This material was transferred in 2016 from a donation to Special Collections & Archives at Virginia Commonwealth University because of related collections in UR's archives.
Arranged in 3 flat boxes, 2 scrapbooks to a box.
Dr. John (Jack) Dickinson Welsh began staging marionette shows for his parents at 5. His passion for theater grew from there. He grew up in Richmond and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. He received his BA from the University of Richmond, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in theater from Tulane University.
His first job was teaching theater at Houston Baptist College in Texas, in 1963-64. After his production of "The Corn is Green," the president of the school told him not to do any more plays like that with illegitimate children in them. "I turned in my resignation the next day". The following year he began at the University of Richmond.
As chair of the Speech and Theater Department, he began as the only faculty member. The department grew and he produced more than 80 productions with the University Players, as well as directing and acting in regional theater productions of amazing popularity, also winning local awards. He was named the Omicron Delta Kappa professor of the year in 1985 and the Richmond College Faculty Member of the Year in 1995. Two of his students, Bruce Miller and Phil Whiteway claim him as mentor in their opening of what has become Richmond's largest theater company, and the second largest children's theater in the country. In his retirement year, he hosted the American College Theater Festival on campus.
Dr. Welsh was also quite popular for his "Theater Trips". He would take a bus-load of alums, staff, faculty, and friends to New York where he would have tickets for 4 or 5 plays, dinners, and hotel rooms for a whirlwind weekend. He continued to do that after retirement at the Shepherd Center in Richmond.
In 1985, his production of "Hiawatha" was one of six best college productions in the American College Theater Festival, and was showcased at the Kennedy Center. He was also an onsite adjudicator for the ACTF. He won 2 Phoebe's (local theater award) for plays he directed at Theater IV. He also directed at Dogwood Dell, Swift Creek Mill Playhouse and at the Drama Studio in London. Most recently he served on the Theater Alliance Pale for 2015-16.
There is also the John D. Welsh Scholarship awarded every 4 years by the Department of Theater and Dance. Given to a promising freshman, it is renewable for 4 years.
At his retirement, after 35 years at UR, Dr. Welsh said, "I'm proudest of taking a young talent and seeing it blossom in 4 years". Dr. Welsh passed away on October 21, 2016.
The collection consists of 6 scrapbooks in varying degrees of disrepair, pages torn, items loose.
[Box Number, Folder Number], MS-29, Dr. Jack Welsh Scrapbooks, Book Arts, Archives, & Rare Books, Boatwright Memorial Library, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia.
Betty Dickie and Luci Ortiz.
MS-21 - Jack Welsh Collection
MS-30 - Modlin Center Scrapbook Collection
This collection is arranged into one series, Scrapbooks, and each scrapbook is noted by year and contents in the inventory.
Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.