Armond Fields American Theatre collection, 1856-2000, bulk Bulk, 1895-1925

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Summary

Creators:
Fields, Armond, 1930-
Abstract:
This collection documents the history of the American stage before talking cinema, reflecting the birth and death of vaudeville and the advent of the modern Broadway musical. The collection includes books, posters, theater programs, sheet-music covers, souvenirs, rare film footage of vaudevillians, including Weber & Fields, and manuscripts and research notes for Armond Fields' own books.
Extent:
96.0 Linear feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Armond Fields American Theatre collection, Collection no. 0337, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists chiefly of materials which Armond Fields used or created during the course of his research into American vaudeville and early theatre. There are copies of photographs and a few originals of some of the stars about whom he wrote, as well as other material related to the Vaudeville era: sheet music, theatre programs, newspapers, etc. Also included in the collection are all Fields' research notes for his many books as well as the drafts of the manuscripts. In addition, the collection includes audiotapes of Fields' interviews with family members of some his subjects, and videotapes of early film footage.

Biographical / historical:

Armond Fields (1930-2008) was an author, artist, art collector and business consultant. Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Max and Esther Fields, he attended schools in the Mid-West. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin (1953), M.A. from the University of Illinois (1955) and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1956). He wrote several biographies, primarily on vaudeville performers. His oil paintings, drawings and prints have been exhibited in the United States and Europe. He curated, wrote catalogues, and donated the art for various exhibitions (most recently: Paris, Turn-of-the-Century, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2003; Vaudeville is Dead! Long Live Vaudeville!, Doheny Library, University of Southern California, 2005). Fields also served as a consultant in the areas of market strategy and consumer behavior including as a self-employed marketing consultant (1969), for Interpublic Co. (marketing and research vice president, 1960-69), for Audio-Video Entertainment, Inc. (corporate officer, 2000-?) and for AltaVoice Communications (consumer behavior consultant, 2001?).

Fields was a social historian specializing in American popular theater from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Fields began researching his own family's involvement with early musical theater in New York that led to a biography of his great-uncle Lew Fields From the Bowery to Broadway: Lew Fields and the Roots of American Popular Theatre (1993). He also wrote Eddie Foy: A Biography of the Early Popular Stage Comedian (1999), Lillian Russell: A Biography of "America's Beauty" (1999), James J. Corbett: A Biography of the Heavyweight Boxing Champion and Popular Theater Headliner (2001), Fred Stone: Circus Performer and Musical Comedy Star (2002), Sophie Tucker: First Lady of Show Business (2003), Maude Adams: Idol of American Theater, 1872-1953 (2004), Women Vaudeville Stars: Eighty Biographical Profiles (2006) and Tony Pastor, Father of Vaudeville (2007). He also authored a social reformist biography on Katharine Dexter McCormick: Pioneer for Women's Rights (2003). His interest in French culture resulted in publishing Henri Riviere (1983), George Auriol (1985) and Le Chat Noir: A Montmartre Cabaret and its Artists in Turn-of-the Century Paris (1993).

Processing information:

Collection arranged and described by Rob Gutner and Rohan Panikar. Materials in file folders were kept in their original order and described by their original file folder titles.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder# or item name], Armond Fields American Theatre collection, Collection no. 0337, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Location of this collection:
Doheny Memorial Library, Room G-24
Los Angeles, CA 90089-1822, US
Contact:
(213) 740-0183
ajustice@usc.edu
Website