Federal Theatre Project collection

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:

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

Preferred citation:

Federal Theatre Project collection, C0002, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
185 Linear Feet 371 boxes
Creator:
Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)
Abstract:
The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Federal Theatre Project collection, C0002, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

Content Warning: Some materials contain racist language and slurs, including play titles.

The Federal Theatre Project collection contains administrative records, play service and research records, library records, production records, and costumes created or collected by the Federal Theatre Project from 1935 to 1939. A few items in the collection were created before or after this time period but directly relate to the 1930s material. This collection consists of original materials with some duplicates and photocopies.

Series 1 contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, inventories, reorganization plans, briefs, and speeches relating to the background organization, policies, services, and procedures of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). Publications featuring articles on productions and organizational activities such as Federal Theatre are included in this series. Personnel file information such as biographical and employee tests are also included, as is research studies of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Federal Art Project (FAP) and the Historical Records Survey (HRS). This series is arranged alphabetically.

Series 2 is titled Play Service and Research Records and comprises two subseries. Subseries 2.1 contains research on drama, theatre technique, and theatre operations. This subseries is arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2.2 is titled Play Reader Reports and contains thousands of reports completed by the Federal Theatre for possible production or inclusion in play lists. This subseries is loosely arranged alphabetically by play title. Some duplicate material.

Series 3 is titled Library Records and consists of three subseries: Playscripts, Radio scripts, and Play lists. Subseries 3.1 includes hundreds of playscripts from over 900 productions performed or considered for production from around the United States. Most of the scripts are in English but some are in Yiddish or Italian. Some duplicate material. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 3.2 includes radio scripts. Series of shows include topics such as art, children's shows, mysteries, health, music, history, and science. Arranged alphabetically by series and single broadcast title. Subseries 3.3 consists of play lists. These lists were created to aid play selection among the various units of the Federal Theatre. Lists are arranged alphabetically by subject categories such as children's plays, historical drama, holidays, minstrel shows, operettas, puppet plays, and vaudeville.

Series 4 is titled Production Records and consists of three subseries: Production Title File, Playbills and Programs, and Music File. Subseries 4.1 includes memoranda, production bulletins, publicity, and reports relating to play productions. Each production bulletin contains some or all of the following: synopsis, director's report, set and costume designs, lighting scheme, blueprints, photographs, program, reviews, royalty information, and a script. Arranged alphabetically by title. Subseries 4.2 includes programs, heralds, handbills, and other announcements of FTP productions on different sized and colored paper. The first section of this subseries is arranged alphabetically by state in which the performance was produced and then it is arranged alphabetically by play title. The second section is arranged alphabetically by play title. There may be duplicates between the two arrangements. Subseries 4.3 includes manuscript scores and parts for multiple Federal Theatre productions. Resource material used for reference purposes for play productions and Federal Theatre units and regions throughout the United States consists of mostly printed music and is found under "miscellaneous". Chiefly arranged alphabetically by title and then according to standard orchestral instrument order. Some duplicates.

Series 5 is titled Costumes and includes two coats and two pairs of pants created and used by the Federal Theatre Project.

Biographical / historical:

The Federal Theatre Project 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). The Federal Theatre began in 1935 and, until its end in 1939, flourished as the first and only federally sponsored and subsidized theater program in the United States. Directed by Hallie Flanagan (1880-1969), it was a way for theatrical professionals to gain employment during the Depression. Jobs were provided for many people, including actors, playwrights, scene designers, scene builders, seamstresses, lighting experts, ushers, box-office men, and stagehands.

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 Spirocheta.

The Federal Theatre was noted for employing Black Americans at a time when the Federal Government did not actively protect the rights of marginalized communities. This unit was called "The Negro Unit," which at the time was a socially acceptable term used to describe people of African descent. All-Black theatre companies were an established industry before the Depression. As a result, the inclusion of this unit 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.
Processing information:

Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. Reprocessed and EAD completed in 2012 by Greta Kuriger. Finding aid updated by Robert Vay in February 2023.

Arrangement:

Arranged into five series.

Series
  1. Series 1: Administrative Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 1-5, 361, 365-366, 368)
  2. Series 2: Play Service and Research Records, 1935-1939 (Boxes 5-105)
  3. Series 3: Library Records, 1885-1986 (Boxes 106-306)
  4. Series 4: Production Records, 193-193 (Boxes 307-363, 366-367)
  5. Series 5: Costumes, circa 1935-1939 (Boxes 369-371)
Physical location:
R 1, C 8, S 6 - C 9, S 7 R 2, C 1, S 1 - C 8, S 3 OS R 7, C 1, S1 OS R 3, C 5, S 5 - S 6 Map Case 9.1, 11.1, 11.3-11.5, 21.2
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard