William G.B. Carson Papers, 1783-1966 | MS Manuscripts

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Collection Overview

Title: William G.B. Carson Papers, 1783-1966

ID: MS/MS/ms023

Primary Creator: Carson, William G. B. (William Glasgow Bruce) 1891-

Extent: 97.0 Boxes

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The William G. B. Carson Papers consists of four accruals:

Accrual 1 includes materials relating to United States theatre history; materials relating to Carson's teaching at Washington University in St. Louis; theatre playbills, programs, magazines, and newspaper articles; correspondence and autograph collection of famous actors, actresses, and writers.

Accrual 2 relates primarily to preparation of Dear Josephine, Professor Carson's biography on Josephine Sherwood Hull. It also includes teaching notebooks prepared for theatre and drama courses at Washington University and diaries Professor Carson kept of theatre and music performances he attended from 1913 to 1966, primarily in St. Louis.

Accrual 3 includes scripts of plays by Washington University students, news clipping about Professor Carson's retirement, theatre programs, and printed material.

Accrual 4 includes materials that fall under two main categories: early New Mexico history and materials relating to Carson's theatrical activities. Carson's research into New Mexico history was prompted by the fact that his great-great-grandfather, William Carr Lane, besides being one of the first St. Louis mayors, was also first governor of New Mexico, 1852-1853. The diary kept by Lane during his governorship was edited by Carson, requiring research into geography and exploration, Indian relations, and political figures of the period. The Theatrical Activities include personal material, material from his teaching at Washington University, material from Washington University's Thyrsus organization, material from his time as a playwright and director, material from Carson as an author, material from St. Louis' Little Theatre and The Players, and his research on theatre and musical performances. This also includes printed material and maps.

Collection Historical Note

William G.B. Carson, a longtime professor of English at Washington University, is best known for his scholarly work in the history of the American theatre and for the active role he played in staging theatrical productions at Washington University and within the St. Louis community at large. Carson's books include Theatre on the Frontier, (1932) and a biography of the great American actress Josephine Hull.

Administrative Information

Repository: MS Manuscripts

Access Restrictions: Open.

Use Restrictions:

Users of the collection must read and agree to abide by the rules and procedures set forth in the Materials Use Policies.

Providing access to materials does not constitute permission to publish or otherwise authorize use. All publication not covered by fair use or other exceptions is restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder, which may or may not be Washington University.

If you wish to publish or license Special Collections materials, please contact Special Collections to inquire about copyright status at (314) 935-5495 or spec@wumail.wustl.edu. (Publish means quotation in whole or in part in seminar or term papers, theses or dissertations, journal articles, monographs, books, digital forms, photographs, images, dramatic presentations, transcriptions, or any other form prepared for a limited or general public.)

Related Materials: See also WUA00170 William G. B. Carson Papers

Preferred Citation: Name of the Collection, Washington University Libraries, Department of Special Collections

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series G1-1: United States Theatre History],
[Series G1-2: Material Relating to Carson's Teaching at Washington University in St. Louis],
[Series G1-3: Theatre Playbills, Programs, Magazines, and Newspaper Articles],
[Series G1-4: Correspondence],
[Series G2-1: Material Relating to Dear Josephine],
[Series G2-2: Materials Relating to Carson's Teaching at Washington University in St. Louis],
[Series G2-3: Material Relating to Carson's Research on Theatre & Music Performances],
[Series G2-4: Realia],
[Series G3-1: Scripts],
[Series G3-2: News Clipping],
[Series G3-3: Theatre Programs],
[Series G3-4: Printed Material],
[Series G4-1: Material Relating to Early New Mexico History],
[Series G4-2: Material Relating to Carson's Theatrical Activities],
[Series G4-3: Printed Material],
[Series G4-4: Maps],
[All]

Series G4-3: Printed Material

Consists of books and reprints of articles, includes some work by Carson. It is arranged alphabetically by author's las name or by title if there is no noted author. 55 items

Box 18

Folder 69

Item 1: Adams, Henry W. "The Montgomery Theatre 1822-1835. " University of Alabama Studies, Number 9, 1955: September: 1 item
Item 2: American Quarterly Review. Number XXXII, 1834: December: 1 item

Folder 70

Item 1: Arizona Quarterly

vol.16, no.3, Autumn 1960

1 item

Item 2: "A Brief History of Thesbian Hall" Boonville, Missouri: The Thesbian Hall Preservation Committee, 1937

1 item

Item 3: Briggs, Harold E. and Ernestine. The Theatre in Early Kansas City

Printed from Mid America vol. 32: new series, vol. 21, no. 2

1 item

Item 4: Bryant, Donald C. "Symposium, Of Style" Western Speech, Spring 1957

1 item

Item 5: Byrne, Muriel St. Clare. "Theatrical Records" Archives

vol. III, no. 17, Lady Day, 1957

1 item

Item 6: Carson, William G.B. "As You Like It and the Stars: Nineteenth-Century Prompt Books" The Quarterly Journal of Speech

vol. XLIII, no.2, April 1957

1 item

Item 7: Carson, William G.B. "The Beginnings of the Theatre in St. Louis"

Reprinted from Missouri Historical Society Collections

vol. V, no.2, 1928

1 item

Item 8: Carson, William G.B. "Some Thoughts on Graduate Theses"

Reprinted from Educational Theatre Journal. vol. VII, no.3, October 1955

1 item

Folder 71

Item 1: Cowell, Joe. Thirty Years Passed Among the Players, 1844

New York: Harper & Brothers

1 item

Item 2: Downer, Alan S. "Players and Painted Stage - Nineteenth Century Acting", 1946: June

Reprinted from PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. vol. LXI, no. 2, June 1946

1 item

Item 3: "Drottningholms Slottsteater Program", 1959

1 item

Item 4: Faulkner, T.C. The Dramatic Mirror, and Musical Journal, 1966: November

vol. 1, no. 2, November 1966

1 item

Item 5: "A Few Particulars Concerning Chang-Eng, The United Siamese Brothers", 1836

Printed by J.M. Elliot, New York, 1836

1 item

Box 19

Folder 72

Item 1: Ford, Paul Leicester. Washington and the Theatre, 1899

New York: The Dunlap Society, 1899

1 item

Item 2: Freedley, George. "Theatre Librarianship", 1962: January

Reprinted from Bulletin of the New York Public Library. vol. 66, no. 1, January 1962

1 item

Item 3: Freedley, George. "The 26 Principal Theatre Collections in American Libraries and <em>Museums</em>"

Reprinted from Bulletin of the New York Public Library. vol. 62, no.7, July 1958

1 item

Item 4: Frenz, Horst. "American Drama and World Drama", 1945: March

Reprinted from College English. vol. 6, no. 6, March 1945.

1 item

Item 5: Garrick, David. "The Bon Ton; or High Life Above Stairs, A Farce" as performed at the New Theatre in Boston, 1794

Printed by P. Edes and S. Etheridge

1 item

Item 6: Gates, William Bryan. "Performances of Shakespeare in Ante-Bellum Mississippi", 1943: January

Reprinted from The Journal of Mississippi History

1 item

Folder 73

Item 1: Gilbert, W.S. The Mikado: or the Town of Titipu, 1885

New York: William A. Pond & Co.

1 item

Item 2: Hillyer, Katharine and Katharine Best. The Amazing Story of Piper's Opera House in Virginia City, Nevada, 1953

Virginia City, Nevada: The Enterprise Press

1 item

Item 3: Howell, Wilbur Samuel. "Sources of the Elocutionary Movement in England: 1700-1748", 1959: February

Reprinted from The Quarterly Journal of Speech. vol. XLV, no. 1

1 item

Item 4: Hunt, Douglas L. "The Nashville Theatre, 1830-1840" Birmingham-Southern College Bulletin, 1935: May

vol. XXVIII, no. 3

1 item

Item 5: Johnson, Albert E. "Dion Boucicault: Man and Fable", 1954: December

Reprinted from Educational Theatre Journal. vol. VI, no. 4

1 item

Item 6: Kernodle, George R. "Stage Spectacle and Victorian Society", 1954: February

Reprinted from The Quarterly Journal of Speech vol. XL, no. 1

1 item

Item 7: Kernodel, George R. "Symbolic Action in the Greek Choral Odes?" Classical Journal, 1957: October

vol. 53, no. 1

1 item

Item 8: Lefevre, Carl. "Gogol and Anglo-Russian Literary Relations During the Crimean War", 1949

Reprinted from The American Slavic and East European Review vol. VIII, no. 2

1 item

Folder 74

Item 1: Mackenzie, W. Roy "Ballad-Singing in Nova Scotia", July-September 1909

Reprinted from The Journal of American Folk-Lore vol. XXII, no. LXXXV

1 item

Item 2: Mackenzie, W. Roy. "Ballads from Nova Scotia - Continued", 1912: April-June

Reprinted from The Journal of American Folk-Lore. vol. XXV, no. XCVI

1 item

Item 3: Mackenzie, W. Roy. "The Debate Over the Soul in "The Pride of Life"", 1922

Reprinted from Washington University Studies. vol. IX, no. 2

1 item

Item 4: Mackenzie, W. Roy. "A New Source for Mankind", 1912

Reprinted from Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. vol. XXIX, no. 2

1 item

Item 5: Mackenzie, W. Roy. "A Source for Medwall's Nature", 1914

The Modern Language Association of America. Reprinted from Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. vol. XXIX, no. 2

1 item

Item 6: Mackenzie W. Roy "Standing Water", 1926: May

Modern Language Notes. vol. XLI, no. 5

1 item

Item 7: Maverick, Lewis A. "Pierre Poivre: Eighteenth Century Explorer of Southeast Asia", 1941: June

Reprinted from The Pacific Historical Review. vol. X, no. 2

1 item

Item 8: Maverick, Lewis A. "Yankee Doodle", 1962: April

Reprinted from The American Neptune. vol. XXII, no. 2

1 item

Item 9: McDermott, John Francis. "Eugene Ney's Mississippi Travels 1830", No date

Reprinted from Mid America. vol. 34, new series vol. 23, no. 4

1 item

Item 10: McDermott, John Francis. "J.C. Wild, Western Painter and Lithographer", 1951: April

Reprinted from Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly. vol 60, no. 2

1 item

Item 11: "The Padlock: A Comic Opera", 1795

Performed at the Theatre, Boston, Printed by William Spotswood

1 item

Box 20

Folder 75

Item 1: Patrick, J. Max. Savannah's Pioneer Theater: From Its Origins to 1810, 1953

Athens: University of Georgia Press

1 item

Item 2: Quinn, Arthur Hobson. "American Drama at Pennsylvania", 1951

Part of this essay appeared originally as the introduction to Check List of American Drama. Philadelphia, University Library

1 item

Item 3: Roppolo, Joesph Patrick. Audiences in New Orleans Theatres, 1845-1861", 1950

Reprinted from Tulane Studies in English. vol. II, New Orleans: Tulane University, 1950

1 item

Item 4: Ryan Jr., Pat M. "John Brougham: The Gentle Satirist" ", 1959: December

Reprinted from the Bulletin of the New York Public Library. vol. 63

1 item

Item 5: Smither, Nelle. "A History of the English Theatre at New Orleans, 1806-1842", 1944

A Dissertation in English, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania

1 item

Item 6: The Southwest Review, Autumn 1946

1 item

Item 7: Stout, George D. "Leigh Hunt on Wordsworth and Coleridge", Winter 1957

Reprint from Keats-Shelley Journal. vol. VI

1 item

Item 8: Taylor, Tom. "An Unequal Match, A Comedy", 1882

New York: Samuel French & Son

1 item

Folder 76

Item 1: Theatrical Apprenticeship of Sol. Smith, 1845

Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson

1 item

Folder 77

Item 1: The Theatrical Journey-work and Anecdotal Recollections of Sol. Smith, 1854

Philadelphia: T.B. Peterson

1 item

Folder 78

Item 1: The Theatre Notebook, 1950: January-March

vol. 4, no. 2

1 item

Item 2: The Washington University Librarian , 1979: May

vol. 11, no. 3

1 item

Item 3: Weisert, John J. "Beginnings of the Kentucky Theatre Circuit", 1960

The Filson Club Quarterly. vol. 34

1 item

Item 4: Woodress, James et al. "The Idea of Progress", Fall 1957

Reprinted from The Georgia Review. vol. XI, no. 3

1 item

Item 5: "The Young Quaker, A Comedy", 1794

Performed at the Theatre-Royal Smoke-Alley and by the Old American Company, Philadelphia, Printed by Thomas Bradford

1 item