Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of New York Theatre Programs 1857-present
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of New York Theatre Programs
Creator
Curtis, Harriet R.
Creator
Curtis, Ford E.
Collection Number
CTC.1966.05
Extent
156 Linear Feet(336 mss boxes)
Date
1857-present
Abstract
The Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection contains tens of thousands of New York theatre programs from the 1850s to the present. They include productions that were performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and elsewhere in the state of New York. Sometimes newspaper clippings, marketing materials, and memorabilia related to the productions are stored with the programs.
Language
English
.
Author
William Daw.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman) Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Accruals
The Curtis Collection has a subscription to opening night programs of Broadway productions through Playbill. In addition to this subscription, donations are added to the collection regularly. These donations are typically from the general public. If you are interested in donating theatre programs to the collection, please contact Archives & Special Collections staff.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into two series.
Series I. New York City Theatre Programs, 1857-present
Series II. New York Theatre Programs, 1891-2003
History
The Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection contains a large collection of New York theatre programs. Dr. Ford E. Curtis began teaching drama in the English department at the University of Pittsburgh in 1924. He and his wife, Harriet, were avid theatre goers. They would take frequent trips to New York City to see Broadway shows.
In 1950, Dr. Curtis started a subscription to the opening night programs through Playbill. He then began to file the programs along with corresponding reviews, photographs, and other clippings. After his retirement in 1961, he began to add to their personal collection of playbills and programs in the hopes of building a collection to donate to Pitt. He solicited the help of the New York Public Library's Theatre Collection. For a period of about twelve years the Curtis Collection received fifteen to twenty boxes of duplicates from the NYPL. These contained programs, scrapbooks, photographs, journals, and scripts. Thousands of items in this and other Curtis collections are stamped DUPL NYPL.
The materials that Dr. Curtis amassed -- his own collection, materials donated to him, and the Curtis Collection staff's current efforts to acquire additional programs -- help to document the history of theatre and the performing arts.
Previous Citation
Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of New York Theatre Programs, 1857-present, CTC.1966.05, Curtis Theatre Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of New York Theatre Programs, 1857-present, CTC.1966.05, Curtis Theatre Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Curtis Collection staff.
Related Material
Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of Performing Arts Posters (finding aid in-progress)
Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of Performing Arts Photographs (finding aid in-progress)
Scope and Content Notes
This collection contains nineteenth and twentieth century theatre programs from both New York City and elsewhere in the state of New York. The New York City programs are located in Series I and are filed chronologically. The New York state programs are filed alphabetically by theatre title in Series II.
Please note that this collection does not represent all of the New York theatre programs in the Curtis Collection. There are many New York City programs prior to 1930 in our scrapbook collection.
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
