Collection Title: Theatre Department Playbills and Photographs
Series Number: RG036-12-28
Department: Theatre Department
Processed and Cataloged by: Dieter C. Ullrich in September 2012; Raina Thomas in October 2020.
Date Listed: September 20, 2012
Date Span: 1924-2000 (bulk, 1954-1959)
Size of Collection: 2.5 linear feet
Number of Boxes: 4 document boxes, 1 flat document box.
Type of Material: Playbills, photographs, and newspaper clippings
Condition of Material: Good
Arrangement: Chronological arrangement
Location: Column 7/Row C
Historical Information: The Theatre Department was first established as the Division of Dramatics in 1944. Prior to that date drama courses had been taught since 1925 in the Department of Public Speaking. The Sock and Buskin Club was founded the same year to promote student participation in theatre. During the 1950s, the Dramatics Division sponsored Summer Theatre at Kentucky Dam Village State Park. In 1968, the college began to offer a major in Drama. The Department of Theatre Arts was established in 1972 and four years later was renamed the Department of Theatre.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of playbills of plays produced and performed by students and faculty members of Murray State University from 1924 to 1999. The majority of the collection focuses upon theatrical programs staged by the college’s theatre troop, the Sock and Buskin Club, during the 1950s.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Murray State University. Theatre Department.
Murray State University – History.
College theatre – Kentucky – Murray.
Playbills – Kentucky – Murray.
