{"value"=>"<p>Chronological Files (1954-2010) document Isaiah Sheffer's family life and professional activities as an actor, writer, director, producer, and Columbia University professor. These files, from his home office, intellectually and chronologically overlap with the other series in this collection. The files are ordered in rough chronological chunks, reflecting Sheffer's activities at any given period. They are arranged by decade, but the date ranges are not strict. Sheffer's original folder titles, retained here, use a wide variety of designations. There are folders dedicated to a particular project, individual or subject. Other folders are titled by genre or format (such as correspondence, sketches, programs, or publicity materials). There are also folders titled by date range that often contain correspondence with a variety of individuals. All of the chronological groupings contain each of these types of files.</p> <p>The Chronological Files consist primarily of correspondence and production files. Sheffer's extensive correspondence provides insight into his personal life, professional activities, and political opinions. In his correspondence with collaborators, topics discussed include critical reception of their works, personal opinions on each other's productions, and the process through which these productions are created and presented.</p> <p>By far the most extensive correspondent is Eric Bentley. Sheffer and Bentley's correspondence documents decades of friendship and collaboration. In their letters they discuss their friends, day-to-day activities, personal lives, teaching careers, opinions about literature, and their own theatrical projects. Many of these projects were collaborations between the two, though many were also created independently. There are folders dedicated entirely to Sheffer's correspondence with or about the Belgian playwright Michel de Ghelderode. Sheffer's correspondence with Ghelderode shows his interest in avant-garde theatre and his active dedication to producing the works of important European playwrights in America. Most of the letters are in French and pertain to American productions of Ghelderode's works. Other correspondents whose letters are contained in the Ghelderode folders include Ghelderode's wife, Jeanne-François Gérard, and sociologist Renée Claire Fox.</p> <p>There are also many letters between Sheffer and his mother, Esther Scooler Sheffer, his father Samuel Sheffer, and his daughter Susannah Sheffer. Family correspondence is sometimes filed with general correspondence, and sometimes separated into its own folders.</p> <p>Letters from other prominent correspondents will be found in folders of general correspondence as well as in folders titled by project or production. Sheffer's correspondence with other authors, performers, producers and directors pertains to existing or potential collaborations, adaptations, productions, or appearances. These correspondents include Isaac Bashevis-Singer, Herbert Blau, Robert Brustein, Lou Carter, Joseph Chaikin, Édouard Chambon, Grover Dale, Jules Feiffer, Robert A. Freedman, E. Y. \"Yip\" Harburg, Langston Hughes, Betty Judkins, Louise Kerz, Lotte Lenya, Lucille Lortel, Louise Manning, Artie Morey, Lew Palter, Bobby Paul, J. I (Jerry) Rodale, and Marc Rosenberg. The correspondence between Sheffer and Langston Hughes concerns a dispute over the premature closing of Sheffer's Off-Broadway production of Hughes' <span class=\"title\">The Prodigal Son</span> and the resulting financial loss.</p> <p>The production materials included in Chronological Files can be differentiated from the materials found in Series I: Productions in that they tend to focus more on the logistical process of casting, directing, negotiating contracts, producing, and publicizing of these works and less on their writing. While some of Sheffer's works from the 1990s and later are documented here, Chronological Files tend to cover the productions he worked on in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.</p> <p>Sheffer's many different roles within the New York theatre world are documented in the production materials found in Chronological Files. Script drafts, song excerpts, and letters and notes from the political revues Sheffer wrote, directed and produced during the 1960s and 1970s (<span class=\"title\">The DMZ</span>, <span class=\"title\">Urban Blight</span>, <span class=\"title\">Watergate Classics</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Some of My Best Friends Are Women</span>) show his early development of the model for the political cabaret series he would later produce regularly at Symphony Space: the <span class=\"title\">Thalia Follies</span>.</p> <p>Sheffer was also developing his skill as a writer during this period. The files on <span class=\"title\">The Rise of David Levinsky</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Sheik of Avenue B</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Theatre of Peretz</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Yiddle with a Fiddle</span> document his writing process with script drafts, notes on revisions, song lyrics, and scores. Sheffer's teaching career at Columbia University is documented in Chronological Files through his correspondence, particularly with Eric Bentley, as well as through materials on productions like <span class=\"title\">The DMZ</span>, which, while not officially produced by Columbia was associated with the University though Sheffer's position there and the participation of his students.</p> <p>Sheffer kept some of his files on Symphony Space at home, and these are included in his Chronological Files. Their content and dates overlap with the files found in Series II: Symphony Space Office Files. Symphony Space files included here consist primarily of logistical documents pertaining to the management of the organization, such as board meeting minutes, financial statements, and planning notes. Other Symphony Space materials Sheffer retained in the Chronological Files include printed matter, such as press releases, clippings, flyers, posters, photographs, gala benefit invitations, and programs.</p>"}