http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt5489s1cj No online items Finding Aid of the Armond Fields American Theatre collection 0337 Finding aid prepared by Rob Gutner and Jacqueline Morin USC Libraries Special Collections Doheny Memorial Library 206 3550 Trousdale Parkway Los Angeles, California, 90089-0189 213-740-5900 [email protected] 2011 Note Collection processed by Rob Gutner and Rohan Panikar. Finding Aid of the Armond Fields 0337 1 American Theatre collection 0337 Title: Armond Fields American Theatre collection Collection number: 0337 Contributing Institution: USC Libraries Special Collections Language of Material: English Physical Description: 96.0 Linear feet Date (bulk): Bulk, 1895-1925 Date (inclusive): 1856-2000 Abstract: This collection documents the history of the American stage before talking cinema, reflecting the birth and death of vaudeville and the advent of the modern Broadway musical. The collection includes books, posters, theater programs, sheet-music covers, souvenirs, rare film footage of vaudevillians, including Weber & Fields, and manuscripts and research notes for Armond Fields' own books. creator: Fields, Armond, 1930- Processing Information Collection arranged and described by Rob Gutner and Rohan Panikar. Materials in file folders were kept in their original order and described by their original file folder titles. Biographical Note Armond Fields (1930-2008) was an author, artist, art collector and business consultant. Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Max and Esther Fields, he attended schools in the Mid-West. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin (1953), M.A. from the University of Illinois (1955) and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1956). He wrote several biographies, primarily on vaudeville performers. His oil paintings, drawings and prints have been exhibited in the United States and Europe. He curated, wrote catalogues, and donated the art for various exhibitions (most recently: Paris, Turn-of-the-Century, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2003; Vaudeville is Dead! Long Live Vaudeville!, Doheny Library, University of Southern California, 2005). Fields also served as a consultant in the areas of market strategy and consumer behavior including as a self-employed marketing consultant (1969), for Interpublic Co. (marketing and research vice president, 1960-69), for Audio-Video Entertainment, Inc. (corporate officer, 2000-?) and for AltaVoice Communications (consumer behavior consultant, 2001?). Fields was a social historian specializing in American popular theater from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Fields began researching his own family's involvement with early musical theater in New York that led to a biography of his great-uncle Lew Fields From the Bowery to Broadway: Lew Fields and the Roots of American Popular Theatre (1993). He also wrote Eddie Foy: A Biography of the Early Popular Stage Comedian (1999), Lillian Russell: A Biography of "America's Beauty" (1999), James J. Corbett: A Biography of the Heavyweight Boxing Champion and Popular Theater Headliner (2001), Fred Stone: Circus Performer and Musical Comedy Star (2002), Sophie Tucker: First Lady of Show Business (2003), Maude Adams: Idol of American Theater, 1872-1953 (2004), Women Vaudeville Stars: Eighty Biographical Profiles (2006) and Tony Pastor, Father of Vaudeville (2007). He also authored a social reformist biography on Katharine Dexter McCormick: Pioneer for Women's Rights (2003). His interest in French culture resulted in publishing Henri Riviere (1983), George Auriol (1985) and Le Chat Noir: A Montmartre Cabaret and its Artists in Turn-of-the Century Paris (1993). Scope and Content The collection consists chiefly of materials which Armond Fields used or created during the course of his research into American vaudeville and early theatre. There are copies of photographs and a few originals of some of the stars about whom he wrote, as well as other material related to the Vaudeville era: sheet music, theatre programs, newspapers, etc. Also included in the collection are all Fields' research notes for his many books as well as the drafts of the manuscripts. In addition, the collection includes audiotapes of Fields' interviews with family members of some his subjects, and videotapes of early film footage. Preferred Citation [Box/folder# or item name], Armond Fields American Theatre collection, Collection no. 0337, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California Conditions Governing Use All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. Conditions Governing Access COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access. Finding Aid of the Armond Fields 0337 2 American Theatre collection 0337 Subjects and Indexing Terms Adams, Maude, 1872-1953 -- Archives Brady, James Buchanan, 1856-1917 -- Archives Corbett, James J., 1866-1933 -- Archives Fields, Armond, 1930- -- Archives Fields, Lew, 1867-1941 -- Archives Foy, Eddie, 1856-1928 -- Archives Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. McCormick , Katherine Dexter, 1876-1967 -- Archives Montgomery, David Craig, 1870-1917 -- Archives Museum of the City of New York. National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution). New York Public Library. Pastor, Tony, 1837-1908 -- Archives Russell, Lillian, 1861-1922 -- Archives Stone, Fred, 1873-1959 -- Archives Tucker, Sophie, 1884-1966 -- Archives University of Texas at Austin. Weber & Fields (Comedy team). -- Archives Weber, Joe, 1867-1942 -- Archives Audiotapes Ephemera Manuscripts Motion pictures--Periodicals Photographs Scrapbooks Sheet music Slides (photographs) Songbooks Theater programs Theater--United States--History--20th century--Archival resources Vaudeville--United States--History--19th century--Archival resources Videotapes Works by Armond Fields From the Bowery to Broadway Box 1, Folder 1-5 Final Manuscript Draft General note Missing Pgs 441-458 Box 2, Folder 1-4 Final Manuscript, Proofed Box 3, Folder 1 Weber & Fields: Manuscript - 1st Draft Box 3, Folder 2 Weber & Fields: Topics/Chapter Outlines 1986 Box 3, Folder 3 Weber & Fields: Supplementary Material 1896-1904 Box 3, Folder 4 Weber & Fields: Manuscript - First Draft Box 3, Folder 5 Weber & Fields: Draft Manuscript Material Finding Aid of the Armond Fields 0337 3 American Theatre collection 0337 Works by Armond Fields From the Bowery to Broadway Box 3, Folder 6 Drafts and Notes Box 3, Folder 7 Miscellaneous Reference Box 3, Folder 8 Marketing and Promotion Proposal Box 4, Folder 1 Lew Fields Book: Cover Designs Box 4, Folder 2 Epilogue: From the Bowery to Broadway to Beverly Hills Box 4, Folder 3 Marketing and Promotion Materials Box 4, Folder 4 Lew Fields Book/Oxford Designs Box 4, Folder 5 Photographs, Captions, Order Box 4, Folder 6 Oxford Presentation Box 4, Folder 7 Lew Fields: 1920s-30s Info Box 4, Folder 8 Lew Fields: Final Bibliography Box 4, Folder 9 Weber & Fields: Early Movies Box 4, Folder 10 From Bowery to Broadway - Index Box 5, Folder 1 Addresses and phone numbers undated Box 5, Folder 2 Sidebars undated Box 5, Folder 3 Lew Fields: Permissions undated Box 5, Folder 4 Lew Fields: Catalog of Plays, Performances, Movies, etc. undated Box 5, Folder 5 Weber & Fields: New York Clipper 1890-1896 Box 5, Folder 6 Weber & Fields: Data for sections I, II, III, IV 1872-1889 Box 5, Folder 7 Weber & Fields/Lew Fields Lincoln Center Scrapbooks 1904-1921 Box 5, Folder 8 Weber & Fields: Outline, Notes, info. 1904-1912 Box 5, Folder 9 Weber & Fields: Early Years 1878-1889 Box 5, Folder 10 The Sun Dodgers undated Box 5, Folder 11 The Jolly Bachelors undated Box 5, Folder 12 The Midnight Sons undated Box 6, Folder 1 Weber & Fields - Variety Arts Archives/Scrapbooks of Susan French undated Box 6, Folder 2 Lew Fields: Interview with Ray Marcus 1990 Box 6, Folder 3 Weber & Fields: Preface and Prologue Drafts undated Box 6, Folder 4 Lew Fields 1932-1941 Box 6, Folder 5 Information on Vaudeville, Musical Theatre undated Box 6, Folder 6 Articles on Weber & Fields/ Children undated Box 6, Folder 7 Dorothy, Herbert, Joseph Fields: Movies, Shows, Song Lists undated Box 6, Folder 8 Fields/Shubert Data 1906-1923 Box 6, Folder 9 Joe Weber: References undated Box 6, Folder 10 Fields Family Project: Pre-text Data; Picture/Quote References; Outlines; etc. undated Box 6, Folder 11 Fields Project: Bibliography, Reference Listings: Weber & Fields undated Box 6, Folder 12 Fields (+Weber) Supplemental Material 1904-1912 Box 6, Folder 13 Weber & Fields: Theaters, Theater Pictures undated Box 6, Folder 14 Fields family: Genealogy, Historical Material on Family Mambers, Vital Statistics undated Box 6, Folder 15 Weber & Fields: Miscellaneous Pictures undated Box 6, Folder 16 Weber & Fields: Movies/Records undated Box 6, Folder 17 Weber & Fields/Lew Fields: Reference Material from Misc. Books/Bio Material undated Box 6, Folder 18 Misc. References to Data Sources, Information on Family Members undated Box 6, Folder 19 Lew Fields: Preface undated Box 6, Folder 20 Lew Fields: Manuscript 1925-1932 Box 7, Folder 1 Lew Fields, Manuscripts & Notes 1921-1925 Box 7, Folder 2 Lew Fields: Manuscript (Chap. X) 1912-1917 Box 7, Folder 3 Lew Fields: Manuscript 1912-1917 Box 7, Folder 4 Variety 1925-1933 Box 7, Folder 5 Weber & Fields ( Variety Magazine Data) 1918-1925 Box