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Howard Scammon Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 01/Mss. Acc. 1992.38 and additions

  • Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of correspondence, clippings, photographs, programs, playbooks and other material collected by William and Mary Theatre professor Howard Scammon. The bulk of the material is correspondence between Scammon and his former students, but the papers also include documentation related to the William and Mary Theatre, The Common Glory, the Jamestown Festival of 1957, other Williamsburg theatre groups and famous William and Mary alumni such as Glenn Close and Linda Lavin.  Some personal papers are also included.

Dates

  • Creation: 1917-1994
  • Creation: Majority of material found in 1940-1970

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access:

Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Conditions Governing Use:

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Biographical Information:

Howard Scammon was a student (1929-1934) and faculty member at the College of William and Mary in the Department of Theatre. He died in 1999. Further information about this individual or organization may be available in the Special Collections Research Center Wiki: .

Extent

15.00 Linear Feet

Arrangement of Materials:

The papers have been arranged into 7 series:  Series 1:  Correspondence; Series 2:  Former Students, Series 3: Theatre, Series 4:  Printed Material, Series 5:  News Releases, Series 6:  Photographs, Slides and Negatives and Series 7:  Howard Scammon-Personal Papers.

Material from all accessions were combined into these series.

All personal correspondence from each accession has been combined and arranged in alphabetical order.  The letters are mostly from former students of Howard Scammon.

As of August 2014, Boxes 1 - 8, Series 1, Correspondence has been completely processed with envelopes behind the letters.   Boxes 9 - 12 are arranged alphabetically, but not in strict A-Z order, with envelopes in front of the letters.

Custodial History:

Acc. 2002.053 and Acc. 2002.063 were previously part of Howard Scammon Papers (UA 6.053); these two collections were combined on 3/09/2010.

Acquisition Information:

1992.38:  500 items, gift of Howard Scammon, was received on 8/5/1992; 1993.44, gift of Howard Scammon, was received on 6/23/1993; 1993.73:  300 items, gift of Howard Scammon, was received on 12/13/1993; 1994.03:  75 items, gift of Howard Scammon, was received on 1/20/1994; 1994.12:  100 items, gift of Howard Scammon, was received on 2/18/1994; 1994.22:  50 items, gift of Howard Scammon, was received on 4/1/1994; 1994.27:  150 items, gift of Howard Scammon, was received on 4/6/1994; 1995.14:  500 items, gift of Howard Scammon, was received on 3/20/1995; Acc. 2002.053 acquired 10/07/2002; Acc. 2002.063 acquired 09/30/2002. One cubic feet of records received sometime prior to 2006; the exact date of accession is unknown. 2010.154:  3 boxes, gift of Mark Thrash, administrator of Howard Scammon's estate, on 3/5/2010.

Related Materials:

William and Mary Theatre Records(UA 67); Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance Records (UA 59); University Archives Audiovisual Collections (UA 58); Linda Lavin Papers (88 L39); Louis E. Catron Papers (Mss. Acc. 2001.50); Althea Hunt Papers (UA 6.028); Howard Scammon Drama Prize Winners Collection (UA 52).

Items transferred to the Manuscripts Artifact Collection (Mss. 1.03) include:

Framed "Get Well" Needle Work (Mss. 1992.38.01), "Our Town" Key (Mss.2010.154.01), President's Council Silver Plate (Mss. 2010.154.02), Christmas 1974 Silver Plate (Mss. 2010.154.03), Jefferson Goblet Award (Mss. 2010.154.04), "Thanks Howard" Silver Cup (Mss. 2010.154.05), Silver Trophy With Old English Poem (Mss. 2010.154.06), William and Mary Theatre Silver Pitcher (Mss. 2010.154.07), Fort Eustis Entertainment Contest Silver Bowl (Mss. 2010.154.08), Recognition Platter (Mss. 2010.154.09), "Spread Out '66" Silver Platter (Mss. 2010.154.10)

Separated Materials:

Acc. 2002.053 and Acc. 2002.063 were previously part of Howard Scammon Papers (UA 6.053); these two collections were combined on 3/09/2010.

Mss. Acc. 2014.003 Frances Breeze Music Collection was separated from the Howard Scammon papers on 01/14/2014.  Frances Breeze's gift was via Howard Scammon in 1983. The following items were removed from Mss. Acc. 2014.003 and were added to the Manuscripts Audiovisual Collection under Mss Acc. 2014.003 on 1/28/2014:

Recording tape:  Track 1 and 3, "Fairy Stones" and Track 2 and 4, blank.

Scotch 3m Music Mastering tape:  "Chapman Tape I"

3M Music Mastering Tape:  "Chapman II"

The following books have been removed from Mss. Acc. 2014.003 and are cataloged as Rare Books:

The Royal Edition of the Contral to Album with Italian and English Words, edited by J. Pittman, Boosey & Co., London and New York, edition is prior to 1899; The Victor Book of the Opera, Victor Talking Machine Co., Campden, NJ, 1912, owned by Harold Chapman; Operatic Anthology and Celebrated Arias..., edited by Max Specker, G. Schirmer, 1904, Frances Breeze performed some of this music and The Sound of Music/Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, II, Libretto, Williamson Music, Inc., NY, 1960.

Items transferred to the Manuscripts Artifact Collection (Mss. 1.03) include:

"Our Town" Key (Mss.2010.154.01), President's Council Silver Plate (Mss. 2010.154.02), Christmas 1974 Silver Plate (Mss. 2010.154.03), Jefferson Goblet Award (Mss. 2010.154.04), "Thanks Howard" Silver Cup (Mss. 2010.154.05), Silver Trophy With Old English Poem (Mss. 2010.154.06), William and Mary Theatre Silver Pitcher (Mss. 2010.154.07), Fort Eustis Entertainment Contest Silver Bowl (Mss. 2010.154.08), Recognition Platter (Mss. 2010.154.09), "Spread Out '66" Silver Platter (Mss. 2010.154.10)

Title
Guide to the Howard Scammon Papers
Author
Finding Aid Authors: Special Collections Staff, Anne Johnson.
Date
2009-11-17
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
The collection description/finding aid is written in English

Revision Statements

  • May 12th, 2017: In April 2014, Mss. Acc. 2010.154 was added to the collection and the entire collection (all accessions) were combined and reorganized with series reflecting subjects instead of accession numbers.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Research Center Repository

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