Guide to the Wallsten (Robert) Papers, 1920s-1960s

Project archivist: David Seubert; principal processors: Jeffrey Gordon; student assistants: Sarah Holmgren; machine-readable finding aid created by David Seubert

Department of Special Collections

Davidson Library

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Phone: (805) 893-3062

Fax: (805) 893-5749

Email: special@library.ucsb.edu

URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html

Guide to the Robert Wallsten Papers, 1920s-1960s.

Collection number: PA Mss 43

Department of Special Collections

Davidson Library

University of California, Santa Barbara

Contact Information:

Department of Special Collections
Davidson Library
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone: (805) 893-3062
Fax: (805) 893-5749
Email: special@library.ucsb.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/speccoll/speccoll.html

Project Archivist:: David Seubert
Principal Processor:: Jeffrey Gordon
Student Assistants:: Sarah Holmgren
Date Completed:: 10/15/2002
Encoded by:: David Seubert

Descriptive Summary

Title: Wallsten (Robert) Papers,

Date (inclusive): 1920s-1960s

Collection number: PA Mss 43

Creator: Robert Wallsten

Extent: 7.5 linear feet (16 boxes)

Repository: University of California, Santa Barbara. Library. Dept. of Special Collections

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

Shelf location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Abstract: Papers of actor and writer including correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks and literary manuscripts. Wallsten acted on Broadway before serving in the Navy in New Guinea during WWII. After the war, Wallsten wrote plays, teleplays, and short stories and had a long association with Judith Anderson and ghost wrote her unpublished autobiography. Wallsten was married to actress Cynthia Rogers who was involved with the University Players (Falmouth, Mass). Wallsten and Rogers were family friends of the Steinbecks and Wallsten edited the edition of Steinbeck's letters.

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Provenance

Donated by Wallsten, August 2002.

Restrictions

None.

Publication Rights

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

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Wallsten (Robert) Papers, PA Mss 43, Department of Special Collections, University Libraries, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Robert Wallsten, August, 2002.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.

Photographs.

Scrapbooks.

Anderson, Judith, Dame, 1898-

University Players (Falmouth, Mass.)

Actors.

Wallsten, Cynthia Rogers, d. 1971.

Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968.

Scope and Content

The Robert Wallsten papers is divided into nine series, Series I, Correspondence; Series II, Teleplays; Series III, Stage Plays; Series IV Short Stories; Series V Published Stories; Series VI Dame Judith Anderson Autobiography; Series VII, Photographs and Programs; Series VIII, Scrapbook; Series IX Cynthia Rogers Papers.

Correspondence

Scope and Content Note

Series I, Correspondence includes letters written by Robert Wallsten during his days at Harvard, as a naval officer in World War II, and post-war correspondence. The Harvard letters show a student, interested in writing and active in theatre, who has a close relationship with his family. In Wallsten's wartime correspondence he discusses life in New Guinea and his struggles with mental and physical illness. His service is punctuated by an opportunity to travel in Australia with Judith Anderson on her USO tour. Wallsten's post-war correspondence is centered around his marriage, travel, his career as a writer, and the death of his wife.

Teleplays, Stage Plays, Short Stories, Published Stories

Scope and Content Note

Series II-Series V, Teleplays, Stage Plays, Short Stories, Published Stories, includes all of Wallsten's fictional writing including short stories published in a variety of magazines in the 1940s and early 50s, typescripts of teleplays for the United States Steel Hour, and numerous drafts of his works for the stage.

Dame Judith Anderson Autobiography

Scope and Content Note

Series VI, Dame Judith Anderson Autobiography is the typescript of the unpublished autobiography of Dame Judith Anderson he co-wrote with her. There are three copies, two of which contain penciled revisions.

Photographs and Programs

Scope and Content Note

Series VII, Photographs and Programs includes photos and programs from Wallsten's acting career including photos of plays The Old Maid, The Rivals and his prize winning play Tom Jones performed at the St. Louis Little Theatre.

Scrapbook

Scope and Content Note

Series VIII, Scrapbook, is a scrapbook of Wallsten's acting career in the 1930s, including clippings, playbills and photographs.

Cynthia Rogers' Papers

Scope and Content Note

Series IX, Cynthia Rogers' Papers consists of the papers of Wallsten's wife, Cynthia Rogers. Rogers acted on Broadway and with the University Players in Falmouth Mass. during the early 1930s. Included are scrapbooks of clippings, playbills and photographs as well as a collection of photographs from productions she acted in with the University Players.

Series I Correspondence

Box 1: 1

1928 - 1932

Box 1: 2

1933 - 1934

Box 1: 3

1936 - 1939

Box 1: 4

1940 - 1942

Box 1: 5

January - April 1943

Box 1: 6

May - September 1943

Box 1: 7

October - December 1943

Box 2: 1

January - April 1944

Box 2: 2

May - August 1944

Box 2: 3

September - December 1944

Box 2: 4

1945 - 1946

Box 2: 5

War Correspondence Excerpts

Box 2: 6

1950 - 1954

Box 2: 7

1957 - 1961

Box 2: 8

1962 - 1967

Box 2: 9

Correspondence with John Steinbeck, 1960s

Series II Teleplays

Box 3: 1

Berlin Story

Box 3: 2

Cocktail Hour

Box 3: 3

Cocktail Hour

Box 3: 4

Crimson Velvet

Box 3: 5

The Hasty Heart

Box 3: 6

The Laphams of Boston

Box 3: 7

The Laphams of Boston

Box 3: 8

Marriage Royal

Box 3: 9

Mornings at Seven

Box 3: 10

Mornings at Seven

Box 3: 11

Mornings at Seven

Box 4: 1

Night Before Sailing

Box 4: 2

One Step Up

Box 4: 3

The Rise of Silas Lapham

Box 4: 4

Someone Like You

Box 4: 5

Woman Across the Hall

Box 4: 6

Woman Across the Hall

Box 4: 7

Woman Across the Hall

Box 4: 8

Woman Across the Hall

Series III Stage Plays

Box 5: 1

The Congress of Clermont-Ferrand

Box 5: 2

Immortelle

Box 5: 3

The Interloper (Le Trouble-Fte)

Box 5: 4

The Interloper

Box 5: 5

The Interloper

Box 5: 6

The Interloper

Box 5: 7

The Interloper

Box 6: 1

The Light of Morning

Box 6: 2

Marriage Royal

Box 6: 3

Tom Jones

Box 6: 4

When They Play a Waltz

Series IV Short Stories

Box 7: 1

The Archaic Grin

Box 7: 2

Beautiful Duplex, Magnificent Terrace...

Box 7: 3

Cocktail Hour

Box 7: 4

The Couple in the Mirror

Box 7: 5

Colors on a Jukebox

Box 7: 6

Doc Collins and the Iron Lung

Box 7: 7

Don't Whistle in the Dressing Room

Box 7: 8

Harry Godkin's Daydream

Box 7: 9

The House on Greene Street

Box 7: 10

Journey to the City

Box 7: 11

Man of the Family

Box 7: 12

Mr. And Mrs. Lunt -- And I

Box 7: 13

Old Mr. Winthrop

Box 7: 14

One Side of the River

Box 7: 15

Portrait of a Punk

Box 7: 16

A Question of One Unpleasant Wrong

Box 7: 17

A Question of One Unpleasant Wrong

Box 7: 18

Reunion

Box 7: 19

The Snows of Yesteryear

Box 7: 20

Strictly A Class Act

Box 7: 21

Superman

Box 7: 22

Two Mondays from Now

Box 7: 23

The White Woman at Gill Gill

Box 7: 24

You Get So You Gotta Talk to Somebody

Box 7: 25

Your Name in Lights

Box 7: 26

Return From New Guinea

Series V Published Stories

Box 8: 0

List of Published works

Box 8: 1

"Zinlevski", The Harkness Hoot, October, 1930

Box 8: 2

"Don't Whistle in the Dressing Room", St. Regis Magazine, December, 1947

Box 8: 3

"Don't Whistle in the Dressing Room", The Mayflower Magazine, December, 1947

Box 8: 4

"The Revolutionary Ms. Gibson", Cosmopolitan, March, 1948

Box 8: 5

"One Side of the River", The American Magazine, June, 1948

Box 8: 6

"Moonlight Behind You", Cosmopolitan, June, 1948

Box 8: 7

"Someone Like You", The American Magazine, September, 1948

Box 8: 8

"Study in Blue", Today's Woman, September, 1948

Box 8: 9

"The Big Scene", Today's Woman, June, 1950

Box 8: 10

"Lia, the Baroness Vonauw", Today's Woman, September, 1950

Box 8: 11

"Superman", Park East Magazine, January, 1951

Box 8: 12

"Only Child", Cosmopolitan, August, 1952

Box 8: 13

"Hope You Remember Me", Better Living, January, 1953

Box 8: 14

"The Accuser", Manhunt Magazine, August, 1960

Box 8: 15

"The Children of Alda Nuova", Mystery Magazine, August, 1961

Box 8: 16

"Punk's Progress", Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February, 1963

Box 13: 1

"Shakespeare on the Jungle Circuit", McCall's, April, 1947

Box 13: 2

"Ask Me No Questions", Woman's Own, January, 1950

Box 13: 3

"Dangerous Woman", Woman's Own, October, 1950

Box 13: 4

"Try-out", Homes and Gardens, June, 1952

Box 13: 5

"Shakespeare on the Jungle Circuit", Collier's, December 9, 1944

Box 13: 6

"Two In the Bush", Esquire, September, 1947

Box 13: 7

"Ask Me No Questions", Woman's Home Companion, November, 1949

Box 13: 8

"You Never Really Know", Esquire, August, 1950

Box 13: 9

"Reunion", Esquire, February, 1951

Box 13: 10

'Try-out", Ladies Home Journal, November, 1951

Box 13: 11

"Marriage Comes", Collier's, August, 1954

Series VI Dame Judith Anderson Autobiography

Box 9: 1-4

Ribbon Copy

Box 10: 1-5

Carbon Copy 1 (with corrections)

Box 10: 6-7

Carbon Copy 2

Series VII Photographs and programs

Box 11: 1

Programs

Box 11: 2

Headshots

Box 11: 3

Noel Coward Plays

Box 11: 4

Philip Barry Plays

Box 11: 5

Our Betters

Box 11: 6

The Rivals

Box 11: 7

The Old Maid (with Judith Anderson)

Box 11: 8

Under the Green Bay Tree

Box 11: 9

Misc Photos

Box 11: 10

Photos removed from correspondence

Box 13: 12

Photographs, Tom Jones, Little Theatre of St. Louis, 1934.

Series VIII Scrapbook

Box 14: 1

Scrapbook, 1930s

Series IX Cynthia Rogers

Box 12: 1

Photographs, various dates

Box 12: 2

Photographs, Robin Hood Theatre, Arden, Del, late 1940s, early 1950s.

Box 12: 3

Programs, University Players, West Fallmouth, Mass, 1931

Box 12: 4

Programs, Robin Hood Theatre et al, 1932-1950.

Box 15-16: 1

Scrapbooks, 1920s-1950s.