Terms of Access and Use: Restrictions on use:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the Ethel Hale Freeman Papers must be requested from the Smith College Archives. Official Smith correspondence and documents are copyrighted by the Smith College Archives. Provenance and copyright ownership of materials is unknown and researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright.
Ethel Hale Freeman graduated from Smith College in 1902. After graduation, she studied at the Art School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and received her M.A. from Smith in 1915. After some years spent serving as dramatic coach for the Wellesley Shakespeare Society and the Players of Newton, she came to Smith to teach elocution and modern drama from 1911 to 1917. She also taught spoken English and Shakespeare in a University extension course in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Between 1917 and 1925, Freeman taught English at the Lee School in Boston, and from 1924 to 1933, was an instructor at Dana Hall and Pine Manor in Wellesley. She was active in many forms of the arts, including music, sculpture, and the theater. Although she grew up in West Newton, she spent many happy summers on her old farm in Ashfield. Freeman died in Essex, Connecticut on February 26, 1963.
The Ethel Hale Freeman Papers span a period from 1882 to 1917. Much of the material is from her time as a professor at Smith. The information regarding her personal life is largely confined to her correspondence with her family during two trips to Europe, the first in 1905-1906 and the second in 1908-1909. A large portion of the collection contains correspondence and materials documenting her involvement in various organizations, particularly the Lend-a-Hand Dramatic Club. The folders are arranged alphabetically by subject, and the collection is composed of correspondence, class notes, plays, photographs, memorabilia books, and other general items such as music scores and sketches.
This collection is organized into five series:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the Ethel Hale Freeman Papers must be requested from the Smith College Archives. Official Smith correspondence and documents are copyrighted by the Smith College Archives. Provenance and copyright ownership of materials is unknown and researchers are responsible for determining any question of copyright.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Ethel Hale Freeman Papers, Box #, Smith College Archives.
The Ethel Hale Freeman Papers were processed by Katrina Cokeng, '02, CDO Archival Intern in 1999-2000.
| Contact Information |
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Smith College Archives
Northampton, MA 01063
Phone: (413) 585-2970 Fax: (413) 585-2886 Email: nyoung@smith.edu URL: http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/archives |
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Series I. GENERAL
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The first series, General, contains miscellaneous information on Freeman's life. This includes details about her Spoken English class at Smith, photographs, her undergraduate achievements, how she came to be appointed Instructor of Elocution, and some tidbits of biographical information. It appears that she was very interested in dramatics and theater, two programmes from productions she attended are in the collection, which explains why she taught Elocution. Elocution is what later evolved to be the Theater Department here at Smith. Thus, Freeman was essentially one of the pioneers in that area. |
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Appointment
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1911-17
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Box 1: folder 1
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Biographical Data
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1915-50
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Box 1: folder 2
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Drama Room
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1913, 1915
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Box 1: folder 3
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High School
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1898
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Box 1: folder 4
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Jokes and Lampoons
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1909, n.d.
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Box 1: folder 5
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Phi Beta Kappa Society
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1917
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Box 1: folder 6
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Photographs
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1900-02, n.d.
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Box 1: folder 7
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Religion Class Notes
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1911-17
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Box 1: folder 8
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Sigma
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n.d.
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Box 1: folder 9
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Sketches
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n.d.
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Box 1: folder 10
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Spoken English - Examinations, etc.
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1915-17
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Box 1: folder 11
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Spoken English - Lecture Notes
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n.d.
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Box 1: folder 12
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Spoken English - Reports, Elocution
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1911-17, n.d.
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Box 1: folder 13
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Series II. CORRESPONDENCE
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The second series is composed primarily of Correspondence between Freeman and various people. A mix of personal and formal letters, handwritten and typed, can be found. Her correspondance covers both her personal and professional lives, from her letters to her family during two early trips to Europe to her communications with people in the Smith College community (such as Presidents Seelye and Burton) and celebrities like Helen Keller. Also included in the series are letters from Freeman's aunt, Harriet E. Freeman, who accompanied her on two of her European trips, to various members of the Freeman family. The series also contains some newspaper articles and postcards. |
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Bonstelle, Jesse to EHF
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1916-17
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Box 2: folder 1
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Burton, Marion L. to EHF
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1911-17
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Box 2: folder 2
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Comstock, Ada L. to EHF
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1917-18
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Box 2: folder 3
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Emerson, Ellen Tucker to EHF
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1913, 17
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Box 2: folder 4
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Freeman, Caroline from EHF
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1905-1908
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Box 2: folder 5
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Freeman, Ethel Hale to Margaret Grierson
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1940
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Box 2: folder 6
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Freeman, Harriet Clark from EHF
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1905-1909
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Box 2: folder 7-8
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Round Robin letters: Freeman, Harriet E. to EHF
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1906
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Box 2: folder 8
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Freeman, Helen Hunt from EHF
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1905-1909
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Box 2: folder 9
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Ganong, William Francis to EHF
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1915
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Box 2: folder 10
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Grenfell, Wilfred T. to EHF
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1928-29
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Box 2: folder 11
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Hale, Ellen Day to EHF
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1904
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Box 2: folder 12
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Hoyt, Hildegrade to EHF
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1912
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Box 2: folder 13
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Kapp, Marie F. to EHF
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1913
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Box 2: folder 14
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Keller, Helen to EHF
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1902
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Box 2: folder 15
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Kiernan, George to M.L. Burton
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1912
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Box 2: folder 16
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Libby to Miss Neeson
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n.d.
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Box 2: folder 17
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McClellan, Katherine Elizabeth to EHF
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1908, 1912
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Box 2: folder 18
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Mendenhall, Thomas Corwin to EHF
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1960
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Box 2: folder 19
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Newcomb, Edith Turner from EHF (Christmas carols)
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1902, 1925-27, 1947
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Box 2: folder 20
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Notman, Winifred to EHF
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1913
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Box 2: folder 21
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Pomeroy, Helen Jackson to EHF
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1912
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Box 2: folder 18
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re: portrait of Seelye, L. Clark, letter from LCS
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1908, 1910-11, n.d.
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Box 2: folder 19
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Shakespeare Memorial Theatre to EHF
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1934
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Box 2: folder 20
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Smith, Mary P. Wells to EHF
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1916
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Box 2: folder 21
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Wardwell, Eunice (Remington) to EHF
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1913
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Box 2: folder 22
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Series III. CLASS NOTEBOOKS
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Freeman's Class Notebooks document much of her undergraduate career at Smith. Her notes appear to be neat and clearly labeled. Some subject, such as Dramatics and Zoology, contain not only her notes but the textbooks she used as well. For her dramatics class, she read The Adventure of Lady Ursula, a book that also contains pictures of characters in costumes. Freeman has minimal class notes for this subject. A lot of her notes are from her literature classes, and these are meticulously organized into different notebooks, each lecture beginning on another page. Freeman's Zoology notes are less well organized, and this folder also contains the book she used in class. For her Themes and Verse class, the stack of loose-leaf papers she took notes on seem to have just been bundled together, a contrast to the neat notebooks she kept for Literature. |
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General
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1899-1902
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Box 3: folder 1
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Dramatics
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1899-1902
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Box 3: folder 2
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Literature
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1899-1902
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Box 3: folder 3
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Literature (cont.)
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1899-1902
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Box 3: folder 4
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Science - Zoology
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1899-1902
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Box 3: folder 5
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Themes and Verse
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1899-1902
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Box 3: folder 6
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Series IV. MEMORABILIA
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The fourth series contains music scores composed by Freeman, photo albums, and a very large Memorabilia book. Most of the musical scores are in notebooks, while others are on loose sheets of paper. These are labeled with the title of the piece, but some appear to be messy and look like drafts. The album contains a great number of photographs, all of which have the names of the people in the photo and the date listed at the bottom. Most of the photos are of people, although there are a few of scenery. Freeman's memorabilia book appears to be a very large compilation of mementos and keepsakes from her college years. Notes, cards, articles, ribbons, and even matchboxes are all included. There is no apparent order to all these objects, but they all appear to have personal meaning to Freeman herself. It gives one insight into the numerous activities she participated in while a Smith College student. |
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MEMORABILIA BOOK
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Box 4
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Music Scores
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1922, 1923, 1935,1936, 1939, n.d.
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Box 5: folder 1
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Music Scores (cont.)
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1931, 1953, n.d.
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Box 5: folder 2
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Photograph Album
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1904-11
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Box 5
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Series V. LEND-A-HAND DRAMATIC CLUB
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Freeman was heavily involved in the Lend-a-Hand Dramatic Club, an organization that promoted philanthropic interest in young people by getting them involved in the dramatic society, the profits of which go to charity. Examples of charities the organization has donated to are the Boston Floating Hospital, Blind Babies Home, Hale Endowment Fund, and Boston Normal School. A list of the Club's receipts and expenses reveal that most of the plays performed make a profit of over $500. There are also several notebooks of minutes from meetings. Almost all of the plays performed by the Club are contained in this series. While not all plays have copies of the scripts available, most have copies of the programs and some even have articles on it. This is obviously a project Freeman devoted much of her time to, being one of the founders of the organization. |
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General
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Characters
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n.d.
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Box 6: folder 1
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Constitution and By-Laws
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1910, 1912, 1914, n.d.
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Box 6: folder 2
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Donations
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1907-25
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Box 6: folder 3
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General
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1903-28
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Box 6: folder 4
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Meetings
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1911-18, 1925, 1928, n.d.
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Box 6: folder 5
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Membership
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1908, 1910, 1912, 1915
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Box 6: folder 6
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Minutes
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1909-11, 1914-15, 1922-28
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Box 6: folder 7
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Music Scores
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n.d.
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Box 6: folder 8
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Photographs
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n.d
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Box 6: folder 9
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Publications
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1907, 1913, 1915, 1916, 1922-29, 1936, 1940
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Box 6: folder 10
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Reports - Annual
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1902, 1907, 1912-13, 1922, 1929, 1939
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Box 6: folder 11
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Reports - Treasurer's
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1913-25
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Box 6: folder 12
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Shakespeare Trophies
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1900, n.d.
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Box 6: folder 13
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Songs
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1908
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Box 6: folder 14
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Plays, A-L
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Adventures of Lady Ursula
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1903
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Box 7: folder 1
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Alice at Smith
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n.d.
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Box 7: folder 2
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As You Like It
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1902
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Box 7: folder 3
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Beau Brummel
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1921
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Box 7: folder 4
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Brer Rabbit
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1926
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Box 7: folder 5
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Christmas Carol
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1909, 1914
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Box 7: folder 6
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Christmas Pageant
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1920
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Box 7: folder 7
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Doctor of Alcantara
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1916
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Box 7: folder 8
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Eight Cousins
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1924
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Box 7: folder 9
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Fliveretta
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1924
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Box 7: folder 10
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Galatea
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1921
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Box 7: folder 11
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Gondoliers
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1911
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Box 7: folder 12
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Gringoire
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1907
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Box 7: folder 13
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Hamlet
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1907
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Box 7: folder 14
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Heidi
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1925
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Box 7: folder 15
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Iolanthe
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1910
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Box 7: folder 16
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Land of Heart's Desire
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1907
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Box 7: folder 17
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Little Lord Fauntleroy
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1918
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Box 7: folder 18
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Little Men
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1923
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Box 7: folder 19
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Little Women
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1924
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Box 7: folder 20
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The Locket
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1910
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Box 7: folder 21
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Love in a Garret
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n.d.
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Box 7: folder 22
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Plays, M-Z
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Master Skylark
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1928
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Box 8: folder 1
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Midsummer Night's Dream
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1905
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Box 8: folder 2
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Monsiere Beaucaire
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1907, 1920
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Box 8: folder 3
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H.M.S. Pinafore
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n.d.
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Box 8: folder 4
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Naughty Little Princess
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1912. 1921
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Box 8: folder 5
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Playboy of the Western World
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1922
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Box 8: folder 6
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Prince and the Pauper
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1919
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Box 8: folder 7
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Purple and Fine Linen
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1917
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Box 8: folder 8
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Professor's Love Story
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1910
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Box 8: folder 9
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Romeo and Juliet
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1908
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Box 8: folder 10
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Ruddy Gore
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1913
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Box 8: folder 11
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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1920
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Box 8: folder 12
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Speed
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n.d.
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Box 8: folder 13
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Taming of the Shrew
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1904
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Box 8: folder 14
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Twelfth Night
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1914
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Box 8: folder 15
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Workhouse Maid Rosalind
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1915
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Box 8: folder 16
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