|
The papers of American playwright, poet, lyricist, and screenwriter Maxwell Anderson
contain manuscripts for his plays, poems and lyrics, and other works written for radio,
television, and film. The manuscripts are augmented by correspondence mostly to and
from
colleagues and business partners; family, friends, and neighbors; and amateur drama
groups,
educators, and students. Additional papers comprise financial and legal documents
as well as
career-related and personal papers, plus works by others and correspondence between
others. |
|
The Anderson papers were acquired by the Ransom Center between 1962 and 1976 and originally
described in a card catalog, organized into four series: I. Works; II. Letters (outgoing
correspondence); III. Recipient (incoming correspondence); and IV. Miscellaneous
(third-party works and correspondence). This finding aid replicates and replaces the
former
card catalog descriptions and now also includes descriptions of a small group of previously
restricted correspondence, as well as four additional acquisitions received between
1984 and
2017. |
|
Series I. Works, 1900; 1922-1958 (19 boxes) |
|
Manuscripts for works by Maxwell Anderson document his output of plays; poems and
lyrics;
scripts for film, radio, and television; essays and speeches; and a few diaries. Both
published and unpublished works are present. Anderson frequently wrote the first drafts
of
his plays by hand in ledger books; other manuscripts exist as handwritten or typed
drafts,
many with revisions, and often in multiple drafts. Many manuscripts are undated; dates
cited
in the following Container List were often added from the bibliography compiled by
Laurence
G. Avery or other reference sources. The earliest item is a poem, "The Chipmunk," written in 1900 when Anderson was about 12 years old. Anderson’s
only novel, Morning, Noon, and Night, is present and was
published under the pseudonym John Nairne Michaelson. |
|
Most of Anderson’s best-known plays are represented in the papers: The Bad Seed, Both Your Houses (awarded Pulitzer
Prize, 1933), High Tor (awarded New York Drama Critics Circle
Award, 1937), Joan of Lorraine, Key
Largo, Knickerbocker Holiday, Lost in the Stars, his three Tudor history plays (Elizabeth
the Queen, Mary of Scotland, and Anne of the Thousand Days), Valley Forge, and Winterset (awarded New York Drama Critics Circle Award, 1936). |
|
In addition to Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I, and Mary Queen of Scots as subjects in the
plays
noted above, Anderson wrote plays on a wide variety of themes, settings, and historical
figures and topics: among them are American imperialism (Night over
Taos); a satire of the Herbert Hoover administration (Both
Your Houses); Jesus Christ (Journey to Jerusalem);
Joan of Arc (Joan of Lorraine); materialism and conservation
(High Tor); a satire of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New
Deal set in Dutch New Amsterdam (Knickerbocker Holiday); Sacco
and Vanzetti (Gods of the Lightning; Winterset); South Africa and racial injustice (Lost in the
Stars); George Washington and the American Revolution (Valley
Forge); and World War II and its aftermath (Candle in the
Wind; The Eve of St. Mark; Storm
Operation; Truckline Cafe). |
|
Anderson based some of his plays on writings by Brendan Gill, William March, Alan
Paton,
and Jim Tully, and he also collaborated with several other writers on plays or screenplays,
among them Harold Hickerson, Angus MacPhail, Rouben Mamoulian, Douglas Moore, Andrew
Solt,
Laurence Stallings, and most notably with the composer Kurt Weill. |
|
While Anderson’s best-known collaborations with Kurt Weill were the musical plays
Knickerbocker Holiday and Lost in the Stars, among their other
efforts in the papers are a cantata, The Ballad of the Magna
Carta, and a radio play This is War!: Your Navy, along
with unfinished work on musical plays based on Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain ("Huck and Jim") and Eneas Africanus by Harry Stillwell Edwards ("Ulysses
Africanus"). "September Song," written by Anderson
and Weill for Knickerbocker Holiday and originally performed by
Walter Huston, became a popular standard covered by numerous recording artists over
the
years. |
|
In addition to works for the stage, Anderson also wrote for radio and television,
and was a
successful screenwriter known for his work on All Quiet on the Western
Front and Death Takes a Holiday. Represented in the
papers are the film version of his play Joan of Arc and Alfred
Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man. Also present are Anderson’s
contributions to the screenplays for Ben-Hur and Vertigo (see "Darkling, I Listen").
Many of Anderson’s plays were subsequently adapted by other writers into motion pictures
and
television productions. |
|
For a complete list of all Anderson manuscript titles present in these papers, see
the
Index of Works. |
|
Series II. Letters (Outgoing Correspondence), 1915-1959 (2 boxes)
and |
|
Series III. Recipient (Incoming Correspondence), 1924-1959 (14
boxes) |
|
Correspondence by and to Anderson over his lengthy career displays his interactions
with a
large network of people and organizations: other playwrights and writers; producers
and
directors; actors and actresses; choreographers; composers; costume, lighting, and
set
designers; stage managers; agents; critics; publishers and publications; and studio
executives and screenwriters. |
|
Among a variety of notable correspondents are Enid Bagnold, S. N. Behrman, Ingrid
Bergman,
Marlon Brando, James Cagney, Katherine Cornell, Agnes DeMille, Helen Hayes, Alfred
Hitchcock, Sidney Howard, Walter Huston, Lotte Lenya, Joshua Logan, Guthrie McClintic,
Burgess Meredith, Jo Mielziner, Paul Muni, Clifford Odets, Alan Paton, Elmer Rice,
Robert E.
Sherwood, John Steinbeck, and Kurt Weill. |
|
Anderson’s stage productions with the Group Theatre and the Theatre Guild brought
him into
contact and correspondence with Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, Elia Kazan, Theresa
Helburn, Lawrence Langner, Armina Marshall, and Sanford Meisner. In addition to Anderson’s
partner playwrights already mentioned (Behrman, Howard, Rice, and Sherwood), he also
corresponded with William Fields, Victor Samrock, and John F. Wharton at The Playwrights’
Company. |
|
The papers also contain correspondence from several diverse figures, some of whom
may be of
interest in the areas of African Studies; African-American Studies, LGBTQ Studies;
and
Women’s Studies. Among these are: Barbara Deming (LGBTQ author, activist); Todd Duncan
(Black baritone opera singer, actor); Eleanor Flexner (women’s historian and author);
Loften
Mitchell (Black author, novelist, screenwriter); Alan Paton (South African author,
anti-apartheid activist); Frank Provo (LGBTQ radio actor and writer); Eslanda Goode
Robeson
(Black anthropologist, civil rights activist, wife and business manager of Paul Robeson);
Eva Palmer Sikelianos (LGBTQ actress, director, composer, weaver associated with Delphic
Festivals); and Nick Stewart (Black actor, writer, theatre founder). |
|
Other correspondents are family, friends, and neighbors; Anderson’s former professors
and
fellow students (especially from the University of Nebraska and Stanford University);
other
educators and students with queries or requests; amateur drama groups; fans and
well-wishers; and others sending invitations, speaking requests, and appeals for charitable
or other support. |
|
Although the family correspondence contains relatively few letters from Anderson’s
parents,
there is a good deal of correspondence to and from his wives: Margaret Haskett Anderson
(1887-1931), Gertrude Maynard ("Mab") Anderson (1901-1953),
and Gilda Romano Hazard Anderson (stage name Gilda Oakleaf, 1913-2002). Other family
correspondents are Anderson’s seven siblings, as well as Anderson’s four children
(Quentin,
Alan, Terence, and Hesper), plus aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws. |
|
Anderson’s long residence on South Mountain Road in New City, Rockland County, New
York
brought other correspondence from those close to home. Besides Burgess Meredith, Lotte
Lenya, and Kurt Weill who also lived in this small artists’ colony, other neighbor
correspondents were Milton Caniff, Carroll French, Buckner Hollingsworth, John Howard
Lawson, Mary Mowbray-Clarke, Amy Murray, Rollo Peters, Henry Varnum Poor, Ruth Reeves,
and
Hugo Robus, frequently with additional letters from their spouses or other family
members. |
|
See the Index of Letters and the Index of Recipients for a complete list of Anderson’s
correspondents. |
|
Series IV. Miscellaneous, 1859-1965 (bulk 1922-1959) (19
boxes) |
|
This series contains personal and career-related papers for Anderson, in addition
to works
by others and correspondence between others. Dominant are Anderson’s financial records
(accounts, bank records, royalty statements, etc.) along with personal records such
as
address books, agreements, passports, and wills. |
|
Several other files in this series relate to Anderson’s career and business interests,
most
notably for The Playwrights’ Company, with contracts, memoranda, meeting minutes,
and other
papers, 1938-1960. Other organizations represented are the American Academy of Arts
and
Letters; American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA); American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers (ASCAP); Authors’ League of America; Brandt & Brandt literary
agency; and the Dramatists Play Service. Alfred C. Sturt, who acted as a secretary/assistant
to Maxwell Anderson in the 1930s, was also frequently involved with Anderson’s business
correspondence. |
|
A number of other Anderson family members’ works and correspondence are also present
in
this series. Anderson’s second wife, generally known as "Mab," is especially well-represented. In addition to her own works and personal
papers, quite of bit of incoming correspondence is addressed to her, both personal
correspondence from friends and family as well as business letters she handled on
behalf of
her husband. |
|
See the Index of Miscellaneous for descriptions reproduced from the card catalog for
the
papers in this series. |
|
Series V. Additional Acquisitions, 1918-1984 (2 boxes) |
|
Most of this series is made up of previously restricted letters written by Anderson
to his
second wife "Mab"(1952-1953) and to his third wife Gilda
(1952-1956). Also present are some early letters from "Mab"
to Anderson (1928-1931). All of this correspondence was under seal until the death
of Gilda
in 2002. |
|
Additional acquisitions made between 1984 and 2017 make up the rest of this series.
Among
these are scripts for The Golden Six, Richard and Anne, and White Desert, along with a
recommendation letter for Anderson written by a Whittier College dean in 1918. |
|
Cataloging note |
|
Most incoming correspondence to Maxwell Anderson was originally cataloged in the
Miscellaneous series. When cataloging procedures changed and a new Recipient category
was
created, later accessions of incoming correspondence to Maxwell Anderson (3 boxes)
were
cataloged in a Recipient series. During current recataloging of the Anderson papers,
the
incoming letters to Maxwell Anderson in the Miscellaneous were moved and integrated
into the
existing Recipient series. Several improvements were also made to the original card
catalog
data:
- Identities were established for some previously unidentified creators;
- Remaining unidentified correspondents are no longer filed alphabetically under first
name, initials, etc., instead now all are at beginning of Index or Recipients
listing;
- Life dates, fuller name forms, and variant names were added or updated for many
creators; women’s names include both their own names (if available) and their husband’s
name (if signed that way);
- Letterhead names were added if potentially useful in identifying creators;
- Names of individual correspondents writing on behalf of corporate bodies were added
parenthetically after the corporate name;
- The abbreviation "aka" (also known as) has been used
in this finding aid for variant titles of works as well as for persons known by multiple
names.
|
