Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1977 Thomas Wood Stevens: American Pageant Master. (Volumes I and II). William Robert Rambin Jr Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Rambin, William Robert Jr, "Thomas Wood Stevens: American Pageant Master. (Volumes I and II)." (1977). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 3132. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/3132 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. 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University Microfilms International 3 0 0 North Zeab Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR I I 77-28,697 RAMBIN, William Robert, Jr., 1938- THOMAS WOOD STEVENS: AMERICAN PAGEANT MASTER. (VOLUMES I AND II) The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1977 Theater Xerox University Microfilms,Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 @ 1977 WILLIAM ROBERT RAMBIN, Jr. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THOMAS WOOD STEVENS:. AMERICAN PAGEANT MASTER Volume I A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfullment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech by William Robert Rambin, Jr. B.A., Northwestern State College, 1960 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1962 August, 1977 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The writer wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. Clinton Bradford for guiding this study and to Mr. Don Bruce, Dr. Gresna Doty, Dr. Bill J. Harbin, and Dr. John Pennybacker for their encouragement and consideration. He is indebted to Dr. Anna Dean Teague for introducing him to the heritage left by Thomas Wood Stevens, and to the staffs of the libraries at Northeast Louisiana University, Louisiana State Univer­ sity and the University of Arizona for assistance in exploring that heri­ tage. He is especially appreciative of the cooperation freely given by the Special Collections staff of the University of Arizona library: Miss Phyllis Ball, Manuscripts Librarian and Archivist; Mr. Donald M. Powell, Chief of Special Collections; Mrs. Lynn M. Cresson, Library Assistant; Mrs. Ann Lee, Library Clerk; and Mr. Richard A. Ploch, Manu­ scripts Librarian. He is indebted to his colleagues at Northeast Louisiana Univ­ ersity, especially Dr. Jerry D. Holmes, and to the many friends and relatives who have offered their encouragement and understanding while this work has been in progress. Finally, he is sincerely grateful for the patience, support, understanding and love of his family which made a long and frequently arduous task possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume I Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT................................. ii ABSTRACT .................................................... Vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION........................ 1 II. 1880-1909 ................ 15 The Pageant of the Italian Renaissance.............. 20 The Pageant of Illinois.............................. 38 III. 1910-1913.............................................. 47 A Pageant of I r e l a n d ................................ 50 Pageant of the Old N o r t h w e s t ............... 51 An Independence Day Pageant.......................... 58 Shakespeare Pageant ..... ........................ 62 The Masque of Montezuma................... 63 Madison.County Historical Pageant.................... 65 The Wisconsin Pageant ................................ 71 IV. The Pageant and Masque of St. Louis ( 1 9 1 4 ) ............ 82 Preliminary Arrangements................. 82 Literary Composition ................................ 85 Elements of the Production . ........................ 90 The Performances.................................... 103 The Audiences........................................ 105 iii iv The Finances....................................... 107 Critical Evaluation and Reviews ...................... 109 The Benefits.......................................... 112 V. 1914-1916 120 The Pageant of St. Clair C o u n t y ...................... 124 A Masque of the Nations in W i l m e r d i n g ................ 128 The Pageant of Newark ................................ 132 Technology Pageant and Masque of Power ................ 149 The Pageant and Masque of Duquesne.................... 149 Fall F e s t i v a l ........................................ 153 Duquesne Christmas Mystery ............................ 154 VI. 1917-1919 .............................................. 162 The Historical Pageant of Florida .................... 165 The Dunes Under Four F l a g s ............................ 170 The Drawing of the S w o r d .............................. 175 The Red Cross Pageant ....................... ..... 181 Carnegie Day Celebration .............................. 190 Louisiana ...................................... 191 Joan of A r c .......................................... 192 Fighting For Freedom.................. 200 A Pageant of Victory and Peace ........................ 204 The Hidden Treasures of the E a r t h .................... 206 Volume II VII. 1920-1923 215 The S m i t h ................................. 218 Missouri 100 Years Ago ................................ 220 The Pageant of V i r g i n i a .............................. 232 V The Pageant of Ypsilanti.............................. 258 The Pageant of K a u k a u n a ......... 264 Adventure . 266 VIII. 1924-1931 278 The Centennial Pageant of Rensselaer Polytechnic I n s t i t u t e .......................................... 281 The Pageant of Charlotte and Old Mecklenburg.......... 287 The Pageant of Jacksonville, Illinois, and Old Morgan County.............................................. 294 The Pageant of Old Santa F e ..................... 300 Magna C a r t a .......................................... 304 George Rogers Clark Sesquicentennial .................. 309 Ohio in E d u c a t i o n ............... 312 Yorktown Sesquicentennia1 Pageants.................... 319 IX. 1932-1942 341 A Pageant of World Peace .............................. 343 The St. Louis Boston Tea P a r t y ........................ 345 The Pageant Drama of Old Fort N i a g a r a ................ 347 0, Sing A New S o n g .................................... 359 The Entrada of Coronado .............................. 361 A Salute to the Convention............................ 377 X. CONCLUSION.............................................. 385 Stevens' Theories and Techniques ...................... 386 Evaluations of Stevens ................................ 397 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................. 401 VITA .......................................................... 418 ABSTRACT Thomas Wood Stevens (1880-1942) was a poet, historian, artist, playwright, director, administrator, and educator. Although successful in each of these areas separately, he combined all of his various talents in his work as a pageant master. One of a half-dozen leading pioneers of modem American pageantry, Stevens was influenced by Louis N. Parker's English historical pageants and Shakespeare's chronicle plays, particularly Henry V. During his career he wrote forty major pageants, personally directing twenty-six of them. His pageants played in twenty states and in Europe. They involved casts ranging