Finding Aid for the Lester Barron Collection of Performing Artist Autographs, 1869-1975

Processed by Michael Jerome and Lorna Lueck; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
UCLA Library Special Collections
UCLA Library Special Collections staff
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 1997
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Note

Arts and Humanities --Performing Arts --Music Arts and Humanities --Performing Arts --Theater Arts and Humanities --Literature --General History --History, United States (excluding California) --General Geographical (By Place) --United States (excluding California)

Finding Aid for the Lester Barron Collection of Performing Artist Autographs, 1869-1975

Collection number: 1378

UCLA Library Special Collections

UCLA Library Special Collections staff



Los Angeles, CA

Contact Information

  • UCLA Library Special Collections staff
  • UCLA Library Special Collections
  • Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
  • Box 951575
  • Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
  • Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
  • Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
  • URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
Processed by:
Michael Jerome and Lorna Lueck, 1985
Encoded by:
Caroline Cubé
Text converted and initial container list EAD tagging by:
Apex Data Services
Online finding aid edited by:
Josh Fiala, May 2002
© 1997 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Lester Barron Collection of Performing Artist Autographs,
Date (inclusive): 1869-1975
Collection number: 1378
Creator: Barron, Lester
Extent: 3 boxes (1.5 linear ft.)
Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Restrictions on Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.

Additional Physical Form Available

A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Library Special Collections for in-house consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
  • Public Services Division
  • UCLA Library Special Collections
  • Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
  • Box 951575
  • Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
  • Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
  • Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

  • Gift of Lester Barron, 1984.
  • The original collector, Charles Norton Outcault, was the nephew of cartoonist Richard Fenton Outcault; he began collecting autographs at the age of sixteen, and most of the autographs were obtained by mail between 1912-15.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Lester Barron Collection of Performing Artist Autographs (Collection 1378). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 462303 

Biographical Narrative

The Lester Barron Collection consists mainly of autographs of famous personalities from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The original collector, Charles Norton Outcault, requested by mail, the autographs of various celebrities and public figures of his time. In response to his requests, he received not only autographs, but personal notes, letters, photographs, original handwritten music, poems, and booklets. Many of the items he collected are autographed by performing artists, such as musicians, composers, conductors, opera singers, dancers, actors, and actresses. The collection also includes autographs of authors, artists, politicians, presidents, and other notable public figures.
In addition to the autographs, the Barron Collection contains some miscellaneous items which do not appear to be directly related to the rest of the collection. These items include letters from a civil war soldier, letters from artist Dean Cornwell, one music score, and various theater playbills.
The collection was donated to the UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library by Mr. Lester Barron. Little is known about Mr. Barron or how the collection came into his possession. The original collector, Charles Norton Outcault, was the nephew of American cartoonist, Richard Fenton Outcault. The late cartoonist was well known for creating the first color comic strip and the popular cartoon character, Buster Brown. Charles Outcault was just sixteen years old when he started the collection. He obtained most of his autographs by mail from 1912 to 1915. Many celebrities, reminiscent of their own youth, sent him notes and letters containing personal messages.
A photocopy of a newspaper article describing the collection is available in the administrative files of the Department. This article appears to have been printed in a San Diego newspaper in 1931. There are, however, several discrepancies in the article's description of the collection and the actual contents of the collection at the time it was received by the Department in 1984. Several items described in the article are no longer present in the collection. The reader should consult the following pages for a list of the actual items contained in the collection.
When the collection was received by the Department, no particular order or arrangement was discernible. An alphabetical arrangement was eventually imposed to facilitate access by the names of the various personalities whose autographs appear in the collection.
The collection was sorted and arranged by Lorna Lueck and Michael Jerome, Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

Scope and Content

Collection consists of autographs of famous personalities including performing artists, authors, and politicians. Some are accompanied with personal notes, letters, photographs, or other ephemera. Autographs include signatures of Robert Jones Burdett, Thomas Edison, Arthur Foote, Helen Keller, Rudyard Kipling, Nellie Melba, James Whitcomb Riley, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Spencer, Ellen Terry, and Booker T. Washington. Also includes correspondence from Dean Cornwell addressed to Frank as well as 3 Civil War letters and 4 theater playbills. Includes the music score for Feather Your Nest.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:
  1. Autographs organized alphabetically by last name (Boxes 1-3).
  2. Letters, theater playbills, and music score (Box 3).

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Autographs--Collections.
Outcault, Charles Norton.


 

1. Autograph Collection

Box 1, Folder 1

A-B.

Physical Description: [13 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Abbott, Lyman, 1835-1922.
  2. Anderson, William F.
  3. Bacheller, Irving, 1859-1950.
  4. Bangs, John Kendrick, 1862-1922.
  5. Bispham, David Scull, 1857-1921.
  6. Boileau, Philip.
  7. Bolton, Sarah K.
  8. Booth, Maud B.
  9. Bope, Henry P.
  10. Burdette, Robert Jones, 1844-1914 (letter).
  11. Burdette, Robert Jones, 1844-1914 (autographed book, A Little Philosophy of Life, by Robert J. Burdette).
  12. Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924.
  13. Butler, Ellis Parker, 1869-1937.
Box 1, Folder 2

C-D.

Physical Description: [19 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Carrillo, Julian, 1875-1965 (handwritten music).
  2. Choate, Joseph Hodges, 1832-1917.
  3. Comstock, Harriet T.
  4. Conway, Patrick
  5. Cowan, Charlotte B.
  6. Cox, Kenyon, 1856-1919.
  7. Culp, Julia, 1880-1970.
  8. Damrosch, Frank, 1859-1937.
  9. Damrosch, Walter Johannes, 1862-1950.
  10. Davenport, Homer Calvin, 1867-1912.
  11. Dearer, Edwin A. (photograph).
  12. de Gogorza, Emma Eames (see Nielson, Alice).
  13. DeLand, Margaret Wade Campbell, 1857-1945.
  14. de Navarro, Mary Anderson, 1859-1940.
  15. Depew, Chauncey Mitchell, 1834-1928.
  16. Dillon, Mary.
  17. Drew, John, 1827-1862.
  18. Dufau, Jenny, 1878-1924.
Box 1, Folder 3

E-G.

Physical Description: [15 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Early, Stephen.
  2. Edison, Thomas Alva, 1847-1931 (photograph).
  3. Elman, Mischa.
  4. Fay, Amy.
  5. Finck, Henry Theophilus, 1834-1926.
  6. Fisher, Harrison, 1877-1934.
  7. Fitzu, Anna (photograph).
  8. Foote, Arthur, 1853-1937.
  9. Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston, 1853-1937.
  10. Fremstad, Anna Olivia, 1870-1951 (signed Olive Fremstad).
  11. Galan, Maite.
  12. Gaspard, Jules Maurice.
  13. George, William Reuben, 1866-1936.
  14. Gibson, Charles Dana, 1867-1944.
  15. Gladden, Washington, 1836-1918.
Box 1, Folder 4

H-J.

Physical Description: [17 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Halsy, Francis W.
  2. Hanly, J. Frank.
  3. Hawkes, Clarence.
  4. Hawley, C.B.
  5. Henderson, Florence.
  6. Hillis, Charles Dewey.
  7. Hillis, Newell Dwight, 1858-1929.
  8. Hinton, Katherine Goodson.
  9. Homer, Louise.
  10. Hopper, William DeWolf.
  11. Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920.
  12. Hubbard, Alice.
  13. Hubbard, Elbert Green, 1856-1915.
  14. Hutchinson, Woods, 1862-1930.
  15. Ireland, W.A. (see Wilson, Woodrow).
  16. Irwin, May, 1862-1938.
  17. Jones, John Paul (athlete).
Box 2, Folder 1

K-L.

Physical Description: [11 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Kauffman, Henrietta L.
  2. Keller, Helen Adams, 1880-1968.
  3. Kellerman, Marcus.
  4. Kemble, Edward Windsor, 1861-1933.
  5. Kipling, Rudyard, 1865-1936.
  6. Knight, William, 1836-1916.
  7. Lathrop, Julia Clifford, 1858-1932.
  8. Lehmann, Lilli, 1848-1929.
  9. Lindercrone, Lillie de Hegermann, Countess.
  10. Lindsey, Benjamin Barr, 1869-1943.
  11. Lippmann, Julie M.
Box 2, Folder 2

M-N.

Physical Description: [15 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. MacDowell, Marian.
  2. Macmillen, Francis.
  3. McConnell, Lincoln.
  4. McCormick, William A.
  5. McIntyre, O.O.
  6. Mace, W.H.
  7. Matzenauer, Margarete, 1881-1963.
  8. Melba, Nellie, 1865-1931 (photograph).
  9. Middleton, Daisy B.
  10. Montgomery, Francis Trego.
  11. Morrey, Grace Hamilton.
  12. Nazimova, Alla, 1879-1945.
  13. Nesbit, Wilbur.
  14. Nicholson, Meridith, 1866-1947.
  15. Nielson, Alice (on verso: de Gogorza, Emma Eames).
Box 2, Folder 3

O-R.

Physical Description: [18 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Oberhoffer, Emil.
  2. O'Brien, Fredrick, 1869-1932.
  3. Outcalt, C.W., Dr. (letter to John T. Gray).
  4. Outcault, Richard Fenton, 1863-1928.
  5. Patterson, Virginia Sharpe.
  6. Patti, Adelina, 1843-1919 (photograph).
  7. Powell, Maud, 1868-1920.
  8. Powers, Leland.
  9. Presser, Theodore, 1848-1925.
  10. Pryor, Roger Atkinson, 1828-1919.
  11. Rambeau, Marjorie, 1889-1970.
  12. Ramin, Gunther, 1898-1956 (autographed recital program).
  13. Raymond, Annie Louise Cary.
  14. Rice, Alice Hegan.
  15. Riley, James Whitcomb, 1849-1916 (facsimile copy of Out to Aunt Mary's, handwritten by James Whitcomb Riley).
  16. Robertson-Miller, Ellen.
  17. Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
  18. Ross, Penny (photograph).
Box 2, Folder 4

S.

Physical Description: [17 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Sage, William.
  2. St. Gaudens, Louis (also St. Gaudens, Annetta).
  3. Saunders, Marshall (2 items).
  4. Schumann-Heink, Ernestine, 1861-1936.
  5. Seawell, Molly Elliot, 1860-1916.
  6. Sembrich, Marcella, 1858-1935.
  7. Seton, Ernest Thompson, 1860-1946.
  8. Smith, Ella May (handwritten music).
  9. Spalding, Albert.
  10. Spencer, Elizabeth.
  11. Spencer, Herbert, 1820-1903.
  12. Stoddard, John Lawson, 1850-1931 (3 items).
  13. Stutson, Norton.
Box 2, Folder 5

T-V.

Physical Description: [8 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Terry, Ellen.
  2. Tetrazzini, Luisa, 1874-1940 (photograph and autographed sketch).
  3. Theobaldi, (Ole?), Dr.
  4. Thomlison, Ethel T. (handwritten music).
  5. Thompson, John H.
  6. Van Dyke, Henry, 1852-1933.
  7. Van Vliet, Cornelius, 1886-1973.
  8. Verlet, Alice (photograph).
Box 3, Folder 1

W-Z.

Physical Description: [19 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Wanamaker, John, 1838-1922.
  2. Ward, Genevieve.
  3. Warfield, David, 1866-1951.
  4. Warren, Maude Radford.
  5. Warwick, Frances E. Maynard, Countess of, 1861-1938.
  6. Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915.
  7. Watterson, Henry, 1840-1921.
  8. Wetzler, Fanny (poem).
  9. Wheeler-Wilcox, Ella, 1850-1919.
  10. Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 1856-1923.
  11. Williams, Evan.
  12. Wilson, A.W.
  13. Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924 (on verso: Ireland, W.A.).
  14. Winner, Frances.
  15. Winnett, T.H.
  16. Witherspoon, Herbert, 1873-1935.
  17. Ysaye, Eugene, 1858-1931.
  18. Zeisler, Fannie Bloomfield, 1863-1927.
  19. Zimbalist, Alma Gluek, 1884-1938.
Box 3, Folder 2

Miscellaneous Unidentified Autographs.

 

2. Letters from Dean Cornwell

Box 3, Folder 3

Handwritten letters.

Physical Description: [2 items].

Note

Addressed to Frank from Dean Cornwell, 1892-1960.
 

3. Civil War Letters

Box 3, Folder 3

Handwritten letters.

Physical Description: [3 items].

Note

Addressed to Harriet from A.J. Outcalt.
 

4. Theater Playbills and Music Scores

Box 3, Folder 5

Miscellaneous theater playbills.

Physical Description: [4 items].

Scope and Content Note

  1. Broadway Theatre - School for Scandal, 1947.
  2. Bronx Theatre - Modern Vaudeville, week of February 21, 1910.
  3. El Capitan Theatre - Anything Goes, 1935.
  4. Folly Theatre - Buster Brown.
Box 3, Folder 5

Music Score.

Physical Description: [1 item].

Scope and Content Note

  • 5. Feather Your Nest by Kendis E. Brockman and Howard Johnson.