Scope and arrangement
The Kay Barnes papers consist of correspondence, a scrapbook and ephemera documenting her career, as well as aspects of the career of her father, James R. Barnes. The correspondence includes a few letters from John Philip Sousa to Kay Barnes' mother, letters from Ivah Wills Coburn and some cards and letters from Charles Coburn. The ephemera contains materials from Kay Barnes' work with the Mrs. Fiske Company. Her scrapbook contains clippings, telegrams and letters documenting her career from 1919. Productions include Oh, My Dear, Apple Blossoms, Enter Madame, and The Bat, among others.
The Kay Barnes papers are arranged in three series:
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1909-19604 folders
The correspondence includes family correspondence: letters to Kay Barnes' mother from her father, theater manager James Barnes about Kay and a letter to Kay from her husband Ted Allen. Also contains letters mainly from Ivah Wills Coburn, also Charles Coburn, to Kay Barnes and letters to her mother from John Philip Sousa, for whom her father worked.
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1903-19725 folders
Ephemeral items include photographs, clippings and programs. Two snapshots of John Philip Sousa ca. 1903, a silk program for Alias the Deacon, and a half-tone of the Mrs. Fiske Company in 1928 are the gems of this series.
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1919-19261 volume
The scrapbook documents Kay Barnes' career beginning in 1919 with Oh, My Dear. Other productions include Apple Blossoms, Bronx Express, Temptation, The Imaginary Invalid, Enter Madame, Clarence, The Bat, and Weeds. The scrapbook contains clippings, half-tones, telegrams and letters.