Scope and arrangement
This collection documents the history of theaters, performance and popular entertainment in Washington D.C. from 1800-1919 and is a resource for information about 19th and early 20th century actors, actresses, singers, and vaudeville performers. Motion picture reviews begin to appear around 1913 and circus performances appear throughout the years.
Other materials in the collection include correspondence belonging to Aloysius Mudd from the early part of the 20th century concerning theatrical topics. Included as well are writings by Mudd discussing Washington D.C. theater history, an autobiographical article about his time at the Associated Press and other topics of interest to Mudd.
The Aloysius I. Mudd collection is arranged in four series:
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This series contains correspondence and writings of Aloysius Mudd.
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1800-1919158 boxes
This series begins with handwritten lists of performances and segues into clippings carefully glued to the back of Agriculture Department paper. Mudd began dividing the clippings and reviews into catagories, i.e. Sunday performances and performances at individual theaters during the course of a year. The performances included are theater, opera, music concerts, circus, and in later years, vaudeville, burlesque and motion pictures.
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1859-18741 volume
This scrapbook contains programs, primarily from music performances. There areclippings, ephemera and two pencil drawings.
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1911-19184 boxes
This series includes magazine portraits of late 19th and early 20th century actresses as well as pictures of actresses and vaudeville performers from The Police Gazette.