Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey 1887-1993, undated MS.1996.025
http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2795
Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467 617-552-3282 [email protected] http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents
Summary Information ...... 3 Administrative Information ...... 4 Related Materials ...... 4 Biographical note: Lowery...... 5 Biographical note: O'Casey...... 5 Scope and Contents note...... 7 Arrangement note...... 7 Collection Inventory...... 8 Series I: Correspondence...... 8 Series II: Ephemera and photographs...... 10 Series III: Research...... 15 Series IV: Scrapbooks...... 16 Series V: Sean O'Casey conferences...... 16 Series VI: Works about Sean O'Casey...... 17
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 2 - MS.1996.025 Summary Information
Library Unit Archives and Manuscripts Department
Creator Lowery, Robert G., 1941-
Creator O'Casey, Sean, 1880-1964
Title Robert G. Lowery papers and collection of Sean O'Casey
Date [inclusive] 1887-1993, undated
Extent 15.0 Linear feet (17 boxes)
Language English
Language of Materials note Primarily in English, with some German and Russian.
Abstract This collection includes clippings, correspondence, ephemera, manuscripts photographs, and scrapbooks related to Robert G. Lowery's research on and collecting of materials relating to the life and work of Irish playwright Sean O'Casey.
Preferred Citation note Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, Robert G. Lowery papers and collection of Sean O'Casey, MS.1996.025, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 3 - MS.1996.025 Administrative Information
Publication Information Processed by Annalisa Moretti, November 2016. This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit.
Restrictions on access Collection is open for research.
Restrictions on use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Related Materials
Related Archival Materials note Sean O'Casey letters, MS.1996.025, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Separated Materials note Correspondence between Lowery and Samuel Beckett was transferred to the Samuel Beckett collection, MS.1991.001, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 4 - MS.1996.025 Biographical note: Lowery
Robert G. Lowery was born on July 21, 1941 in Taylor County, Texas. In the 1970s he attended Hosftra University in New York, where he received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in European history. In 1974, while still attending Hofstra as an undergraduate, Lowery founded The Sean O'Casey Review, which ran for eight years, from 1974 to 1982. His other works include Sean O’Casey Centenary Essays (co-edited with David Krause, 1980); Essays on Sean O’Casey’s Autobiographies: Reflections Upon the Mirror (as editor, 1981); Sean O’Casey’s Autobiographies: An Annotated Index (1983); A Whirlwind in Dublin: The Plough and the Stars Riots (1984); “My Very Dear Sean,” George Jean Nathan’s Letters to Sean O’Casey (as co-editor with Patricia Angelin, 1985); and An O’Casey Annual 1-4 (as editor, 1982-1985). He has served as the editor of numerous publications including Ais Eiri: The Magazine of Irish-America, the ACIS Newsletter, and the Irish Literary Supplement. Sources: Krause, David, and Robert G. Lowery, eds. Sean O’Casey Centenary Essays. Totowa NJ: Barnes & Noble Books, 1980. Lowery, Robert G., ed. Essays on Sean O’Casey’s Autobiographies: Reflections Upon the Mirror. Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble, 1981. Lowery, Robert G., ed. A Whirlwind in Dublin: The Plough and the Stars Riots. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1984.
Biographical note: O'Casey
Sean O’Casey was born John Casey on March 30, 1880 in Dublin, Ireland, to Michael and Susan (Archer) Casey, a lower-middle class Protestant family. His father died in 1886. As a child, O’Casey suffered from trachoma, which affected his sight and made it difficult for him to succeed scholastically. He worked periodically throughout his adolescence as a stock boy, a van driver, and railway laborer. During this time, he became interested in Irish working class culture, as well as socialism and labor causes. In 1906 he joined the Gaelic League and began learning the Irish language. He changed his name to Sean O’Cathasaigh and began writing, primarily poetry. A few years later he joined the Irish Transport and General Workers Union and its offshoot, the Irish Citizen Army. He took part in the Dublin lock-out strike in 1913; however, he resigned from these organizations in 1914 and criticized their roles in the Easter Rising of 1916.
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 5 - MS.1996.025 O’Casey began writing plays around 1916. His first play to be performed was The Shadow of a Gunman, produced in 1923 by the Abbey Theatre. By this time he had assumed the final iteration of his name, Sean O’Casey. He found continued success (and controversy) with subsequent plays, Juno and the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars. In 1926, he met Eileen Carey, an actress who was performing in the West End production of The Plough and the Stars, and they married on September 23, 1927. Together they had three children, Breon, Niall, and Shivaun. Due to an increasingly strained relationship with the Abbey Theatre, which refused to produce his play The Silver Tassie, O’Casey and his new family moved permanently to England in 1929. He continued to write, and during this time produced plays, including Within the Gates (1934), The Star Turns Red (1940), and Purple Dust (1943). He also gained a following across the Atlantic when Lillian Gish starred in a production of Within the Gates in New York City. Towards the end of his life O'Casey contended with increasing blindness. His son, Niall, died from leukemia in 1956. O'Casey died of a heart attack on September 18, 1964, at the age of 84. Sources: Cave, Richard Allen. "O'Casey, Sean (1880-1964), playwright and writer." In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press (2004), accessed November 3, 2016, http:// www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35283. Donoghue, Dennis. "The advantage he lacked was poverty." In The New York Times Book Review, July 3, 1988, http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/03/books/the-advantage-he-lacked-was-poverty.html Moran, James. "Sean O'Casey." In Oxford Bibliographies in British and Irish Literature, accessed November 3, 2016, http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com.proxy.bc.edu/view/document/ obo-9780199846719/obo-9780199846719-0101.xml
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 6 - MS.1996.025 Scope and Contents note
These materials document Robert G. Lowery’s research on and collecting of materials related to the Irish playwright Sean O’Casey. Topics include Lowery's founding of the Sean O’Casey Review; his organization of several conferences and events in honor of O’Casey; his friendships with other O’Casey scholars; and his relationships with O’Casey’s family and friends. The collection includes articles, clippings, correspondence, fliers, notes, pamphlets, photographs, posters, programs, scrapbooks, and scripts. Notable correspondents include actors, public figures, and writers such as Lillian Gish, Edward Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Walter Matthau, Arthur Miller, Laurence Olivier, and Lynn Redgrave. The collection includes a great deal of ephemera from productions of Sean O’Casey’s plays from the 1910s to the 1990s; reproductions of photographs of O’Casey’s early life; and photographs of many of the locations in Ireland important to his early years.
Arrangement note
The collection is arranged into six series: I. Correspondence; II. Ephemera and photographs; III. Research; IV. Scrapbooks; V. Sean O’Casey conferences; and VI. Works about O’Casey. Series I. Correspondence has three subseries, A. About O'Casey; B. By O'Casey and C. Lowery, Robert G. Series II. Ephemera and photographs has two subseries, A. Biographical and B. Literary. Subseries A has two sub-subseries, 1. People and 2. Places. Subseries B has two sub-subseries, 1. Events and commemorations and 2. O’Casey’s works. Series V. Sean O’Casey conferences has two subseries, A. Centenary conference and B. Silver Tassie conference. Series VI. Works about O’Casey has two subseries: A. Articles and B. Dramas. Series are arranged alphabetically.
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 7 - MS.1996.025 Collection Inventory
Series I: Correspondence, 1935-1990, undated
Subseries A: About O'Casey, 1982-1990
Brookes, Vera to David Krause, 1990 February 18 Box 1 Folder 6
Davison, June K. to I. Trewinn, 1989 August 10 Box 1 Folder 7
McKiernan, Eoin to Theatre Ireland, 1982 December 29 Box 1 Folder 8
Subseries B: By O'Casey, 1935-1952
Abbey Theatre, 1935 October 22 Box 1 Folder 1
Boas, Guy, 1955 March 22-May 9 Box 1 Folder 2
Freundlich, Elisabeth, 1952 December 2 Box 1 Folder 3
Stern, Mrs. E., 1952 July 31 Box 1 Folder 4
Toole-Stott, Raymond, 1944 March 12 Box 1 Folder 5
Subseries C: Lowery, Robert G., 1960-1983, undated
Scope and Contents note
This subseries consists of Robert G. Lowery’s correspondence with fellow scholars, collectors, and friends, mainly concerning Sean O’Casey scholarship and the acquisition of O’Casey’s works and letters. Also included is correspondence about his prospectus on James Larkin.
Atkinson, Brooks, 1960 March 7-1977 January 17 Box 1 Folder 9
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 8 - MS.1996.025
Bookdealer and collections lists, undated Box 1 Folder 10
Boretz, Alvin, 1975 August-1976 November Box 1 Folder 11
Davison, June K., 1983 September 26-October 11 Box 1 Folder 12
Fearon, Stephen J., 1980 May 20-October 3 Box 1 Folder 13
Flinn, Eugene C., 1979 July-August Box 1 Folder 14
Gianfagna, Beth, 1983 December 22-27 Box 1 Folder 15
Hirschfeld, Al, 1975 August 18 Box 1 Folder 16
Jacobs, Douglas M., 1976 March 20 Box 1 Folder 17
James Larkin and the Irish Worker, 1911-1914, Box 1 Folder 18 correspondence and prospectus, 1980 September- November, undated
Nevin, Donal, 1980 December-1981 January Box 1 Folder 19
O'Casey, Breon, 1976 March-October Box 1 Folder 20
O'Casey, Eileen, 1974 March-1990 March Box 1 Folder 21-24
O'Casey, Shivaun, 1976 February-1993 August Box 1 Folder 25
O Clerigh, Gearoid, 1976 December 29 Box 1 Folder 26
Prescott, Joseph, 1949 Box 1 Folder 27
Sean O'Casey Review, clippings and correspondence, Box 1 Folder 28 1974-1975
Segal, Edith, 1976 February 7 Box 1 Folder 29
Unidentified correspondent, 1969 January 6 Box 1 Folder 30
Walt Whitman House, 1980 May 3 Box 1 Folder 31
Weissman, Irving, 1980 March 4 Box 1 Folder 32
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 9 - MS.1996.025 Series II: Ephemera and photographs, 1887-1991, undated
Subseries A: Biographical, 1887-1989, undated
Sub-subseries 1: People, 1890-1974, undated
Archer, Kane, Review of Eileen, in Books Ireland: A Box 1 Folder 33 Monthly Review, 1977
"Baglady", directed by Shivaun O'Casey, program, circa Box 1 Folder 34 1980s
Casey, Michael Harding, "The Kestral", photocopy, Box 1 Folder 35 undated
Centenary stamps Box 1 Folder 36
Certificates, photocopies, 1887-1890 Box 1 Folder 37
Box 12 Folder 4
Obituaries, 1964-1975 Box 1 Folder 38
Box 15 Folder 4
O'Casey, Eileen, "London and the Plough and the Stars", Box 1 Folder 39 undated
O'Casey family and friends, photographs and negatives, Box 1 Folder 40 1890-1916
O'Casey, Sean, autobiographies, reviews, 1952-1981 Box 1 Folder 41
O'Casey, Sean and niece, copy print, 1892 Box 1 Folder 42
O'Casey, Sean and Eileen, copy print, 1927 Box 1 Folder 43
O'Casey, Sean, Eileen, Breon, Niall, and Shivaun, Box 1 Folder 44 photograph and negative, undated
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 10 - MS.1996.025
O'Casey, Sean, bronze casting, photograph, after 1964 Box 1 Folder 45
O'Casey, Sean, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 1
O'Hickey, Michael, brochure, 1988 Box 2 Folder 2
Unidentified man, negative, undated Box 2 Folder 3
Sub-subseries 2: Places, undated
Scope and Contents note
This sub-subseries documents the Dublin of O'Casey's lifetime, plus a small amount of later ephemera relating to O'Casey tourist attractions in Ireland.
5 Fitzgibbon Street, photograph, undated Box 2 Folder 4
6 Oxford Terrace, photograph, undated Box 2 Folder 5
8-9 Church Place, photograph, undated Box 2 Folder 6
9 Innisfallen Parade, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 7
18 Abercorn Road, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 8
20 Lower Dominick Street, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 9
22 Wellington Place, photograph, undated Box 2 Folder 10
25 Hawthorne Terrace, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 11
85 Lower Dorset Street (Sean O'Casey's birthplace), Box 2 Folder 12 photographs, undated
422 North Circular Road, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 13
Brady’s Lane, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 14
The Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer Church and Box 2 Folder 15 St. Thomas More, Cheyne Row, Chelsea, brochures and postcard, circa 1970s
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 11 - MS.1996.025
The Dublin of Sean O'Casey Coach Tour flier, poster, and Box 2 Folder 16 ticket, undated
Box 13 Folder 2
Eason and Son, Ltd., 1886-1936, brochure, 1936 Box 2 Folder 17
First Avenue, photograph, undated Box 2 Folder 18
Granary, Sheriff Street, photograph, undated Box 2 Folder 19
O’Toole’s Clubhouse, Seville Place, photograph, undated Box 2 Folder 20
St. Barnabas Church, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 21
St. Mary's Church, photographs, undated Box 2 Folder 22
Subseries B: Literary, 1910-1991, undated
Sub-subseries 1: Events and commemorations, 1976-1982, undated
Centenary events, fliers, pamphlets, photographs, and Box 5 Folder 8-14 press releases, 1980
Box 12 Folder 2
Box 12 Folder 8
Box 13 Folder 1
Irish Fest, poster and press release, 1982 Box 5 Folder 15
The Plough and the Stars fiftieth anniversary festival, Box 5 Folder 16 1978
Box 13 Folder 1
Seventh Annual Pan-Celtic Conference, clipping, poster, Box 5 Folder 17 and program, 1980
St. Mary's Summer Program, 1974 Box 5 Folder 18
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 12 - MS.1996.025
State of New York, Legislative resolution saluting Sean Box 13 Folder 4 O'Casey, 1980
Unknown conference, undated Box 5 Folder 19
Sub-subseries 2: O'Casey's works, 1910-1991, undated
Scope and Contents note
This sub-subseries contains, except where noted, clippings, fliers, photographs, posters, and programs for productions of Sean O'Casey's plays. Other works by O'Casey here include a pamphlet, poetry, and sheet music.
The Abbey Theatre, clippings and programs, 1914-1989 Box 2 Folder 23
Adaptations, 1930-1980 Box 2 Folder 24
Bedtime Story, 1953, undated Box 2 Folder 25
Behind the Green Curtain, 1961-1975 Box 2 Folder 26
The Bishop's Bonfire, undated Box 2 Folder 27
The Case for the Daily Worker, pamphlet, 1941 Box 2 Folder 28
Cock-a-Doodle Dandy, 1950-1977 Box 2 Folder 29-30
Box 15 Folder 1-2
Box 16 Folder 3
Daarlin Juno, undated Box 2 Folder 31
The Drums of Father Ned, 1961-1985 Box 2 Folder 32
Box 14 Folder 1
Drums Under the Window, 1960 Box 2 Folder 33
The End of the Beginning, undated Box 2 Folder 34
Figuro in the Night, undated Box 2 Folder 35
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 13 - MS.1996.025
Box 12 Folder 5
Grandchild of Kings, press release, undated Box 2 Folder 36
Hall of Healing, 1952 Box 2 Folder 37
The Harvest Festival, 1979 Box 3 Folder 1
I Knock at the Door, 1957-1976 Box 3 Folder 2
Juno and the Paycock, 1925-1990, undated Box 3 Folder 3-6
Box 15 Folder 3
"Lament for Thomas Ashe," poem, after 1917 Box 3 Folder 7
The Lyric Theatre programs, 1951-1973 Box 3 Folder 8
"Nora," sheet music, 1980 Box 12 Folder 12
One-act plays, circa 1930s-1980s Box 3 Folder 9
Pictures in the Hallway, 1965-1972 Box 3 Folder 10
The Plough and the Stars, 1925-1977 Box 3 Folder 11
Box 4 Folder 1-2
Box 14 Folder 2
Box 15 Folder 5
A Pound on Demand, 1977-1978 Box 4 Folder 3
Box 12 Folder 13
Purple Dust, 1941-1975 Box 4 Folder 4
Box 15 Folder 6
Red Roses for Me, 1942-1980 Box 4 Folder 5
Box 15 Folder 7
The Shadow of a Gunman, 1927-1991, undated Box 4 Folder 6-8
Box 15 Folder 8
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 14 - MS.1996.025
The Silver Tassie, 1929-1983, undated Box 5 Folder 1-2
Box 12 Folder 15
"Songs of the Wren," poems, after 1918 Box 5 Folder 3
The Stars Turn Red, 1940-1978 Box 5 Folder 4
Box 15 Folder 9
"When You and I Were Young, Maggie," sheet music, Box 13 Folder 5 1910
Within the Gates, 1943-1970 Box 5 Folder 5-6
Unidentified play, undated Box 5 Folder 7
Series III: Research, 1914-1981, undated
Scope and Contents note
These materials comprise Robert G. Lowery's collected research about Sean O'Casey. It consists of collected bibliographies and lists of sources about O'Casey; quotes by O'Casey, organized by topic; an interview conducted by Lowery with Eileen O'Casey; and ephemera from the Sean O'Casey Review, which Lowery edited.
Restrictions on access
One computer disk, presumed to be research, is currently inaccessible due to its obsolete media type.
Abbey Theatre, list of casts and productions, 1923-1974 Box 5 Folder 20-24
Box 6 Folder 1-52
Clippings, 1926-1970, undated Box 6 Folder 53
Computer disk labeled "Patterso" (5 1/4" floppy), Box 11 Folder 12 undated
Ephemera, undated Box 11 Folder 13
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 15 - MS.1996.025
Nathan, George Jean, bibliography, undated Box 6 Folder 54
Nathan, George Jean, biographical clippings, 1945-circa Box 6 Folder 55 1950s
Nathan, George Jean, clippings, 1926-1958, 1981, Box 6 Folder 56-59 undated
Box 7 Folder 1-18
O'Casey, Eileen, interview, 1981 Box 7 Folder 19
O'Casey, Sean, quotes, 1914-1963, undated Box 7 Folder 20-47
The Sean O'Casey Review bookmark and labels, undated Box 7 Folder 48
Series IV: Scrapbooks, 1952-1973, undated
German newspaper clippings, 1952-1969 Box 16
Purple Dust scrapbook, 1973 Box 12 Folder 14
Box 17
The Silver Tassie scrapbook (unbound pages), undated Box 12 Folder 16
Series V: Sean O'Casey conferences, 1976-1980
Scope and Contents note
Robert Lowery organized these conferences for the fiftieth anniversary of The Silver Tassie (1978 at Youngstown State University) and the centenary of O’Casey’s birth (1980 at Hofstra University). These subseries contain correspondence between Lowery and participants, including celebrities and friends of O’Casey’s who passed along well-wishes and statements for the conferences. Of special interest are letters from Lillian Gish, Edward Kennedy, Arthur Miller, and Lynn Redgrave in the Centenary conference correspondence. Materials also include calls for papers, photographs, posters, and programs for the events.
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 16 - MS.1996.025 A full list of correspondents for both conferences is available upon request.
Subseries A: Centenary conference, 1978-1980
Correspondence, 1978-1980 Box 7 Folder 49-54
Ephemera: posters, programs, and call for papers, 1980 Box 7 Folder 55
Box 12 Folder 3
Photographs and contact prints, 1980 Box 7 Folder 56-57
Silver Tassie conference, 1976-1978 Box 8 Folder 1-2
Series VI: Works about Sean O'Casey, 1925-1993, undated
Subseries A: Articles, 1926-1981, undated
Alvarez, A., "The Love That was Born of Juno and the Box 8 Folder 3 Paycock (review of Sean by Eileen O'Casey)," in The Saturday Review, 1972
Atkinson, Brooks, bibliography, undated Box 8 Folder 4
Atkinson, Brooks, clippings, 1926-1962, undated Box 8 Folder 5-47
Box 12 Folder 1
Atkinson, Brooks, introduction, undated Box 8 Folder 48
Ayling, Ronald, "A Note on Sean O'Casey's Manuscripts Box 8 Folder 49 and His Working Methods", 1956
B., A. ,"Zum 100. Geburtstag des großen irischen Box 8 Folder 50 dramatikers: Sean O'Casey und sein Shadow of a Gunman", undated
Book reviews, 1960-1988 Box 8 Folder 51-52
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 17 - MS.1996.025
Dolan, Bricriu, Review of Sean O'Casey Centenary Box 8 Folder 53 Essays in The Journal of Irish Literature, vol. x, no. 2, 1981
Gilder, Rosamond. "Brain and Brawn: Broadway in Box 8 Folder 54 Review," in Theatre Arts, 1940
Krause, David. "The whole worl's in a terrible state Box 8 Folder 55 o'chassis," in America's Arena, 1989
Newspaper clippings, 1925-1993, undated Box 9 Folder 1-112
Box 10 Folder 1-7
Box 12 Folder 6-7, 9-11, 17-18
Box 13 Folder 3
Sean O'Casey Centenary Russian anthology, undated Box 10 Folder 8
Starkie, Walter, "The Plays of Sean O'Casey: The Drama Box 10 Folder 9 of the City Worker", 1928
Sweeney, Maxwell. "When the curtain rises," in Cara, Box 10 Folder 10 1981
Woodbridge, Homer E., "Sean O'Casey", 1941 Box 10 Folder 11
Subseries B: Dramas, 1970-1989, undated
Flinn, Eugene and Patricia, A Darlin' Man, musical script Box 10 Folder 12 and scores, 1979
Hogan, Robb and James Douglas, What is the Stars?, play Box 10 Folder 13 script, undated
MacAnna, Tomas, Glittering Spears, play script, undated Box 10 Folder 14
MacAnna, Tomas, untitled draft, 1978 Box 10 Folder 15
Richards, Sheila, untitled autobiography extract, 1989 Box 10 Folder 16
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 18 - MS.1996.025
Sean, television scripts, before 1980 Box 10 Folder 17-19
Box 11 Folder 1-10
Young Cassidy, film stills, undated Box 10 Folder 11
Robert G. Lowery Papers and Collection of Sean O'Casey - Page 19 - MS.1996.025