Guide to the San José State University Theater Arts Collection
MSS-2009-09-01
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
© 2009
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
special.collections@sjsu.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: San José State University Theater Arts Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MSS-2009-09-01
Physical Description:
6 boxes
(3.29 linear feet)
Date (inclusive): 1909-1982 (bulk 1945-1959)
Abstract: The San José State University Theater Arts Collection, 1909-1982 (bulk 1945-1959) documents theatrical plays and ballets arranged
and presented by the university's Speech and Drama Department. The departmental material consists of theater programs, photographs,
magazines, mailers, flyers, and various other print materials. Production material from the Spartan Revelries are available
as well. In addition, the collection includes materials from national and international opera, orchestra, ballet, and theater
productions.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright is assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission
to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives. Copyright restrictions may apply to digital reproductions of the
original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
San José State University Theater Arts Collection, MSS-2009-09-01, San José State University Library Special Collections &
Archives.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Silke Higgins.
Finding aid EAD encoded by Silke Higgins.
Reviewed by Danelle Moon and Erin Louthen.
Accruals were added to Series I, and collection housing was consolidated, by Stephanie Watson, June 2016.
Accurals were added to Series I, and the collection was reprocessed by Eilene Lueck, Febuary 2023.
Project Information
This finding aid was created as part of the Survey and Cataloging Project, a two-year San José State University Library grant
project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project began in 2008.The Project Director
is Danelle Moon. The Project Archivist is Erin Louthen.
Organizational History
In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers
in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California
State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San
José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed
the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed
in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes,
Minns' Normal School is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations,
and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.
The history of the San José State University Theater Arts Department is well documented by former professors Hugh Gillis and
Robert Jenkins. According to Gillis and Jenkins, while some of the first main stage plays on campus can be traced to the years
1898 and 1899, it was not until 1927 that the Speech Arts Department was formally founded by Dr. Thomas MacQuarrie, the sixteenth
president of the college. Initially chaired by Virginia Sanderson, the small department rapidly evolved. In 1936, the Speech
Arts Department, at that time headed by Elizabeth Jenks, was divided into two separate areas of speech and drama, which resulted
in growing enrollment numbers, especially after an upper division course for Radio Speaking was added to the curriculum. After
World War II, the Speech and Drama Department reached new heights with professionally arranged main stage plays, which were
sold to the public as an entire season. In the late 1940s a curriculum for Radio and Television was added, and the 1950s saw
the addition of a Master of Arts degree in Drama. The department is now known as the San José State University TV-Radio-Film-Theatre
Department, offering students a skilled learning environment that consistently arranges well-received productions, as well
as providing news and entertainment via its own campus radio station (KSJS-FM).
Scope and Content of Collection
The San José State University Theater Arts Collection, 1900-1988 (bulk 1950-1957) documents theatrical plays and ballets arranged
and presented by the university's Department of Speech and Drama. The collection consists of department theater programs,
production photographs, mailers, flyers, and posters. Materials for the preparations for the Spartan Revelries are available,
including scripts, schedules, and promotional materials. In addition, the collection includes materials from national and
international theater productions, such programs from opera and orchestral performances, souvenir theater and ballet programs,
and performing arts magazines.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series: Series I. Speech and Drama Department Production Materials, 1924-1982; and Series
II. National and International Theater Production Materials, 1909-1969.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ballet Programs
Theater Periodicals
College theater -- California -- San Jose
Education -- California -- San Jose
Education, Higher -- California -- San Jose
Theater Programs
Drama
San José State University -- History
San José State Teachers College -- History
San José State University -- Speech and Drama Dept
California State University, San José -- History
San José State Normal School -- History
San Jose State College
Series I. Speech and Drama Department Production Materials
1924-1982
1946-1959
Scope and Contents
The materials in this series document stage plays arranged and presented by the Speech and Drama Department produced over
a fifty-year time period. The files consist primarily of theater programs and photographs from the department and San Jose
Players' productions. Also included are select musical scores and scripts for the San José Spartan Revelries, as well as several
newsletters and festivity announcement fliers. Researchers interested in stage productions of the Speech and Drama Department
will find in this series a wealth of information about the plays, actors, productions, and main stage settings. Of special
value are the high-quality photographs documenting the productions, which beautifully enhance the printed materials.
Arrangement
This series is organized alphabetically by material type, then chronologically by date.
Box 1, Folder 2
Department of Speech and Drama Programs
1924, 1928
Box 1, Folder 3
Department of Speech and Drama Programs
1937-1941
Box 1, Folder 4
Department of Speech and Drama Programs
1941-1950
Box 1, Folder 5
Department of Speech and Drama Programs
1951-1959
Box 1, Folder 6
Department of Speech and Drama Programs
1960-1976
Box 1, Folder 7
Department of Speech and Drama Programs
undated
Box 1, Folder 8
Flyers, Mailers, and Posters
1948-1959
Box 1, Folder 9
Flyers, Mailers, and Posters
1960-1982
Box 1, Folder 10
Movie Series Schedule
1951
Box 1, Folder 11
Production Negatives and Contact Sheets
Box 1, Folder 12
Production Photographs
c. 1935, 1974
Box 1, Folder 13
Production Programs and Photographs (1 of 2)
1946-1947
Box 1, Folder 14
Production Programs and Photographs (2 of 2)
1946-1947
Box 1, Folder 15
Production Programs and Photographs
1947-1948
Box 1, Folder 16
Production Programs and Photographs
1948-1949
Box 1, Folder 17
Production Programs and Photographs
1949-1950
Box 1, Folder 18
Production Programs and Photographs
1950-1951
Box 1, Folder 19
Production Programs and Photographs
1951-1952
Box 1, Folder 20
Production Programs and Photographs
1952-1953
Box 1, Folder 21
Production Programs and Photographs
1953-1954
Box 1, Folder 22
Production Programs and Photographs
1954-1955
Box 1, Folder 23
Production Programs and Photographs
1955-1956
Box 2, Folder 1
Production Programs and Photographs
1956-1957
Box 2, Folder 2
Production Programs and Photographs (1 of 2)
1958-1959
Box 2, Folder 3
Production Programs and Photographs (2 of 2)
1958-1959
Box 2, Folder 4
Spartan Revelries B.M.O.C. Script
c. 1941
Box 2, Folder 5
Spartan Revelries Materials
1941
Series II. National and International Theater Production Materials
1909-1969
Scope and Contents
The materials in this series consist of national and international programs for ballet, orchestra, and theater performances,
as well as magazines on contemporary events in theater.
Individual programs and playbills were originally distributed during performances from various orchestras and ballets within
Bay Area. Programs featured in this sub-series from the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the University of California Greek
Theatre, and the Philharmonic Society of San Mateo County.
All magazines are late 1960s issues of
Curtain Call and
Performing Arts, the San Francisco Civic Light Opera and the American Conservatory Theater editions, respectively, of a magazine called
PLAYBILL, The Magazine for Theatregoers.
Souvenir ballet programs consist of the promotional material provided by individual ballet companies from the late 1930s to
early 1950s. Multiple issues cover the performances presented by these companies as they toured the United States and Europe.
Some souvenir programs include autographed copies.
The souvenir theater programs were part of the Department of Speech & Drama's library catalog. The booklets in this subseries
include synopsis of iconic plays, their creators, and the actors, who featured in major productions at the time, Audrey Hepburn
for example.
Arrangement
This series is divided into four sub-series based on type, then organized alphabetically.
Sub-series 1. Individual Orchestra and Ballet Programs
1909-1956
Box 6, Folder 9
Shakespeare Festival Programs and Publicity
1956
Sub-series 2. Magazines
1965-1968
Box 4, Folder 3
Performing Arts
1967-1968
Sub-series 3. Souvenir Ballet Programs
1935-1961
Box 4, Folder 4
American Ballet
1936-1937
Box 4, Folder 6
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
1936-1944
Box 4, Folder 7
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
1945-1951
Box 5, Folder 2
Billy Rose's Aquacade
1940
Box 5, Folder 5
International Ballet
1951-1952
Box 5, Folder 6
Jooss European Ballet
c. 1946
Box 5, Folder 7
Kathrine Dunham
1944-1950
Box 5, Folder 8
Leningrad Kirov Ballet
1961
Box 5, Folder 10
Moiseyev Dance Company from Moscow
1958
Box 5, Folder 11
Mordkin Ballet
1937, 1939
Box 5, Folder 12
Roland Petit's Ballets de Paris
1950-1951
Box 5, Folder 13
Ruth Page, Bently Stone Ballet
1950
Box 5, Folder 14
Sadler's Wells Theater Ballet
1950-1953
Box 5, Folder 15
Slavenska Franklin Ballet
1952-1953
Box 5, Folder 16
Trudi Schoop and her Comic Ballet
1935-1936
Box 5, Folder 17
Uday Shan-Kar and his Hindu Ballet
1938-1939
Sub-series 4. Souvenir Theater Programs
1926-1959
Box 5, Folder 18
Comédie-Française
1926-1930
Box 6, Folder 1
Souvenir Theater Programs A-B
c.1945-1955
Box 6, Folder 2
Souvenir Theater Programs C-F
C.1940-1959
Box 6, Folder 3
Souvenir Theater Programs G-H
c.1940-1950
Box 6, Folder 4
Souvenir Theater Programs K-L
c. 1954-1957
Box 6, Folder 5
Souvenir Theater Programs M-N
c.1926-1954
Box 6, Folder 6
Souvenir Theater Programs O-R
c. 1935-1950
Box 6, Folder 7
Souvenir Theater Programs S-T
c. 1947-1950
Box 6, Folder 8
Theatre National de L'Odéon
1927-1929
