The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the University of Chicago Blackfriars Records 1904-1983
© 2015 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | University of Chicago. Blackfriars. Records |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1904-1983 |
| Size: | 16.5 linear feet (19 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | The records of the University of Chicago Blackfriars, a student dramatic organization, include by-laws, correspondence, contracts, lists of members, productions and officers, printed and manuscript scores of productions, posters, photographs, and recordings. |
Due to the lack of listening/access copies for recordings, researchers will need to consult with staff before using audio material. The remainder of the collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago. Blackfriars. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
The Blackfriars was formed in late 1903 by Frank R. Adams, the first Abbot of the order. Named after the notable theater of Elizabethan London, the Blackfriars was inspired by Harvard's Hasty Pudding, Princeton's Triangle, and other early collegiate musical comedy groups. Membership was restricted to male students, and included one man from each University fraternity as well as any campus actors "fitted for amusing themselves and others". The first production, a satire of the Department of Political Economy titled "The Passing of Pahli Kahn," was presented in the spring of 1904. The new organization proved to be so popular that original Blackfriars musical comedies became an eagerly awaited feature of every spring season.
While the early shows sometimes suffered from awkward staging, the Blackfriars satires of the 1920's and 1930's benefited from shrewd publicity and the aid of professional designers and directors. In the wake of the Depression and World War II, however, lavish extravaganzas were abandoned for productions of a more modest scale. In the 1950s the Blackfriars began admitting women. The group remained an active group on the University campus, finally merging with the University Theater in 1986.
The collection has been divided into four series.
Series I contains administrative material related to the history operations of the group, including by-laws and contracts and notes of board meetings.
Series II contains chronologically organized files which contain printed and manuscript scores, programs, clippings, and other materials documenting individual productions. These materials are supplemented and sometimes duplicated by the songbooks in Series IV.
Series III includes audio recordings of productions and slides documenting a limited number of shows.
Series IV contains bound songbooks for productions dating from 1908 to 1940.
Series I: Administrative Records |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | By-laws and contracts, 1914, 1925-1941 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | "Blackfriars, University of Chicago," ritual of the Blackfriars, member signatures up to the "243 seven," leather bound volume, 1904-circa 1940 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Historical accounts, lists of productions, 1904-1942; list of officers, 1904-1963, 1976-1983 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Correspondence, 1912-1941 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Board meeting agendas and notes, 1982-1983 |
Series II: Productions |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | "The Passing of Pahli Kahn," 1904 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | "The King's Kalendar Keeper," 1905 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | "The Rushing of Raxes," 1906 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | "Sure Enough Segregation," 1907 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | "The Sign of the Double Eagle," 1908 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | “The Sign of the Double Eagle,” Musical Score 1908 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | "The Pseudo-Suffragettes," 1910 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Initiation banquet program, 1911 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | "Capturing Calypso," 1911 |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | "The Pursuit of Portia," 1912 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | "Pranks of Paprika," 1913 |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | "The Student Superior," 1914 |
| Box 2 Folder 13 | "A Night of Knights," 1915 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | "A Rhenish Romance," 1916 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | "Myth in Mandel," 1917 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | "Naughty Nineties," 1919 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | "Barbara Behave," 1920 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | "The Machination of Max," 1921 |
| Box 4 Folder 1-3 | "Anybody's Girl," 1922 |
| Box 5 Folder 1-2 | "The Filming of Friars," 1923 |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | "So Long Susan," 1924 |
| Box 5 Folder 4-5 | "Kaiti from Haiti," 1925 |
| Box 5 Folder 6-7 | "Wallie Watch-Out," 1926 |
| Box 5 Folder 8 | “Wallie Watchout,” Playbill, 1926 |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | "Plastered in Paris," 1927 |
| Box 6 Folder 2-3 | "The House that Jack Built," 1928 |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | "Mr. Cinderella," 1929 |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | “Mr. Cinderella,” 1929 |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | "Smart Alec," 1930 |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | "Captain Kidd Junior," 1931 |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | "Whoa Henry!" 1932 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | “The Mirror,” 1932 |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | “One Foot in the Aisle,” 1932 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | "Gypped in Egypt," 1933 |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | “Gypped in Egypt,” production notes 1933 |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | "Merger for Millions," 1934 |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | “Merger for Millions,” production notes, 1934 |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | "In Brains We Trust," playbill, 1935 |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | “In Brains We Trust,” songbooks, 1935 |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | "Fascist and Furious," 1936 |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | “Fascist and Furious,” songbook, playbill and clippings, 1936 |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | "One Foot in the Aisle," 1937 |
| Box 8 Folder 6 | "Where in the World," 1938 |
| Box 8 Folder 7 | "Love over the Line," 1939 |
| Box 8 Folder 8 | "Patients, Please," 1940 |
| Box 8 Folder 9 | "Dust It Off," 1941 |
| Box 8 Folder 10 | Clipping, 1956 |
| Box 8 Folder 11 | "Gamma Delta Iota," 1957 |
| Box 8 Folder 12 | "Sour Mash," 1959 |
| Box 8 Folder 13 | "Silver Bells and Cockle Shells," 1960 |
| Box 8 Folder 14 | "Mad Money," 1961 |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | "Sing Out Sweet Rock," 1962 |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | "Aside From All That," 1963 |
| Box 9 Folder 3 | "Casino in the Sky," 1965 |
| Box 9 Folder 4 | "Hey, Manny," 1966 |
| Box 9 Folder 5 | "The Boys from Syracuse," 1967 |
| Box 9 Folder 6 | "Amerika," 1968 |
| Box 9 Folder 7 | "The Charge of the Nubian Cavalry," 1969 |
| Box 9 Folder 8 | "The Fantastiks," 1969 |
| Box 9 Folder 9 | "Sweetlife," 1970 |
| Box 9 Folder 10 | "The Democratic Way," 1971 |
| Box 9 Folder 11 | "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," 1972 |
| Box 9 Folder 12 | "The Scholar's Progress," 1972 |
| Box 9 Folder 13 | "The Deceitful Dean," 1972 |
| Box 10 Folder 1 | "Harper's Folly," 1973 |
| Box 10 Folder 2 | "The History of Musical Comedy; From Herbert to Hair," 1973 |
| Box 10 Folder 3-4 | "Struggling Upward," 1973 |
| Box 10 Folder 5 | "What U.C. Is What You Get," 1973 |
| Box 10 Folder 6 | "The Apple Tree," 1974 |
| Box 11 Folder 1-2 | "Arthur," 1974 |
| Box 11 Folder 3 | Orientation Show, 1974 |
| Box 11 Folder 4 | Production Notes, 1974-1975 |
| Box 11 Folder 5 | "South Side Story," 1975 |
| Box 11 Folder 6 | "Anything Goes," 1975 |
| Box 11 Folder 7 | Orientation Show, 1975 |
| Box 11 Folder 8 | "The Beggar's Opera," 1976 |
| Box 12 Folder 1-2 | "Publish or Perish," 1976 |
| Box 12 Folder 3 | Orientation Show, 1976 |
| Box 12 Folder 4 | "Merlin," 1976 |
| Box 12 Folder 5 | "The Castle," 1977 |
| Box 12 Folder 6 | Orientation Show, 1977 |
| Box 12 Folder 7 | "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," 1977 |
| Box 12 Folder 8 | "The Wind in the Willows," 1977 |
| Box 12 Folder 9 | "Me & Juliet," 1978 |
| Box 12 Folder 10 | "Once Upon a Mattress," 1978 |
| Box 12 Folder 11 | "Sweet Charity," 1979 |
| Box 12 Folder 12 | "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," 1979 |
| Box 12 Folder 13 | "Godspell," 1980 |
| Box 12 Folder 14 | "Man of La Mancha," 1980 |
| Box 12 Folder 15 | "Pippin," 1981 |
| Box 12 Folder 16 | "Publish or Perish," 1981 |
| Box 12 Folder 17 | "All's Fair," 1982 |
| Box 12 Folder 18 | "Guys & Dolls," 1982 |
| Box 12 Folder 19 | "Bye Bye Birdie," 1983 |
| Box 12 Folder 20 | "Roommates," undated |
| Box 12 Folder 21 | Miscellaneous undated programs and drawings |
Series III: Audio-Visual Materials |
| Box 13 | "Sour Mash," 78 rpm record (14 copies), 1959 |
| Box 13 | "Alpha Centauri," 78 rpm record (7 copies), 1958 |
| Box 13 | "Gamma Delta Iota," LP, 1957 |
| Box 13 | Sing Out Sweet Rock," LP, 1962 |
| Box 13 | "Struggling Upward," 2 reels, 1973 |
| Box 13 | "Merlin," 2 reels, 1976 |
| Box 14 | Guys & Dolls," audio cassette, 1982 |
| Box 14 | "Merlin," two audio cassettes, 1976 |
| Box 14 | "Publish or Perish," slides, 1975 |
| Box 14 | Unidentified slides, undated |
| Box 14 | Printing block, undated |
Series IV: Songbooks |
| Box 15 Folder 1 | Songbooks, 1908-1912 |
| Box 15 Folder 2 | Songbooks, 1908-1912 |
| Box 15 Folder 3 | Songbooks, 1908-1912 |
| Box 16 Folder 1 | Songbooks, 1908-1912 |
| Box 16 Folder 2 | Songbooks, 1913-1917 |
| Box 16 Folder 3 | Songbooks, 1913-1917 |
| Box 17 Folder 1 | Songbooks, 1913-1917 |
| Box 17 Folder 2 | Songbooks, 1913-1917 |
| Box 17 Folder 3 | Songbooks, 1913-1917 |
| Box 18 Folder 1 | Songbooks, 1918-1922 |
| Box 18 Folder 2 | Songbooks, 1919-1922 |
| Box 18 Folder 3 | Songbooks, 1923-1927 |
| Box 19 Folder 1 | Songbooks, 1928-1930, 1933-1940 |