The Fall Semester is officially in full swing here at GMU and what better way to get into the academic spirit than with some new and updated finding aids, courtesy of your SCRC processing team! As usual, all of the following collections are available for use in the Special Collections Research Center and the finding aids are available on our website (or use the links included below).
L. Claire Kincannon theatre collection, C0018
Collection reprocessed and finding aid updated by Vilma Chicas Garcia; additional processing completed and finding aid edited by Amanda Menjivar
Lois Claire Kincannon, known as “Claire,” was an author, theatre critic, and radio journalist. In 1972, she hosted her own radio show titled Behind the Scenes, in which she reviewed and discussed the theatre performances that she attended in the Washington, D.C. area. In late 1992, Kincannon moved to Paris, France, with her husband, where she founded Dancing Ink Press and published several books. After eight years abroad, she returned to the United States, where she lived for the rest of her life. Kincannon passed away on August 9th, 2023. The L. Claire Kincannon theatre collection contains promotional materials for theatre productions attended by Kincannon in Washington D.C., Dayton, Ohio, New York City, London, Paris, and other areas across the United States and Europe, dating from 1941-2015.
The collection contains two series. Series 1: Theatre and film-related materials consists of five subseries divided by region. Materials in this series include programs, playbills, stage bills, press releases, photographs, news articles, ticket stubs, invitations, and advertisements from theatre and motion picture productions across the United States and Eastern Europe. Some programs also contain Kincannon’s handwritten notes. Series 2: Behind The Scenes production materials contains materials created during Kincannon’s career, including drafted, unpublished, and published articles and scripts for her Bydin’ my Time segment in the Blue Ridge Leader newspaper and her radio show Behind the Scenes. Materials include audio and visual materials from Behind the Scenes, as well as outlines, radio broadcast schedules, contracts, proposals, funding, and business correspondence.
Page from the Reston Garden Club’s 1985-1986 scrapbook, C0166
Reston Garden Club scrapbook collection, C0166
Additional processing completed and finding aid updated by Meghan Glasbrenner
A collection of scrapbooks created by the Reston Garden Club containing photographs, newsletters, newspaper clippings, and other materials documenting the club’s yearly activities and events. The Reston Garden Club was founded in 1970. The club’s goal is to promote home gardening, flower arranging, community beautifications and other horticultural activities in Reston, Virginia. The club meets on the first Tuesday of the month between the months of September and June, taking the summer off. The club is also involved in many community programs including “Adopt-A-Highway” and co-sponsoring the Reston Garden Tours as well as fundraising projects in Reston. In 2020, the club marked its 50th Anniversary, with a formal celebration taking place in October 2021 at the Hidden Creek Country Club.
The collection contains two series. Series 1: Scrapbooks, 1970-2009 includes scrapbooks covering from the club’s founding in 1970 through the 2008-2009 season, as well as the 1980 National Capital Area Federation of Garden Clubs application and copies of “Bulletin of The National Capital Area Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.” from 1977-1978. Series 2: Scrapbooks, 2009-2022 includes scrapbooks covering from the club’s 2009-2010 year and ending with the 50th Anniversary edition, which documents celebrations taking place in 2021 and 2022. No scrapbooks for the years 2018-2019 or 2019-2020 are included.
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
This collection includes a Benjamin Franklin puppet, measuring approximately 22 inches in length and featuring a papier-mâché head, a rounded cap filled with straw, and some strings showing possible use as a marionette, and 7 individual pieces of miniature wooden furniture. All items were created for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Museum Extension Project in Pennsylvania. The WPA was created by Executive Order in 1935, part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, as a work program for those facing unemployment as a result of the Great Depression to provide opportunities for unemployed workers to use and preserve their skills through public works projects, as well as arts and culture initiatives. In 1935, Pennsylvania began a Museum Extension Project, also known as the State-Wide Museum Extension, with the purpose of creating visual educational aids for classroom use. The Museum Extension Project employed artists, sculptors, and writers to create historic models, puppets, illustrated plates, and maps to be used throughout Pennsylvania’s school districts, particularly those without easy access to the larger museums. The program had seven offices throughout the state, centered in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.
Set design by Robert Davison found in his scrapbook, C0513
Robert Davison original costume and set design scrapbook, C0513
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
Robert Davison was born in Los Angeles, California on July 17, 1922. A member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, Davison worked as a costume and scenic designer for a number of theatrical productions including opera, ballet, plays, and musicals. Between 1944-1950 he worked on a number of Broadway productions, notably as costume designer for a variety of actors, including Ethel Barrymore, in the 1944-1945 production of Embezzled Heaven at the National Theatre (now known as the Nederlander Theatre) and as scenic and costume designer for the 1947 Broadway premiere of German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s Galileo (also known as Life of Galileo) at the Maxine Elliott’s Theatre, which was translated by and starred Charles Laughton and ran for 6 performances.
The spiral bound scrapbook contains 41 original costume and set designs for theatrical productions by Davison. Designs include pen and pencil sketches and full color watercolor and painted illustrations. Many of the designs are signed by Davison, either on the front or the back, some dated, with dates ranging from ” ’41” to ” ’44”. Includes stamp of ‘United Scenic Artists, Local,’ likely Local 829. A full digitized version of the scrapbook is also available.
Mid-Atlantic minicomics and zines collection, C0316
Collection processed by Amanda Menjivar
This collection contains zines and minicomics created by individuals and small presses from the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, which includes the states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, as well as Washington, District of Columbia. Materials were created between 2012-2024. Topics vary – see inventory for more details.
Zines are small, handmade publications, usually self-published with limited runs. The subjects covered by zines run the gamut of humanity’s interests, as anyone can be a “zinester.” Zines often include art, poetry, and the personal interests and experiences of the zinester, or author. Zines are “DIY” by nature, and are usually only available in limited quantities. Zines – short for “fanzines” – became popular with underground science fiction fan circles in the 1930s and 1940s, and grew exponentially in underground and counterculture circles in the 1960s and 1970s. The invention of the copy machine in the 1970s expanded growth even more. Zines and zinesters have continued to thrive into the 21st century. Minicomics, similar to zines, are small, handmade, self-published comics. Minicomics differ from zines in that their primary content features comics, cartoons, or graphic narrative. Minicomics are not always small, and can range in physical and narrative size.
Photograph of Jacob’s Pillow dancer Valerie Bettis by Joseph Lindquist, circa 1940s, C0514
Jacob’s Pillow dance photograph collection, C0514
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
A collection of original signed and unsigned dance photographs from Jacob’s Pillow, most by the photographer John Lindquist (1890-1980), the official photographer for Jacob’s Pillow for nearly 40 years, from the collection of Paul McMahon, a Boston art critic, photographer, entertainment reviewer, and artist. The property known as Jacob’s Pillow, located in Becket, Massachusetts, was first purchased by modern dancer Ted Shawn (1891-1972) in 1931 to serve as an artistic retreat, and soon after Shawn formed a new dance company based at Jacob’s Pillow from 1933-1939. During this time “Ted Shawn and his Men Dancers” staged public “Tea Lecture Demonstrations” during the summer months to promote the company’s work and raise money for living expenses. These demonstrations quickly grew in popularity and would eventually evolve into the “Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.” Shawn remained director of Jacob’s Pillow until his death in 1972 at the age of 80.
Jacob’s Pillow has continued to host hundreds of choreographic works up to the present day, with the venue serving as the U.S. debut for a number of international dancers and companies. In 2003, Jacob’s Pillow was designated a National Historic Landmark by the federal government, making it the country’s first and only Landmark dance institution. The collection is arranged in four series based on the size of the photographic prints. Most photographs include inscriptions on the back identifying the dancer or dancers depicted and include a stamp or handwritten attribution of the photograph to John Lindquist. Several photographs include pen signatures and/or inscriptions on the front of the image by the dancer(s) depicted, with most dedicated to Paul McMahon. Photographs in each series have been alphabetized by subject.
Kenneth X. Robbins poster collection, C0247
Collection processed by Meghan Glasbrenner
A collection of 13 individual posters and images, as well as one booklet, depicting significant figures and locations from Asian and Islamic history and culture. Major countries represented include Turkey, India, and Japan. Most of the items include non-English text in non-Latin script; identifications have been translated into Latin script for folder titles. Dr. Kenneth X. Robbins is a Maryland-based psychiatrist, author, and collector of south Asian art. He has been collecting materials for over five decades and published extensively on the subject, with a particular emphasis on both expatriate communities in Asia and Indian society focusing on noble courts. In 1990, Dr. Robbins donated a portion of his collection related to India to the Smithsonian Institution and in 2022 he and his wife, Joyce Robbins, named The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Libraries as the recipient of the Kenneth and Joyce Robbins Collection of South Asia History in their estate planning.
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