George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections Research Center
Theodore Browne papers
Browne, Theodore
C0225
/repositories/2/resources/343
1 Linear Feet
2 boxes
1936 - 1941
Papers from Theodore Browne, playwright, actor, and director who worked with the Federal Theatre Project in Seattle, Washington. Contents include playscripts, programs, and newspaper clippings, as well as a scrapbook with materials collected by Browne from 1936 to 1941.
R 46, C 2, S 1 - S 2
English
.
Theodore Browne papers: 1936-1941
Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions.
Use Restrictions
The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)
Preferred Citation
Theodore Browne papers, C0225, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Theodore Browne on October 22, 1975.
Processing Information
Processed and EAD completed by Greta Kuriger Suiter in September 2012. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in October 2022.
Biographical Information
Theodore Browne was born in Suffolk, Virgina around 1910. He was a playwright, actor, and director in the Federal Theatre Project. In Seattle, Washington, he worked with the Civic Repertory Theatre, a community theater group that would become the Seattle Negro Unit of the Works Progress Administration in 1936. The unit produced four plays written by Browne including
Lysistrata of Aristophanes, A Black Woman called Moses, Swing, and Natural Man. The adaptation of
Lysistrata included changing the location of the play from Greece to Ethiopia. The play was performed to a full house, but only once. The head of the Works Progress Administration in Seattle, Don Abel, declared the play bawdy and indecent and stopped future performances. Hallie Flanagan, the national director of the Federal Theatre Project, sent her assistant Howard Miller to take care of the situation. Miller did not resurrect the play but came to a compromise with Abel that would allow the FTP in Seattle to have full control over future productions.Browne left Seattle to join the American Negro Theatre in 1940 where he led the production of
Natural Man at the 135th St. Library Theatre in Harlem. He went on to receive degrees from the City College of New York in 1941 and from Northeastern University in Boston in 1944. Browne stayed in Boston after World War II where he taught and lectured. He died in Boston at the age of 68.
Scope and Content
Papers from Theodore Browne, playwright, actor, and director who worked with the Federal Theatre Project in Seattle, Washington. Contents include playscripts, programs, and newspaper clippings, as well as a scrapbook with materials collected by Browne from 1936 to 1941.
Related Material
The Works Progress Administration oral histories collection, the Federal Theatre Project collection, the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, as well as numerous other personal papers.
Arrangement
Papers are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Seattle (Wash.)
Theater -- United States
Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)
Theodore Browne papers/repositories/2/archival_objects/861081936-1941Scrapbook/repositories/2/archival_objects/861091936-19411Scope and ContentScrapbook contains photographs, programs, and newspaper clippings of the Negro Repertory Co. in Seattle, Washington, as well as assorted newspaper clippings and programs for 1940-1941 New York City production of Natural Man.
Some items available in digital format.
The Day of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere playscript/repositories/2/archival_objects/861101930s21Lysistrata of Aristophanes: an African version playscript/repositories/2/archival_objects/861111930s22Natural Man playscript/repositories/2/archival_objects/861121930s23Newspaper clippings/repositories/2/archival_objects/861131936-193724Programs/repositories/2/archival_objects/86114193725