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Archives 308
Theatre and Dance
Records, 1980-2011

ACQUISITION AND PROCESSING INFORMATION

This collection was transferred to the Washington State University (WSU) Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) on May 10th, 2011 by Arwen Bloomsburg of WSU's Department of Theatre and Dance. The collection was received as accession UA2011-07 and processed by University Archivist Mark O'English in May of 2011. An additional box was tranferred on June 8th, 2011 and incorporated into this collection by Library Masters student Katrina Burch.

EXTENT/QUANTITY INFORMATION

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

The Department of Speech of Washington State University, established in 1923, has produced numerous plays since 1925 as a function of that department. Maynard Lee Daggy headed the Speech Department from its inception in 1923 until 1946 and directed many of the earlier productions. Departmental theatrical finances, publicity, and publications were the responsibility of the University Theatre office located in Bryan Hall. In the early 1970s a new site for University Theatre productions and the Department of Speech was constructed and subsequently named Daggy Hall. Circa 1988-1989, theatre was moved from Speech and joined with the Department of Music to create the School of Music and Theatre Arts. In 2008, Theatre Arts and Dance were separated from Music, and in May of 2011 the Department of Theatre and Dance closed as a result of budget cuts.

In addition to regular theatre productions, special production units including Children's Theatre, Stage II Productions, Final Stage, The Black Ensemble, Pullman's New Summer Palace, and Stage One have existed. Most of these appear to have been sporadic, were occasionally short lived, and can be subsumed under the regular theatre series.

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION & ARRANGEMENT

Materials in this collection are organized chronologically. Each play or theatrical/dance production is given its own folder, and may contain some or all of the following: programs, posters, cast or production photographs, budgetary summaries, review clippings, production notes, and promotional materials. A few folders contain materials related not to a specific production but rather to a forthcoming school year and these are identified as "Season program" and located at the start of the appropriate school year. Similarly, the final folder in the collection is printed news articles about the discontinuation of the Department of Theatre and Dance.

RELATED MATERIALS

Earlier records of a similar nature are maintained as Archives 42, Archives 105, Archives 209 and Archives 251. A collection of slides from WSU Theatre and Dance productions can be found as Photo Collection 146

For preservation purposes, many of the oversized posters in this collection were removed and placed in WSU 112 o.s., the oversized Theatre and Dance portion of MASC's WSU Publications collections.

ACCESS

This collection is open and available for research use. Materials may be subject to copyright.

PREFERRED CITATION

The suggested citation for the collection is:

[Item Description]
Washington State University Theatre and Dance Records, 1980-2011 (UA 308)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Washington State University Libraries
Pullman, WA