Theater Photography from the Theresa Helburn Collection
Bryn Mawr College
The Theresa Helburn Collection, jointly held by the
Special Collections Department (Canaday Library) and
College Collections
(Thomas Hall) at Bryn Mawr College, includes photographs, playscripts, stage plans, programs, advertisements and other theatrical ephemera given to Bryn Mawr by alumna Theresa Helburn (B.A. 1908).
From the 1920s through the time of her death in 1959, Helburn was a leading force in
American theater. She and the other founding members of New York's
Theatre Guild brought serious, ground-breaking plays to Broadway,
and although the company sometimes struggled financially they proved that it was
possible to stage work that was both artistically and commercially successful. They
produced the plays of Bernard Shaw, Eugene O'Neill, Maxwell Anderson, Robert
E. Sherwood, and Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, II. Many of the best-known stage actors of the mid-twentieth century performed in Theatre Guild productions, including Helen Hayes, Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Fredric March, Florence Eldridge, and Katharine Hepburn (B.A. 1928).
Among the best-represented productions in the collection are: O'Neill's Strange Interlude (1928), Green Grow the Lilacs (1931) by Lynn Riggs
and its better-known musical adaptation, Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! (1943),
S. N. Behrman's Jane (1952), Helen Jerome's adaptation of Jane Eyre (1936),
Shakespeare's As You Like It (1950), and Philip Barry's Without Love (1942)
and The Philadelphia Story (1939).
About the database:
This image database includes descriptions and low-resolution copies of over 1100 production and publicity photographs relating to the Theatre Guild. Each photograph has been indexed by photographer and by subject, and, where applicable, by play title and playwright.
Bryn Mawr College has made this database available for the purposes of research and private study
and cannot grant permissions for use in other contexts or license these images for publication
elsewhere. In compliance with copyright laws, many images are currently restricted to users of
the College Library. However, the generous cooperation of the Billy Rose Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library
has made it possible to display publicly the work of theatrical photographers to which their
institution holds rights. Licensing or reproduction of these images is available through their
office of Photographic Services & Permissions.
Further information:
For more information on the typescripts, programs, stage plans and ephemera in the Theresa Helburn Collection, please visit the Collection Guide at: http://www.brynmawr.edu/library/speccoll/guides/helburn/.
Project Staff:
Carol W. Campbell, photograph curator
Christina Dougherty, student assistant
Brittany Golden, student assistant
Barbara Grubb, digitization supervisor
Marianne Hansen, special collections librarian
Tamara Johnston, registrar and metadata coordinator
Anita Lai, student assistant
Eric Pumroy, head, special collections
Christa Williford, project coordinator
Amanda Young, student assistant
Special Thanks:
Tom Lisanti
Jeremy Megraw
Karen Nickeson
Del Ramers
