Research Catalog

Title

Rose McClendon scrapbooks, 1919-1935.

Author

McClendon, Rose, 1884-1936.

Supplementary Content

Finding aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

• 2 reels.
• 2 vols.

Summary

The Rose McClendon Scrapbooks consist of two volumes dating from 1916 to 1934 that were donated in 1950 by the estate of her husband, Dr. Henry Pruden McClendon. Volume 1, 1919 to 1931, consists of telegrams, newspaper articles and reviews for the following plays: "Roseanne," "Deep River," "In Abraham's Bosom," "The Cat and the Canary" and "Porgy." The latter play garnered the most reviews due to its extensive run. There are also articles about McClendon, programs, letters, telegrams, photographs, and poems dedicated to her. Similarly, Volume 2, 1932 to 1935, contains newspaper and magazine reviews documenting McClendon's roles in the following productions prior to her death in 1936: "House of Connelly," "Never No More," "Black Souls," "Brain Sweat," "Roll Sweet Chariot," "Panic," the radio adaptation of "John Henry: Black River Giant," and "Mulatto."

Donor/Sponsor

Schomburg NEH Blacks on Stage: African-American Theater Arts Collections Project.

Subjects

• Photographic prints
• Women entertainers
• McClendon, Rose, 1884-1936
• African Americans in the performing arts
• African American entertainers
• Scrapbooks
• African American actresses

Genre/Form

• Scrapbooks.
• Photographic prints.

Access (note)

• Researchers are restricted to microfilm copy.

Additional Formats (note)

• Microfilmed

Source (note)

• eMicro R-6634
• Estate of Dr. Henry Pruden McClendon

Biography (note)

• Rose McClendon was one of the most important and well-known black actresses of the 1920s and 1930s. Although she did not become a professional actor until she was in her thirties, she consistently won critical acclaim for her acting and influenced the careers of many aspiring black actors of the period.

Processing Action (note)

• Processed
• Cataloged
• Cataloging updated
• microfilmed

Call Number

Sc MG 524

OCLC

NYPW89-A149

Author

McClendon, Rose, 1884-1936.

Title

Rose McClendon scrapbooks, 1919-1935.

Additional Formats

Microfilmed Northeast Document Conservation Center Sc Micro R-6634

Access

Researchers are restricted to microfilm copy.

Biography

Rose McClendon was one of the most important and well-known black actresses of the 1920s and 1930s. Although she did not become a professional actor until she was in her thirties, she consistently won critical acclaim for her acting and influenced the careers of many aspiring black actors of the period.

McClendon made her professional debut in "Justice" (1919) and four years later appeared in "Roseanne" (1924) with Charles Gilpin (and later Paul Robeson). In 1926 she gained prominence for her acting in "Deep River," where she earned rave reviews, and in Paul Green's Pultizer Prize-winning folk tragedy, "In Abraham's Bosom" that starred Jules Bledsoe in the title role. In 1927 she received the Morning Telegraph Acting Award (along with Ethel Barrymore and Lynn Fontanne) for her portrayal of Serena in Dubose and Dorothy Heyward's "Porgy." Other plays McClendon appeared in include "House of Connelly," "Canary," "Brain Sweat," "Roll Sweet Chariot," and "Panic." Her last starring role was as Cora in Langston Hughes' "Mulatto" (1935) which ran for 375 performances on Broadway, the second-longest run by a black playwright at that time. McClendon was also a director for the Negro (Harlem) Experimental Theatre located at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library and, in addition, worked in a supervisory capacity with the Federal Theatre Project.

Connect to:

Finding aid

Research Call Number

Sc MG 524

Sc Micro R-6634