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MS71-04 Alney Allbritten Norell Papers

Alney Allbritten Norell Papers

Collection Title: Alney Allbritten Norell Papers

Series Number: MS71-04

Processed and Cataloged by: No information when originally processed but the collection was reprocessed prior to an exhibit in 2003.

Date Listed: April 20, 2010

Date Span: 1876-1994 (bulk 1925-1955)

Size of Collection: 9.0 linear feet.

Number of Boxes: 11 legal size document cases, 6 record center boxes and 2 oversized boxes.

Type of Material: Correspondence, manuscripts, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs and ephemera.

Condition of Material: Fair to good depending upon age of material.

Arrangement: Organized into series by type of format. Chronological arrangement.

Biographical / Historical Information: Alney Allbritten Norell, stage name Alney Alba, was an American screen actress, radio personality and television performer. She was born in Calloway County, Kentucky on April 10, 1904. Not long after her birth, she and her widowed mother relocated to Denver, Colorado. She attended Denver public schools and St. Mary’s Academy. As a child she became involved in the theater and performed at Elitch Gardens in Denver. Her first big break was in the 1933 Broadway play “Pigeons & People” by George M. Cohan. She would later perform in over a dozen Broadway plays. From the 1940s to the 1960s, she made over 50 television appearances and hundreds of performances on nationally broadcasted radio programs. After thirty-six years in show business she retired and resided in Pasadena, California. In 1994, she moved to Clarksville, Tennessee and later returned to Calloway County just prior to her death on July 10, 2000. She was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Scope and Content: Collection consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, critic reviews, playbills and various ephemera related to the American actress Alney Allbritten Norell, stage name Alney Alba, and her husband, actor Henry Norell, from the 1920s to the 1960s. The collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, publicity shots and memorabilia of Broadway plays that Alba and Norell performed in during the 1930s and 1940s. Included in the collection are family letters (1876-1933), genealogies and biographical information on Alney and Henry Norell.

Subject Headings / Descriptors:

Norell, Alney Allbritten, 1904-2000

Norell, Henry

Allbritten family.

Norell family.

Actresses – United States.

Actors – United States.

Television actors and actresses – United States.

Radio personalities – United States.

Box List

Box 1

  1. Mrs. Robert (Julia) A. Allbritten
  2. Robert Alney Albritten
  3. Pierce Butler Family (Smith, Wilcox Lines)
  4. Alney A. Norell- Photo of Western Ky. Faculty, ca. 1910
  5. Correspondence- Alney Norell and MSU
  6. Alney Norell- Display Material
  7. “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (TV tape; Alney Norell
  8. George M. Cohan- Chapter written by Alney Norell
  9. Godey Magazine, April, 1845; December, 1845.
  10. Clippings, copies of play bills
  11. Letters- Actors Equity
  12. Allbritten, Julia Hicks 1879-1966
  13. Diary (excerpt)

Box 2

  1. Alney Norell: Biographical, career information
  2. Alney Norell- Correspondence with Henry Norell
  3. Cards from Henry Norell
  4. James Cagney
  5. Actors: Clippings
  6. Alney Norell- genealogy
  7. Correspondence [mostly genealogical]
  8. St. Mary’s Academy [Denver]

Box 3

  1. Epictetus
  2. The Gospel of St. Mark
  3. Timothy to Hebrews
  4. Romans
  5. On the Wing with the Word
  6. Genesis
  7. The Book of Proverbs
  8. James to Jude
  9. Galatians to Thessalonians
  10. The Acts of the Apostles
  11. The Gospel of St. Matthew
  12. The Gospel of St. Luke
  13. I and II Corinthians
  14. The Inglenook Cook Book
  15. The Epicurean Cook Book
  16. The Impersonal Life
  17. Homer’s Odyssey
  18. The Dickens Storyteller
  19. Greatest Thing in the World
  20. Plates: Graham’s Magazine 1844

Box 4

  1. Photos “Bernadine”
  2. Negatives
  3. Alney Norell- Photos
  4. Photos- friends, actors and actresses

Box 5

  1. A Comedy in Two Acts Bernadine
  2. The Best Plays 1932-1933
  3. PH.D Thesis 1943

Box 6

  1. Henry Norell: Biographical
  2. Henry Norell: Playbills, etc.
  3. Henry Norell: “Oh! Those Bells.”
  4. Henry Norell: “Order Please.”
  5. Henry Norell: “Post Road.”
  6. Henry Norell: “Three Men on a Horse,” clippings, programs, photos
  7. Henry Norell: “Li’l Abner,” photos and clippings
  8. Henry Norell: “Kiss the Boys Goodbye.”
  9. Li’l Abner
  10. Henry Norell: “Swing Your Lady.”
  11. Henry Norell: “Crimes for Sale.”
  12. Henry Norell: “Whistling in the Dark,” clippings, programs.
  13. Henry Norell: Miscellaneous.

Box 7

  1. American Poetry Journal 1990
  2. Love Lyrics (Volume 1)
  3. Dance of the Muse
  4. The Forever Bear
  5. Moments and Musings 1992 Volume III
  6. Moments and Musings 1992 Volume III
  7. Moments and Musings 1993 Volume IV
  8. Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society June 1993 Volume XXI
  9. 1990 American Anthology of Southern Poetry
  10. Long Live the Sonnet
  11. New Earth Review
  12. Alney’s proposed book
  13. Alney’s proposed book
  14. Childhood Writings
  15. Alney’s Poetry

Box 8

  1. Miscellaneous Alney Norell documents, stories, poetry, etc….

Box 9

  1. Miscellaneous Alney Norell documents, stories, poetry, etc….

Box 10

  1. Alney Allbritten Norell [1904-2000] Press Book Clippings 1928-1932
  2. Alney Allbritten Norell [1904-2000] Press Book Clippings 1923-1928
  3. Bernadine Scrapbook [too fragile to handle]
  4. Pigeons and People Scrapbook [too fragile to handle]
  5. Scrapbook
  6. Scrapbook

Box 11

  1. Alney Allbritten Norell Vol. 2
  2. Henry Norell b. 1906 Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; d. 1990 Arcadia, California
  3. Photos
  4. Henry and Alney
  5. Henry Norell
  6. Alney Allbritten Norell Vol. 3
  7. Alney Allbritten Norell Vol. 1

Box 12

  1. Alney’s Baby Brush Which She Later used to Brush Away Excess Powder During Her Theatre Career
  2. Items Belonging to Alney’s Mother, Julia Hicks Allbritten [1879-1966]
  3. Half Of A Gold Hairpin Given By Robert Alney Allbritten To Julia Hicks as a Wedding Present on October 15, 1902
  4. Letter-Opener/ Book Mark Belonging To Robert Alney Allbritten And Obtained While In College At Southern Normal In Huntington, Tennessee
  5. Fan Belonging to Martha Jane Kuykendall Wilcox [1815-1908], Wife of Robert Pierce Wilcox [1821-1852] They were Alney’s Great Grandparents
  6. James Bryant Hicks [1854-1942] Gave This Gold “Breastpin” and Pair of Earrings To Louisa Euen Grogan [1856-1943] As A Wedding Present in 1877 [Alney’s Maternal Grandparents]
  7. Robert Alney Allbritten Brought This Fan From Japan To His Wife, Julia, On His Way Home From The Spanish-American War
  8. Alney’s First Toddler Dress, c 1905
  9. Glassware vases (x2)
  10. Award: The Diamond Homer Famous Poets Society, Hollywood 1996 Alney Norell
  11. Photographs
  12. Bernadine Souvenir
  13. Ceramic ornament
  14. Glass slipper souvenir
  15. Alney’s Tape
  16. Alney’s Baby Mittens Made By Her Mother, Julia Hicks Allbritten in 1904
  17. Gold Button From the Wedding Dress of Alney’s Maternal Grandmother, Louisa Euen Grogan [1856-1943], Who Married James Bryant Hicks in 1877. The Five Jet Buttons Were Her “Sunday Best” And Were Later Worn By Her Daughter, Julia Hicks Allbritten, On Her “Mourning” Clothes
  18. Handkerchief Alney Bought For Her Maternal Grandmother With Some of Her Earned Money [Louisa Euen Grogan Hicks, 1856-1943]
  19. Wedding Handkerchief Chicago, April 3, 1939
  20. Alney Allbritten Norell [1904-2000] Publicity Photos 1920’s thru 1950’s
  21. Alney Allbritten Norell [1904-2000] Scrapbook Containing Material on… George M. Cohan [1878-1942], “Pigeons and People” [1932-1933], “Dear Old Darling” [1935], James Cagney [1899-1986]

Box 13 (unnumbered, marked as part of Alney Norell Collection)

  1. Chittenden/Crittenden Family
  2. French Family
  3. Hicks Family
  4. Montgomery Family
  5. Outland Family
  6. Steele/Steely Family
  7. Todd Family
  8. Todd Family- (Shirley Monty) Folder 2
  9. Triplett Family
  10. Vinson/Vincent Family
  11. Walton Family
  12. Whetstone/Whitestone Family
  13. Wilcox Family and Oliver
  14. Vaulx Vause Vaus Family
  15. Genealogy- R.A. Allbritten’s pension
  16. Letters from Mary Holland Lancaster

Box 14 (unnumbered, marked as part of Alney Norell Collection)

  1. Allbritten Family
  2. Baker Family
  3. Blackwell Family
  4. Burton Family
  5. Butler Family
  6. Dennett Family
  7. Greene Family
  8. Grogan Family
  9. Hicks-Grogan Family
  10. Linn Family
  11. Manley/Meanly Family
  12. Martin Family
  13. Stone Family
  14. Vinson/Vincent Family
  15. Whitlock/Whitloe/Whitlow
  16. Misc. Genealogy

***Unmarked Oversized Boxes*

  • Misc. drawings, photos, documents
  • Spanish-American War in the Philippines Posters
  • Misc. Drawings and Paintings
  • Misc. Documents
  • Misc. honors
  • Framed photographs