Agnes Morgan papers

circa 1890s-1940, undated 1890

Theatrical director, producer, and performer Agnes Morgan (1879-1976) and her life partner Helen Arthur (1879-1939) were integral to the development of the theatre and dance productions at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. The Neighborhood Playhouse was founded as a theater in 1915 by sister philanthropists Alice Lewisohn Crowley (1883-1972) and Irene Lewisohn (1892-1944). Originally intended as a home for the Neighborhood Players, an amateur acting troupe for adults and children, the theater was housed in the Henry Street Settlement House and is considered one of the first to be given the designation "off-Broadway." By 1920 the theater had gone from amateur to professional and gained attention for its avant-garde and experimental work, as well as its popular revue The Grand Street Follies. The theater was under Arthur'smanagement from 1915 to 1927, and during this time Morgan was one of the theater's most significant directors. In 1940, Morgan became associate director of the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J., and retired from that position in 1972. She died in San Bernardino, Calif., in 1976. This collection documents the relationships that Morgan and her partner Helen Arthur had with many other dancers, actors, and artists in their New York circle and associated with the Neighborhood Playhouse theatre in New York City. Included in the collection are photographs, artworks, programs, correspondence, and other ephemera. Of particular note is a group of original fine art designs by dancer and artist Angna Enters, sent to Morgan and Arthur as holiday greetings in the 1930s. Also of note are numerous autographed portrait photos of leading actors and dancers of that period and a grouping of original costume designs for a production of Petrouchka at the Neighborhood Playhouse.