Table of Contents
Scope and Contents of the Collection
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Overview of the Collection |
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| Creator: | Federal Theatre Project (U.S.) |
| Title: | Federal Theatre Project Collection |
| Inclusive Dates: | 1936-1938 |
| Quantity: | .25 linear ft. |
| Abstract: | Collection of play scripts, bibliographies, photographs, from the United States Work Projects Administration's Federal Theatre Project |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center |
Biographical History
The Federal Theatre Project (FTP) was sponsored by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) to fund theater and other live artistic performances in the United States during the Great Depression. The FTP's primary goal was employment of out-of-work artists, writers, and directors; its secondary goal was to provide affordable entertainment for poor families and encourage the dramatic arts. It was established August 27, 1935 and Vassar theatre professor Hallie Flanagan was appointed its head. Although initially Flanagan touted the FTP as being "free, adult, and uncensored," the federal government soon became uneasy at the progressive and left-wing themes evinced by many FTP productions such as their Living Newspaper.
Many notable theatre figures of the time participated in the FTP and it launched the careers of many others, including Arthur Miller (who turned down a $250-a-week job offer from Hollywood to write for the FTP at $23 a week). Orson Welles, John Houseman, Martin Ritt, Elia Kazan, Marc Blitzstein, Arthur Arent and Abe Feder all became established, in part, through their work in the FTP.
The FTP's funding was terminated in 1939, due in no small part to strong feeling in the Congress about the FTP's political stance.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Federal Theatre Project Collection contains a variety of publications of the Federal Theatre Project's Play Bureau and National Play Bureau, among them play scripts, bibliographies of foreign-language plays, and lists of suggested plays in particular categories. There are also photographs from performances.
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
Related Material
Special Collections Research Center has considerable material relating to American radical and left-wing literature. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete list of related collections and material.
Our Rare Books collection also has rich resources in this area; please refer to the Classic Catalog, where a search with the subject "radicalism in literature" will bring up a lengthy list. Of particular interest may be the following titles:
- Living Newspaper, by the Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)
- Federal Theatre, by the Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)
- Play Bureau publication, by the Federal Theatre Project (New York, N.Y.). Play Bureau
- Publication, by the Federal Theatre Project (New York, N.Y.). Play Bureau
Subject Headings
Persons
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
Genres and Forms
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Federal Theatre Project Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
Purchase, various times
Finding Aid Information
Created by: MRC
Date: 9 Apr 2007
Revision history: 21 Dec 2010 - added photos (MRC);
7 Nov 2007 - added "Miscellany" (MRC);
12 Apr 2007 - added "Photographs" (MRC)
Inventory
| Bibliographies | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Anti-war plays for community theatres 1937 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Early Spanish one-act plays, available in English translation, compiled by Joseph Liss 1936 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Early Spanish one-act plays, available in English translation, compiled by Joseph Liss 1936 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Plays for a marionette theatre 1936 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Spanish miracles and moralities, available in English translation, compiled by Joseph Liss 1937? | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Suggested repertory of modern continental plays ca. 1936 | ||||||||||
| Box 1 | Suggested repertory of classic English plays ca. 1937 | ||||||||||
| Plays | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Barnum returns, or, The new American museum, by Katharine Clugston 1936 | ||||||||||
| Photographs | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | One Third of a Nation, New Orleans Jun 1938 | ||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||
| Box 1 | Folk Tunes from Mississippi Dec 1937 - tunes and words to more than 45 folk songs | ||||||||||