Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History is a series devoted to the best of theatre/performance scholarship currently available, accessible, and free of jargon. It strives to include a wide range of topics, from the more traditional to those performance forms that in recent years have helped broaden the understanding of what theatre as a category might include (from variety forms as diverse as the circus and burlesque to street buskers, stage magic, and musical theatre, among many others). Although historical, critical, or analytical studies are of special interest, more theoreti- cal projects, if not the dominant thrust of a study, but utilized as important underpin- ning or as a historiographical or analytical method of exploration, are also of interest. Textual studies of drama or other types of less traditional performance texts are also germane to the series if placed in their cultural, historical, social, or political and eco- nomic context. There is no geographical focus for this series and works of excellence of a diverse and international nature, including comparative studies, are sought. The editor of the series is Don B. Wilmeth (EMERITUS, Brown University), PhD, University of Illinois, who brings to the series over a dozen years as editor of a book series on American theatre and drama, in addition to his own extensive experience as an editor of books and journals. He is the author of several award-winning books and has received numerous career achievement awards, including one for sustained excel- lence in editing from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
Books in the series: Undressed for Success by Brenda Foley Th eatre, Politics, and Markets in Fin-de-Siècle Paris by Sally Charnow Th eatre, Performance, and the Historical Avant-garde by Günter Berghaus Ghosts of Th eatre and Cinema in the Brain by Mark Pizzato Moscow Th eatres for Young People: A Cultural History of Ideological Coercion and Artistic Innovation, 1917–2000 by Manon van de Water Absence and Memory in Colonial American Th eatre by Odai Johnson Vaudeville Wars: How the Keith-Albee and Orpheum Circuits Controlled the Big-Time and Its Performers by Arthur Frank Wertheim Performance and Femininity in Eighteenth-Century German Women’s Writing by Wendy Arons Operatic China: Staging Chinese Identity across the Pacifi c by Daphne P. Lei Transatlantic Stage Stars in Vaudeville and Variety: Celebrity Turns by Leigh Woods Interrogating America through Th eatre and Performance edited by William W. Demastes and Iris Smith Fischer Plays in American Periodicals, 1890–1918 by Susan Harris Smith Representation and Identity from Versailles to the Present: Th e Performing Subject by Alan Sikes Directors and the New Musical Drama: British and American Musical Th eatre in the 1980s and 90s by Miranda Lundskaer-Nielsen Beyond the Golden Door: Jewish-American Drama and Jewish-American Experience by Julius Novick American Puppet Modernism: Essays on the Material World in Performance by John Bell On the Uses of the Fantastic in Modern Th eatre: Cocteau, Oedipus, and the Monster by Irene Eynat-Confi no Staging Stigma: A Critical Examination of the American Freak Show by Michael M. Chemers, foreword by Jim Ferris Performing Magic on the Western Stage: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present edited by Francesca Coppa, Larry Hass, and James Peck, foreword by Eugene Burger Memory in Play: From Aeschylus to Sam Shepard by Attilio Favorini Danjūrō’s Girls: Women on the Kabuki Stage by Loren Edelson Mendel’s Th eatre: Heredity, Eugenics, and Early Twentieth-Century American Drama by Tamsen Wolff Th eatre and Religion on Krishna’s Stage: Performing in Vrindavan by David V. Mason Rogue Performances: Staging the Underclasses in Early American Th eatre Culture by Peter P. Reed Broadway and Corporate Capitalism: Th e Rise of the Professional-Managerial Class, 1900–1920 by Michael Schwartz Lady Macbeth in America: From the Stage to the White House by Gay Smith Performing Bodies in Pain: Medieval and Post-Modern Martyrs, Mystics, and Artists by Marla Carlson Early-Twentieth-Century Frontier Dramas on Broadway: Situating the Western Experience in Performing Arts by Richard Wattenberg Staging the People: Community and Identity in the Federal Th eatre Project by Elizabeth A. Osborne Russian Culture and Th eatrical Performance in America, 1891–1933 by Valleri J. Hohman Baggy Pants Comedy: Burlesque and the Oral Tradition by Andrew Davis Transposing Broadway: Jews, Assimilation, and the American Musical by Stuart J. Hecht Th e Drama of Marriage: Gay Playwrights/Straight Unions from Oscar Wilde to the Present by John M. Clum Mei Lanfang and the Twentieth-Century International Stage: Chinese Th eatre Placed and Displaced by Min Tian Hijikata Tatsumi and Butoh: Dancing in a Pool of Gray Grits by Bruce Baird Staging Holocaust Resistance by Gene A. Plunka Acts of Manhood: Th e Performance of Masculinity on the American Stage, 1828–1865 by Karl M. Kippola Loss and Cultural Remains in Performance: Th e Ghosts of the Franklin Expedition by Heather Davis-Fisch Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the American Stage and Screen by John W. Frick Th eatre, Youth, and Culture: A Critical and Historical Exploration by Manon van de Water Stage Designers in Early Twentieth-Century America: Artists, Activists, Cultural Critics by Christin Essin Audrey Wood and the Playwrights by Milly S. Barranger Performing Hybridity in Colonial-Modern China by Siyuan Liu A Sustainable Th eatre: Jasper Deeter at Hedgerow by Barry B. Witham Cultivating National Identity through Performance: American Pleasure Gardens and Entertainment by Naomi J. Stubbs Th e Group Th eatre: Passion, Politics, and Performance in the Depression Era by Helen Chinoy and edited by Don B. Wilmeth and Milly S. Barranger Entertaining Children: Th e Participation of Youth in the Entertainment Industry edited by Gillian Arrighi and Victor Emeljanow America’s First Regional Th eatre: Th e Cleveland Play House and Its Search for a Home by Jeff rey Ullom Class Divisions on the Broadway Stage: Th e Staging and Taming of the I.W.W. by Michael Schwartz Th e New Humor in the Progressive Era: Americanization and the Vaudeville Comedian by Rick DesRochers Staging the Slums, Slumming the Stage: Class, Poverty, Ethnicity, and Sexuality in American Th eatre, 1890–1916 by J. Chris Westgate American Playwriting and the Anti-Political Prejudice: Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Perspectives by Nelson Pressley Th e Th eatre of the Occult Revival: Alternative Spiritual Performance from 1875 to the Present by Edmund B. Lingan Performance Reconstruction and Spanish Golden Age Drama: Reviving and Revising the Comedia by Laura L. Vidler W. C. Fields from Burlesque and Vaudeville to Broadway: Becoming a Comedian by Arthur Frank Wertheim Irish Stereotypes in Vaudeville: 1865-1905 by Jennifer Mooney American Cinderellas: Imagining the Working Girl on the Broadway Musical Stage, from Irene to Gypsy by Maya Cantu Child Labor in the British Victorian Entertainment Industry: 1875–1914 by Dyan Colclough Th e Education of a Circus Clown: Mentors, Audiences, Mistakes by David Carlyon This page intentionally left blank Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the American Stage and Screen
John W. Frick
Palgrave macmillan UNCLE TOM’S CABIN ON THE AMERICAN STAGE AND SCREEN Copyright © John W. Frick, 2012. All rights reserved. First published in hardcover in 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978–1–137–56647–8 ISBN 978-1-137-56645-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-56645-4 The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows: Frick, John W. Uncle Tom’s cabin on the American stage and screen / by John W. Frick. p. cm.—(Palgrave studies in theatre and performance history) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978–0–230–11407–4 (alk. paper) 1. Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811–1896. Uncle Tom’s cabin. 2. Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811–1896—Adaptations—History and criticism. 3. Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811–1896—Stage history. 4. Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811–1896—Dramatic production. 5. Film adaptations—History and criticism. 6. American fiction— 19th century—Film adaptations. 7. Didactic fiction, American— History and criticism. 8. Uncle Tom (Fictitious character) I. Title. PS2954.U6F65 2012 792.0973—dc23 2012013263 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First PALGRAVE MACMILLAN paperback edition: November 2015 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Brooks, Don, and Marsha This page intentionally left blank C o n t e n t s
List of Illustrations x i Preface x i i i
1. Halfway between Sermon and Social Theory: The Mania for “ T o m M a n i a ” 1 2. “There is No Arguing with Pictures”: The Aiken/Howard Uncle Tom’s Cabin 2 9 3. “A Play to which No Apologist for Slavery Could Object”: The Conway/Kimball/Barnum Uncle Tom’s Cabin 7 1 4. “O’ It Was a Sight Worth Seeing”: Uncle Tom Hits the Road 107 5 . L o n g L i v e U n c l e T o m ! Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the Twentieth Century 149 6. Uncle Tom in Middle Age: From a Stage Tradition to the Silver Screen 183 Epilogue: The Story that Won’t Stay Dead 225
Appendix: Famous Actors/Actresses Who Appeared in Uncle Tom’s Cabin 229 Notes 2 3 1 Bibliography 2 7 3 Index 2 9 3 This page intentionally left blank I l l u s t r a t i o n s
COVER Poster, Uncle Tom Stetson’s Big Double Uncle Tom Company. Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut
1.1 Black Band, Terry’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin Company. Courtesy of Town and Country Arts, Woodbine, Iowa 2 1.2 White Band, Terry’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin Company. Courtesy of Town and Country Arts, Woodbine, Iowa 3 1.3 Chatham Th eatre, later Purdy’s National Th eatre. Courtesy of the Harvard Th eatre Collection, Th e Houghton L i b r a r y , H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y 1 7 2.1 George C. Howard. Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut 35 2.2 Mrs. Howard as Topsy. Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut 36 2.3 Cordelia Howard as Eva. Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut 39 2.4 George Aiken. Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut 41 3.1 Boston Museum. Courtesy of the Harvard Th eatre Collection, Th e H o u g h t o n L i b r a r y , H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y 7 7 3.2 Interior, second Boston Museum before Renovation. Courtesy of the Harvard Th eatre Collection, Th e Houghton L i b r a r y , H a r v a r d U n i v e r s i t y 7 8 3.3 Moses Kimball. Courtesy of the Harvard Th eatre Collection, Th e Houghton Library, Harvard University 79 4.1 Lotta Crabtree as Topsy. Courtesy of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Th e University of Texas at Austin 113 4.2 David Belasco as Uncle Tom. Courtesy of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Th e University of Texas at Austin 114 xii Illustrations
4.3 Dogs and Band of the Harmount Uncle Tom’s Cabin Company. Courtesy of the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Th eatre Research Institute, Th e Ohio State University 123 4.4 Double Markses, Stetson’s Mammoth Spectacular Double Uncle Tom’s Cabin Company. Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut 132 5 . 1 Th e St. Clair Plantation, William A. Brady Production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin , 1901. Courtesy of the Byron Co. Collection, Th e Museum of the City of New York 154 5 . 2 Th e River Scene, William A. Brady Production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin , 1901. Courtesy of the Byron Co. Collection, Th e Museum of the City of New York 155 5.3 Early Harmount Show Wagon. Courtesy of the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Th eatre Research Institute, Th e Ohio State University 162 5 . 4 Th e Last Harmount Show. Courtesy of the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Th eatre Research Institute, Th e Ohio State University 165 6.1 Final Tableau, Lincoln with Slave at his Feet, Edwin S. Porter fi lm ofUncle Tom’s Cabin , 1903. Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut 187 6 . 2 Th e Death of Eva, Edwin S. Porter fi lm of Uncle Tom’s Cabin , 1903. Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut 192 6.3 Marguerite Clark, 1918 Famous Players—Lasky Uncle Tom’s Cabin . Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut 206 6 . 4 Th e St. Clare plantation, 1927 Universal Uncle Tom’s Cabin . Courtesy of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, C o n n e c t i c u t 2 1 3 P r e f a c e
When your daughter’s taken away, And your heart is filled with care, With the Angels I shall pray For your peace and comfort here; Uncle Tom, oh set him free! This, oh papa, do for me. Eva to Her Papa 1
n June 5, 1851, the 50,000 readers of The National Era , an abo- litionist newspaper, opened their copies to read, “Late in the O afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sit- ting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in P___, in Kentucky,” the opening lines of a new serialized fiction written by Mrs. H. B. Stowe titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or Life Among the Lowly. 2 L i t t l e could the readers on that day have known that they were participating in a moment of historical significance, but historical it most certainly was, for both in its own time and ours, Uncle Tom’s Cabin was not just a novel, a piece of abolitionist fiction penned by a writer fervently convinced that slavery was patently immoral; rather, it was the beginning of a full-scale phenomenon—a cultural, commercial, ideological, and theatrical phe- nomenon. It dealt directly with a social and economic institution, the exis- tence of which divided the United States for decades, which contributed to a bloody protracted Civil War, and which remains to this day a source of national guilt. It was a phenomenon that not only shaped, at least partially, a racial dialogue and created a language for that dialogue, but one that gave Americans quintessential, archetypal characters in Uncle Tom, Simon Legree, and Little Eva. And like the novel that started the phenomenon, it was a phenomenon that “moved” historically as racial attitudes and perceptions—attitudes and perceptions that shaped the myriad permuta- tions of the Uncle Tom story and which Uncle Tom’s Cabin in turn helped xiv Preface shape—changed. At times, Uncle Tom’s Cabin advocated change, reform, and abolition; at others, the story was used to resist that change. In a rare compliment to Harriet Beecher Stowe in his 1956 virulently anti-Tom book, Goodbye to Uncle Tom , freelance author J. C. Furnas admit- ted, albeit reluctantly, that Uncle Tom’s Cabin in its historical development resembled a three-stage rocket. “Having gained all the altitude conceivable to a long book,” Furnas asserts, “it then received a second and even stron- ger impetus by translation to the stage and later, though less explosively, to the screen.” 3 While the novel has been amply studied by scholars, the same cannot be said for Uncle Tom on stage or in the movies, art forms that disseminated Stowe’s story to many more people than did the novel. To put the ubiquity of Tom shows, as traveling productions were called, in perspective “in 1902 it was reported that Uncle Tom’s Cabin had had more than a quarter of a million presentations, and the total attendance during the half century of its existence equaled the total population of the United States.” 4 Considering that this report was given nearly 30 years before the play finally disappeared from the American stage and the year before the first film version, certainly the theatrical and cinematic Uncle Toms that disseminated the story to generations of Americans deserve attention. The purpose of this book is threefold: First, to chronologically trace the dramatic and cinematic production of Stowe’s classic from its inception in 1851 through “modern” versions, providing descriptions and documenta- tion of the major films and professional productions of the drama; second, this study will examine theatrical versions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in relation to social forces and constructs that influenced or were influenced by the writing and staging of Stowe’s classic story: social forces and constructs such as the moral reform melodrama that was popular in the nineteenth century, the various racialisms that defined antebellum attitudes toward and perceptions of African Americans, Uncle Tom on stage as a signifi- cant manifestation of what was known as Tom Mania , the advent of the moral entrepreneur, and the mob violence directed at abolitionists at the time Stowe wrote her novel. And finally, this book will re-situate Uncle Tom’s Cabin on stage within its historical context and will give credit where credit is long overdue. All too frequently productions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin have been examined independent from the theatre history of the period. Plays have been studied for their stance vis-à-vis antebellum racial politics and discourse, their contribution to the creation of stereotypes and the elevation of those stereotypes to archetypes, and as examples of the litera- ture of the era. While not ignoring these aspects of Stowe’s narrative and the subsequent dramatizations of her story, this study will reposition the Preface xv stage and film Uncle Toms squarely within the theatre history of the era in which they were produced and will finally focus upon the men and women who made that history—the performers and entrepreneurs who brought the Uncle Tom story to the country’s theatres and movie houses—and the venues where they appeared. The list of artists who comprised the history of Uncle Tom on stage include some of America’s most talented and respected performers. By the time Uncle Tom’s Cabin by-and-large disappeared from the American stage in the mid-1930s, practically anybody who was anybody in the act- ing profession had appeared in this venerable old play. Otis Skinner, David Belasco, Lawrence Barrett, and Frank Mayo had blacked up as Uncle Tom; Minnie Maddern Fiske, Maude Adams, Mary Pickford, and even Mae West had their turn as the angelic Eva; Lotta Crabtree, Laurette Taylor, Fay Bainter, Molly Picon, and even Fred Stone delivered such famous lines as “I ‘spect I just growed. Don’t think nobody never made me” and “I’s knows I’s wicked” as the irrepressible Topsy; Joseph Jefferson had portrayed the Yankee, Gumption Cute; John Sleeper Clarke had ridden on stage on a donkey as the Lawyer Marks; while prize fighter John L. Sullivan took a turn as the villain Simon Legree. These were just a few of the “stars” who either began or advanced their acting careers by appearing in one or more versions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin . 5 Given the enormous quantity of material dealing with the travels and productions of hundreds of Tom companies, this study will, by necessity, be selective, emphasizing just the high points much as a nineteenth-century actor might have done in performance. Rather than attempt to present a comprehensive production history that chronicles each and every perfor- mance in the long, complex history of theatrical Uncle Toms, Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the American Stage and Screen will provide a broad overview of what has been labeled “Uncle Tom mania” in the theatre. 6 T h e r e f o r e , t h i s study will be limited to only those professional productions that, in some manner, retold Stowe’s story of Tom, Eva, Simon Legree, and George and Eliza Harris and retained enough of the original narrative to be recog- nizable as Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Consequently, shows like Topsy and Eva , the Duncan sisters’ vaudeville and movie spinoff; Little Eva’s Temptation (a musical burlesque suggested by Uncle Tom’s Cabin ); various “Uncle” plays like Uncle Pat’s Cabin , Uncle Mike’s Cabin , and Uncle Dad’s Cabin , which in the nineteenth century capitalized upon the popularity of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and appropriated a portion of the title; the myriad foreign theatrical Uncle Toms; and the various panorama and magic lantern shows popular after the Civil War are beyond the scope of this book and consequently xvi Preface will not be examined in this volume; nor will more contemporary produc- tions like Goodbye Uncle Tom, a 1971 Italian-made pseudo documentary in which the film makers return to the antebellum South to witness the hor- rors of slavery (a film once dubbed the most racist movie ever made) and I Ain’t Yo Uncle , The New Jack Revisionist Uncle Tom’s Cabin be included. The latter, in which Harriet Beecher Stowe is put on trial by Tom, Topsy, and other of her characters for perpetuating negative stereotypes and fail- ing to “get their story right,” was initially titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin when it was first produced by the San Francisco Mime Troupe in 1990 , but when the same play was presented the following year it was re-titled I Ain’t Yo Uncle. 7 And finally, some aspects of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on stage, like the full history of the traveling Tom show and the music incorporated into Uncle Tom productions, are simply too complex and voluminous to include in a single volume. With hundreds of Tom shows on the country’s roads and rails in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—roughly 400 in 1900—a comprehensive study of them must be left for another his- tory, another historian. Those readers desiring more detailed information about a particular aspect of Uncle Tom production not covered in this study are therefore referred to those specific studies that cover that topic. For example, read- ers interested in music in Uncle Tom’s Cabin might consult the writings of Thomas Riis, Deane Root, and Susan Belasco listed in the bibliography of this volume. Likewise, readers wishing to continue their examination of the meanings and significance of Stowe’s novel and/or the many stage versions of it might consult the excellent studies by Eric Lott, Elizabeth Young, Marc Robinson, 8 Jane Tompkins, Elizabeth Ammons, and Eric Sundquist. The reader is also advised to visit the Uncle Tom’s Cabin & American Culture website
Tom’s Cabin (S. F. Vanni, 1947), a combination of anecdotal material and scholarly research. Often maligned by academics for its lack of citations and a bibliography, much of the book is based upon primary materials currently housed in the archive of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and consequently is of use to scholars. The Birdoff Collection contains an enormous amount of primary materials including playbills, broadsides, photos, reviews, and sheet music that Birdoff col- lected while conducting research for his book on the numerous dramatiza- tions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Among the most useful items are the countless clippings cut directly from unidentified newspapers, and Birdoff’s hand- written notes on productions with the names and dates of the newspaper or magazine from which they were taken – recorded in a margin. Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the American Stage and Screen will be divided into six chapters followed by an epilogue section, an appendix- – (the major actors/actresses who appeared in the play) and a bibliography. Instead of adding a second appendix to record the various traveling Uncle Tom com- panies that brought Uncle Tom’s Cabin to America’s cities and small towns, the reader is referred to Harry Birdoff’s list of Tom Shows on the American Theatre & Uncle Tom’s Cabin website. Chapter 1 will discuss Stowe’s antislavery stance and its influence upon the politics of the era; responses, both positive and negative, to the novel; and the nature of the Tom phenomenon; and the significance of the moral reform drama. The second chapter will outline the early history and makeup of the Howard Company which staged the first major theatrical Uncle Tom’s Cabin ; the development of the play, written by George Aiken; its subsequent production; and the transfer of the play from Troy, New York to New York City in 1853. Chapter 3 will do much the same for the second major playtext—the H. J. Conway version that began its history at the Boston Museum and then moved to Barnum’s Museum in New York to rival the Aiken/Howard production at Purdy’s National Theatre. The fourth chapter will cover the period between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the twentieth century and include a variety of subjects from Uncle Tom’s Cabin in postwar New York; Tom in the South and the American West; theatrical innovations such as the addition of dogs and Jubilee singers; double Topsys, Marks’s, and Uncle Toms; the addition of African Americans to Uncle Tom casts; and the advent of the traveling Tom show. Chapter 5 will describe and examine one of the last “big” Uncle Tom productions (the 1901 William A. Brady production), will follow a single Tom troupe—the Harmount Company—from its inception to its eventual demise as an example of the workings of a “typical” Tom troupe, xviii Preface will discuss the 1933 Players’ production that was so successful that it was moved to Broadway; Sweet River, George Abbott’s musical adaptation; the 1979 Trinity Square Repertory production; and finally the decline and eventual death of Uncle Tom on stage. The final chapter will concentrate upon the various cinematic versions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin , from the 1903 single-reel Thomas Edison/Edwin S. Porter film to the 1927 multi-reel Universal movie that was shot at multiple locations at a cost of over $2 mil- lion and finally to the made-for-TV adaptation that starred Avery Brooks, Phylicia Rashad, and Samuel L. Jackson. As anyone who has written a scholarly book can attest, it is hardly a solo endeavor. Many people—colleagues, friends, strangers—are necessar- ily involved in the research, advising, and review of the manuscript. The following were invaluable advisors during the preparation, research, and writing of this study: Marcia Pentz, Heather Nathans, Alex Roe, Andrea Nouryeh, Rosemarie Bank, David Carlyon, Robin Bernstein, Eric Lott, Joan Hedrick, Laura Macdonald, and Adena Spingarn. This book would not have been possible without the assistance of the following professionals: Katherine Kane, Elizabeth Burgess, and the staff of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center; Edward Gaynor, Associate Curator, Small Special Collection, University of Virginia; Rick Watson and Debbie Smith, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin; Elizabeth Falsey, Bridget Keown, and Cynthia Naylor, Harvard Theatre Collection; Micah Hoggatt, Houghton Library, Harvard University; Steve Kuehler, Lamont Library, Harvard University; Kathleen Dickson, British Film Institute; Nena Couch, Beth Kattelman, Orville Martin, and the staff of the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, The Ohio State University; Madelyn Wessel, University of Virginia; Ray Wemmlinger, Curator, Hampden-Booth Theatre Library, The Players; Susan Brady, Yale University; Christine Karatnytsky, Louise Martzinek, and Tema Hecht, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library at Lincoln Center; Rosemary Cullen and Kathleen Brooks, John Hay Library, Brown University; Norma J. Coret, Town and Country Arts, Woodbine, IA; the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, University of Virginia. A special thank you is due to Stephen Railton, Stephen Johnson, Felicia Hardison Londré, and Dorothy Chansky who read portions of this book and offered their expert advice on how to improve it; to Stephen Johnson for affording me access to his research on Tomming and the William Brady Uncle Tom’s Cabin ; and to Stephen Railton for starting me on the trail of theatrical Toms and the many lunchtime discussions of Preface xix the topic which kept me focused on my task. I also wish to thank my edi- tors, Samantha Hasey, Robyn Curtis, Desiree Brown and Kristy Lilas at Palgrave-Macmillan who kept me “on track” throughout the preparation of the manuscript. And, finally a special thank you to Don Wilmeth, who not only served as my series editor, but continues to serve as my mentor and inspiration and to my wife, Marsha, for her patience and assistance throughout this project. Portions of this book have appeared in The New England Theatre Journal , Theatre Symposium , New Theatre Quarterly , the Journal of American Theatre and Drama , the Uncle Tom’s Cabin & American Culture website, and the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center website.