In a post to this blog on August 31st we highlighted a letter from Diana to Duff Cooper written on 25 November 1925 in which she describes her experiences visiting Harvard and the Harvard Theatre Collection. In that letter she wrote that “the best things that I struck were original love letters from Edmund Kean Read More

Finding aids for 11 newly cataloged collections have been added to the OASIS database this month, including theatrical window cards, playbills and posters for magicians, and photographs of the 1921 Pilgrim Tercentenary Pageant held in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Processed by Ashley M. Nary: Sheet Music Featuring Commercial Products, Stores, and Hotels, 1849-1935 (MS Thr 891) Sheet Read More

Today marks the 116th anniversary of the death of Frederick Barnard. “Frederick who?” you might well ask. Though he’s not well known today, in late nineteenth-century London Fred Barnard was a highly regarded illustrator, caricaturist, and painter. He was considered one of the best “black and white artists” of his day. His pen and ink Read More

Nineteen thirty was a mighty good year for social dance.  Sure, the economic world had crashed in 1929, but the Depression hadn’t hit yet, and the growth of radio in the 1920s coupled with the rise of the Talkies since The Jazz Singer in 1927 insured that the popular dance music of the day inundated Read More

We are preparing for two George Parker Winship lectures this semester, one by Robert De Maria (25 October 2012) and the other by Roger Stoddard (11 October 2012). These will be the 95th and 96th lectures that were inaugurated under the fund established by the John Barnard Associates. Stoddard’s topic is “How I Found the Read More