- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"8 linear feet (16 boxes, 10 reels of microfilm)"}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1996-024", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21390", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Morrie Ryskind papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division."}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Morrie Ryskind, poet, playwright, and columnist. Awarded the 1932 Pultizer Prize for drama for <span class=\"title\">Of Thee I Sing</span> co-written with George Kaufman, Ira Gershwin, and George Gershwin. Testified before the House Un-American Activities Hearings. The papers consist of correspondence, diaries and journals, and scripts by Ryskind. The bulk of the collection is scrapbooks, which have been microfilmed. These contain newspaper clippings pertaining to various productions, as well as Ryskind's published poetry and columns."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>*T-Mss 1996-024, Morrie Ryskind Papers, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Ryskind, Morrie, 1895-1985", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p><span class=\"persname\">Morrie Ryskind</span>, <span class=\"subject\">playwright</span>, <span class=\"subject\">poet</span>, and columnist, was born on October 20, 1895 in Brooklyn. After high school he attended The Columbia University School of Journalism where he served as editor of Columbia's humor magazine <span class=\"title\">The Jester</span>. In 1917, six weeks from graduation, Ryskind was expelled for writing an editorial which called Columbia President Nicholas Murray Butler, \"Czar Nicholas\". Ryskind was later awarded his degree in 1942.</p> <p>Ryskind's professional career as a writer began soon after his expulsion when he was hired as a reporter by <span class=\"title\">The World</span>, a post he held until 1921. That year he published a book of light verse called <span class=\"title\">Unaccustomed as I Am</span>, which received favorable reviews. Ryskind's poetry had appeared in numerous collegiate as well as professional publications. In 1924 Ryskind wrote shorts for the <span class=\"title\">Garrick Gaieties</span> drawing the attention of George Kaufman who asked him to collaborate on the musical <span class=\"title\">Cocoanuts</span>, a Marx Brothers vehicle with music by Irving Berlin. Ryskind worked with Berlin again in 1940 on the Broadway hit, <span class=\"title\">The Louisiana Purchase</span>. His collaboration with Kaufman included <span class=\"title\">Animal Crackers</span> and the film <span class=\"title\">A Night at the Opera</span>. Ryskind later adapted <span class=\"title\">Cocoanuts</span> and <span class=\"title\">Animal Crackers</span> for the screen, both successes for the Marx Brothers. When he married Mary House in 1929, Groucho Marx was his best man.</p> <p>Ryskind and Kaufman also collaborated with George and Ira Gershwin on three musicals, <span class=\"title\">Strike Up the Band</span>, <span class=\"title\">Let 'Em Eat Cake</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Of Thee I Sing</span> for which they shared the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. <span class=\"title\">Of Thee I Sing</span> was such a hit, that the phrase \"to be a Throttlebottom,\" referring to one of the play's characters, entered into the cultural vocabulary of the country and Ryskind was prompted to write the book, <span class=\"title\">The Diary of an Ex-President</span>, from the point of view of the fictitious Wintergreen, Commander-in-Chief of the United States.</p> <p>In 1935 Ryskind left for Hollywood where he received two Academy Award nominations for the films, <span class=\"title\">My Man Godfrey</span> (1936) and <span class=\"title\">Stage Door</span> (1939). He also wrote the screenplays for <span class=\"title\">Room Service</span>, <span class=\"title\">Man About Town</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Claudia</span>.</p> <p>By the late 1940's Ryskind had ceased to write for either the stage or screen. In 1947 he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on the Communist infiltration of Hollywood. As a result of his testimony, Ryskind later said that he had been professionally ostracized. Ryskind became more involved with conservative politics as the years went on, serving as one of the original directors of <span class=\"title\">The National Review</span>. In 1960 he became a columnist for <span class=\"title\">The Los Angeles Times Syndicate</span>. He resigned in 1965 when one of his columns was suppressed. Later that year he joined <span class=\"title\">The Los Angeles Herald Examiner</span>, where he remained until he retired in 1978. Morrie Ryskind died in his home in Washington DC in 1985; he was 89 years old.</p>"}
- custodhist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Morrie Ryskind Papers were donated to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division in July of 1996 in two installments. The collection was processed over the months of September and October of that same year.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The <span class=\"persname\">Morrie Ryskind</span> papers cover the years 1911 to 1985. The collection includes financial papers, contracts, writings, <span class=\"genreform\">scripts</span> with Ryskind's handwritten notes and edits, and newspaper clippings. There is only one box of correspondence, almost all of which is dated pre-1950. Although there are newspaper clippings and a few letters regarding Ryskind's involvement with the <span class=\"corpname\">House Un-American Activities Committee</span> Hearings, there is no official correspondence to or from the House Committee, nor are there letters to or from the Motion Picture Alliance, a conservative Hollywood group, whose members included Ryskind, Adolphe Menjou and Robert Taylor. The bulk of the collection is the scrapbook series which includes 31 microfilmed scrapbooks. Most of the items are clippings concerning stage and screen productions, as well as Ryskind's published poetry and newspaper columns. The scrapbooks also contain numerous rejection letters Ryskind received in the early stages of his career.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Morrie Ryskind papers are arranged in seven series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21390#c298134'>Series I: Diaries and Journals</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1911-1934</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains diaries kept while Ryskind was a student at <span class=\"corpname\">Columbia University</span>; and a partial typewritten journal kept during the decade between 1923 and 1934.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21390#c298142'>Series II: Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1918-1985</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The letters are divided into general correspondence; business letters written in conjunction with specific productions/scripts; and correspondence with <span class=\"corpname\">Columbia University</span> regarding his attempts to secure his degree, and his tenure as a lecturer in the Journalism School. The general and business correspondence includes letters from <span class=\"persname\">Groucho Marx</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Mary Pickford</span>, <span class=\"persname\">Ira Gershwin</span>, <span class=\"persname\">George Kaufman</span>, and <span class=\"persname\">Katherine Dunham</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21390#c298170'>Series III: Writings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1922-1972</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>10 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Included in this series are Ryskind's stage and screen scripts, as well as newspaper and magazine articles he wrote. There is also a box of miscellaneous skits which consist of fragments of skits that are undated and sometimes untitled; and two folders of songs Ryskind wrote for various productions. Most of the film scripts can be traced through successive drafts. A majority of the scripts have handwritten edits and notes by Ryskind. The numbering system is Ryskind's.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21390#c298232'>Series IV: Contracts</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1925-1928</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>5 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Contains contracts regarding specific productions/scripts; employment with various movie studios; copyright renewals; and royalties.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21390#c298238'>Series V: Personal Papers and Ephemera</a></div>\n<div class='series-extent'>7 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Includes a speech made by Ryskind at a Beverly Hills Republican dinner honoring his wife, Mary Ryskind, at which Ronald Reagan was the guest speaker; Columbia exams and papers; papers relating to the Lowenfels Case in which Ryskind and his collaborators were accused of plagiarizing <span class=\"title\">Of Thee I Sing</span>; and comments made in 1995 by Ryskind's sisters about his autobiography, <span class=\"title\">I Shot an Elephant in My Pajamas</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21390#c298246'>Series VI: School Publications</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1914-1922</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>5 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Columbia University publications including <span class=\"title\">The Jester</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Jester Book of Light Verse</span>, and a Columbia yearbook with Ryskind's picture.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21390#c298252'>Series VII: Scrapbooks,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1914-1970</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>32 vols. (available in 10 reels of microfilm)</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The scrapbooks contain Ryskind's published poetry and articles including the columns \"The Conning Tower,\" \"Shadow Box,\" \"Stage Coach\" and \"The Morrie Ryskind Column\"; newspaper clippings about specific stage productions and films; as well as numerous rejection letters from publishers regarding his poetry during the 1920's. Scrapbooks have been rearranged by date rather than by Ryskind's number system.</p> <p>Scrapbooks are available in microfilm only.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I: Diaries and Journals</li> <li>Series II: Correspondence <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - General</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Productions</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - Columbia University</li></ul></li> <li>Series III: Writings <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - Numbered scripts</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Non-numbered scripts</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - Miscellaneous articles</li></ul></li> <li>Series IV: Contracts</li> <li>Series V: Personal Papers and Ephemera</li> <li>Series VI: School Publications</li> <li>Series VII: Scrapbooks (available on microfilm only)</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Programs from various shows and productions in the Theatre Collection programs files - 18</p> <p>Books collected by Ryskind, including works on the Marx Brothers, and Ryskind's autobiography and book of poetry.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Angela Weaver and the Theatre Collection Staff.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Programs for various productions and a collection of books have been counted and separated from the papers. Scrapbook series has been microfilmed with the originals discarded.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photocopying prohibited. Series VII: Scrapbooks available in microfilm only, see *ZC 535 Reels 1-10.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1911-1985", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1911/1985"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1911
- date_inclusive_end
-
1985
- acqinfo
-
{"accession_number"=>"THE Mss 1996-024"}
{"date"=>"06/--/1996", "source"=>"Family of Morrie Ryskind", "address"=>"See donor file", "method"=>"Gift", "extent"=>"16 o", "value"=>"Gift, Family of Morrie Ryskind, 06/--/1996"}
- altformavail
-
{"value"=>"<p>Series VII. Scrapbooks are available on microfilm; The Billy Rose Theatre Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; call number *ZC-535 (Reels 1-10)</p>"}
- originalsloc
-
{"value"=>"<p>Originals were discarded after filming</p>"}
- keydate
-
1911
- date_start
-
1911
- date_end
-
1985