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This collection contains records from the Department of Theatre, Film Studies, and Dance at St. Cloud State University.  There are 32 boxes and five oversized folders in the collection; the items date from 1956-2007 with the vast majority of the items pertaining to the theatre division. Additions to this series may be ongoing.

The collection is arranged into three series, which are as follows:

Series 1: Administrative Records, 1961-2007

This series includes minutes from staff meetings, building plans, correspondence, and the theatre department’s newsletter, amongst other items.

Series 2: Play Files, 1956-2011

Here is where the bulk of the collection can be found.  The play files, which are alphabetical order by play title, include photographs, posters, and programs for productions that were performed at St. Cloud State University.  There are also records in this series that pertain to SCSU theatre students and producers who took their performances overseas.  The first performances abroad were at military outposts located in Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, and Baffin Island in 1961.  They would go on to perform in Germany for the military in 1964.  And in 1987, actors traveled to China to perform in Universities throughout the country.  The larger production posters are located in the oversize cabinets, drawer 17, and are in chronological order. In addition, there is a folder of material from the County Stearns Theaterical Company.

Series 3: Publications, 1978-2001

This series includes newsletters and student handbooks.

Series 4: Costume Sketches, 1970s-early 1990s

Theatre faculty member Harvey Jurik created 502 costume sketches for theatre productions sponsored by St. Cloud State University, 500 which are digitized. The sketches illustrate the character costume designs as well as several scenes for various plays performed from the 1970s through the early 1990s.

The 262 letters and 1 poem included in this collection were written by Sinclair Lewis to Marcella Powers between 1939 and 1947. Lewis met Powers in August 1939 when they were both acting in Eugene O’Neill’s play Ah Wilderness! at the Provincetown Theater in Cape Cod. Lewis and Powers began a relationship despite the 36 year age difference between them.

In these letters, Lewis discusses a wide variety of topics - his career, his writing, and his feelings for Powers. During the time of their relationship, Lewis traveled quite a bit throughout the United States giving lectures. He also spent time working in Los Angeles in the motion picture industry and lived in Excelsior and Duluth in Minnesota where he spent much time writing. Lewis also wrote about his social life, including the people that he met, the games of chess that he played, and the books that he read. Many of the letters are very long while others are quite short, with some including cartoons drawn by Lewis.

The letters end in September 1947, shortly after Powers marriage to Michael Amrine. Lewis tells Powers that she will no longer receive an allowance from him, but that if she were ever in need of help that he would be there for her. When Lewis passed away in 1951, Powers was listed in his will.

This collection consists of eight different theater publications: The Billboard Index/Year Book of the New York Legitimate Stage from 1936-1938; New Theatre Magazine from 1960, 1962-1963; Performing Arts from 1967-1976; Plays and Players from 1967-1972; The Stage from 1933-1941; Theatre Arts from 1929-1964; The Theatre Magazine from 1909; Theatre Crafts from 1967-1968.  The Stage and Theatre Arts have the most issues, and thus make up the bulk of this collection.