Anna Erskine Crouse theatrical portrait and scene photographs
Overview
Collection includes oversized black-and-white theatrical portrait and scene photographs from the 1930s by Vandamm, and one portrait by DeMirjian.
Dates
- Creation: 1933-1938, undated
Language of Materials
Collection is in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.
Extent
.33 linear feet (12 oversize folders)Includes twelve oversized theatrical portrait and scene photographs from the 1930s by photograph Vandamm, with one photograph by DeMirjian. Subjects include stage and screen actors such as Elizabeth Bergner, Katherine Cornell, Helen Hayes, Katharine Hepburn, Alla Nazimova, and Ed Wynn. Productions include the original production of “Ah! Wilderness,” as well as “Biography,” “End of Summer,” “Idiot’s Delight,” “Mary Queen of Scotland,” and “Taming of the Shrew.” Some portraits are inscribed to Anna Erskine Crouse’s husband, Russel, a playwright and librettist, who was part of the Broadway writing partnership Lindsay and Crouse.
Biographical / Historical
Anna E. Crouse was born in New York, New York 1916 January 29, to John Erskine and Pauline Ives. She graduated from Horace Mann High School, and began studying at Barnard College, but left school to pursue her acting career. She appeared on Broadway in some small plays, and then became a secretary to the writing and producing team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, the playwright who she later married. Several portraits in the collection are inscribed to Russel Crouse, and productions may relate to his producing, writing, and directing career.
Throughout her life, Anna E. Crouse was involved with the theatre and supporting interest in and access to attending theatre. She worked with the Theater Development Fund and helped to establish the TKTS booth providing inexpensive tickets for Broadway productions in New York. She died on December 29, 2013 in New York.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged in two runs: one alphabetical run of portraits organized by last name of the subject; one alphabetical run by production title.
Physical Location
pfd, ppf (P1.C1.02.12)
Custodial History
Donated by Anna E. Crouse, 1981 May and 1981 November.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
No accession numbers. Gift of from Anna Erskine Crouse in 1981 May and 1981 November.
Processing Information
Processed by Betts Coup, 2018 May.
Subject
- Crouse, Anna Erskine (Person)
- Title
- Crouse, Anna Erskine. Anna Erskine Crouse theatrical portrait and scene photographs, 1933-1938, undated (MS Thr 1790): Guide.
- Status
- in_progress
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University.
- Date
- 2018 May 01
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02921
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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