- physdesc
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{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"1.2 linear feet (4 boxes)"}
- unitid
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{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1995-002", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21529", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unittitle
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{"value"=>"Eunice Stoddard papers"}
- repository
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{"value"=>"The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division."}
- abstract
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{"value"=>"Eunice Stoddard was a stage actress and a member of the Group Theatre. The papers consist of correspondence, opening night messages, photographs, programs, scripts, sides, and clippings from productions in which she participated."}
- prefercite
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{"value"=>"<p>Eunice Stoddard Papers, *T-Mss 1995-002, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts</p>"}
- origination
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{"value"=>"Stoddard, Eunice", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
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{"value"=>"<p> An actress and dancer, <span class=\"persname\">Eunice Stoddard</span> was an original member of the Group Theatre, a company formed in 1931 by <span class=\"persname\">Harold Clurman</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Lee Strasberg</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Cheryl Crawford</span>, and dedicated to producing Broadway plays exploring social and moral issues, and to developing acting techniques that emphasized emotional realism and psychological depth.</p> <p>Stoddard came from an affluent and culturally connected New York family. After graduating from the Brearly School in 1925, she was sent to Europe for several years, where she studied acting, dancing and music, and met Stanislavsky. Stoddard considered a career in dance, and staged a number of dance pageants upon returning to the States, but soon enrolled in the <span class=\"corpname\">American Laboratory Theatre</span>, an innovative acting school based on the principles of the Moscow Art Theatre and led by <span class=\"persname\">Richard Boleslavsky</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Maria Ouspenskya</span>. There Eunice met Clurman and Strasberg, who had enrolled in the directing program, and <span class=\"persname\">Stella Adler</span>, who was an acting student.</p> <p>The <span class=\"corpname\">American Laboratory Theatre</span> foundered in 1928, but Stoddard was already winning parts in Broadway productions, as a result of her solid training and her classic blonde ingenue looks. She then appeared in <span class=\"title\">Red Rust</span>, produced by the Theatre Guild Studio, which was led by Clurman and Strasberg. During the 1930 season, she was cast in a major Guild production of <span class=\"title\">A Month in the Country</span>, and appeared in the Broadway productions of <span class=\"persname\">Samuel Ruskin Golden</span>'s <span class=\"title\">Puppet Show</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Gretchen Damrosch</span>'s <span class=\"title\">The Life Line</span>. In the summer of 1931, she was invited to join the newly formed Group Theatre in Connecticut to rehearse and prepare their first production, <span class=\"persname\">Paul Green</span>'s <span class=\"title\">The House of Connelly</span>.</p> <p>Stoddard had roles in all of the Group's productions from 1931-1933, and most of them in 1934 and 1935, appearing in such seminal works as <span class=\"title\">Men in White</span>, <span class=\"title\">Waiting for Lefty</span> and <span class=\"title\">Till the Day I Die</span>. By this time she had married the architect <span class=\"persname\">Julian Whittlesey</span>, and was developing a life outside the Group Theatre. She also was becoming unhappy that she was consigned to lesser parts. Yet she was devoted to the ideals of the Group, and kept an association with the Company as late as 1938, when she appeared in <span class=\"title\">Casey Jones</span>. When the Group Theatre disbanded, Stoddard left the theater, going on to work in radio and to collaborate with her husband in underwater and aerial photography. In 1972, she published her first book, <span class=\"bibref\"> <span class=\"title\">Symbols and Legends in Western Art: A Museum Guide</span> (New York: Scribner, 1972)</span>.</p> <p> <span class=\"bibref\">In an interview with <span class=\"name\">Wendy Smith</span> for her book about the Group Theatre, <span class=\"title\">Real Life Drama</span> (New York: Knopf, 1990)</span>, Stoddard explained her devotion to the Group: \"Everybody had their frustrations. I stayed because it was more interesting theatre than anywhere else. Rehearsals were always so exciting: the whole analysis of the play, of the parts, of what the play was saying in terms of our era, was just so much more stimulating than anything you'd ever get on Broadway. You didn't want to leave that for what you knew you'd be getting outside, which might satisfy your ego as an actress but not necessarily create very interesting theatre.\"</p>"}
- custodhist
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{"value"=>"<p>The collection was donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division by Peregrine Whittlesey, the daughter of Eunice Stoddard, in 1995.</p>"}
- scopecontent
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{"value"=>"<p>The Eunice Stoddard Papers document her brief career in dance from 1926 to 1928 and her longer career in the theater from 1926 to 1938. The papers consist of correspondence, opening night messages, programs, clippings, a small number of photographs, and playscripts and sides marked in her own hand with acting and staging notes. There are also examples of various research sources and several styles of choreographic notation that Stoddard studied and used to stage dance pageants.</p> <p>The papers are divided into series representing the years before and during her membership in the <span class=\"corpname\">Group Theatre</span>, and into sub-series documenting individual productions. Productions from 1928 to 1934, comprising the three years before and the three years after she joined the Group Theatre, form the bulk of the collection. Each production sub-series typically includes a script or side, opening night telegrams and messages from fellow cast members, family members, and acting teachers, a program, and a generous selection of reviews from New York and out-of town newspapers. Among the clippings are newspaper photographs of Stoddard in productions in which she had major roles: <span class=\"title\">Revolt</span> (Box 2, Folders 9-10), <span class=\"title\">Meet the Prince</span> (Box 2, Folder 14), <span class=\"title\">Re-Born</span> (Box 2, Folder 20), <span class=\"title\">A Month in the Country</span> (Box 2, Folders 36-37), <span class=\"title\">The Life Line</span> (Box 3, Folders 11-12) and <span class=\"title\">The House of Connelly</span> (Box 3, Folder 20).</p> <p>Although there is but one letter from each, notable correspondents include <span class=\"persname\">Richard Boleslavsky</span> (Box 1, Folder 32), and Group Theatre members <span class=\"persname\">Cheryl Crawford</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Bobby Lewis</span>, and <span class=\"persname\">Harold Clurman</span> (Box 1, Folders 2-4). Founding members of the Group Theatre can be identified in a photograph depicting the company seated on the grounds of Brookfield Center in Connecticut during the summer of 1931, with each person identified on the back of the photograph (Box 1, Folder 8).</p> <p>Several playscripts of productions not seen on Broadway, mostly with the playwright unidentified, form the last series of papers.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Eunice Stoddard papers are arranged in six series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21529#c309708'>Series I : Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1913-1938</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>16 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Arranged by format, this series contains a small amount of personal correspondence, personal and production photographs arranged by date, a childhood drawing, and programs and clippings reflecting Stoddard's interests in dance and theater. Correspondence includes notes from <span class=\"persname\">Cheryl Crawford</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Harold Clurman</span> of the Group Theatre, and an exchange with <span class=\"persname\">Bobby Lewis</span> about ideas for teaching acting in the Group Theatre Studio school. Photos from several dance and theatrical productions, as well as a group portrait of the Group Theatre, are included. Notable among the clippings are articles documenting the philosophy and projects of the Theatre Guild and the Group Theatre. Among the dance clippings are photographic reproductions of the dancers Anna and Lisa Duncan and of <span class=\"persname\">Ruth St. Denis</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Ted Shawn</span>, and a series of costume and set renderings by the dance designer <span class=\"persname\">Pavel Tchelitchew</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21529#c309726'>Series II : Choreographic Work</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1926-1928</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>14 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series is a chronological arrangement of Stoddard's early career in dance. It contains instruction booklets and examples of \"Script Dancing,\" a system of choreographic notation that Stoddard learned in Germany, a written description of a dance piece set to Beethoven's <span class=\"title\">Sonata in D Minor</span>, and a draft proposal for a summer dance pageant in <span class=\"geogname\">Richmond, Massachusetts</span>. Also included are production materials for three dance pageants in which Stoddard served as choreographer: <span class=\"title\">The Golden Cage</span>, arranged from the poems of <span class=\"persname\">William Blake</span>; <span class=\"title\">The Image of Artemis</span> from <span class=\"title\">Iphigenia in Tauris</span> by <span class=\"persname\">Euripides</span>; and <span class=\"title\">The Birth of Christ</span> by <span class=\"persname\">Ludwig Weber</span>. Among the production materials are choreographic descriptions and notations, typescripts, programs, and several clippings with sources unidentified. Of particular interest is a draft of a letter expressing Stoddard's dissatisfaction with rehearsals of <span class=\"title\">The Image of Artemis</span> and asking that her name be removed from the program.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21529#c309741'>Series III: American Laboratory Theatre</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>ca. 1926-1928</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>5 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of correspondence and ephemera relating to Stoddard's training with the <span class=\"corpname\">American Laboratory Theatre</span>. The correspondence consists of two letters: the first from <span class=\"persname\">Richard Boleslavsky</span> outlining the financial difficulties of the Company and releasing Stoddard to look for other work, and the second from <span class=\"persname\">Elizabeth Bigelow</span> inviting Stoddard to continue to rehearse with the company and inquiring about the dance pageant in Richmond. Included in the ephemera are programs and clippings of American Laboratory Theatre productions in which Stoddard does not appear to have been involved; <span class=\"title\">The Pit</span>, a periodical published by the American Laboratory Theatre on each of their opening nights; and a brochure about the Dramatic School, which lists the faculty, among them <span class=\"persname\">John Mason Brown</span>, a critic, <span class=\"persname\">Richard Boleslavsky</span>, the director and acting teacher, and <span class=\"persname\">Maria Ouspenskaya</span>. <span class=\"persname\">Stella Adler</span> was a member of the company.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21529#c309747'>Series IV : Miscellaneous Productions, primarily</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1933 [bulk 1928-1931]</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>58 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Arranged chronologically, this series consists of materials relating to productions in which Stoddard had roles before she began her association with the Group Theatre in 1931. The exception is <span class=\"title\">Three-Cornered Moon</span>, in which she was engaged in 1933, between productions with the <span class=\"corpname\">Group Theatre</span>. The series contains correspondence, programs, opening night messages and other ephemera, scripts, clippings and reviews. Among the clippings are several large newspaper photographs of Stoddard in various parts. Particularly notable are the Theatre Guild production of Turgenev's <span class=\"title\">A Month in the Country</span>, and the Theatre Guild Studio production of <span class=\"title\">Red Rust</span> by V. Kirchon and A. Ouspensky, produced by <span class=\"persname\">Harold Clurman</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Cheryl Crawford</span>, whose cast members included <span class=\"persname\">Lee Strasberg</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Luther Adler</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Franchot Tone</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Ruth Nelson</span>, all of whom joined the Group Theatre.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21529#c309815'>Series V : Group Theatre Productions</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>bulk 1931-1936</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>34 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of a limited amount of correspondence and opening night messages from fellow cast members, acting teachers, family and friends, as well as scripts, sides, programs and clippings from <span class=\"corpname\">Group Theatre</span> productions in which Stoddard had a part. As Stoddard had better roles in the early years of the Group Theatre, the material from productions in the first three years is correspondingly richer. Representative material from the Boston runs as well as the Broadway runs of some productions is included. Although Stoddard also appeared in the Group Theatre production of <span class=\"title\">Casey Jones</span> in 1938, the papers do not include any material from that production.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21529#c309862'>Series VI : Miscellaneous Scripts and Sides</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1926</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>5 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of playscripts and sides from five unknown and/or unproduced shows, arranged alphabetically. The only script that appears complete and fully identifiable is of <span class=\"title\">Sump'n Like Wings</span>, written by <span class=\"persname\">Lynn Riggs</span> in 1926 but never produced in <span class=\"geogname\">New York</span>. It is possible that some of the scripts could be early drafts of shows produced later under a different title.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
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{"value"=>"<p>The collection is organized into 6 series and 19 sub-series. They are:</p> <p> <ul> <li>Series I : Personal Papers, 1913-1938</li> <li>Series II : Choreographic Work, 1926-1928</li> <li>Series III : <span class=\"corpname\">American Laboratory Theatre</span>, ca. 1926-1928</li> <li>Series IV : Miscellaneous Productions, 1928-1933 <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - <span class=\"title\">The Phantom Lover</span> / <span class=\"persname\">George Kaiser</span>, Sept. 1928</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - <span class=\"title\">Revolt</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Harry Wagstaff Gribble</span>, Sept.-Oct. 1928</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - <span class=\"title\">Meet the Prince</span> / <span class=\"persname\">A.A. Milne</span>, Feb. 1929</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - <span class=\"title\">Re-Born</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Irma Kraft</span>, Sept. 1929</li> <li>Sub-series 5 - <span class=\"title\">Red Rust</span> / V. Kirchon and A. Ouspensky, Nov.-Dec. 1929</li> <li>Sub-series 6 - <span class=\"title\">A Month in the Country</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Ivan Turgenev</span>, Mar.-Apr. 1930</li> <li>Sub-series 7 - <span class=\"title\">Puppet Show</span>, a.k.a. <span class=\"title\">That's Life</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Samuel Ruskin Golden</span>, Oct. 1930</li> <li>Sub-series 8 - <span class=\"title\">The Life Line</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Gretchen Damrosch</span>, Dec. 1930-Jan. 1931</li> <li>Sub-series 9 - <span class=\"title\">Three-Cornered Moon</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Gertrude Tonkonogy</span>, Mar. 1933</li></ul></li> <li>Series V : Group Theatre Productions <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - <span class=\"title\">House of Connelly</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Paul Green</span>, Sept. 1931</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - <span class=\"title\">1931</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Claire Sifton</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Paul Sifton</span>, Dec. 1931</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - <span class=\"title\">Night over Taos</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Maxwell Anderson</span>, Mar. 1932</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - <span class=\"title\">Success Story</span> / <span class=\"persname\">John Howard Lawson</span>, Sept. 1932</li> <li>Sub-series 5 - <span class=\"title\">Big Night</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Dawn Powell</span>, Jan. 1933</li> <li>Sub-series 6 - <span class=\"title\">Men in White</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Sidney Kingsley</span>, 1933-1934</li> <li>Sub-series 7 - <span class=\"title\">Gold Eagle Guy</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Melvin Levy</span>, Nov. 1934</li> <li>Sub-series 8 - <span class=\"title\">Till the Day I Die</span> and <span class=\"title\">Waiting for Lefty</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Clifford Odets</span>, Mar. 1935</li> <li>Sub-series 9 - <span class=\"title\">Weep for the Virgins</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Nellise Child</span>, Nov. 1935</li> <li>Sub-series 10 - <span class=\"title\">Paradise Lost</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Clifford Odets</span> and <span class=\"title\">The Case of Clyde Griffiths</span> / <span class=\"persname\">Theodore Dreiser</span>, 1935-1936</li></ul></li> <li>Series VI : Miscellaneous Scripts and Sides</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- accessrestrict
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{"value"=>"<p>Photocopying prohibited.</p>"}
- userestrict
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{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- unitdate
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{"value"=>"1913-1938", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1913/1938"}
- date_inclusive_start
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1913
- date_inclusive_end
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1938
- acqinfo
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{"accession_number"=>"THE 1995-002"}
{"date"=>"1995", "source"=>"Whittelsey, Peregrine", "method"=>"Gift", "extent"=>"1.2 o", "value"=>"Gift, Whittelsey, Peregrine, 1995"}
- keydate
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1913
- processinfo
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{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Susan Chute.</p>"}
- date_start
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1913
- date_end
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1938