A Guide to the Stratford Players Records, 1920-1983 UA 0029

A Guide to the Stratford Players Records, 1920-1983 UA 0029


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James Madison University Libraries Special Collections

880 Madison Drive
MSC 1704
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
Telephone: (540) 568-3612
library-special@jmu.edu
URL: https://www.lib.jmu.edu/special/

Sarah Roth-Mullet

Repository
James Madison University Libraries Special Collections
Identification
UA 0029
Title
Stratford Players Records 1920-1993
Quantity
1.82 cubic feet, 5 boxes
Language
English .
Abstract
The Stratford Players Records is comprised of record books, scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, rehearsal scripts, programs and playbills, and copies of yearbook pages, documenting the activities of the Stratford Players (formerly known as the Stratford Literary Society and the Stratford Dramatic Club), from 1914-1983.

Administrative Information

Use Restrictions

Copyright for materials authored or otherwise produced as official business of James Madison University is retained by James Madison University. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information, contact the Special Collections Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Access Restrictions

Collection open to research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Stratford Players Records, 1920-1983, UA 0029, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

The collection was placed on deposit by contract signed by Jane Rupp, then-president of the Stratford Players, on September 25, 1997. The program and playbill file weas added from a vertical file in May 2018.

Processing Information

The original finding aid was created in 1998 by Whitney Anne Naman, a theater student at James Madison University from 1994-1998, and assigned the collection number SP 98-0211. The finding aid was edited in June 2008 by Special Collections staff. In February 2018 the finding aid was revised, a new collection number was assigned, and the collection was updated to include record books and other materials originally held in collection SU 93-0031, "Students: Memorabilia and General."


Administrative History

The Stratford Literary Society was formed in 1914 when members of the Lanier and Lee Literary Societies at the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg joined to form an organization dedicated to the dramatic arts. At the time of founding, the organization's primary focus was on reading theatrical works. In 1919, the Stratford Literary Society was reconstituted to form the Stratford Dramatic Club, or Sigma Delta Chi, and began to hold yearly performances at the New Virginia Theater in downtown Harrisonburg. On April 4, 1950, the group changed its name to Stratford Players.

The Stratford Players – and theater in general – was initially an extracurricular activity, supervised by faculty in the English department. However, when the Department of Speech and Drama was established in 1966, the Stratford Players came under the direction of theater faculty. In 1986, the Department of Theatre and Dance was formed in the College of Fine Arts, where the Stratford Players is now housed. Though the Stratford Players is not independent from the Department of Theatre and Dance, its membership is open to majors and non-majors alike, and members have a voice in play selection and budget decisions.

The Stratford Players have had many faculty advisors over the years, including: James C. Johnston (1919-1921), Ruth Hudson (1921-1965), Argus Tressider (1935-1939), Leland Shubert (1939-1943), Ainslee Harris (1944-1945), Dr. Mary E. Lattimer (1946-1960), James O. Link (1960-1964), Nancy O'Hare (1964), and Horace Burr (1965-1973). In 1973, Stratford Players leadership changed from a single advisor to a team of faculty, which in the early 1970s, included Allen Lyndrup, Thomas L. King, Pam Johnson, Phil S. Grayson and Roger Hall.

Scope and Content

The Stratford Players Records is comprised of record books, scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, rehearsal scripts, and copies of yearbook pages, documenting the activities of the Stratford Players (formerly known as the Stratford Literary Society and the Stratford Dramatic Club), from 1914-1983.

The following plays are mentioned in the collection. This is not an exhaustive list, and it is advised to include a two-year margin of error when looking for information on a particular play. 1930 - BAB 1931 - When Grandma Pulls the Strings, Modesty, 1932-1933 - The Blossoming of Mary Anne, The Charm School 1936 - The Late Christopher Bean, Mrs. Pim Passes By 1937-1938 - Danse Macabre, The Maker of Dreams, Lady Luck, The Silver Cord 1938 - The Stolen Prince, My Lady Dreams, Rehearsal, The Torch Bearers, Every Woman 1937-1938 - The Ninth Guest, Glee Plays the Game 1939 - Sorority Phantom, I'll Leave it to You, The Fortune Teller 1939-1940 - Ladies in Waiting, Our Town 1940-1941 - Alls Well that Ends, What a Life, Love in the Curriculum 1941-1942 - Ladies in Retirement, Stage Door, Madison Follies of 1942 1942-1943 - The Princess Marries the Page, Alice Sit by the Fire 1944 - Brief Music 1945 - The Romantic Young Lady 1946 - The Clock, Lavender and Red Peppers, Shubert Alley 1947 - Fortinbras in Plain Clothes, Kind Lady 1948 - Ladies of the Jury, A Half Hour, Suppressed Desires, The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, Theatre of the Soul, Thank you, Doctor 1949 - Ice Bound, Taming of the Shrew 1950 - Dear Brutus, Fashion 1951 - Moor Born, Cheaper by the Dozen 1952 - Night Must Fall, Blithe Spirit 1953 - Taming of the Shrew, The Silver Whistle 1954 - The Night of January 16th, I Remember Mama 1955 - Suspect, Stage Door 1956 - Summer House, Bernardino, Outward Bound 1958 - Mary Stuart, Mary of Scotland, Arsenic and Old Lace, Theatre of the Soul, Chalk Garden 1960 - Our Town, Mad Woman of Chaillot 1961 - Diary of Anne Frank, Antigone, Summer and Smoke 1962 - Skin of Our Teeth, Everyman, The Birds, The House of Bernarda Alba, 1963 - USA 1964 - The Glass Menagerie, Measures Taken, Waiting for Godot, The Bald Soprano, The Maids 1965 - Death Takes a Holiday 1966 - Ways and Means 1967 - Rashoman, Prelude to a Tragedy, The Male Animal, Barefoot in the Park, All's Well That Ends Well, Idiot's Delight 1969 - Outward Bound, Three Sisters 1970 - Odd Couple, The Mad Woman of Challoit, Good News, How Green was my 10%, Dark of the Moon, The Hairy Falsetto, Tonight at 8:30 1971 - The Taming of the Shrew, The Rivals, Stop the World I Want to Get Off, Private Lives, Ten Nights in a Barroom 1972 - Lion in Winter, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Lysistrata, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running 1973 - The Boys in the Band, Our Town, Anna Christie, Lovers and Other Strangers, Plaza Suite 1974 - Cabaret, Blithe Spirit, Summer and Smoke, Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are Dead 1975 - King Lear, What the Butler Saw, The Drunkard, How to Succeed in Business without really Trying, Carnival, The Pursuit of Happiness, Pots, Pans, and the Piper, Hair, Comings and Goings 1976 - The Pursuit of Happiness, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Captain Jones of the Horse Marines, The Diary of Adam and Eve, Apple Tree, Come Sweet Death, One Man's Vision of a Dream, Boccaccio, The Wonder Hat, Hot L Baltimore, Skiddaddle Tales, Guys and Dolls, Death of a Salesman, The Rainmaker, In Performance 1977 - The Importance of Being Earnest, Woyzeck, Cinderella, A Delicate Balance, Twelfth Night, Endgame, Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Menachmi, Happy Birthday Wanda Jean, 1978 - Heracles, The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds, La Perichole, Mouse Trap, Bus Stop, Fancies, The Runner Stumbles, The Empty Cradle, Loot, Bump in the Night, Bables, The Sanguinery Chasm, A Man for All Seasons, Scapino, La Ronde 1979 - Of Mice and Men, Henry IV, Oklahoma, Down the Line, Fever 1980 - Black Comedy, Man of La Mancha, The Chalk Garden, Punch Henry's Jazz Funeral, Pendragon 1982-1983 - Macbeth, Marriage of Figaro, Knuckles, Bent, Shop Talk, Look Back in Anger, Out of the Reach of Children, Waiting for Godot, Taming of the Shrew, Lion in Winter, The Diviners, Comedy by Feiffer Allen, Living Fantasy, Bird Bath, Diary of Anne Frank, Hedda Gabler, Hay Fever, Wiley and the Hairy Man, Lone Star

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series. Series are arranged chronologically.

Administrative Files, 1920-1980 Photographs, 1920-1982

Subjects and Indexing Terms

  • Account books
  • College and school drama, American
  • Harrisonburg (Va.) -- History
  • James Madison University -- History
  • Letters (correspondence)
  • Madison College -- Students -- History
  • Membership lists
  • Minutes (administrative records)
  • Newspaper clippings
  • Performing arts
  • Photographs
  • Playbills
  • Scrapbooks
  • Scripts (documents)
  • State Normal and Industrial School for Women (Harrisonburg, Va.) -- History
  • State Teachers College at Harrisonburg (Harrisonburg, Va.) -- History
  • Theater

Bibliography

Smith, August, "JMU Centennial Celebration – The Stratford Players," James Madison University Centennial Celebration: Madison Century 1908-2008. Accessed February 5, 2018. https://www.jmu.edu/centennialcelebration/stratford.shtml.
Theater and Dance APR Self-Study, October 1996," Box 8, Academic Affairs: Academic Program Reviews, 1976 - present (bulk 1992 - present), UA 0002, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Container List

1
Administrative Files
1920-1983
Scope and Content

This series is comprised of materials that record the routine activities of the Stratford Players, and document its history. The record books include meeting minutes, agenda items, dues and accounting information, membership lists, itemized budget information, cast lists and various iterations of the organization's constitution.

The scrapbooks contain playbills, photographs, newspaper clippings and promotional material documenting performances that occurred in a given year. Scrapbook 1962-1963 contains photographs, programs, tickets, advertisements, show pictures, decorative masks, and a rehearsal schedule for the Glass Menagerie. Scrapbook 1967-1968 contains programs, show information, invitations, a map to a cast party, news clippings, photographs, letters, and information on accusations of violating campus regulations. Scrapbook 1970-1971 contains programs, articles, photographs, audition sheets, show posters, and show information. Scrapbook 1982-1983 contains labeled photographs, show information, programs, news articles, and posters.

The Bridges Scrapbook, 1932-1976, was created in 1978 by JMU student Steven R. Bridges, the chair of the Library Committee of the Stratford Players. It contains photographs, news clippings from The Breeze and the Daily News-Record, seasonal performance information, audition information, programs, posters, advertisements, and news letters from 1932-1976.

The news clippings and yearbooks files contain photocopies of articles about Stratford Players' performances and activities.

  • Mixed Materials [1000898587] box: 1 folder: 1
    Record book
    1920-1932
  • Mixed Materials [1000898587] box: 1 folder: 2
    Record book
    1932-1967
  • Mixed Materials [1000898587] box: 1 folder: 3
    Record book
    1966-1974
  • Mixed Materials [1000898587] box: 1 folder: 4
    Correspondence and papers
    1927-1936
  • Mixed Materials [1000898587] box: 1 folder: 5
    Correspondence
    1960
  • Mixed Materials [1000898587] box: 1 folder: 6
    Theater programs and playbills
    1931-1979
  • Mixed Materials [1000898587] box: 1 folder: 7
    Dinner Theater papers
    1980
  • Mixed Materials [1000898588] box: 2 folder: 1
    Scrapbook
    1962-1963
  • Mixed Materials [1000898588] box: 2 folder: 2
    Scrapbook
    1965-1968
  • Mixed Materials [1000898588] box: 2 folder: 3
    Scrapbook
    1970-1971
  • Mixed Materials [1000898588] box: 2 folder: 4
    Scrapbook
    1982-1985
  • Mixed Materials [1000898589] box: 3 folder: 1
    Bridges Scrapbook
    1932-1963
  • Mixed Materials [1000898589] box: 3 folder: 2
    Bridges Scrapbook
    1963-1970
  • Mixed Materials [1000898589] box: 3 folder: 3
    Bridges Scrapbook
    1970-1973
  • Mixed Materials [1000898589] box: 3 folder: 4
    Bridges Scrapbook
    1973-1974
  • Mixed Materials [1000898589] box: 3 folder: 5
    Bridges Scrapbook
    1974-1976
  • Mixed Materials [1000898589] box: 3 folder: 6
    Policy Book
    1975
  • Mixed Materials [1000898589] box: 3 folder: 7
    Rehearsal Script, Pendragon Institute
    1980
  • Mixed Materials [1000898589] box: 3 folder: 8
    Rehearsal Script, Wait Until Dark
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 1
    Yearbook clippings
    1914-1978
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 2
    Newspaper clippings
    1935-1937
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 3
    Newspaper clippings
    1960
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 4
    Newspaper clippings
    1970-1976
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 5
    Newspaper clippings
    1977
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 6
    Newspaper clippings
    1978
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 7
    Newspaper clippings
    1979-1980
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 8
    Children's Theater newspaper clippings
    1975-1980
  • Mixed Materials [1000898590] box: 4 folder: 9
    Dinner Theater newspaper clippings
    1977-1980
2
Photographs
1920-1983
Scope and Contents

The photographs document Stratford Players' performance preparation and events.

  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 1
    Photographs
    undated
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 2
    Photographs
    1962-1963
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 3
    Photographs (5x7)
    1968
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 4
    Photographs (8x10)
    1968
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 5
    Photographs, Oliver (8x10)
    1969
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 6
    Contact Sheets
    1969
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 7
    Photographs (8x10) (folder 1 of 2)
    1970
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 8
    Photographs (8x10) (folder 1 of 2)
    1970
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 9
    Photographs (5x7, 8x10)
    1971
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 10
    Photographs
    1973
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 11
    Photographs (B&W, color)
    1974-1976
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 12
    Photographs (6x9)
    1976
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 13
    Photographs (8x10)
    1976-1977
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 14
    Photographs
    1977
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 15
    Photographs (8x10)
    1978
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 16
    Photographs (8x10)
    1979
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 17
    Photographs, Man of La Mancha (8x10)
    1980
  • Mixed Materials [1000898591] box: 5 folder: 18
    Photographs (8x10, 5x7)
    1982
  • Mixed Materials [1000898588] box: 2 folder: 5
    Photographs Death of a Salesman
    1976