Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1949 The Theatre During the Confederacy. Iline Fife Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Fife, Iline, "The Theatre During the Confederacy." (1949). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7941. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7941 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]. MANUSCRIPT TIESES Unpublished theses submitted for the master's and doctor's degrees and deposited in the Louisiana State University Library are available for inspection# Use of any thesis is limited by the rights of the author. Bibliographical references may be noted, but passages may not be copied unless the author has given permission# Credit must be given in subsequent written or published work# A library which borrows this thesis for use by its clientele is expected to make sure that the borrower is aware of the above restrictions# LOUISIANA STATE UUIVERSITY LIBRARY 119-a / THE THEATRE IXJRXNO THE CONFEDERACY / A Diaeertation Submit tad to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Uechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of philosophy in The Department of Speech by Hine Fife B. A., Univereity of Texas, 1937 H. A., Louisiana state University, 1 % 2 June, 19k9 UMI Number: DP69319 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation Publishing UMI DP69319 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To Dr. C. L. Shaver, professor of speech, Tor the time and assistance which he haa ao generously given in the preparation of this dissertation. To Dr. C. M. Wise, chaiman of the department of speech, for his careful reading of the manuscript and for his encouragement. To Dr. Bell I. Wiley, formerly chairman of the department of history, for his help in the initial steps in the preparation of this study* To Dr. W. W. Braden for his helpful criticisms and encourage­ ment, and to Dr. Giles II. Gray and Miss Edith Dabney of the speech department, and Dr. Edwin A. Davis of the history department, for their interest and helpful suggestions. To the staffs of the following libraries and archives for their courtesy and kindness in making available their depositories3 Division of Newspapers, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. Confederate Museum, Valentine Museum, and the Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia. Library of Congress Theatre Division, New fork Public Library Division of manuscript and newspapers, Univer­ sity of Worth Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; Emory Univer­ sity, Atlanta, Georgia. Library of the 3avannah Daily Morning News, Savannah, Georgia. Division of Newspapers, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, Georgia. Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina; Montgomery, Alabama; and Jackson, Mississippi Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State Univer­ r o c sity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. U V 2 > 0 t L 'i* V ■> i w fJ ti f •¥ ■ • H i To Dr. Henry Prentice Miller, Emory University, for lending the writer hie notes and dissertation on William Tappan Thompson, To Mrs, Clementine H. Lebey, Isle of Hope, Savannah, Georgia, for discussing her father, John Hill Hewitt, with the writer. To Dr. Douglas Southall Freeaan for granting the writer time out of his busy day for an interview. TABUS OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOm^DQUENTS 11 ABSTRACT vili INTRODUCTION I CHAPTER I. WINTER-SPRING SEASON 1860-61 . ................. 13 Montgomery............. *.................. 14 Mobile.............. 22 Hew Orleans .......................... 24 Georgia Cities. ..... ....... ...... 46 Charleston. ............ 48 Richmond......... 51 n . stnaoot season 1 8 6 1 ............................ 68 He* Orleans........................... 71 Mobile................ 84 Montgomery. ............................ .86 Georgia Cities.............................. 87 Charleston .... 87 Riohaond. ................... 96 m . wmrgB-spRiNG season 1 8 6 1 - 6 2 ................... 99 New Orleans .........................99 Mobile........................... .113 Montgomery. ............................. 117 Georgia Cities.................. .117 Charleston. ..........................124 ffilmlngton............ .126 Richmond...................................132 17. SUlAfBR SEASON 1862 ........................... 159 Mobile.................................... 159 Montgomery. ............................. 161 Atlanta ........................... 161 Macon ............................ .170 Augusta . ............................... 172 Savannah............................ .175 Richmond...................................175 iv V TABLE OF Q0NTENT3 (CONTINUED) CHAPTER PAGE V. WINTER-SPRINGSEASON 1862*63.............. 190 Mobil#.............................. 190 Mcmtgomeiy............. ............ 210 Atlanta . ...................... 221 M a c o n ......................... 225 Augusta ........... • .............. 225 Savannah............................. 237 Richmond....................... • . • • 240 VI. SUMMER SEASON 1863 ...................... 281 Mobile. ....................... 281 Montgomery............ 286 M a o o n ............................... 286 Savannah.................. 289 Augusta................. .......... 292 Wilmington................ 296 Richmond............................. 299 V H . WINTER-SPRINGSEASON 1863-64.............. 305 Mobile............................... 305 Montgomery............ 322 Maoon . 330 Savannah............................. 338 Augusta............................. 341 Atlanta............................. 346 Wilmington. ..................... 347 Richmond . ....... 350 VHI. SUMMER SEASON 1664 ......... 376 Mobile............................... 3/7 Montgomery..................... 376 llaoon .............. 381 Augusta........................... 387 Savannah.......... 397 Wilmington........................... 397 Riohmond. 406 vl TABLE OK OONTBNTS (CONTINUED) CHAPTER PAGE IX. TPIHTER-SPRINO SEASON 1864-65 . * .............. 423 Nobile and Uontgoarory 424 Uaoon .............................« . 425 Savannah. ............................. 429 Augusta................................... 430 Tfilmington ....... 430 Richmond. ..........................441 SmOKARI 4 58 BIBLIOGRAPHY 468 r m 480 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Theatre Notice f Montgomery Daily Confederation......... 19 John Kill Hewitt.................. 136 Theatre Notice, Uobile Daily Advertiser and Register . 203 Theatre Notice, Montgomery Dally Ma i l ............ • . 216 Playbills from Hewitt’s Scrapbook, King Linkup etc* • • • • 234 Theatre Notice, Bichoond plspatoh............... * • . 242 Theatre Notice, Ilictuaond Diapatch ............. 244 Original Cast of Characters from The Guerrillas. ...... 247 New Richmond Theatre........................... 259 Theatre Notice, lilchaond Diapatch..........................263 playbills from Hewitt’s Scrapbook, The Artist’s Wife, etc. * 340 Ida Vernon as L e a h ........... ............. 421 Playbill of the Wilmington Theatre.......... 440 vii ABSTRACT Notwithstanding the fa at that ths theatre In America in its rarioua phasss and periods has bs«n ths subject of much study, almost nothing has heretofore bsen written on the theatre in the South during the Civil liar. As a natter of fact, the theatre had become important la the South long before the Civil War, and the wartime theatre Is now known to have been an aotlve Institution. The purpose of this dissertation has been to discover (1) to \ what extent the legit laste theatres In the South remained open during the Civil War; (2) the kind of theatrical activity that prevailed; and (3) in what ways the theatres were affected by the war. The geographical area covered by the study has been limited to the states which formed the oore of the Confederacy, and to the theatrical activity of those states only so long as they remained a part of the Confederacy. The newspapers of the period are the principal source of in­ formation. The only other important source is the John Hill Hewitt collaction .at Bmory University, scrapbooks and clippings files, particularly of the New York Public Library, furnish a few valuable items. Whatever may have been the general impressions and uninformed opinions to the contrary, the theatre flourished in the South during the war. At the beginning of the 1860-61 season it was doing a brisk business in the key cities of the states which later formed the vlii ix OoBfcdmojr* Ditairktl activity was not confined to the larger Metropolitan arena