Table of Contents
- Collection Summary
- Administrative History
- Scope and Content Note
- Subject Headings
- Related Material
- Administrative Information
- Access and Use
- Encoding Information
- Series List
- Container List
Collection Summary
Repository: | Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries |
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Creator: | Vassar College. Department of Drama |
Title: | Vassar College Drama Department Records |
Dates: | circa 1910-2021 |
Quantity: | 72.5 cubic feet (106 boxes), 2 framed items |
Abstract: | Material documenting the history of the Vassar College Drama Department and its many components and programs (including the Experimental Theatre). Includes programs, news clippings, production material, photographs, negatives, slides, and film. |
Administrative History
The Vassar College Experimental Theatre was founded in 1925 by Hallie Flanagan Davis as a program of the English Department, and later became part of the Drama Department when it was founded in 1938. The predecessors of the Experimental Theatre included the Vassar Dramatic Workshop and the Vassar Players.
TopScope and Content Note
Programs, news clippings, production material, photographs, slides, and negatives documenting the history of the Vassar College Drama Department and its many components and programs (including the Experimental Theatre) from about 1910-2021.
TopAccess and Use
Access
Boxes 48, 96, 104, and 105 contain restricted material. Please contact the Archives and Special Collections staff for more information. The rest of the collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.
Subject Headings
Names:
- Flanagan, Hallie, 1890-1969
Organizations:
- Experimental Theatre of Vassar College
Subjects:
- College theater
- Performing arts--New York (State)--Poughkeepsie
- Theater--Study and teaching
Document Types:
- Audiovisual materials
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Drawings (visual works)
- Negatives
- Open reel audiotapes
- Open reel videotapes
- Photographs
- Scripts
- Sheet music
- Slides
VCL Categories:
- Vassar College Academic Departments and Programs
Encoding Information
Original encoding by Elizabeth Clarke, April 2007. Updated by Emma Gronbeck, October 2025.
TopAdministrative Information
Preferred Citation
Vassar College Drama Department Records, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Processing Information
Collection processed April 2005 by Laura Streett. Updated in 2018 by Janine St. Germaine (added boxes 62-83).
Production files from 1980-1993 (A2020-003 and A2024-027) were integrated into Boxes 52-58.
Remaining files from A2024-027 were added to Boxes 84-106.
Acquisition Information
Transferred in several accessions, 2008-2024. (A2008-019, A2009-048, A2013-025, A2014-030, A2018-017, A2018-018, A2020-003, A2024-027)
The records of Martin Fallon, technician and then an instructor in stage management for the Drama Department from approximately 1936-1944, were added to the collection in 2010, a gift of Charles D. Fallon (A2010-009).
The 2011 accession included photographs presumed to have been taken by Raymon Traver.
Series List
Series I. Administrative Files, circa 1916-2021 | |
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Programs, news clippings, promotional material, and other records relating to the Experimental Theatre and its productions as well as miscellaneous Drama Department files. | |
Organized into two subseries: Subject Files; and Events, Publicity, and Drama Major Projects. Subject Files are arranged in box number order and Events, Publicity, and Drama Major Projects is arranged chronologically. |
Series II. Miscellaneous Student Papers and Theses, 1930-1973 | |
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An incomplete set of student papers completed for various Drama Department classes. | |
*Please note: Some Drama Department theses have been cataloged separately and can be accessed via the Vassar College Libraries Online Catalog. |
Series III. Experimental Theatre Visual Materials, 1925-1979 | |
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This series contains photographic materials of productions of the Vassar Experimental Theatre, including lantern slides, negatives, and photographs. | |
Organized into three subseries by format. | |
Lantern Slides, 1931, 1937 | |
Two sets of slides used in the Experimental Theatre productions, Can You Hear Their Voices (1931) and One-Third of a Nation (1937). | |
Negatives, 1925-1942 | |
Mostly 4"x5" negatives on cellulose acetate "Safety" film. Some are deteriorating and/or brittle and may not be available for duplication. | |
Photographs, 1925-1979 | |
Photographs housed according to size, then in chronological order. | |
Boxes 10-21 and 68-79 contain 8" x 10" and smaller photographs | |
Boxes 4-5 contain 14" x 18" and smaller photographs | |
Boxes 22-24 contain 16" x 20" photographs | |
Items housed in map cases are approximately 12" x 48" | |
Only some of the photos in Box 25 are signed by Raymon Traver, but it is possible that all of them were taken by him. | |
There are additional photographs in the production files housed in boxes 59 and 60 (A2013-025), as well as boxes 84-95. |
Series IV. Drama Department Slides, 1944-1991 | |
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Four slide boxes within a larger box. Includes a set of numbered slides (with some numbers missing) of productions dating from 1944-1960. Also includes assorted undated slides from later accessions. |
Series V. Drama Department Audio and Film Reels, 1961-1971 | |
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A small set of film and audio reels from miscellaneous productions. |
Series VI. Drama Department Production Material, circa 1910-2008 | |
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Scripts, prompt books, costume and set designs, photographs, video recordings, and publicity materials for theatrical productions, including Experimental Theatre productions, Hall productions, senior theses*, and class projects. There is also a small collection of musical scores as well as the state management records of Martin Fallon, as well as other production scrapbooks, unsorted photographs, and miscellaneous materials. Boxes 59 and 60 include programs, correspondence, photographs and other materials relating to productions dating from 1915-1949. | |
*Please note: Some Drama Department theses have been cataloged separately and can be accessed via the Vassar College Libraries Online Catalog. | |
Organized into three subseries: Production Files, Stage Management Files, and Miscellaneous. Production Files and Stage Management Files are arranged chronologically. Miscellaneous files are arranged roughly in alphabetical order. |
Series VII. Drama Major Files, 1953-1999 [RESTRICTED] | |
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Files on Drama Department majors from each graduating class. | |
Arranged chronologically. |
Container List
Return to the Table of Contents
Details
Material documenting the history of the Vassar College Drama Department and its many components and programs (including the Experimental Theatre). Includes programs, news clippings, production material, photographs, negatives, slides, and film.