American Theatre Association records

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:

Certain materials in this collection are restricted, see inventory for details. Otherwise, collection is open to research.

Terms of access:

The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)

Preferred citation:

American Theatre Association records, C0042, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
75 Linear Feet 91 boxes
Creator:
American Theatre Association
Abstract:
This collection contains official records of the American Theatre Association such as meeting minutes, correspondence, and administrative papers, as well as photographs and audiovisual materials.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

American Theatre Association records, C0042, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

Note: This collection is not fully processed - a basic box inventory is available.

This collection contains official records of the American Theatre Association such as meeting minutes, correspondence, and administrative papers, as well as photographs and audiovisual materials.

Biographical / historical:

The American Theatre Association (ATA) was formed in 1936 as the American Educational Theatre Association by a group of privately owned theatres. Recruiting its members from the ranks of teachers, actors, students, and directors, among others, the Association acted as a theatre advocacy group, promoting theatre and theatre education in several ways. It published and disseminated materials for use in children's secondary schools, colleges and universities, and community theatres, pushed for federal funding of theatre education, promoted the touring of educational theatre groups, and worked with the armed forces installations to develop mutually beneficial theatre programs. The Association also sought to stimulate creative activity and scholarship in educational theatre and in allied fields of educational television, radio, film, and puppetry.

In 1972 the American Educational Theatre Association restructured itself under a new title, the American Theatre Association, and Jed H. Davis became the Association's president. After earning BA, MA, and PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota, Davis served briefly in the U.S. Army. In 1947 he began teaching at Macalester College, followed by Michigan State and Kansas University, where he became director of children's theatre and University Theatre. Davis wrote several essays on theatre education for major journals and coauthored two books with Mary Jane Evans, Theatre, Children and Youth and Children's Theatre: Play Production for the Child Audience. Since the 1950s, Jed Davis served actively in professional associations, including the Children's Theatre Conference in 1963 and the ATA in 1972 until retiring in 1986, the year of the ATA's dissolution. Davis passed away in 2015.

Acquisition information:
Portions of this collection were donated by the American Theatre Association, by the National Theater, and by Jed H. Davis between 1995-1999. An additional donation was made in 2016.
Processing information:

This collection is unprocessed. EAD markup completed by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty in March 2009.

Basic box inventory compiled by SCRC staff from 2022-2025. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in June 2025.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged by subject.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard