Guide to the Scrapbooks of George Scully, c1874-1903
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Scrapbooks of George Scully
- Creator
- Scully, George
- Collection Number
- MSS#143
- Extent
- 1.0 cubic feet (4 shelf volumes)
- Date
- c1874-1903
- Abstract
- Little is known about George Scully, a Pittsburgh resident who worked for the Union Line Railway's Pittsburgh Office. These Scrapbooks consist primarily of playbills, photographs, newspaper articles about theater, and other sundry items, primarily documenting theatrical productions in Pittsburgh and other major cities in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Sponsor
- This finding aid has been encoded as a part of the Historic Pittsburgh project a joint effort of the University of Pittsburgh and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Funding for this portion of the project has been donated by the Hillman Foundation.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
Biographical Sketch of George Scully
Little is known about George Scully, a Pittsburgh resident who worked for the Union Line Railway's Pittsburgh Office. George Scully was the son of William O'Hara Scully and was related to prominent Pittsburgh families including the Denny's and the O'Hara's. Scully also appears to have been involved in a variety of hunting concerns including the operation of a shooting parlor in Frostburg, Maryland in 1897. Through these scrapbooks, Scully appears to have possessed a longstanding interest in theater and saw many theatrical productions in Pittsburgh and other eastern cities where he traveled.
The American theater after the American Civil War entered a period of great prosperity and quickly became a predominantly commercial enterprise. Immediately after the war, the most popular form of theatrical organization was the resident stock company. Individual stars often toured from one town to the next, performing their most celebrated roles, but the supporting characters remained with the local theaters. Eventually, this system evolved into that of the "combination companies." These companies consisted of independent theatrical units. A star (or several stars) traveled complete with supporting players, technical personnel, sets, costumes, and props. By 1886 there were 282 such traveling companies in the United States. There were several different types of theater in the post-Civil War years. Minstrel shows that both employed and exploited blacks were extremely popular before the war, but declined afterwards with the rise of burlesque and vaudeville. Burlesque attracted a primarily male audience and remained popular through the 1920s; however, it eventually degenerated into striptease and was relegated to the fringes of acceptable culture. Vaudeville, on the other hand, became a staple of family entertainment. Promoters emphasized its wholesome nature and the quality of the audiences. While burlesque played mainly in saloons, vaudeville played in regular theaters. Standard classical theater was also extremely popular, especially as produced in the new, more realistic style. Realism in American theater meant that the sets, props, and delivery of lines were more true to life. Subject matter continued to be romantic and melodramatic. Realistic themes and issues were often considered subversive and offensive to American values. The following paragraphs are brief biographies of the most prominently featured actors in the Scully scrapbooks.
Lawrence Barrett (1838-1891) started acting on the American stage at age 14 and continued until joining the army to fight during the Civil War. After the war he returned to the stage and became best known for playing Cassius to Edwin Booth's Brutus. A popular actor, Barrett was a scrupulous professional with an extensive repertoire of the classics. He was considered at his best performing Shakespeare, partly because of his highly intelligent interpretations.
Sarah Bernhardt (1838-1923) was a respected French actress, known for her slim figure, charming voice, and eccentric behavior. She first appeared in New York City in 1880 with immediate success. In addition to acting, she was also an accomplished painter, sculptor, poet, and playwright. She is best known for her performances in Rostand's L'Aiglon and as the title character in Hamlet.
Edwin Booth (1833-1893) is regarded as one of the greatest tragic actors of all time and the first American actor to gain a following in Europe. Edwin Booth was part of one of the most famous acting families in the United States. His father, Junius Brutus Booth was a fairly successful American actor. Edwin's brother, Junius Brutus Booth, Jr., was a respected theater manager and producer. His other brother was John Wilkes Booth, better known as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln than for his lackluster acting abilities. Edwin Booth retired for several years after the Lincoln assassination in 1865, but returned to the stage by constructing his own theater in New York City. Edwin Booth's best roles were Shakespearean, especially Othello, Brutus, and Hamlet.
Edwin Forrest (1806-1872) was born in Philadelphia and began acting when he was ten. For thirty years at the height of his career, he was considered the premiere tragic actor in America. His expressive face and powerful voice projected him to roles such as King Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, and Marc Antony.
Henry Irving (1838-1905) dominated the English stage during the last 30 years of Queen Victoria's reign. He was known for challenging the accepted school of acting and interpretations. He had awkward mannerisms and an odd voice, but he was a powerful personality on stage and off. From 1883 to 1908, Irving went on eight very successful tours of North America. In 1895, Irving was the first actor knighted by the British Monarchy. Plagued by poor health and finances, he died in England while in the midst of a farewell tour and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Many of his best roles were written specifically for him and include the title characters in Wills' Charles I, Bulwer-Lytton's Richelieu, Tennyson's Becket and as Wolsey in Shakespeare's Henry VIII. Irving is best known for his performances with Ellen Terry (1847-1928). Starting in 1878, Terry worked with Irving for nearly 25 years and specialized in Shakespearean plays. In 1903, Ellen Terry became the manager of her own theater and seldom acted after 1907. In her later years, she toured the United States and Australia giving readings and lectures on Shakespeare.
Joseph Jefferson (1829-1905) was a third generation actor who first appeared on stage when he was four years old. He is best known for his title role in Boucicault's Rip Van Winkle, a role he played exclusively from 1865 to 1880. Through the years Jefferson constantly adapted that play to suit his own acting abilities, becoming in the end, almost his own play. Jefferson is also well known for touring in The Rivals, by Sheridan.
Helena Modjeska (1840-1910) was a Polish actress who immigrated to the United States in 1876. She made her American acting debut in 1877 with immediate success. She studied the English language in England and achieved her dream of performing Shakespeare on a London stage. Among Shakespearean roles, Modjeska is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Lady Macbeth.
Scope and Content Notes
These Scrapbooks consist primarily of playbills, photographs, newspaper articles about theater, and other sundry items, primarily documenting theatrical productions in Pittsburgh and other major cities in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. Three of the four scrapbooks deal entirely with American theater in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The materials primarily consists of playbills from productions in Pittsburgh theaters and music halls including: the Pittsburgh Opera House, Library Hall, Bijou Theater, Duquesne Theater, Alvin Theater, Carnegie Music Hall, the Auditorium, and Old City Hall. Also included are less regular materials from productions staged outside Pittsburgh in major cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Baltimore, Washington, Detroit, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon. The productions most frequently included in these scrapbooks are the Shakespearean classics: Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Richard III, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth. The most frequently mentioned non-Shakespearean plays are Lady of Lyons, Richelieu, The Rivals, The Fool's Revenge, and Shenandoah. Included with the playbills are newspaper photographs and articles about famous actors of the period. Most prominently featured are Edwin Booth, Sarah Bernhardt, Henry Irving, Helena Modjeska, Joseph Jefferson, Ellen Terry, Lawrence Barrett, Adelina Patti, and Edwin Forrest. Also included in the theatrical scrapbooks are a number of playbills for minstrel acts, burlesque shows, and for a performance of the Hermann family of illusionists. There are also many programs for Pittsburgh Orchestra concerts from 1900 to 1903, along with those for other assorted musical performers. Biographical clippings in the first three volumes are fairly sparse; however, there are occasional articles about Edwin Booth, Sarah Bernhardt, and Lawrence Barrett. There is also an obituary for the actress Anne Pixley, and a detailed drawing of props used in famous Shakespearean productions.
The general scrapbook provides an eclectic compilation of news clippings, obituaries, printed writings, souvenirs, ephemera, photographs, and other sundry items with some of the materials relating to the theater. Possibly the most personally revealing material in the scrapbook for George Scully is material relating to hunting and wildlife because he operated a shooting parlor in Frostburg, Maryland in 1897. Also included are the game laws for Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia in 1900 and 1901, several brochures for the Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and two pages documenting Scully's 1902 trip to the Natural Bridge in Virginia. Many of the other materials in this scrapbook document life and people in Pittsburgh including prominent members of the community and members of his prominent family. Included are obituaries for James S. Negley, George W. Dilworth, Senator Christopher Lyman Magee, Rev. William T. Beatty and several for George Scully's father, William O'Hara Scully. Also included is an article about Andrew Carnegie's early years in Pittsburgh. Other Pittsburgh materials include a program for the local Freemason chapters, and a list of the derivation of town names in the Pittsburgh area. Some items in this scrapbook document his interest in theater and include some stray reviews, several pages from a program for an 1877 production of Shaughraun in New York City, programs from the Carnegie Music Hall, and a playbill from Harry William's Academy, specializing in burlesque and "high-class vaudeville." Most of the other material is only loosely related. There are numerous clippings about the United States Presidents including: Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley, Lincoln, Washington, and Washington's home in Mount Vernon. Included in this scrapbook are a larger number of printed prose, songs, trivia clippings, jokes and anecdotes from various newspapers not necessarily in Pittsburgh.
Arrangement
The George Scully Scrapbooks include four shelf volumes and are arranged alphabetically by volume title.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in one accession in 1951.
Acc# 1951x Gift of Mrs. J. C. M. White, (Scrapbooks. Mrs. White was George Scully's niece).
Preferred Citation
Scrapbooks of George Scully, c1874-1903, MSS# 143, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Fiona Seels on August 18, 1994.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Doug MacGregor on July 20, 2001.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or publish, please contact the curator of the Archives.
Subjects
- Alvin Theatre (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Bijou Theatre (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Carnegie Hall (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Duquesne Theatre (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Library Hall (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Pittsburgh Opera House (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
- Scully, George
- Barrett, Lawrence (1838-1891)
- Bernhardt, Sarah (1838-1923)
- Booth, Edwin (1833-1893)
- Forrest, Edwin (1806-1872)
- Irving, Henry (1838-1905)
- Jefferson, Joseph (1829-1905)
- Modjeska, Helena (1840-1910)
- Terry, Ellen (1847-1928)
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- History
- Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- Recreation
- Actors.
- Actors -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Entertainers
- Entertainers - Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Firearms
- Hunting
- Music--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
- Performing Arts -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Dramatic Production
- Symphony Orchestras - Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Theater
- Theater -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Theaters -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh