Samuel and Bella Spewack papers, 1920-1980

Summary Information

Description

Scope and Content

Correspondence, manuscripts, playscripts, screenplays, diaries, documents, contracts, financial records, photographs, phonograph records, motion pictures, playbills, posters, sheet music, cartoons, art work, memorabilia, scrapbooks, and printed materials. . The collection consists chiefly of correspondence and production files relating to the creation, production, and performance of their works for stage, screen, radio, and television, such as Leave It To Me and Kiss Me Kate (with music by Cole Porter), Boy Meets Girl, and My Three Angels. Correspondence (with twentieth century authors, playwrights, musicians, political figures, and actors) includes: George Abbott, Jean Arthur, Bennett Cerf, Katharine Cornell, Jo Davidson, George and Ira Gershwin, Alec Guinness, W. Averell Harriman, Lilli Lehmann, Mary Martin, Laurence Olivier, Mary Pickford, Cole Porter, Regina Resnick, Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert E. Sherwood, Lincoln Steffens, Kurt Weill, Rebecca West, and Thornton Wilder. There is also correspondence concerning Bella Spewack's work with the New York Girls' Scholarship, UNRA, and the Sports Center of Israel. In addition to the production files, there are manuscripts and typescript drafts for novels, short stories, and articles by the Spewacks.

• Series I: Cataloged Correspondence

  Boxes A, B, C, D, E and F are located on-site.

• Series II: Cataloged Manuscripts and Documents

• Series III: Cataloged Photographs

• Series IV: Cataloged Art

• Series V: Arranged Art

• Series VI: Personal Correspondence

• Series VII: Friends

• Series VIII: General Correspondence

• Series IX: Productions

  The productions are alphabetical by title. Some productions have working titles different from their actual titles: see the title list below.

  Within each production the material is in this order: correspondence (ordered chronologically by year if a lot); background information; worksheets; summaries; scripts (if more than one version, the scripts are lettered arbitrarily A-F or whatever. Some scripts are annotated.); legal (includes contracts, etc.); financial (includes box office receipts, budget information, etc. Information re royalties of many the productions are in the separate general file Financial of the collection); photographs (includes photos of rehearsals, live productions, some photos of Spewacks working with cast); playbills (in English and foreign); clippings (includes advertisements, reviews, etc.); other (song lyrics, production information,miscellaneous); printed material (includes scripts printed in magazines, scripts in book form). The scrapbooks, sheet music, and posters for each production are in separate general files, as are audio-visual materials (record albums, audio tapes, films).

  If there is not much information on a production (usually because it was never produced) then it is in one of the Miscellaneous boxes at the end of the production file. Also please note that sometimes a production was produced at different times under different titles, but one title--the most famous one--is used as a collective heading. For example, Leave it to Me is the collective heading for information about Clear All Wires and Sweeney, two earlier non-musical versions of the same basic storyline, later rewritten with Cole Porter as the musical Leave it to Me.

  The titles in bold are the actual titles or collective headings.

• Series X: Short Stories and Articles

• Series XI: Personal Information

• Series XII: Bella and Sam Together

• Series XIII: Financial Information

• Series XIV: Photographs

• Series XV: Memorabilia

• Series XVI: Printed Material

• Series XVII: Audio-Visual Material

• Series XVIII: Oversize Material

• Series XIX: Scrapbooks

• Series XX: Record Albums

• Series XXI: Films

• Series XXII: Flat Boxes

• Series XXIII: Posters

  All of the posters have been reproduced in microfiche form. There are 29 microfiche, each containing 2 images. The fiche must be used before the original material is called for. Many of the posters are quite large and fragile.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 23 series.

• Series I: Cataloged Correspondence
• Series II: Cataloged Manuscripts and Documents
• Series III: Cataloged Photographs
• Series IV: Cataloged Art
• Series V: Arranged Art
• Series VI: Personal Correspondence
• Series VII: Friends
• Series VIII: General Correspondence
• Series IX: Productions
• Subseries IX.1: Alphabetic List
• Subseries IX.2: An Act of Virtue
• Subseries IX.3: Boy Meets Girl
• Subseries IX.4: Comfort Me with Apples
• Subseries IX.5: The Enchanted Nutcracker
• Subseries IX.6: Festival
• Subseries IX.7: The Golden State
• Subseries IX.8: Kiss Me Kate
• Subseries IX.9: Leave it to Me as Clear All Wires
• Subseries IX.10: Leave it to Me as Sweeney
• Subseries IX.11: Leave it to Me as Leave it to Me
• Subseries IX.12: Miss Swan Expects
• Subseries IX.13: Mr. Broadway
• Subseries IX.14: Mr. King's Case
• Subseries IX.15: Mrs. A.
• Subseries IX.16: My Favorite Wife
• Subseries IX.17: My Three Angels
• Subseries IX.18: The Night is Young
• Subseries IX.19: Of Human Bondage
• Subseries IX.20: Once There Was a Russian
• Subseries IX.21: One Man's Venus
• Subseries IX.22: The Orient Express
• Subseries IX.23: Out West it's Different
• Subseries IX.24: Poppa
• Subseries IX.25: The Princess and the Pauper
• Subseries IX.26: The Solitaire Man
• Subseries IX.27: The Shyster
• Subseries IX.28: Spring Song
• Subseries IX.29: Two Blind Mice
• Subseries IX.30: Under the Sycamore Tree
• Subseries IX.31: The War Song
• Subseries IX.32: Weekend at the Waldorf
• Subseries IX.33: White Girl
• Subseries IX.24: Woman Bites Dog
• Subseries IX.35: Miscellaneous Spewack Productions
• Subseries IX.36: Miscellaneous Non-Spewack Productions
• Series X: Short Stories and Articles
• Subseries X.1: Bella
• Subseries X.2: Sam
• Subseries X.3: Bella and Sam together
• Series XI: Personal Information
• Subseries XI.1: Bella (and her family)
• Subseries XI.2: Sam (and his family)
• Series XII: Bella and Sam Together
• Series XIII: Financial Information
• Subseries XIII.1: Productions
• Subseries XXIII.2: New York Girls' Scholarship Fund
• Subseries XXIII.3: Palestine Endowment Fund (PEF) Sports Club
• Subseries XXIII.4: Personal financial information
• Subseries XXIII.5: Household financial information
• Series XIV: Photographs
• Subseries XIV.1: Albums
• Subseries XIV.2: Sam and Bella and family photos
• Subseries XIV.3: Friends and Acquaintances
• Subseries XIV.4: Travel
• Subseries XIV.5: Non-People
• Series XV: Memorabilia
• Subseries XV.1: General Memorabilia
• Subseries XV.2: Kiss Me Kate Memorabilia
• Series XVI: Printed Material
• Subseries XVI.1: Books by Sam
• Subseries XVI.2: Books by Bella
• Subseries XVI.3: Books with reference to productions
• Subseries XVI.4: Large books with reference to productions
• Subseries XVI.5: Books with reference to the Spewacks
• Subseries XVI.6: Books by Daniel Lang, Bella's half brother
• Subseries XVI.7: Books for research for plays and articles
• Subseries XVI.8: Signed and inscribed books
• Series XVII: Audio-Visual Material
• Subseries XVII.1: Productions
• Subseries XVII.2: Events
• Series XVIII: Oversize Material
• Subseries XVIII.1: Sheet Music for Productions
• Subseries XVIII.2: Oversize Items from the Collection
• Series XIX: Scrapbooks
• Series XX: Record Albums
• Series XXI: Films
• Series XXII: Flat Boxes
• Series XXIII: Posters
• Subseries XXIII.1: Boy Meets Girl
• Subseries XXIII.2: Clear All Wires (Film)
• Subseries XXIII.3: Festival
• Subseries XXIII.4: Kiss Me Kate
• Subseries XXIII.5: My Three Angels
• Subseries XXIII.6: Once There Was a Russian
• Subseries XXIII.7: Poppa
• Subseries XXIII.8: Two Blind Mice
• Subseries XXIII.9: Under the Sycamore Tree
• Subseries XXIII.10: Woman Bites Dog
• Subseries XXIII.11: The Amazing Sacco-Van Zetti Case

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

Boxes A, B, C, D, and E are located on-site. The following boxes are located off-site: 1-150. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission required to publish, or quote: Minna Elias, 336 West End Ave, 5A, New York, NY 10023

Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Samuel and Bella Spewack papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Reproduction Note

Posters are also available on: Type of reproduction--microfiche. Agency responsible for reproduction--New York State Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library research Materials. Physical description of reproduction--29. Dates and / or sequential of issues reproduced--filmed in 1996.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Papers: Source of acquisition--Bella Spewack. Method of acquisition--Bequest of the estate of.

Bequest of the estate of Bella C. Spewack, 1990.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Papers Entered in AMC HR 02/--/1991.

Processed by Henry Rowen 2/91 and 8/93.

Revision Description

2010-03-11 Legacy finding aid created from Pro Cite.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

2019-06-03 Restriction contact updated per donor

Biographical Note

Samuel Spewack, 1899-1971 (Columbia College B.A., 1919) and Bella Cohen Spewack, (1899-1990), were authors of Broadway plays and musicals, novels, short stories, and articles. They were also foreign correspondents for Europe and Russia for the New York World, 1919-1926, and the New York Herald Tribune, 1922-1926, respectively.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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