urn:taro:utexas.hrc.01115 Uncle Tom's Cabin: A Preliminary Inventory of the Collection at the Harry Ransom Center Finding aid created by Helen Baer, Valerie Burns, Eric Colleary, and Grace Hansen Harry Ransom Center, 2015> Finding aid encoded by Grace Hansen, 20 October 2015 Finding aid written in English. Collection Summary Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin Harry Ransom Center Uncle Tom’s Cabin Collection 1825-1946 6 document boxes (2.52 linear feet), 8 oversize folders (osf) The bulk of the Uncle Tom’s Cabin collection consists of photographs, playbills, and programs documenting the earliest productions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (notably the premiere of George C. Howard’s 1852 acting version), and the stage personalities associated with the play, in particular George L. Fox, Charles K. Fox, Cordelia Howard, and Lotta Crabtree. English and German Performing Arts Collection PA-00122 Acquisition:

Purchase, 1956 (Albert Davis Collection)

 Access:

Open for research

 Processed by:

Helen Baer, 1999; Valerie Burns, 2002; Eric Colleary and Grace Hansen, 2015

 Scope and Contents

During the 19th century, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the best-selling book after the Bible. Due to the lack of copyright laws, numerous unauthorized stage adaptations were produced. Several scholars have suggested that significantly more people came to know of Uncle Tom’s Cabin from the stage than from reading the book. The first and most popular adaptation was written by George Aiken for George C. Howard’s touring company in which Aiken also acted.

The bulk of the Uncle Tom’s Cabin Collection consists of photographs, playbills, and programs documenting the earliest productions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (notably the premiere of George C. Howard’s 1852 acting version), and the stage personalities associated with the play, in particular George L. Fox, Charles K. Fox, Cordelia Howard, and Lotta Crabtree. Also present are clippings, correspondence, prints, posters, published acting editions, sheet music, and a songster. The collection is divided into two series: I. Photographs, and II. Other Materials, with materials arranged alphabetically or by format. .

Additional information regarding stage productions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin can be found in the papers of George C. Howard and Family. Programs relating to a WPA Theatre production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin can be found in the papers of James Purdy. Various printed editions of the book, scripts, and derivative works can be found in the Ransom Center’s book holdings which are searchable through the online catalogue

 Container List Series I. Photographs Aiken, Frank E. 1.1 Aiken, George L. 1.2 Barlow, Milt 1.3 Belasco, David 1.4 Brown, Inez 1.5 Clark, John Sleeper 1.6 Clark, N. B. 1.7 Crabtree, Lotta 1.8 Crosman, Henrietta 1.9 Davenport, Mrs. A. H. 1.10 De Angelis, Jefferson 1.11 Duncan Sisters 1.12 Ellsler, Effie 1.13 Fernandez, Bijou 1.14-15 Fisher, Perkins D., and May [Hillman?] 1.16 Fox, Charles K. 1.17-19 Fox, Emily 1.20 Fox, George L. 1.21, 2.1-10 French, Eva 2.11 Germon, Green C. 2.12 Gilbert, John 2.13 Hackett, J. H. 2.14 [Hillman?], May -- see Fisher, Perkins D. Howard, [Caroline Emily Fox] 2.15-16 Howard, Cordelia 2.17-18 Howard, George C. 2.19 Jefferson, Joseph 2.20 Jones, Mrs. W. G. (Julia A. Deane) 2.21 Kunkel, George 2.22 Lackaye, Wilton 3.1 Lemoyne, William 3.2 McVicker, J. H. 3.3 Mellville, Rose 3.4 Prior, Mrs. J[ames] J. (Louisa Young) 3.5 Prior, Lula 3.6 Raymond, Maude 3.7 Rigl, Emily 3.8 Roberts, Theodore 3.9 Sanford, Sam 3.10 Shannon, Effie 3.11 Stone, Fred, and Eddie Stone 3.12 Stowe, Harriet Beecher 3.13 Sullivan, John L. 3.14 Taliaferro, Mabel 3.15 Tanguay, Eva 3.16 Taylor, Laurette 3.17 Templeton, Faye 3.18 Thompson, Denman 3.19 Thorne, Edwin F. 4.1 Warren, William 4.2 Webber, Carrie 4.3 Yeamans, Jennie 4.4 Young, Louisa -- see Prior, Mrs. J[ames] J. Composite photo album 4.5 Unidentified, undated 4.6 Series II. Other Materials, 1825-1946 Subseries A. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1851-1946 Clippings 1901-1946, undated 5.1 1907-1915 5.2 1927, The Deutsch-Amerika Illustrated Weekly 5.3 The Theatre Magazine, undated 5.4 1881-1936, undated 5.5 1901-1945, undated osf 1 Correspondence and other manuscript items 5.6 Prints circa 1852-1855, undated 5.7 circa 1852-1855, undated osf 2 Production photograph, undated 5.8 Programs and playbills 1853-1869 5.9 1870-1879 5.10 1878 5.11 1880-1898 5.12 1901-1933 5.13 1851-1900, undated osf 3 1852-1900, undated osf 4 1853-1880, undated osf 5 Posters undated osf 6-7 Posters and collage of mounted photographs, undated osf 8 Published items Special theatre edition 6.1 Miss Kate Riddell’s Jubilee Songster 6.2 Lacy’s acting edition 6.3 Sheet music 6.4-5 Miscellaneous 6.6 Subseries B. George L. Fox, 1825-1877 Prints and photographs, 1825-1877, undated 6.7-10 Programs and playbills, 1872-1873 6.11