Theresa Helburn collection
Scope and Contents
The Theresa Helburn Theater Collection includes over 1400 photographs, 160 playscripts, 139 ground plans, 171 theater programs, and numerous advertisements and other theatrical ephemera. Helburn donated these materials to the College shortly before her death in 1959.
The 1417 photographs are housed in 18 boxes in the Art and Artifact Collection. The majority of the photographs relate to Helburn's work as producer of the Theatre Guild, while a small portion are her personal collection of commercial portraits of actors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The collection includes the work of noted theatrical photographers such as Francis Bruguière, Joseph Abeles, Leo Friedman, Luther White, and particularly Florence and Tommy Vandamm. Most of the photographs are publicity shots 8" x 10" or larger. Studio portraits of actors, in and out of costume, and production photographs taken on stage are both well represented.
The non-photographic materials in the collection are housed in 26 boxes in the manuscripts collection. The plays in the collection are typescripts; some are worn with age and use, but many contain marginal notes, cuts to the text, information about cues, or other technical information about the production process. These technical documents range from cue lists, to costume, prop, or lighting inventories, to music lyrics, to directions for the placement of props and scenery. Some scripts are for plays which the Theatre Guild did not produce. The stage plans are typically blueprints drawn in 1/4" scale for the information of general production staff; they do not typically include detailed information about materials or dimensions. The programs, advertisements, and other ephemera vary in size and style.
Dates
- Creation: 1900s
Creator
- Helburn, Theresa (Author, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Theresa Helburn Collection is the physical property of Bryn Mawr College. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the original photographers, authors, and creators or their legal heirs and assigns.
Biographical / Historical
Bryn Mawr alumna Theresa Helburn (B.A. 1908) had a long and distinguished career behind the scenes on Broadway, and also made important contributions to the professions of film and television from the 1930s to the 1950s. From a very young age Helburn had literary aspirations and a particular inclination for drama. She found her true artistic calling, however, as a producer with New York's Theatre Guild. Involved from the Guild's foundation in 1919, Helburn served first as a literary manager and then as casting director and eventually became (along with Lawrence Langner) a co-producer. The Theatre Guild specialized in bringing the highest-quality drama of Europe and America to Broadway stages. Breaking away from the common practice of single-ticket sales and productions built around famous stars, the Theatre Guild built a large and loyal season subscription audience as well as establishing enduring relationships with renowned playwrights such as Bernard Shaw and Eugene O'Neill, as well as the actors Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, among many other notable names.
Helburn's responsibilities were wide-ranging, including everything from vetting scripts, to casting plays, to fund-raising, to leading advertising and marketing campaigns. In 1925, just six short years from the establishment of the production company, she presided over the ground breaking ceremony for the new Guild Theatre. In the early 1930s, she worked briefly in Hollywood, and maintained strong ties with the film and television industries until the time of her death, although her first love was always, and would remain, the live theater.
Extent
14 linear ft.
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Bryn Mawr alumna Theresa Helburn (B.A. 1908) had a long and distinguished career behind the scenes on Broadway, and made important contributions to the professions of film and television from the 1930s to the 1950s. As a producer with New York's Theatre Guild from 1919, Helburn served as a literary manager and casting director, before becoming a co-producer, with Lawrence Langner. The Theatre Guild specialized in bringing the highest-quality drama of Europe and America to Broadway stages. Helburn's responsibilities were wide-ranging, including everything from vetting scripts, to casting plays, to fund-raising, to leading advertising and marketing campaigns. The Theresa Helburn Theater Collection includes over 1400 photographs, 160 playscripts, 139 ground plans, 171 theater programs, and numerous advertisements and other theatrical ephemera. Most of the photographs relate to Helburn's work as producer of the Theatre Guild, while a small portion are her personal collection of commercial portraits of actors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The non-photographic materials include typescripts, technical documents, and stage plans. The programs, advertisements, and other ephemera vary in size and style.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The materials in this collection were given to the College between 1957 and 1960 by alumna Theresa Helburn (B.A. 1908) and her estate. She acquired the majority of its materials during the course of her work with the Theatre Guild, a Broadway production company.
Subject
- Andreyev, Leonid (Person)
- Anderson, Maxwell (Person)
- Title
- Theresa Helburn collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Christa Williford, Melissa Torquato
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Find It at the Library
Most of the materials in this catalog are not digitized and can only be accessed in person. Please see our website for more information about visiting or requesting repoductions from Bryn Mawr College Library
Bryn Mawr College Library
101 N. Merion Avenue
Bryn Mawr 19010 USA US
610-526-6576
SpecColl@brynmawr.edu
