This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Series I: Correspondence is made up of 73 letters, 12 telegrams, 1 invoice and 1 contract between Frank Lloyd Wright and The New Theater Corporation. The letters primarily document the efforts of theater director Paton Price to construct a "New Theater" designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Hartford, CT. As the project takes shape, the letters offer a window into the relationship Wright had with his clients.
Series II: Visual Materials consists of 15 gelatin silver prints of Wright and the model of the Theater, several taken at an introductory luncheon for the planned Theater, and 8 photographic negatives of Wright and others.
Series III: Files includes publicity material for the New Theater as well as some Taliesin brochures and programs, and miscellaneous receipts and notes.
Series IV: Architectural Drawing contains 1 perspective drawing of the New Theater in brown ink on trace paper dated January 2, 1949 and signed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
1948-1958
This material is arranged in four series: Correspondence, Visual Materials, Files, and Architectural Drawing.
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Permission to publish must be obtained in writing from the Director, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, 1172 Amsterdam Ave., MC 0301, New York, NY 10027.
The New Theater, Hartford, CT / Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
Source of acquisition--Purchased. Date of acquisition--September 2010. Accession number--2010.017.
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Processed; Shelley Hayreh 2011.
2011-07-27 File created.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Wright had originally designed a "New Theater" for Woodstock, NY in 1931 that never came to fruition. When Paton Price (1916-1982) wrote to him in early 1948 proposing a new venue in Hartford, CT, the architect took the opportunity to revive his earlier project. Price would fund the construction through his own savings and from donations and loans, and received endorsements from members of the theater community including Kirk Douglas, Helen Hayes, and Henry Fonda. Understanding the need for publicity, Price asked whether Wright would allow the theatre to be named after him (Wright refused), and got local leaders and media interested. The two formally entered into a contract in November of 1948, and Price was soon anxiously asking Wright for drawings, a model, and designs for a brochure.
The New Theater plan was debuted at a party in Hartford on January 25, 1949, hosted by Hartford Times publisher Francis Murphy for Price and Wright. Said Wright at the time, "This theater is the one thing I simply must build before they put me in a box." Guests at the Hartford News luncheon included the Governor of Connecticut Chester Bowles, architectural scholar Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Broadway producer Oscar Serlin, and Director of the Wadsworth Atheneum Charles Cunningham.
The project received opposition from local Hartford residents, and eventually was turned down by the zoning board. Wright and Price remained on friendly terms, and the architect later realized his dream to build a theater in the Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas, TX, which opened in 1959.
is made up of 73 letters, 12 telegrams, 1 invoice and 1 contract between Frank Lloyd Wright and The New Theater Corporation. The letters primarily documents the efforts of theater director Paton Price to construct a "New Theater" designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Hartford, CT. As the project takes shape, the letters offer a window into the relationship Wright had with his clients.
Box 01 Folder 01
Letter : 3 p. ; re: request to hire FLLW to design a small theater in the Hartford, CT area
Box 01 Folder 02
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 03
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 04
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 05
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 06
Letter : 1 p. ; re: project support and obstacles
Box 01 Folder 07
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 08
Letter : 1 p. ; re: requesting contracts and sketches to present to the Zoning Board
Box 01 Folder 09
Letter : 1 p. ; re: fundraising for the theater and reasoning behind wanting to name the building the Frank Lloyd Wright Theater
Box 01 Folder 10
Letter : 2 p.
Box 01 Folder 11
Invoice : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 12
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 13
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 14
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 15
Letter : 1 p. ; re: fundraising
Box 01 Folder 16
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 17
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 18
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 19
Telegram : 1 p. ; re: Hartford's Avery Memorial Museum requesting to exhibit the model and preliminary drawings of the New Theater
Box 01 Folder 20
Letter : 4 p.
Box 01 Folder 21
Letter : 2 p. ; re: challenges to the site, the Hartford Times luncheon
Box 01 Folder 22
Envelope: 1 item ; draft written on envelope addressed to Paton Price from The Hartford Times
Box 01 Folder 23
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 24
Letter : 1 p. ; re: model
Box 01 Folder 25
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 26
Letter : 1 p. ; re: model
Box 01 Folder 27
Letter : 1 p. ; re: the Hartford Times luncheon
Box 01 Folder 28
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 29
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 30
Letter : 3 p. ; re: model being exhibited at MOMA, progress on the New Theater brochure, and increasing theater seating capacity
Box 01 Folder 31
Letter : 1 p. : re: "Would rather increase diameter of house than balcony to increase seating. Can do if imperitive [sic]. Reluctant."
Box 01 Folder 32
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 33
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 34
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 35
Letter : 2 p.
Box 01 Folder 36
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 37
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 38
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 39
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 40
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 41
Letter : 2 p. ; re: site changes, brochure, model exhibition
Box 01 Folder 42
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 43
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 44
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 45
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 46
Letter : 2 p.
Box 01 Folder 47
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 48
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 49
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 50
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 51
Letter : 2 p. ; re: Travelers Insurance rejection of site, "These disappointments, deflections and postponements only stiffen my determination - if such a thing is possible - to see this theatre built and built this year."
Box 01 Folder 52
Letter : 1 p. ; re: Edgar Kaufmann, "I think we can forget Kaufmann! He is "in" with the N.Y. Insurance gang who work with Dowling, Easkin, et al and isn't what he used to be."
Box 01 Folder 53
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 54
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 55
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 56
Letter : 4 p. ; re: plan to purchase Thompson site in West Hartford, fees, and "items relating to extra-income possibilities."
Box 01 Folder 57
Letter : 6 p. ; re: project details such as ticket booth, linens, parking area, etc.
Box 01 Folder 58
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 59
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 60
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 61
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 62
Letter : 2 p.
Box 01 Folder 63
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 64
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 65
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 66
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 67
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 68
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 69
Letter : 1 p. ; re: "What's up? You aren't pouting are you?"
Box 01 Folder 70
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 71
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 72
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 73
Letter : 1 p. ; re: "No, Mr. Wright, I will never pout -- no matter what the deflection or disappointment. We shall go doggedly on; nothing is going to delay for long or prevent us from eventually building this theatre."
Box 01 Folder 74
Letter : 2 p.
Box 01 Folder 75
Letter : 1 p. ; re: given up Thompson site
Box 01 Folder 76
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 77
Letter : 1 p. ; re: model damage
Box 01 Folder 78
Postcard : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 79
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 80
Letter : 1 p. ; re: "Mr. Wright and I both were so disgusted with the smallness and meanness and viciousness of the nature of the opponents of our enterprise, that we abandoned the project for Hartford."
Box 01 Folder 81
Letter : 2 p.
Box 01 Folder 82
Letter : 1 p. ; Envelope : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 83
Letter : 2 p. (2 separate letters)
Box 01 Folder 84
Telegram : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 85
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 86
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 87
Letter : 1 p.
Box 01 Folder 88
20 items
consists of 15 gelatin silver prints of Wright and the model of the Theater, several taken at an introductory luncheon for the planned Theater, and 8 photographic negatives of Wright and others.
Box 01 Folder 89
Postcard : 1 item : col. ; 9 x 14 cm.
Box 01 Folder 90
Gelatin Silver Print : 1 item : b&w ; 20 x 25.5 cm.
Box 01 Folder 91
Gelatin Silver Print : 1 item : b&w ; 10 x 12 cm.
Box 01 Folder 92
Gelatin Silver Print : 1 item : b&w ; 12 x 16.5 cm.
Box 01 Folder 93
Gelatin Silver Print : 2 items : b&w ; 21. 5 x 24.5 cm.
Box 01 Folder 94
Gelatin Silver Print : 7 items : b&w; various sizes
Box 01 Folder 95
Gelatin Silver Print : 1 item : b&w; 29 x 22.5 cm.
Box 02 Folder 01
Gelatin Silver Print on board : 2 items : b&w; 36 x 27 cm
Box 01 Folder 96
Negatives : 8 items
Includes images of Wright with others; 2 images show Wright with an oversize pair of binoculars.
includes publicity material for the New Theater as well as some Taliesin brochures and programs, and miscellaneous receipts and notes.
Box 02 Folder 02
Publication : 1 item
Box 02 Folder 03
Newspaper Clippings : 6 items
Box 02 Folder 04
Tearsheet : 5 p.
Box 02 Folder 05
Bulletin : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 97
Tearsheet : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 98
Brochure: 3 items
Box 01 Folder 99
Brochures : 2 items ; Arizona State University's Memorial Union Gallery and The Stanford Art Gallery
Box 01 Folder 100
Program : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 101
Program : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 102
Program : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 103
Catalog : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 104
Envelopes : 6 items
Box 01 Folder 105
Business Card : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 106
7 items
Box 01 Folder 107
Letters: 2 p.
Brochures : 3 items
Envelopes : 2 items
Box 01 Folder 108
Brochure: 1 item
Application Form : 1 item
Box 01 Folder 110
Drawer 99
Drawing : 1 item : Brown ink on trace paper ; 64 x 90 cm. ; signed lower right ("F.L.L.W")