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Creator
Dalrymple, Jean
Call number
*T-Mss 1971-003
Physical description
86 linear feet (89 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Jean Dalrymple Papers, *T-Mss 1971-003. 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 Dalrymple Papers primarily consist of correspondence with individuals and organizations (financial and theatre related agencies) connected with both proposed and produced productions at City Center venues, the Brussels World’s Fair, the New York’s World Fair and with New York City Center staff. Documents that illustrate the practical business of running a theater company such as box office reports, requisitions, and guidelines, as well as a significant amount of production related material including casting information, production reports, programs, general publicity and clippings (most in scrapbook format) can be found within this collection.

Biographical/historical information

Jean Van Kirk Dalrymple (b. Sept 2, 1902 Morristown, NJ; d. Nov 15, 1998 New York, NY) was an actress, writer, lecturer and producer. As the daughter of George H. Dalrymple, a concert manager who arranged tours for artists in this country and in Latin America, her interest in the arts was ensured. Her professional career began at the age of 9 with a short story entitled The Spinning Top, continued on with writing sketches for vaudeville, progressed to screen writing (e.g. It Happened in New York, written with Ward Morehouse) and, ultimately, wrote several books on theater and her life within this world (e.g. September Child in 1963 and From the Last Row in 1975). For a time she worked with John Golden, then established her own office as publicist and manager in 1937. She was a publicist or personal manager for such artists as Jose Iturbi, Tallulah Bankhead and Leopold Stokowski. In the late 1940s she produced several shows on Broadway, most notably a revival of Burlesque (1946) and Red Gloves (1948). She was associated with the City Center since its inception (1943), but not until she was named to its board of directors did she start to mount productions there, including King Lear, Mister Roberts and a series of plays with José Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac, The Shrike, Richard III, and Charley's Aunt). From 1957 to 1968, Dalrymple was general director of the City Center Light Opera Company, mounting forty-seven revivals of thirty different musicals, the most frequently staged of which were Brigadoon and South Pacific.

Dalrymple’s strong influence within the theater world prepared her for her role as coordinator of the U.S. Performing Arts Program for the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958. Her success in this position ensured a managerial role with the New York’s World Fair in 1964/1965.

On a personal note, Miss Dalrymple was married in 1932 to Ward Morehouse, New York Sun drama critic. The marriage ended in divorce in 1937. In 1951, she was married to Major General Philip de Witt Ginder. On November 7 1968, Ginder died. Jean Dalrymple passed away on November 15, 1998.

  • - Retrieved from http://www.americantheatrewing.org/biography/detail/jean_dalrymple on September 26, 2008
  • - “Woman to Watch: Jean Dalrymple—Publicist for Culture”. March 6, 1958, New York Herald Tribune.

Scope and arrangement

The papers, spanning the years 1932-1979, primarily document the professional life of Jean Dalrymple. The collection is arranged in three series: the Office Files series which includes personal papers, correspondence, and clippings for both organizations and personalities; the Production Files series with correspondence, invoices, reports and casting information; and the Scrapbook series which contains clipping filled volumes organized by years.

Of particular interest is correspondence found in Office Files, particularly from her second husband Philip de Witt Ginder (box 13, folder 18) and Jessie Royce Landis, and the production files for Brigadoon, Carousel, Le Casa de Te de la Luna de Agosto, Guys and Dolls, The King and I, King Lear, The Most Happy Fella, Oklahoma!, Othello, the various Showcase productions for City Center (Box 37) and South Pacific.

Missing from the collection is significant documentation of Jean’s employment with John Golden, Tallulah Bankhead and José Iturbi. In addition, few official records documenting Jean’s marriages, financial status, and other relationships are available within collection.

The Jean Dalrymple papers are arranged in three series:

  • Series I: Office Files
    1932 - 1979, undated

    The Office Files series documents Dalrymples activities with other businesses, primarily theater related associations, through its correspondence, reports, and financial papers within the Organizations sub-series, and with individuals within the Personalities sub-series.

  • Series II: Production Files
    1943 - 1974, undated

    The box office reports, requisitions, contracts, correspondence, notes, programs, and clippings connected to a single production can be found within this series. Most are files for City Center production, but some were independents or part of the Brussels’ World Fair and New York’s World Fair.

  • Series III: Scrapbooks
    1926 - 1968

    This series contains the scrapbooks (mostly filled with newspaper clippings, few letters and other items) found within the collection. Most of the clippings focus on public appearances and theater business.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Jean Dalrymple Papers were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 1971.

Processing information

Processed by Thea Constantine; Machine-readable finding aid created by Thea Constantine.

Separated material

Program: The City Center of Music and Drama Inc. 20th Anniversary 1943-1963

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.