- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1989-008", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21232", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1852-1895", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1852/1895"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Bronson Howard papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"3 lin. ft. (8 boxes)"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.</span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center</span> <span class=\"addressline\">40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The Bronson Howard Papers consist primarily of correspondence, but also include financial and legal documents. Bronson Howard corresponded with a wide circle of family, friends and professional associates. The family correspondence documents Mr. Howard's personal life, family business and social interactions. Correspondence with associates, including actors, managers and writers, gives information about Mr. Howard's activities and theater of the period. A number of letters discuss the Civil War."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"Materials in English"}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Bronson Howard papers, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Howard, Bronson, 1842-1908", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Bronson Howard, the \"dean of American dramatists\", was born 7 October 1842 in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a prominent business man who was elected mayor of Detroit in 1849. In 1858 Bronson Howard was sent to boarding school in Connecticut preparatory to entering Yale University. He experienced problems with his eyesight, however, and gave up plans to attend university.</p> <p>At about the same time, Mr. Howard's mother died, and his father suffered financial reverses. Mr. Howard returned to the Midwest where he entered the business world under the tutelage of his brother-in-law, William Waterman. He seems not to have prospered and turned to journalism, writing a column for the Detroit Free Press.</p> <p>While working as a journalist, Mr. Howard wrote his first play, FANTINE, which was produced in Detroit in 1864. In 1865 he moved to New York where he continued to support himself as a journalist while writing plays. His first success came in 1870 when Augustin Daly, manager of the Fifth Avenue Theatre, produced his SARATOGA. DIAMONDS (1872), MOORCROFT (1874), LILIAN'S LAST LOVE (1877), which was revised in 1878 under the name THE BANKER'S DAUGHTER, OLD LOVE LETTERS (1878), HURRICANES (1878), WIVES (1879), FUN IN A GREEN-ROOM (1882), YOUNG MRS. WINTHROP (1882), ONE OF OUR GIRLS (1995), MET BY CHANCE (1887), THE HENRIETTA (1887) and BARON RUDOLPH (1887) followed. In 1889 Charles Frohman produced Mr. Howard's SHENANDOAH which established his reputation as a playwright and brought him financial independence. His final produced plays were ARISTOCRACY (1892) and PETER STUYVESANT (1899).</p> <p>In 1880 Mr. Howard married Alice Wyndham, sister of the English actor and manager Sir Charles Wyndham. After his sister, Ella, died in 1892, Mr. Howard acted as guardian to her children.</p> <p>Mr. Howard is known as the first American playwright to support himself by his work. He was also instrumental in bringing works by American authors to the stage not only in the United States but also in England. He founded and was president of the American Dramatists Club through which he successfully lobbied congress for copyright protection for American playwrights.</p> <p>Bronson Howard died at Avon-by-the-Sea, New Jersey on 4 August 1908.</p> <p>Family tree available in PDF finding aid.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The papers consist primarily of correspondence but also include financial records and legal documents and one annotated script. Bronson Howard corresponded with a wide circle of family members, friends, and professional associates. The family correspondence documents Mr. Howard's personal life as well as family business and social activities. Correspondence with theatre associates, including actors, managers and writers give information about Mr. Howard's activities and about theater during the period. A number of letters, particularly from family members and school friends (see esp. Box 28,639, Folder 3, Bacon, Edward W.) discuss the Civil War.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Bronson Howard papers are arranged in four series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21232#c1346441'>I. Family Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1852-1893</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21232#c1346471'>II. General Correspondence</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21232#c1346540'>III. General Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1858-1893</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21232#c1346556'>IV. Oversized Material</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1861-1892</div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>I. Family Correspondence, 1842-1893; II. General Correspondence, 1. Chronological Files, 1857-1895, 2. Alphabetical Files, 1860-1893; III. General Papers, 1858-1893; IV. Oversized Material, 1861-1892</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Bronson Howard Papers were given to the Wilton Library, Wilton, CT in 1979. The collection, unprocessed, was turned over to The Billy Rose Theatre Collection in 1989.</p>"}
- bibliography
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"bibref\">American Dramatists and Composers Society. In Memoriam: Bronson Howard, 1842-1908. New York, 1910. (MWES (Howard, B.))</span> <span class=\"bibref\">Boyle, Charles John. Bronson Howard and the Popular Temper of the Guilded Age. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1957. (*Z-1288)</span> <span class=\"bibref\">Frerer, Lloyd A, Bronson Howard: Dean of American Dramatists. Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, The University of Iowa, 1971. (MWES (Howard, B.))</span> <span class=\"bibref\">Tower, Grace Hortense. \"Bronson Howard — Dean of American Dramatists.\" The Theatre (January, 1905): 99-102. (NBLA +)</span>"}
- note
-
{"value"=>"Card catalog available."}
- date_start
-
1852
- keydate
-
1852
- date_end
-
1895
- date_inclusive_start
-
1852
- date_inclusive_end
-
1895
- extent_statement
-
3 linear feet (8 boxes)