Mary McCord/Edyth Renshaw Collection on the Performing Arts

Unidentified gigaku mask,
ca. 8th-10th century

Program for "The Second Man,"
October 1931

[Edwin Forrest Letter], 1833

''Lady Windermere's Fan'';
''Midsummer Day'', 1892

''Mutt and Jeff's Dream,''
ca. 1910s-1920s

Because I'm Married Now, 1907

About the Collection

Holding library: Bywaters Special Collections, Hamon Arts Library

View more collections held by Bywaters Special Collections

Overview

The Mary McCord/Edyth Renshaw Collection on the Performing Arts digital collection includes a sample of materials from this extensive collection, encompassing a diverse cross-section of performing arts and representing the wide-ranging forms of theater, music, dance and film.

The collection includes catalogs, clipping files, correspondence, photographs, playbills, posters, programs, scrapbooks, scripts, set designs, and works of art on paper.

The McCord/Renshaw Collection originated as the McCord Theatre Museum at Southern Methodist University in 1933 and was first located in Dallas Hall. It was founded by Department of Speech faculty members, including David Russell and Edyth Renshaw, and named in honor of Mary McCord, the first speech professor at SMU.

Holdings and Highlights:

Little Theatre of Dallas Collection

The Little Theatre of Dallas was founded in Dallas in 1920 to provide the city with quality theatre performed by non-professional actors from the community and reflects the many facets and stages of the organization from its inception to its final demise in the late 1950s. The collection includes artwork, clippings, correspondence, documents, ephemera, programs, published works, scripts and photographs relating to the Little Theatre of Dallas and its participants.

Of particular interest are a set of theater programs, 1925-1941, from the Little Theatre of Dallas Collection. The programs include cover art by Gordon Conway, Dorothy Sutton, O'Neil Ford, Lynn Ford, David R. Williams, Alexander Hogue, and Jerry Bywaters.

A finding aid for the Little Theatre collection is available.

Southern Methodist University Arden Club Collection

The Southern Methodist University Arden Club was the student dramatic group on campus from 1916 to 1969. The collection documents the activities of the club from its first production in 1916 and throughout its fifty-three year history and includes artwork, clippings, correspondence, documents, ephemera, manuscripts, posters, programs, props, publicity, published works, scripts, scrapbooks, photographs and club pins.

A finding aid for the Arden Club materials is available.

Harriet Bacon MacDonald Collection

Harriet Bacon MacDonald organized the performances of notable musical acts from around the world including Sousa and Rachmaninoff among many others in Dallas, Texas. MacDonald was also a teacher of classes in the Dunning Music System. The bulk of the material in this collection was gathered during her time as an impresaria in Dallas, Texas and a teacher of Dunning classes across the United States. The collection includes correspondence, documents, ephemera, programs, published works, photographs, and a scrapbook.

G. J. Signaigo Collection of Theater Materials

George Joseph Signaigo was a prominent Dallas businessman who co-owned the Brannon-Signaigo Cigar Company of Texas. The majority of the material in this collection consists of theater programs that were collected over the course of Signaigo's life. The collection includes correspondence, ephemera, manuscripts, publicity and published works relating to the theater. Most material originates from Dallas, Texas, but there is also material from New York City and other states and cities.

McCord/Renshaw Collection, Series 2: Theatre

Includes various theatre related items.