Messetti (Vivian) Papers, 1924-1949

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Summary

Title:
Vivian Messetti Papers
Dates:
1924-1949
Abstract:
Henrique Vivian Messetti was an intersex person who was a writer, performer, and member of a vaudeville-circus family active during the 1920s-1940s. The papers, which span the years 1929-1949, contain correspondence, scripts, and other production materials relating to the activities of a traveling California vaudeville-circus family. They document three successive road show companies: Messett's Great Road Show, Little Eva's Temptation Company, and F. A. Cunningham's Kick High Musical Review.
Extent:
1.8 linear feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Vivian Messetti Papers, D-197, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains correspondence, other writings, clipped articles, and ephemera pertaining to Henrique Vivian Messetti's activities between 1924-1949.

Biographical / historical:

Henrique Vivian Messetti was born on September 5, 1918, in Spain, where her parents were performing. Upon the family's return to the United States, Los Angeles became their permanent residence. Messetti began appearing on the stage at the age of four. Most of her work was in vaudeville/circus productions although she also claimed to have performed in a few motion picture serials. In later years she dropped her first name while continuing to perform as a female impersonator. She was with, among others, the touring Messett's Great Road Show, Little Eva's Temptation Company, and F.A. Cunningham's Kick High Musical Circus.

Female impersonation was an art form that in America emerged from popular minstrel shows of the mid-nineteenth century where white men employed racist stereotypes to perform gender impersonations of Black people, both male and female. Gender impersonation flourished from 1890 to World War I, and as its popularity declined in the early twentieth century, female impersonators took their acts to the vaudeville stage.

Sources

Slide, Anthony. Great Pretenders: A History of Female and Male Impersonation in the Performing Arts. Wallace-Homestead Book Company, 1987.

Acquisition information:
Special Collections purchased this collection from Carolyn Kaplan in 1975.
Processing information:

Processed by Rebecca L. Wendt in 2001. EAD finding aid created by Sara Gunasekara with assistance from Jared Campbell and Jim Sylva in 2004. Reparative metadata description completed by Michelle Trujillo in 2026.

Collection title was changed from "Henrique Vivian Messetti Papers" to "Vivian Messetti Papers" to align with Messetti dropping use of her former first name (or, deadname). However, use of "Henrique" was retained within notes and descriptions to aid in historical research, as it's unclear whether Messetti used "Vivian" as her primary name and in what contexts, other records of her life use her former name, and she is deceased.

Implemented the use of she/her pronouns when referring to Messetti in order to match her usage and respect her linguistic authority (see "A Little of My Life," 1959, Digital Transgender Archive).

Retained use of "female impersonator" as it refers to a specific art form during a certain period of time and it was also one of Messetti's modes of employment. See Biographical Narrative.

Contextual information and reparative description was completed in consultation with Director and Assistant Director of the Digital Transgender Archive in 2025, who are affiliated with the Digital Transgender Harm Reduction Guide and Homosaurus: An International LGBTQ+ Linked Data Vocabulary. Consultation established that we were not conflating transgender people with intersex people. A statement of harmful content note was also added regarding use of language that was retained.

We acknowledge that some materials presented in our collections may reflect views that are considered outdated, biased or offensive today. Although some of these materials may be difficult to encounter, we believe it is important to document history without censorship, so that students and scholars can reflect on and learn from the past. The library's stewardship and preservation of the breadth of the historical record does not imply support for any views expressed therein.

Arrangement:

Organized into six series: 1. Correspondence, 2. Works, 3. Scripts, 4. Clippings, 5. Ephemera, 6. Posters

Physical location:
This collection is stored off-site at the Northern Regional Library Facility. Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections in advance

About this collection guide

Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-05-12 16:39:54 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Vivian Messetti Papers, D-197, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library
100 NW Quad
Davis, CA 95616-5292, US
Contact:
(530) 752-1621
speccoll@ucdavis.edu
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