George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library, MS2FLElizabeth Beckman
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Porgy and Bess letter from James Tipton, C0289, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Purchased by the Special Collections Research Center in 2015.
Processing completed by Elizabeth Beckman in June 2016. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in June 2016. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in November 2022.
George Gershwin's iconic opera "Porgy and Bess" debuted in 1935. The work, set in a Black community in coastal South Carolina, chronicles the turbulent relationship between the titular characters. James Standifer notes that "it wasn't until World War II that 'Porgy' found financial success in a production by Cheryl Crawford." Presumably this is the revival that James Tipton saw in 1942.
The collection consists of a short postcard from James Tipton to his parents, Rev. and Mrs. E.H. Tipton of Nebraska, briefly describing his experience seeing George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" in New York City while at school. The letter is dated February 12, 1942.
This is a single item collection.
Standifer, James. "The Tumultuous Life of Porgy and Bess." Humanities 18, no. 6 (November/December 1997).