Lowell Davies Papers MS-0046
James Kenneth White and Bill Payne
Special Collections & University Archives
04/08/2008
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA 92182-8050
askscua@sdsu.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & University Archives
Title: Lowell Davies Papers
Creator:
Davies, Lowell (Robert Lowell Davies)
Identifier/Call Number: MS-0046
Physical Description:
7.50 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1911-1988
Language of Material:
English
.
Scope and Contents
The Lowell Davies Papers consist of correspondence, organizational documents, architectural records, financial records, meeting
minutes, committee reports, programs, publications, newspaper and magazine clippings, publicity announcement, and photographs.
The collection measures 7.5 linear feet and spans the period from 1911 to 1988. The materials in this collection pertain to
the production and physical history of the San Diego Old Globe Theatre (San Diego Community Theatre), including Falstaff Tavern
(Cassius Carter Center Stage).
Series I: Administrative (1937-1987 and not dated) contains Old Globe Theatre building renovation and organizational records, bills and receipts,
board nomination and committee lists, contracts, Lowell Davies's personal records, proposals, pamphlets regarding Summer Theatre
workshop courses at San Diego State College, and records of the Shakespearean Scholarship Fund. The building renovation records
consist of architectural plans documenting renovations to the Old Globe Theatre and are stored separately in a flat file drawer.
The personal records include the text of a letter written by attorney and Shakespearean scholar Cassius Carter to the editor
of the San Diego Sun, dated 1905; in the letter Carter laments low local theatre attendance at a performance he had attended.
Carter's son Armistead Carter sent the text to Lowell Davies in 1968, who responded with a brief note. Additionally, these
records include a letter to the editor of the San Diego Union, dated 1950, and related data sheet by a local resident who
was advocating against the use of Balboa Park as a site for a 1953 exposition, and an undated article by A. Carl Messenger
on how to build an audience for performing arts events.
Series II: Atlas Awards (1949-1970) contains financial reports, committee lists, agendas, program announcements, invitations, and award nominations
all pertaining to the annual Atlas Awards presentation.
Series III: Correspondence (1942-1971 and not dated) consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence, and internal memoranda pertaining to the Old
Globe Theatre. It also contains several items of Lowell Davies's personal correspondence, along with handwritten and typewritten
notes. Included in this series are several notes and letters from a variety of prominent San Diego personalities such as actor
Dennis Hopper, former Mayor of San Diego and Governor of California Pete Wilson, actor and director Craig Noel, pioneer San
Diego retailer George A. Scott, major contributor to the Old Globe Armistead B. Carter, and San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper
columnist and editor Neil Morgan.
Series IV: Minutes (1945-1988) contains minutes of the meetings of the Old Globe Boards of Directors, Executive Committees, Children's Summer
Theatre Advisory Board, Civic Committee, Globe Guilders, National Shakespeare Festival Committees, and other Old Globe-related
organizations.
Series V: Productions ([1935]-1971 and not dated) contains play programs from the Cassius Carter Centre Stage, Falstaff Tavern, and Old Globe Theatres.
Duplicates of selected programs were retained because they include annotations that were presumably written by Lowell Davies.
The series also contains fashion show programs sponsored by the Globe Guilders, and production material and literature from
other San Diego theatres.
Series VI: Publications and other writings (1945-1980 and not dated) contains various Old Globe Theatre newsletters such as
The Busker Curtain Call,
Globaloney,
The Globe Greeter, and
Stage Struck, as well as Shakespeare Festival publications. It contains other regional, national, and international theatre publications,
such as
San Diego State Theatre Newsletter,
On Stage Magazine,
American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy, and
Danish Foreign Office Journal.
Series VII: Publicity (1948-1988 and not dated) consists of magazine and newspaper articles pertaining to the Old Globe Theatre; Old Globe membership
and contributors' lists; scripts; and flyers, pamphlets, and other forms of solicitation.
Series VIII: Reports (1948-1977 and not dated) contains Old Globe Theatre finance and treasury reports, as well as reports from the Art Center
in La Jolla.
Series IX: Photographs (1911-1957 and not dated) contains black and white photographs of Lowell Davies and one photograph of actor and director
N. H. Holland.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with
the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections
is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be
submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
Source of Acquisition
Darlene Gould Davies
Accruals and Additions
1987-001
Related Materials
Old Globe Theatre Records
Old Globe Theatre Photograph Collection
Darlene Gould Davies Papers
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, folder title, box number, Lowell Davies Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, San Diego
State University Library.
Biographical Note
Robert Lowell Davies (known as Lowell Davies) was born in 1895 in New Almaden, California (near San Jose). Young Davies, the
son of a miner, first attended elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse near Mariposa, but his father's continual search
for the mother lode kept the family on the move from one Sierra Nevada mountain town to another.
As a child, Davies enjoyed theatre and once stated that he would sometimes play "hooky" from classes on Friday afternoons
so that he could go see a play. Times were lean for Davies's family, and at the age of 13 he had to quit school in order to
help support himself. He worked a number of odd jobs in the northern California area during this period, such as running errands
for a pharmaceutical company and working in a curio shop. He learned how to type and to take shorthand. Although Davies never
graduated, he began high school in San Francisco.
Davies eventually joined the Field Artillery branch of the U.S. Army in 1917, and was stationed at Fort Rosecrans in San Diego
until his discharge in 1920. Soon after leaving the Army, he found work as the secretary to newspaper magnate, E.W. Scripps.
Davies would later give credit to Scripps for instilling in him the desire and motivation to earn a college degree.
Getting into college, however, was not an easy task for Davies as he had not graduated from high school. Davies eventually
did make-up those deficiencies earning all A's, and graduating Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, Davies entered Boalt Hall
School of Law. He passed the bar examination in 1927 and returned to San Diego where he began practicing law as the Chula
Vista City Attorney (San Diego County). On October 28, 1929 he married Ethelind Thompson. They later had four children.
Davies worked for the city until the late 1930s when he began his private law practice, but he continued to hold onto his
love of theatre. He once commented that he would often take the bus to see a show put on by an amateur troupe—known as The
Barn Players—at the original Old Globe Theatre. In fact it was a chance encounter at the theatre one day that inspired Davies's
long-time professional association with the organization. In 1937 one of the actors, who knew of Davies's law practice, asked
him if he would come to the group's Board meetings and offer them sorely needed legal advice. Davies signed on as an advisor
until he was elected to the Board in 1939 and then to the presidency in 1945.
During his involvement with the Old Globe Theatre, Davies was credited with organizing the Globe 400, a group of patrons whose
donations provided a scholarship fund to assist promising amateur actors. He also established the annual Old Globe's Summer
Shakespeare Festival. During the summer of 1949, Davies arranged for the world-renowned Shakespearean director, B. Iden Payne,
to direct plays at the Old Globe. This was the beginning of a collaboration that lasted for many years.
In 1960, Davies was appointed by President Eisenhower to his Advisory Committee on the Arts for the National Cultural Center,
later named the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C. President Kennedy later re-appointed Davies to this Committee. In 1967,
Davies was appointed, by then Governor Ronald Reagan, to the California Arts Commission where he served for eight years—one
as the commission's chairman. He was a former director of the County Farm Bureau, co-founder of the Combined Arts and Education
Council of San Diego County, former director of the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce, and a charter member of the American
Legion Post #6.
Davies retired from the Old Globe's Board of Directors in 1976 and was elected to the newly created position of Chairman of
the Board. On April 8, 1979, he married Darlene Gould. In January 1983, he was named Honorary Life Chairman. Lowell Davies
passed away three months later on April 29, at the age of 87. He had given 43 years of service to the Old Globe Theatre. In
1985, the outdoor Festival Stage, which had been destroyed by arson fire in 1984, was rebuilt and renamed the Lowell Davies
Festival Stage. One of three venues within the theatre complex, the Festival Stage operates only during the Summer Shakespeare
Festival season.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Theaters--California--San Diego
Theaters--California--San Diego--History
Personal Papers
Photographs
Davies, Lowell, 1895-1983
Noel, Craig
Cassius Carter Centre Stage (San Diego, Calif.)
Old Globe Theatre (San Diego, Calif.)
box 1
Administrative Files Series 1
1937-1987
box 1, folder 1
Bills and receipts Folder 1
1947-1960
box 1, folder 2
Board of Directors nominatinos, committee lists and appointments Folder 2
1950-1987
box 1, folder 3
Building renovation records [Oversized records filed in Flat File 2, Drawer 1] Folder 3
1961-1970
box 1, folder 4
Contracts and permits Folder 4
1947-1964
box 1, folder 5
Municipal codes pertinent to Old Globe Theatre operations Folder 5
1953-1954
box 1, folder 6
Organizational records - articles of incorporation and amendments - La Jolla - San Diego County Theatre and Arts Foundation Folder 6
box 1, folder 7
Organizational records - articles of incorporation and amendments - Old Globe Theatre Folder 7
1937-1959
box 1, folder 8
Organizational records - Bylaws and amendments - Globe Guilders Folder 8
box 1, folder 9
Organizational records - Bylaws and amendments - Old Globe Theatre (San Diego Community Theatre, scattered) Folder 9
1937-1986
box 1, folder 10
Organizational records - Bylaws and amendments - Junior Theatre Wing Folder 10
1951
box 1, folder 11
Organizational records - Historical background Folder 11
circa 1940s, 1961
box 1, folder 12
Organizational records - Organizational chart and list of staff responsibilities Folder 12
box 1, folder 13
Personal records - Advocacy letters and articles Folder 13
1950, 1968
box 1, folder 14
Personal records - Award certificate Folder 14
1957
box 1, folder 15
Personal records - Record of hours worked Folder 15
1949-1950, 1960
box 1, folder 16
Proposals - American Music and Arts Festival Folder 16
1954
box 1, folder 17
Proposals - Public relations Folder 17
1958
box 1, folder 18
San Diego State College Summer Theatre workshop courses Folder 18
1949-1951
box 1, folder 19
Shakespearean Scholarship Fund records Folder 19
box 1
Atlas Awards Series 2
1949-1970
box 1, folder 20
Agendas Folder 20
1950-1964
box 1, folder 21
Award nominations Folder 21
1949-1969
box 1, folder 22
Financial report Folder 22
1960
box 1, folder 23
Nominating Committee rosters and lists Folder 23
1951-1970
box 1, folder 24
Program announcements Folder 24
1958-1970
Correspondence Series 3
1942-1971
box 1, folder 25
Incoming Folder 25
1942-1946
box 1, folder 26
Incoming Folder 26
1947-1948
box 1, folder 27
Incoming Folder 27
1949-1951
box 1, folder 28
Incoming Folder 28
1952-1953
box 1, folder 29
Incoming Folder 29
1954-1955
box 1, folder 30
Incoming Folder 30
1956-1957
box 1, folder 31
Incoming Folder 31
1958-1959
box 1, folder 32
Incoming Folder 32
1960-1961
box 2, folder 3
Incoming Folder 3
1963-1967
box 2, folder 4
Incoming Folder 4
1968-1971
box 2, folder 5
Internal memoranda Folder 5
1949-1961
box 2, folder 6
Notes, handwritten and typewritten Folder 6
box 2, folder 7
Outgoing Folder 7
1945-1948
box 2, folder 8
Outgoing Folder 8
1949-1951
box 2, folder 9
Outgoing Folder 9
1952-1953
box 2, folder 10
Outgoing Folder 10
1954-1955
box 2, folder 11
Outgoing Folder 11
1956-1957
box 2, folder 12
Outgoing Folder 12
1958-1959
box 2, folder 13
Outgoing Folder 13
1960-1962
box 2, folder 14
Outgoing Folder 14
1963-1967
box 2, folder 15
Outgoing Folder 15
1968-1971
Minutes Series 4
1945-1988
box 2, folder 16
Annual meeting of members Folder 16
1960-1967
box 2, folder 17
Board of Directors (Old Globe) Folder 17
1949-1954
box 2, folder 18
Board of Directors (Old Globe) Folder 18
1955-1957
box 3, folder 1
Board of Directors (Old Globe) Folder 1
1958
box 3, folder 2
Board of Directors (Old Globe) Folder 2
1959-1963
box 3, folder 3
Board of Directors (Old Globe) Folder 3
1964-1967
box 3, folder 4
Board of Directors (Old Globe) Folder 4
1968
box 3, folder 5
Board of Directors (Old Globe) Folder 5
1986
box 3, folder 6
Board of Directors (Old Globe) Folder 6
1987-1988
box 3, folder 7
Children's Summer Theatre Advisory Board Folder 7
1945
box 3, folder 8
Civic Committee Folder 8
1953
box 3, folder 9
Executive Committee Folder 9
1956-1957
box 3, folder 10
Executive Committee Folder 10
1958-1959
box 3, folder 11
Executive Committee Folder 11
1960-1961
box 3, folder 12
Executive Committee Folder 12
1962-1963
box 3, folder 13
Executive Committee Folder 13
1964-1965
box 3, folder 14
Executive Committee Folder 14
1966-1967
box 3, folder 15
Executive Committee Folder 15
1968-1969
box 3, folder 16
Executive Committee Folder 16
1970
box 3, folder 17
Executive Committee Folder 17
1971
box 3, folder 18
Executive Committee Folder 18
1972
box 3, folder 19
Executive Committee Folder 19
1973
box 4, folder 1
Executive Committee Folder 1
1974
box 4, folder 2
Executive Committee Folder 2
1975
box 4, folder 3
Executive Committee Folder 3
1976
box 4, folder 4
Executive Committee Folder 4
1986-1988
box 4, folder 5
Globe Guilders Folder 5
1960-1961
box 4, folder 6
Globe Guilders Folder 6
1962-1963
box 4, folder 7
National Shakespeare Festival Committee Folder 7
1953-1954, 1960
box 4, folder 8
Other Old Globe-related meetings Folder 8
1954-1956
box 4, folder 9
Old Globe Theatre - Art Center in La Jolla Joint Committee Folder 9
1961-1962
box 4
Production Files Series 5
1935-1971
box 4, folder 10
Cassius Carter Centre Stage play programs Folder 10
1969-1971
box 4, folder 11
Falstaff Tavern play programs Folder 11
1964-1967
box 4, folder 12
Globe Guilders fashion productions Folder 12
1960
box 4, folder 13
Old Globe Theatre - Cast and character lists Folder 13
1955, n.d.
box 4, folder 14
Old Globe Theatre - Guest lists Folder 14
1955
box 4, folder 15
Old Globe Theatre - Play programs Folder 15
1935-1952
box 4, folder 16
Old Globe Theatre - Play programs Folder 16
1953-1955
box 4, folder 17
Old Globe Theatre - Play programs Folder 17
1956-1959
box 4, folder 18
Old Globe Theatre - Play programs Folder 18
1960-1961
box 4, folder 19
Old Globe Theatre - Play programs Folder 19
1962-1963
box 4, folder 20
Old Globe Theatre - Play programs Folder 20
1964-1965
box 4, folder 21
Old Globe Theatre - Play programs Folder 21
1966-1970
box 4, folder 22
Theatre play selections and dates Folder 22
1948-1956
box 4, folder 23
Other San Diego theatre production material Folder 23
1950, 1958, 1962
box 5
Publications Series 6
1945-1980
box 5, folder 1
Old Globe newsletters - The Busker Folder 1
1950-1951
box 5, folder 2
Old Globe newsletters - Curtain Call Folder 2
1948
box 5, folder 3
Old Globe newsletters - Globaloney Folder 3
1945-1946
box 5, folder 4
Old Globe newsletters - The Globe Greeter Folder 4
1953-1958
box 5, folder 5
Old Globe newsletters - Guilder Gazette Folder 5
1961-1964
box 5, folder 6
Old Globe newsletters - Stage Struck Folder 6
1965
box 5, folder 7
Old Globe Theatre National Shakespeare Festival Folder 7
1964-1968, 1980
box 5, folder 8
Old Globe Theatre National Shakespeare Festival Folder 8
1969-1970, 1972
box 5, folder 9
The American Shakespeare Festival: The Birth of a Theatre (John Houseman and Jack Landau) Folder 9
1959
box 5, folder 10
American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and Academy Repertory Season Folder 10
1962
box 5, folder 11
Danish Foreign Office Journal Folder 11
1953
box 5, folder 12
The Fine Arts Society of San Diego Folder 12
box 5, folder 13
Newsletter, The Oregon Shakespearean Festival Folder 13
1956-1964
box 5, folder 14
On Stage Magazine Folder 14
1970-1971
box 5, folder 15
Point Folder 15
1950-1954
box 5, folder 16
The Rotator Folder 16
1961
box 5, folder 17
Shakespeare (Oregon Shakespearean Festival) Folder 17
1952, 1959, 1960
box 5, folder 18
San Diego State Theatre Newsletter Folder 18
1961-1964
box 5, folder 19
Stanford Today Folder 19
1957
box 5, folder 20
Reviews and synopses of plays Folder 20
box 5
Publicity Files Series 7
1948-1988
box 5, folder 1
Magazine articles Folder 1
1950-1986
box 5, folder 2
Membership and contributors lists Folder 2
1948, n.d.
box 5, folder 3
Newspaper articles Folder 3
1950-1988
box 5, folder 4
Newspaper articles Folder 4
1950-1988
box 5, folder 6
Solicitations and flyers Folder 6
1949-1970, n.d.
box 5, folder 7
Solicitations and flyers Folder 7
1949-1970, n.d.
box 5, folder 8
Solicitations and flyers Folder 8
1949-1970, n.d.
box 5, folder 9
Solicitations and flyers Folder 9
1949-1970, n.d.
box 5, folder 10
Solicitations and flyers Folder 10
1949-1970, n.d.
box 5, folder 11
Solicitations and flyers Folder 11
1949-1970, n.d.
box 6
Reports Series 8
1948-1977
box 6, folder 1
Art Center in La Jolla Folder 1
1960-1961
box 6, folder 2
Box office and finance Folder 2
1948-1959
box 6, folder 3
Box office and finance Folder 3
1960-1963
box 6, folder 4
Box office and finance Folder 4
1964-1965
box 6, folder 5
Box office and finance Folder 5
1968-1969
box 6, folder 6
Box office and finance Folder 6
1970-1971
box 6, folder 7
Box office and finance Folder 7
1972
box 6, folder 8
Box office and finance Folder 8
1973-1974
box 6, folder 9
Box office and finance Folder 9
1975-1976
box 6, folder 10
Box office and finance Folder 10
1977
box 6, folder 11
Box office and finance Folder 11
N.D.
box 6, folder 12
Box office and finance - Interior Committee, Summer Festival Organization Folder 12
n.d.
box 6, folder 13
Box office and finance - Treasurer Folder 13
1946
box 6
Photographs Series 9
1911-1957
box 6, folder 14
Photographs Folder 14
1911-1957
