The collection consists of correspondence, scripts, contracts, photographs, a production program, press clippings and other materials documenting the script development and production history of John Charles Brownell's play, Mississippi Rainbow. Correspondents include Rowena Woodham Jelliffe of the Karamu Theatre, Playhouse Settlement, Cleveland; Frank J. Sheil of Samuel French Play Publishers and Authors' Representatives; Richard Madden of the Richard J. Madden Play Company; staff members of the Works Progress Administration and the Federal Theatre Project in New York and Chicago, including Shirley Graham (later Shirley Graham DuBois), Thomas J. McElhany, Bennet R. Finn, George Kondolf, and Hallie Flanagan; Theodore Ward, an actor in the Chicago production of Mississippi Rainbow, and an aspiring playwright whom Brownell mentored; New York theater critic Brooks Atkinson; and other correspondents from whom Brownell sought financial and professional assistance. Undated typescripts for Mississippi Rainbow and a one-act play, The Closet, are also included. Photographs include portrait photographs of Brownell and production photographs from the New York production of Brainsweat and the Chicago production of Mississippi Rainbow
Description:
John Charles Brownell was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1877. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York City, and worked as a professional actor and scenario editor for film companies before undertaking a playwrighting career. His plays include The Nut Farm, Her Majesty the Widow, and A Woman of the Soil. His play Mississippi Rainbow, a comedy written for an all-black cast, was first produced as Nothin' but Trouble by an amateur cast at the Karamu Theatre, Playhouse Settlement in Cleveland, Ohio in 1934. The play went through rewrites and title changes, and was produced on Broadway as Brainsweat (1934), and by the Federal Theatre Project in Chicago as Mississippi Rainbow (1937). He was married to Estelle Wyne of Cincinnati. Brownell died in Starksboro, Vermont in 1961. and In English.
Subject (Geographic):
United States.
Subject (Name):
Atkinson, Brooks, 1894-1984., Brownell, John Charles., Du Bois, Shirley Graham, 1896-1977., Finn, Bennet R., Flanagan, Hallie, 1890-1969., Jelliffe, Rowena Woodham., Kondolf, George., McElhany, Thomas J., Sheil, Frank J., Ward, Theodore, 1902-1983., Federal Theatre Project (Chicago, Ill.), Federal Theatre Project (Chicago, Ill.). Negro Unit., Federal Theatre Project (New York, N.Y.), Playhouse Settlement (Cleveland, Ohio), Richard J. Madden Play Service., Samuel French, Inc., and United States. Works Progress Administration.
Subject (Topic):
African American actors, African American theater, Dramatists, American, Literary agents, Theater, Production and direction, and Theatrical producers and directors
Holograph diary of a stay in Brussels and France after the Battle of Waterloo. Many of the author's observations reflect the recent battle; she reports, for example, on the celebrations in Brussels when its inhabitants receive news of Napoleon's surrender; provides news about various acquaintances in the military as well as other military news after the Battle of Waterloo; and describes Paris as "a military camp for all the nations of Europe." She also makes numerous comparisons between French and English culture, as when she views a play at the Theatre Francaise and comments on the lighting techniques in French playhouses as compared to those in England. Elsewhere, she views as statue of King Henri IV and comments on his reign; vists the porcelain manufactory at Sevres; and describes acquaintances she makes in Brussels. The diary concludes with her road journey from Boulogne to Calais, where she meets several friends, and then to Dover, At the end of the volume is a table of inns in which the author stayed, and The work is the second volume of a set; see Osborn d186 for the first volume in the set. The author's diary was published in 1817
Description:
In English., Title from title page., Autograph on flyleaf: Jane Waldie., Written inside front cover: No. 118., and Binding: quarter red morocco.
Subject (Geographic):
France, Great Britain, and Belgium
Subject (Name):
Eaton, Charlotte Ann (Waldie), 1788-1859., Henry IV, King of France, 1553-1610., Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821., Waldie, John, 1781-1862., and Watts, Jane (Waldie), 1793-1826.
Subject (Topic):
Theater, Travelers' writings, English, Waterloo, Battle of, Waterloo, Belgium, 1815, Women authors, Description and travel, and Social life and customs
Manuscript, in a single hand, of a daily journal recording the events of Waldie's daily life. He goes on daily excursions with his family and describes the landscapes and estates they visit; mentions teas, dinners, dances, and singing with acquaintances; plays card games; records and reviews books he has read, including Aaron Hill's Zara and Maria Edgeworth's Belinda; and frequents the theater. In describing the plays he attends, he provides the names of the actors, including those of Sarah Siddons and Priscilla Kemble, and reviews their performances
Description:
John Waldie (1781-1862) was the administrator of Hendersyde Park at Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland. While a student at the University of Edinburgh, he began to keep daily journals recording his extensive travels and his observations of theaters, museums, and concert halls. An accomplished tenor, Waldie performed at private entertainments with Angelica Catalani, Michael Kelly, and John Braham; met with the composer Gioachino Rossini; and socialized with such well-known actors as John Philip Kemble and Sarah Siddons. Waldie also served on the committee of the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, as one of its proprietors. He was the brother of Jane (Waldie) Watts (1793-1826) and Charlotte (Waldie) Eaton (1788-1859), whose diaries are cataloged as Osborn d182, Osborn d186, and Osborn d187., In English., Pasted at beginning of manuscript: floor plans "made by J. Waldie in 1802 for Hendersyde Park House the uppermost nearly as adopted in 1803.", Pasted inside front cover: bookplate of John Waldie, Hendersyde., Title from title page., and Binding: half calf over marbled boards.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain and Scotland
Subject (Name):
Eaton, Charlotte Ann (Waldie), 1788-1859., Edgeworth, Maria, 1767-1849., Hill, Aaron, 1685-1750., Kemble, Priscilla, 1756-1845., Siddons, Sarah, 1755-1831., Waldie, John, 1781-1862., Watts, Jane (Waldie), 1793-1826., and Waldie family.
Subject (Topic):
Theater, Social life and customs, and Description and travel
Title from item., Place of publication derived from language of text., Date supplied by curator., Four lines of verse below image., This depicts a character in the play "'Arlequin empereur dans la lune" by Anne Mauduit Fatouville, 1684., and This electronic record is derived from historic data and may not reflect our current information. Review and updating of records is ongoing.
Title from item., Place of publication derived from language of text., Date supplied by curator., and This electronic record is derived from historic data and may not reflect our current information. Review and updating of records is ongoing.
Publisher:
publisher not identified
Subject (Topic):
Quacks and quackery, Theater, Wife abuse, Spouses, Staffs (Sticks)., and Physicians
Title from item., Printmaker supplied by curator., Date supplied by curator., Place of publication derived from street address., Published in Le Charivari, 5 November 1843., Above image: Les Malades et les Médecins. 23., This electronic record is derived from historic data and may not reflect our current information. Review and updating of records is ongoing., and Temporary local Medical Library subject terms: Nervous disorders.
Publisher:
Chez Pannier Editr. R. du Croissant, 16, Chez Aubert, Pl de la Bourse, 29., and Imp. d'Aubert & Cie
Subject (Topic):
Quacks and quackery, Therapeutics, Shopping, Theater, Spouses, and Physicians
Manuscript, in a single hand, of a letter from Mason to Horace Walpole, in which Mason writes that he has read Walpole's tragedic play, The Mysterious Mother, several times and has provided a sketch of alterations he believes necessary to improve the denouement. The list of alterations accompanies the letter, which consist of dialogic emendations at specific page and line numbers. At the end of the letter, a note signed by Walpole states his reasons against adopting Mason's suggestions, "because they woud totally have destroyed my Object."
Description:
William Mason (1724-1797) was a poet, editor, and gardener. In 1747, his poem "Musaeus, a Monody on the Death of Mr. Pope" was published to acclaim and quickly went through several editions. In 1775, he published the Poems of Mr Gray, a friend who was a great influence on his own work. Ten years later, William Pitt nominated him for the post of Poet Laureate, but he turned it down. Among Mason's other works are the historical tragedies Elfrida (1752) and Caractacus (1759), as well as a long poem on gardening, The English Garden (1772-1782). Indeed, Mason was an influential garden designer, designing several flower gardens for his friends and patrons, especially for Richard Hurd, Lord Jersey, and Lord Harcourt. In 1797 he fell and injured his leg while entering his carriage, and died several days later at his rectory in Aston., In English., Typed transcript available in object file., and For further information, consult library staff.
Subject (Geographic):
Great Britain
Subject (Name):
Mason, William, 1725-1797. and Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797.
Subject (Topic):
English drama (Tragedy), Family, Incest, Religion, and Theater
Caption title. and With the number "300" in black ink in upper right corner. For further information, consult library staff (object file: File 767 P69B Al452 1812 12/14+).
Publisher:
Davison, printer
Subject (Geographic):
England, Northumberland., and Northumberland (England)
