Finding Aid to the Richard Meeker Better Angel Fan Mail Coll2014.083
Michael C. Oliveira
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Richard Meeker Better Angel fan mail
creator:
Meeker, Richard
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014.083
Physical Description:
0.1 Linear Feet
1 folder
Date (inclusive): 1933-1976
Abstract: Fan mail, 1933-1938, to Richard Meeker, pseudonym of Forman George Brown, 1901-1996, the author of the autobiographical novel,
Better Angel. The novel was one of the first works to place homosexuality in a positive light. Brown, his partner, Richard "Roddy" Brandon,
and his cousin, Harry Burnett, were founders the Yale Puppeteers and later the Turnabout Theater in Hollywood, California.
Forman George Brown authored the autobiographical novel
Better Angel using the pseudonym Richard Meeker.
Better Angel would be one of the first novels to place homosexuality in positive light. It was published during the "Pansy Craze" of the
early 1930s. The novel was re-published in 1989 and 1995.
Brown, his partner Richard "Roddy" Brandon, and his cousin Harry Burnett founded the Yale Puppeteers, a traveling marionette
troupe during the 1920s. They settled in Hollywood, and together they created the Turnabout Theater, which used trolley car
seats that were turned during intermission. The first act was their marionette show performed at the back of the theater.
A second act with vaudeville entertainers took place on the main stage in the front of the theater. The theater closed in
1956, a victim of the growing popularity of television.
Brandon died in 1985, Burnett died in 1993, and Brown died 2 days after his 95th birthday in 1996.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries 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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
[Box #, item] Richard Meeker
Better Angel Fan Mail, Coll2014-083, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Collection processed by Michael C. Oliveira, October 2014.
The collection consists of
Better Angel fan mail, 1933-1938, written to Richard Meeker, the pseudonym of Forman George Brown, 1901-1996. Brown wrote the first novel
to place homosexuality in a positive light. The collection also includes a verse to Brown's partner, Richard "Roddy" Brandon,
written for Brandon's birthday and their 50th anniversary.
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Box 1, folder 4, Edgar H. Leoni Papers, Coll2007-019, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern
California.
Box 1, folder 16, Michael Shere Papers, Coll2014-015, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern
California.
Box 7, Folder 15, Gay and Lesbian Drama Scripts Collection, Coll2008-003, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California..
Box 10, Folder 2, Allan R. Ellenberger collection on Ramon Novarro, Coll2008-050, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC
Libraries, University of Southern California.
Box 11, Item MSS0462a-0462b, ONE Archives Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Manuscripts Collection, Coll2012-175, ONE
National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Brown, Forman folder, Performing Arts Collection, Coll2007-016, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
Stathis Orphanos Gay Activist Photographs, Coll2012-053, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of
Southern California.
Box 227, folder 6, Hearst Corporation
Los Angeles Examiner photographs, negatives and clippings - portrait files, Collection no. 7000.1, Regional History Collection, Special Collections,
USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Box 245, folder 21, Jake Zeitlin Papers (Collection 334). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library,
UCLA.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Fan mail
Gay men's writings, American
Meeker, Richard
Brandon, Richard "Roddy"