Federal Theatre Project photograph collection

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Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669
Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Federal Theatre Project Photographs collection must be obtained from Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Preferred citation:

Federal Theatre Project Photographs, C0205, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
47.0 linear feet (112 boxes)
Creator:
Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)
Abstract:
This collection consists of graphic materials relating to Federal Theatre Project productions from 1936 to 1939 across the United States, with the majority from New York City and Roslyn, New York, San Diego and San Francisco, California, and Chicago, Illinois. The collection is mostly comprised of black and white photographs ranging in size from 4x5 to 11x14 and duplicate prints, as well as a few negatives.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Federal Theatre Project Photographs, C0205, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of graphic materials relating to Federal Theatre Project productions from 1936 to 1939 across the United States, with the majority from New York City and Roslyn, New York, San Diego and San Francisco, California, and Chicago, Illinois. The collection is mostly comprised of black and white photographs ranging in size from 4x5 to 11x14 and duplicate prints, as well as a few negatives.

Series one is titled Production Photographs. The series is comprised of photographs and negatives relating to productions, the majority of which are scene shots and portraits of employees, but the series also includes portraits of well-known figures of the day such as Eleanor Roosevelt and the Scottsboro Boys, and prints of audiences, caravan theater, children's theater, circus, community theater presentation, marionette construction, office personnel, posters, radio performances, rehearsals, sets, behind-the-scenes techniques, vaudeville, and workshops. Included are scene and stage production shots from living newspaper productions, such as "Triple-A Plowed Under," "Injunction Granted," "1935," "One-Third of a Nation," "Power," and "Spirochete," as well as from the Negro, Yiddish, and Radio units. The series is dated from 1936 to 1939 and is contained in boxes 1 to 82. It is arranged alphabetically by production title, state and city; by surname; or by subject. Some of the subjects included are audience, circus, dance, marionette, publicity, set, technical, theatres, and workshops. Duplicates can be found both within folders and across folders (more than one folder with the same heading); oversize duplicates are included in series two.

Series two is titled Oversize Production Photographs. The series is comprised of photographs relating to productions, including scene shots, stage and set shots, and portraits. The series is dated from 1936 to 1939 and is contained in boxes 83 to 88. The series is arranged alphabetically by production title, state and city, or by subject. This series includes oversize duplicates from photographs contained in series one and series three.

Series three is titled Portraits. The series is comprised of headshots and portraits of actors, actresses, and directors involved in Federal Theatre productions. The series includes portraits of unidentified actors and actresses from various plays, such as "It Can't Happen Here," "No More Peace," "Power," "Sing for Your Supper," "Processional," etc. The series is dated from 1936 to 1939 and is contained in boxes 88 to 93. The series is arranged alphabetically by surname. Duplicates can be found both within folders and across folders (more than one folder with the same heading); oversize duplicates are included in series two.

Series four is titled Microfiche. The series contains microfiche featuring a variety of subjects that are related to the Federal Theater Project. Each file contains at least one negative and one positive of each subject with most of the files having duplicates. The series is dated from 1936 to 1939 and is contained in boxes 95 to 104. It is arranged alphabetically by production title, by surname, or by subject. Some of the subjects included are actors, actresses, authors, audience, circus, dance, directors, employees, marionette, publicity, scenes, set, technical, theatres, and workshops.

Series five is titled Printing Materials. This series is split into three subseries: Zinc Plates and Mats, Woodblocks, and Mimeographs.This series contains zinc plates, mats, mimeographs and woodblocks that were used in the production of publications for the Federal Theater Project. The series is dated from 1936 to 1939 and is contained in boxes 105 to 112. The series is arranged alphabetically starting with productions and then going into portraits.

Biographical / historical:

Organized in 1935, The Federal Theatre Project flourished as the first and only federally sponsored and subsidized theater program in the United States until its end in 1939. The FTP was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which provided employment for large numbers of artists, writers, and performers during the Great Depression (1929-1939). Directed by Hallie Flanagan (1880-1969), the FTP provided employment for theatrical professionals throughout the United States during the Great Depression. Actors, playwrights, scene designers and builders, seamstresses, lighting experts, ushers, box-office men, and stagehands all found employment through the FTP.

Like many New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Federal Theatre Project was intended not only to benefit its participants, but also to enrich the condition of the nation. Theater was a distinguished part of American popular culture, but the economic downturn of the Depression had bankrupted the entire theater industry. As the theater houses closed down, the nation was left without an outlet for theatrical creativity. According to Hallie Flanagan, this hurt the nation as much as it hurt the theater industry - indeed, the nation was their audience and the theater could provide entertaining distractions from the effects of Depression as well as offer commentary on present conditions.

But it was not enough to simply return to the pre-Depression concept of theater. In the first meeting with her staff Flanagan expressed her willingness to follow Roosevelt's experimental approach to public policy: "In a changing world, a world of experiment, the stage too must experiment - with ideas, with the psychological relationship of men and women, with color and light.... The theatre must grow up."

Flanagan pursued her ideal of developing the relationship between the Federal Theatre and the federal government: "Any theatre sponsored by the government of the United States should do no plays of a cheap, trivial, outworn or vulgar nature, but only such plays as the Government can stand proudly behind in a planned theatrical program, national in scope, regional in emphasis, and American in democratic attitude." To Flanagan, it was imperative that this new theater should be progressive and experimental, yet within a patriotic and informative framework.

The productions that best embodied Flanagan's views on theater were the Living Newspapers. These hard-hitting, poignant plays dealt with contemporary factual material, dramatizing issues such as housing, agriculture, labor, and destitution. Always ending on an upbeat note, Living Newspapers underscored the importance of hard work and morality in overcoming difficult times. Living Newspaper titles include: Triple A Plowed Under, Injunction Granted, One Third of a Nation, and Spirochete.

The Federal Theatre was noted for employing black Americans at a time when the Federal Government did not actively protect the rights of minorities. The "Negro Theater" (as it was called in the 1930s) was an established industry before the Depression, and it greatly contributed to the success of the Federal Theatre Project. Some of the most spectacular productions were put on by black theater professionals, for example: Macbeth, Haiti, Turpentine, Run Little Chillun, and The Trial of Dr. Beck.

Acquisition information:
Donated by the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, and acquired through purchase.
Processing information:

Processed by Monica Johnson and Joey Romeo in 2012. EAD markup completed by Monica Johnson and Joey Romeo in 2012.

Arrangement:

This collection is organized into three series. Series one is arranged alphabetically by production title, state and city; by surname; or by subject. Series two is arranged alphabetically by production title, state and city, or by subject. Series three is arranged alphabetically by surname.

  1. Series 1: Production Photographs, 1936-1939
  2. Series 2: Oversize Production Photographs,1936-1939
  3. Series 3: Portraits, 1936-1939
  4. Series 4: Microfiche, 1936-1939
  5. Series 5: Printing Materials, 1936-1939
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard