Scope and arrangement
The Anne Croswell papers date from 1934 to 2004 (bulk 1951-2004) and document her work as a lyricist and playwright. Television scripts, book manuscripts, and poetry are also present. The collection holds Croswell's notes and drafts of her work in various stages of revision, along with a small amount of other records related to the production and publication of her work.
Biographical material consists of resumes and summaries of Croswell's career, and drafts of her memoir, Booze, Breakdowns, and Broadway, probably written in the late 1990s.
Croswell's book manuscripts and poetry include works intended for publication as well as poems written for friends and family. The collection holds two of Croswell's unpublished books of poetry: Songs of Addiction: From Aspirin to Zabaglione, and a photocopy of Who Says I Have to Be A Couple?, with illustrations by Bill Charmatz. A small amount of correspondence with agents and publishers is present.
Production files contain lyric drafts, script materials, and notes for plays and musicals that Croswell worked on. Files are present for Chips 'n' Ale (a musical adaptation of She Stoops to Conquer), Conrack, Ernest in Love, I Have This Friend, Mother God Damn (a musical adaptation of The Shanghai Gesture), Sidekicks, and X-Rated Mother Nature (featuring fact-based songs about animal mating habits). In addition to draft lyrics and script material, the Conrack files contain notes and suggested revisions from playwright Granville Burgess, and clippings of reviews. The X-Rated Mother Nature files include material related to a book of the same title that Croswell was writing with Priscilla Dunhill. The Chips 'n' Ale files consist entirely of photocopied scores with handwritten corrections. Ernest in Love material comprises a small number of clippings and royalty statements. The production files also hold unsorted script pages, lyrics, and notes, which include Croswell's notes on a potential musical adaptation of Edna Ferber's Giant.
Scripts in the collection are for plays, musicals, and television shows that Croswell wrote or co-wrote, or supplied lyrics for. There are multiple versions of some scripts, and some copies have annotations or corrections. A few scripts are accompanied by relevant notes and correspondence, though most such material can be found in the production files. Scripts are present for Bodo; Chips 'n' Ale; Conrack; Ernest in Love; Good Bye, Ava by Richard Bissell; I Have This Friend; I'm Solomon; Mother God Damn; and The United States Steel Hour episode "Huck Finn," among others. Scripts also contain the published score of Ernest in Love. The collection does not hold a complete script for Tovarich; only the first four scenes of Act I and some additional lyrics are present.
Printed matter comprises programs and published scores of individual songs. Many of the scores are for Croswell's collaborations with composer Gershon Kingsley. Programs mostly date between 1960 and 1992, but also include a 1934 program for the Théâtre de Paris production of Tovaritch, the French play that the musical Tovarich was based on.
The collection also holds a small number of handwritten scores of songs that Croswell wrote lyrics for, most of which do not pertain to musicals, along with correspondence regarding rights to some songs.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in six categories: Biographical Material, Book Manuscripts and Poetry, Printed Matter, Production Files, Scripts, and Songs. Production Files and Scripts are arranged alphabetically by production, with unsorted material arranged at the end.