximately 5,000 titles have Josiah records. These include Afro-Americana, music relating to World Wars I and II, and musical settings of American poetry. ...more information
Smith Magic
The H. Adrian Smith Collection of Conjuring and Magicana, long considered one of the finest private libraries on conjuring and magic, includes 16th century titles on natural magic, alchemy, astrology, religious rites, and witchcraft. Later holdings include sections on conjuring, card tricks and games, magicians as performers, magic periodicals and other works intended for practicing magicians, posters, ephemera, and realia. The Collection is the gift and bequest of the collector, class of 1930, who as an undergraduate put himself through Brown by giving magic performances. ...more information
Television Scripts
Unpublished scripts representing approximately 730 different television programs (sitcoms, cop shows, satires, soap operas, musical specials) documenting American popular culture from the Truman era to the Reagan era. The collection reflects changes in American attitudes towards family, sex, politics, history, etc ...more information
Tierney (Robert J.)
Posters, scripts, tickets, photographs, and other ephemera related to theatrical and entertainment events in the local area over the past fifty years. The collection features over 350 radio and television scripts, representing musical variety, science fiction, drama, mystery, westerns, and comedies of the Fifties and the Sixties. In addition there are many scripts accompanied by correspondence related to their acquisition from producers, sponsors, etc.; numerous posters, programs, playbills, promotional brochures, handbills, photographs, and tickets to performances primarily in the Providence arena, gathered from local and regional theaters. Also included are itineraries for big bands, musicians, and other performers, as well as play lists for their performances ...more information
Trinity Repertory Company
This collection includes press clippings, board and development files, programs, scripts, promotional materials, production photos, press releases, audio recordings, video, and film documenting the history of Trinity Repertory Company, founded in 1963. ...more information
Wandering Jew

The gift of W. Easton Louttit, Jr., Class of 1925, this collection includes plays, poems, novels, and stories, and prints, as well as critical, philosophical, and scholarly studies of the archetypical story of men shut out from the human community and doomed to wander eternally. Possibly the finest accumulation of books on this theme to be found outside the Bibliotheque Nationale. It contains over 1,500 volumes featuring works by Goethe, Schiller, Shelley, Feuchtwanger, Edwin Arlington Robinson and especially Eugene Sue. ...more information
Wilmeth (Don B.) research files
This collection of research files consists of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, e-mails, press releases, playbills, postcards, letters, student papers, lecture notes, brochures and conference presentations which form the basis for the research and writing of the second edition of The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, compiled by Don B. Wilmeth and Tice L. Miller. Several stages of the resulting manuscript proof are also included. ...more information
Wyman (Loraine)
The Loraine Wyman collection consists of manuscripts, sheet music, and miscellaneous material collected and/or edited by Loraine Wyman, the bulk dating from 1910-1937, and collected in Kentucky, Quebec, and France. The collection contains principally folk songs, arrangements or orchestrations of folk music, and French art songs. ...more information

Image Source: Lobby card from the United Artists production of G.B. Shaw's Major Barbara starring Wendy Hiller, Rex Harrison, and Robert Morley, 1941. Sidney P. Albert -- George Bernard Shaw Collection. John Hay Library.

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