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Creator
Flanagan, Hallie, 1890-1969
Call number
*T-Mss 1964-002
Physical description
17 linear feet (46 boxes)
Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Hallie Flanagan Papers, *T-Mss 1964-002, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Hallie Flanagan papers span the years 1923-1963 and reflect many aspects of her career: teaching and directing, writing and speech-giving, and her leadership of the Federal Theatre Project. Correspondence makes up a large part of the collection and has been arranged in three series: general correspondence, Federal Theatre prject, and Vassar/Smith correspondence. Other correspondence can be found in the files on the closing of the Federal Theatre Project. The strength of the collection lies in the materials on the Federal Theatre Project and her college theater materials. The files on the Federal Theatre touch on almost every aspect of the project from beginning to end through memos, reports, production files, correspondence, speeches, articles, scripts and scrapbooks. The Vassar and Smith materials consist of notes used for her classes, articles and speeches, production files, photographs, clippings and correspondence.

Biographical/historical information

Hallie Flanagan was born Hallie Ferguson August 27, 1889 in Redfield, South Dakota. She grew up in Grinnell, Iowa, attended Grinnell College, and studied with George Pierce Baker at Harvard's 47 Workshop. She returned to Grinnell where she initiated her idea for an experimental theater. The following year she accepted a job at Vassar College. In 1926 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to study theater in Europe, the first woman to receive this honor. She traveled extensively and met with John Galsworthy, Constantine Stanislavsky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Karel Capek, Edward Gordon Craig, and Lady Gregory, among others. From 1927 to 1935 she taught and directed at Vassar where she established the Vassar Experimental Theatre.

In 1935 Flanagan was appointed national director of the Federal Theatre Project, an offshoot of the Works Progress Administration. Flanagan envisioned the project not only as a source of employment for American artists but as a way to bring theater to people across the country, many of whom had never seen a play. The project lasted for four turbulent yet creative years and was ultimately abolished by Congress. Flanagan returned to Vassar where, with the aid of a Rockefeller grant, she organized the Federal Theatre records [Theatre Research Project] and wrote Arena, the story of the Federal Theatre Project.

On leave of absence from Vassar in 1942, Flanagan accepted a position at Smith College as head of the theater department and Dean of the school. She remained at Smith until her retirement in 1952.

Besides Arena, Flanagan was the author of numerous articles and two other books: Shifting Scenes of the Modern European Theatre, based on her 1926-1927 travels, and Dynamo, a chronicle of her work at Vassar. She was also a playwright.

Flanagan married twice: to Murray Flanagan who died in 1918 and to Philip Davis who died in 1940. Flanagan lived with Parkinson's disease for many years and died on July 23, 1969. Her two sons predeceased her. She was survived by her three stepchildren and her grandchildren.

Scope and arrangement

The Hallie Flanagan papers span the years 1923 -1963 and reflect many aspects of her career: teaching and directing, writing and speech-giving, and her leadership of the Federal Theatre Project. Correspondence makes up a large part of the collection. It has been arranged in three series, general, Federal Theatre Project, and Vassar/Smith. There is some overlap, however, and correspondence may be found in other parts of the collection as well. For example, the closing of the Federal Theatre Project and Theatre Research Project files are almost entirely made up of correspondence. The strength of the collection lies in two areas: the Federal Theatre Project and college theater.

The Federal Theatre materials touch on almost every aspect of the project from beginning to end through memos, reports, production files, correspondence, speeches, articles, scripts, and scrapbooks. [The personal papers series contains a folder of excerpts from letters written by Flanagan to her husband Philip Davis while she headed the project.] The Vassar and Smith materials consist of notes used for her classes, articles and speeches, production files of photographs and clippings, and, of course, correspondence.

The Hallie Flanagan papers are arranged in six series:

  • Series I - General Files
  • Series II - Federal Theatre Project
  • Series III - Vassar and Smith
  • Series IV - Articles and Speeches
  • Series V - Scrapbooks
  • Series VI - Federal Theatre Scripts

    This series consists of a range of scripts including marionette and puppet theater.

    • Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (Marionette)
    • Cap'n Noah's Ark (Puppet)
    • Chisbaohoyo, The Sweetheart of the Corn
    • Covered Wagon Kate
    • Crime Prevention (Marionette)
    • Dr. Faustus (Marionette)
    • Doggy Days (Marionette)
    • Don Quixote de la Mancha (Marionette)
    • Gammer Gurton's Needle (Marionette)
    • Genesis (Marionette)
    • The Housing Question (Marionette)
    • How the Indians Got Their Corn (Puppet)
    • Jack and the Bean Stalk
    • Little Black Sambo
    • The Mighty Mikko
    • The Mikado
    • Peter Pumpkin Eater
    • Picket Parade (Marionette)
    • Pied Piper of Hamlin (Marionette)
    • Plague
    • Puss in Boots (Marionette)
    • Rip Van Winkle (Marionette)
    • Robin Hood
    • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Marionette)
    • Toby Tyler's Circus
    • The Towneley Play
    • Two a Day
    • The Wisemen Plays for marionettes

Administrative information

Custodial history

The Hallie Flanagan papers were donated to the Library by Hallie Flanagan in 1964. The papers were reprocessed by the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 1996.

Source of acquisition

Gift, Hallie Flanagan, 1964

Processing information

Processed by Susan McArthur, March 1996.

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division

Alternative form available

Federal Theatre Project scrapbooks (Boxes 41-44) are only available on microfilm; The Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; service copy number: *ZC-652 reel 1=scrapbooks 41-42; reel 2=scrapbooks 43-44