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Creator
Stebbins, Rowland, 1882-1948
Call number
MssCol 2867
Physical description
4.2 linear feet (13 boxes)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Rowland Stebbins papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Rowland Stebbins (1882-1948) was a New York theatrical producer who worked under the name Laurence Rivers, Inc. He began his professional life as a stockbroker, started producing plays during the 1920s, and in 1929 became a full-time theatrical producer. Collection consists of correspondence and production records of Laurence Rivers, Inc. Correspondence, 1933-1947, with playwrights, actors, agents, theatrical unions and organizations, theater managers, and others, reflects the day-to-day operation of the firm's office. Also includes circulars, legal agreements and other communications from the League of New York Theaters; and Stebbins's correspondence with Union College, 1935-1947. Production records contain correspondence, memoranda, financial papers, legal documents, photographs, and printed matter.

Biographical/historical information

Rowland Stebbins was a New York theatrical producer Who worked under the name Laurence Rivers, Inc. Stebbins began his professional life as a stockbroker, but began producing plays during the 1920s. He turned to theatrical production full-time in 1929. His productions included: Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, starring Tallulah Bankhead; Green Pastures, winner of a Pulitzer Prize; Lost Horizon; White Horse Inn, and others.

Scope and arrangement

Stebbins' papers consist of correspondence, 1933-1947, and production records, 1924-1945 (mainly 1928-1940), of Laurence Rivers, Inc. Some early material may predate the formation of the firm, reflecting Stebbins' individual efforts.

Correspondence is with playwrights, actors, and their agents; theatrical unions and organizations; theater managers; job applicants, and others, and reflects the day to day operations of the firm's office during the 1930s and 1940s. Letters from some prominent actors, particularly Maurice Evans, are included. Also included are circulars, examples of legal agreements, and other communications, 1930s-1940s, from the League of New York Theaters; responses to an invitation to a recital at the Stebbins home on April 25, 1934; and Stebbins' correspondence, 1935-1947, with Union College, Schenectady, New York, chiefly concerning its Mountebanks Theater. Stebbins graduated from Union College in 1904.

Production records consist of: correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, contracts, salary lists, box office statements, accounts, bills, corporation documents, press releases, clippings of reviews, plot synopses, announcement lists, programs, and a few photographs, for more than twenty-five plays.

Arrangement

Two series: I. Correspondence, 1933-1947; II. Production Records, 1924-1945

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

March 1949, Received from Estate of Rowland Stebbins.

Processing information

Accessioned by J. Miller, March 8, 1989

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328