Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Processing Information
Biography
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Harry Bartron papers
creator:
Bartron, Harry
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2008-054
Physical Description:
4.5 Linear Feet
11 boxes and 1 framed oversize item.
Date (inclusive): 1917-2007
Date (bulk): bulk
Abstract: Writings, manuscripts, publications and photographs documenting the life of pantomime artist and poet Harry Bartron from 1927
to 2006. The bulk of the collection dates from 1978 to 2005 and consists of poetry exploring in particular Bartron's Roman
Catholic faith and his homosexuality. Additional materials include liturgical materials, written for the Los Angeles chapter
of Dignity/USA; autobiographical reminiscences; correspondence; and materials documenting Bartron's daily activities and his
career as a pantomimist and his work as an advocate for GLBT seniors. The photographs include images of Bartron in costume
and in performance, as well as photographs and snapshots of family and friends.
Container: 1-11
Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Publication Rights
Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the
physical owner. Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in the materials. Note that ONE
National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials directly from the copyright
holder(s).
Preferred Citation
[Box #, Folder/Item #], Harry Bartron Papers, Coll2008-054, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Harry Bartron, in several transactions, between 2003 and 2006. An additional box of material was donated by Steven
Weissman on July 3, 2013, following Bartron's death in 2007.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Lilly Insalata, September 24, 2008. An additional box (1.25 linear ft.) of material was donated in 2013, following Bartron's death in 2007. The addendum was
processed and the finding aid was revised in 2016.
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Biography
Harry Ollen Bartron was born in Van Etten, New York, on December 26, 1917, the fifth and youngest child of Fernando and Margaret
(Cranmer) Bartron. Shortly after Bartron's birth, his mother divorced his physically abusive father, and married a tenant
farmer named Frank Whitmore, and Harry lived his childhood on several farms in the neighborhood of Troy, Pennsylvania. Bartron's
mother left Whitmore when she discovered he had never divorced his first wife, and Bartron found himself on his own at age
13. He spent his high school years boarding with relatives and private families in Elmira, New York. Raised a Baptist, he
joined the fundamentalist Pilgrim Holiness Church in his late teens, and completed seminary work at the Allentown Bible School
in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he met Inez Lee Fotner, whom he married. He joined the Navy in 1943 and converted to Roman
Catholicism in boot camp; he was expelled from the Navy later that year with an "Undesirable Discharge" for making sexual
advances to another sailor. He returned to his wife and son Stephen, born during his deployment, and moved Cincinnati, where
he obtained work with a Catholic goods shop, joined the Third Order of St. Francis, and took classes at Xavier University.
Bartron and his wife had two more children, Elizabeth (born 1945) and Carol (born 1947). In 1947, Bartron moved to Chicago
to attend Loyola University. He also became very active in the Uptown Players of Chicago, both as an actor and assistant to
the director; he also took private lessons in performance. His wife left him in 1948; she later married Paul Marcus Marker
(1925-1997), with whom she had several children, and died in 1986. Now single, Bartron developed a one-man show, first as
a monologist, then as a mime, and for the next 18 years performed over 4,200 times throughout the United States, Canada, the
British Isles, and Mexico. With the success of Marcel Marceau, Bartron was billed as "the American Pantomimist".
Bartron retired from full-time performance in 1966, and returned to school, earning a BA from Mansfield State College, in
Pennsylvania, in 1970. He moved to Los Angeles later that year, and in 1972 received an MA in Speech from UCLA and a Community
College Instructor Credential in Language Arts and Literature. He played small roles in films such as Cutting Loose (1980),
Let's Do It! (1982), and The Seventh Sign (1988) and in television shows such as Archie Bunker's Place (1981) and Mysterious
Two (1982); he also appeared in several commercials.
Bartron's later years were devoted to writing, in particular poetry. His first volume of poetry, Contemporary Words in Sound,
was published while he was still a student at Mansfield State University. The poems address a wide variety of subjects, but
the majority explore his Roman Catholic faith and his sexuality. His accomplishments as a poet were recognized by induction
into the International Poetry Hall of Fame in October 1996. Bartron also published a novel, Drummer Boy, on drummer boys in
the American Civil War, published in 2004. He was also active in the Roman Catholic Church, writing liturgical material for
the Los Angeles chapter of Dignity/USA, joining the Knights of Columbus in 2001, and constantly exploring the position of
Catholic homosexuals through speeches, essays, and support groups. He also became involved with the LA Gay & Lesbian Center,
in particular the Oral History Project; advocated for housing for GLBT seniors; and continued to perform as a member of a
senior theater group. He died in Los Angeles on July 18, 2007, at the age of 89.
Source: Harry Bartron Papers, Coll2008-054, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains writings, manuscripts, publications and photographs documenting the life of Harry Bartron. The bulk
of the collection consists of poetry, both printed and manuscript, exploring in particular Bartron's Roman Catholic faith
and his homosexuality; Bartron's erotic poetry was published under the pseudonym "Henri de Boise". Additional writings include
liturgical materials, written for the Los Angeles chapter of Dignity/USA, and autobiographical reminiscences in the form of
emails to his daughter and transcripts of interviews given as part of the LA Gay & Lesbian Center's Oral History Project.
Personal papers document Bartron's daily activities, career as a pantomimist and in film and television, his involvement with
the Roman Catholic Church and Dignity/USA, his activities as an advocate for GLBT seniors, and his various social activities.
The photographs include images of Bartron in costume and in performance, as well as photographs and snapshots of family and
friends.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in four series: (1) Writings, (2) Personal, (3) Photographs and (4) Graphics.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Catholic gays -- United States
Gay men's writings
Homosexuality -- Religious aspects -- Catholic Church
Mimes -- United States
Photographs
Poetry
Poets, American -- 20th century
Bartron, Harry
Dignity/Los Angeles