Guide to the Kenyon Family Papers, 1893-1972 CTC.1973.01
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Kenyon Family Papers
Creator
Kenyon family
Collection Number
CTC.1973.01
Extent
5 Linear Feet(10 boxes)
Date
1893-1972
Date
1909-1950
Abstract
The Kenyon family operated the Kenyon Theatre, the first "high class" vaudeville theatre on Pittsburgh's Northside. They later opened the Kenyon Opera House, also known as the Pitt Theatre, in downtown Pittsburgh. Elmer Bernard Kenyon was the head of Carnegie Institute of Technology's Drama Department, was a press agent for many prominent actors, and founded the Pittsburgh Drama League. This collection contains autographed photos, theatre records, correspondence, clippings, vaudeville reviews, etc.
Language
English
.
Author
Jean Blanco.
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
Acquisition Information
Gift of Professor Stanley Goodman, an executor of the T. Thomas Kenyon Estate, 1973. Additional items were donated by the Van Wissink family in 1977 and Professor Stanley Goodman on November 16, 1979.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
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.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jean Blanco in 1975.
Scope and Content Notes
This collection contains the business and personal records of Thomas Kenyon and his two sons, Elmer Bernard and Titus Thomas. The majority of this collection pertains to Elmer Bernard Kenyon. For the most part the collection is comprised of paper records from the first half of the twentieth century. The collection is organized into twelve series.
Biography
The Kenyon family was closely associated with theatre in Pittsburgh for twenty years (1909-1929), maintaining a less direct involvement with local theatre for many years afterwards. Elmer Kenyon, the elder of the two brothers, was associated with the national theatre scene as well.
Thomas Kenyon, the father, emigrated from Ireland and eventually settled in Allegheny City where he operated a dry goods store on Federal Street. On that site he built the Kenyon Theatre in 1909 as the first "high class" theatre on the Northside. Three years later he opened the first Kenyon Opera House, also a vaudeville theatre, in downtown Pittsburgh, on Penn Avenue near Seventh. Because of labor problems and illness, he soon withdrew from active participation in his theatres, and in 1919 he sold his interests.
Both theatres have since been demolished. The Kenyon Theatre remained standing for more than fifty years, until the raising of the Northside area required for Allegheny Center. The Kenyon Opera House achieved a decade of splendor as the Pitt Theatre, one of the city's major legitimate playhouses, after the Shuberts took over in 1919. When its auditorium was torn down in 1951 it was the Barry; the façade lasted until 1963.
The major portion of personal papers in this collection pertains to Elmer Bernard Kenyon, 1886-1949. After he received his degree from Harvard in 1913 he taught first at St. Viator College near Chicago, and then, 1916-29, taught English at Pittsburgh's new Schenley High School. After a brief association with the Theatre Guild he became head of Carnegie Institute of Technology's Drama Department, in 1931. In 1936 he returned to the Theatre Guild, and was press agent for Maurice Evans, Judith Anderson, and Helen Hayes, among others. Mr. Kenyon founded the Pittsburgh Drama League, was its president and edited its Review for many years, and was a director of the national organization. He was also a popular lecturer in Pittsburgh, and contributed to various national journals. He retired in 1947, and in 1949 he died, survived briefly by his mother, and by his brother, Titus Thomas.
T. Thomas Kenyon, 1892-1973, had assumed increasing responsibility at the Northside Theatre and was its manager for several years before the theatre was sold. He also managed the Pitt Theatre during its most glamorous period, 1923-29. He lived alone in Pittsburgh from the time of his mother's death in 1949, presumably managing his business interests, until his own death in 1973. There were no survivors and he left $1.2 million to the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into twelve series:
Series I. Biographical Information, 1949-1973
Series II. Correspondence, 1893-1972
Series III. Notes and School Papers
Series IV. Scrapbooks
Series V. Theatre Guild Press Releases
Series VI. Lectures and Publications
Series VII. Newspaper Clippings, 1901-1969
Series VIII. Miscellany, 1910-1935
Series IX. Theatre Records, 1909-1940
Series X. Photographs, 1921-1941
Series XI. Phonorecords
Series XII. Oversize Materials
Previous Citation
Kenyon Family Papers, 1893-1972, CTC.1973.01, Curtis Theatre Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh
Kenyon Family Papers, 1893-1972, CTC.10, Curtis Theatre Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Kenyon Family Papers, 1893-1972, CTC.1973.01, Curtis Theatre Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Related Material
Pitt Theatre Programs, Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of Pittsburgh Theatre Programs, 1840-present, CTC.1966.01, Curtis Theatre Collection, Archives & Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Pittsburgh Drama League, Curtis Theatre Collection, Archives & Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh Library System
