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Title: Chic Courter
Collection
Date: 1868-1971
Date (bulk):
(bulk 1955-1963)
Collection number: P 104
Creator:
Courter, Chic
Extent:
2 linear feet, including 152 photographs and 6 artifacts
Repository:
Roseville Public Library History Collection
Roseville, California
Abstract:
Chic Courter was born on April 24, 1889 in San Miguel, San Luis Obispo
County, California. In 1940 Courter joined the staff of the Roseville Press which later
merged with the Roseville Tribune and Register to become the Roseville Press-Tribune.
In 1948 he organized the Roseville Little Theater Guild. The next year the Spotliters
theater group formed and in 1953 the two groups merged into the Roseville Civic
Repertory Theatre under the sponsorship of the City of Roseville Recreation Department.
The Chic Courter Collection is arranged in nine series: 1. Correspondence,
2. Diaries, 3. Ephemera, 4. Financial Documents, 5. Meeting Records, 6. Literary
Productions, 7. Publications, 8. Photographic Material, and 9. Realia. Items span the
years 1868 to 1971, with the bulk of the items dating from 1955 to 1963.
Physical location: Roseville Public Library
Languages: Languages represented in this collection:
English
Collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish, please consult Roseville Public Library History
Collection staff. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the
Roseville Public Library History Collection, Roseville, as the owner of the physical items.
The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement that may arise from
reproduction or publication of materials from the Roseville Public Library History Collection.
[Identification of item], Chic Courter Collection, P 104: [box: folder number],
Roseville Public Library, History Collection, Roseville, California.
Chic Courter's daughter Carola Borden donated this collection in 1980.
Lola Aguilar processed this collection and created its finding aid in 2007.
Charles R. "Chic" Courter was born on April 24, 1889 in San Miguel, San Luis Obispo
County, California to John P. and Mary Courter. He had two older brothers, Wilkie and
John. His father worked as a merchant, businessman, and as postmaster for San Miguel.
In January 1906, at the age of seventeen, Courter left San Miguel for San Francisco
where he worked in the shipping department of a department store until the earthquake
and fire destroyed the city. He then worked as a sign painter, at a music company, as a
streetcar conductor, and as a vaudeville piano player in Oakland until he joined a
traveling medicine show. The show included vaudeville acts and traveled primarily
throughout the smaller cities of California in order to avoid paying license fees. It was
while traveling through the town of Lindsay in Tulare County in 1911 that Courter, then
twenty-one years old, met his future wife, sixteen year old Edith M. Jack. The couple had
six children, Cathryn, Raymond, Dorothy, Ivy Eileen, Robert, and Edith Patricia.
After a couple of years of traveling with the medicine show, Courter changed professions
when he accepted a job as a reporter for a start-up newspaper in Burlingame, where his
brother John worked as a printer. He gained valuable experience in Burlingame and soon
accepted a position as the city editor of the San Mateo Times. During this time, Courter
continued his interest in show business, when he organized local theater groups. By 1930
Courter and Edith were divorced. He then married Pauline Gilbert and in 1934 they had a
daughter, Carola. Several newspaper jobs followed until 1936 when he moved to Roseville
to work for the Roseville Tribune and Register. In 1940 Courter joined the staff of the
Roseville Press which later merged with the Roseville Tribune and Register to become the
Roseville Press-Tribune.
Courter wrote a daily column, the Chowder Kettle, and served as sports editor for the
Roseville Press-Tribune until he retired in 1965. He also promoted local baseball and
supported the City of Roseville Recreation Department as a softball announcer and
official scorekeeper.
His contact with the Recreation Dept. led to a request from the recreation director that
Courter organize a local amateur theater group. In 1948 he organized the Roseville Little
Theater Guild. The next year the Spotliters theater group formed and in 1953 the two
groups merged into the Roseville Civic Repertory Theatre under the sponsorship of the
City of Roseville Recreation Department. The group soon dropped Repertory from
its name. The group performed at the Veterans Memorial Hall, the Parent-Teacher
Building at Roseville Union High School, and the Atlantic Street School until the city
built a new recreation building in Royer Park in 1960.
Chic Courter died on February 1, 1980 at the Eskaton Manzanita Manor in
Carmichael, California.
The Chic Courter Collection is arranged in nine series: 1. Correspondence,
2. Diaries, 3. Ephemera, 4. Financial Documents, 5. Meeting Records, 6. Literary
Productions, 7. Publications, 8. Photographic Material, and 9. Realia. Items span the
years 1868 to 1971, with the bulk of the items dating from 1955 to 1963.
The first series, Correspondence, which consists of one file folder, is arranged
chronologically and includes postcards, greeting cards, and letters. One letter is from
Congressman Harold T. "Bizz" Johnson. Series two, Diaries, consists of one file folder
and includes Courter's personal diary. The third series, Ephemera, consists of two file
folders and is divided into two subseries: Programs and Flyers. Both subseries are
arranged chronologically and include items from the Roseville Civic Theatre. The fourth
series, Financial Documents consist of one file folder and includes only five years of the
Roseville Civic Theatre's account records. Series five, Meeting Records, is arranged
chronologically and consists of one file folder and includes the minutes of the Roseville
Civic Theatre. Series six, Literary Productions, is arranged alphabetically and consists of
one file folder and contains several play manuscripts, including an original play written
by Courter.
The seventh series, Publications, consists of one file folder and includes news releases,
magazine and newspaper clippings, the majority undated. Series eight, Photographic
Material, consists of forty-three file folders and is divided into two sub series:
Photographs and Negatives. Although several photographs are of Courter, most of the
photographs and negatives are of Roseville Civic Theatre plays and of cast members. The
play photographs are arranged chronologically. Series nine, Realia, consists of one box
and includes artifacts from Courter's years directing and acting in theater and his
involvement with local baseball.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Courter, Chic
Courter, Charles R.
Roseville (Calif.)
Amateur theater
Newspaper editors
Repertory theater
Roseville Civic Theatre
Roseville Press Tribune
William Birdsall Collection, P 117
Mrs. Mel (Carola) Borden Collection, P 115