Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm92081445
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The Jennie Lorenz Collection Relating to Charlotte Cushman was given to the Library of Congress by Lorenz's estate in 1963.
The collection was arranged and described by Laura J. Kells in 1991. The finding aid was revised in 2008.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Jennie Lorenz is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The Jennie Lorenz Collection is open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Jennie Lorenz Collection Relating to Charlotte Cushman, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Jennie Lorenz was an educator with an interest in the theater. Her papers consist of the accumulation of research on the life of actress Charlotte Cushman (1816-1876) and span the years circa 1830-1960. The Cushman material consulted in Lorenz's research dates from circa 1830-1890 and the bulk of the documents generated during this project span the years 1927-1960. Lorenz wrote a master's thesis on Cushman in 1929. In later years she collected material about Cushman and the theater of the period for a biography which she never completed. Most of her research notes appear to have been made between 1950 and 1960. The papers have been organized into three series: General Correspondence , Research Notes , and Miscellany .
The General Correspondence file, 1927-1960, consists of correspondence relating to Lorenz's research on Cushman. A major portion of the correspondence includes responses from individuals and repositories regarding inquiries about Cushman material. There is also correspondence from descendants of the Cushman family, including those in England with whom Lorenz visited in 1937 as part of her research. Also included are letters from two other prospective Cushman biographers, Lyman Beecher Stowe and Helen Thomson.
The largest portion of this collection is the Research Notes file, circa 1830-1960, which Lorenz compiled from about 1930 to 1960. This section contains notes on the holdings of approximately twenty-five repositories, including the New York Public Library, Harvard University, and the Folger Shakespeare Library, as well as notes on material in the possession of individuals, including Cushman descendants in the United States and England. Lorenz also took extensive notes on the Cushman papers in the manuscript collections of the Library of Congress, but these notes were not retained because the originals are available for study here in the Manuscript Division. The Research Notes file contains notes on Cushman correspondence, other related correspondence, collections, playbills and programs, Cushman portraits, and exhibits of Cushman items. These are arranged alphabetically by the name of the repository. There are also notes on Cushman genealogy, books, newspapers and magazines, and plays.
Lorenz's notes on Cushman's correspondence consist principally of handwritten copies of letters, which date from 1836 to 1876 and touch on the actress's friendships, her acting engagements in the United States and abroad, and her later work giving dramatic readings. Copied from Johns Hopkins University are letters, 1876, to Sidney Lanier in which Cushman describes suffering from breast cancer in the last weeks of her life. The miscellaneous correspondence file includes letters from people close to Cushman, including her sister Susan, with whom Charlotte acted for a time. Letters from Emma Stebbins to Lanier describe Stebbins's effort to compile and publish a biography of Cushman after the actress's death.
The file of notes on collections contains information on material other than correspondence available in the repositories Lorenz visited. This material includes scrapbooks and clipping collections. There are also notes on a couple of Cushman's costumes at the Smithsonian Institution and on Cushman's annotated copy of
Notes on playbills available in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division and on portraits in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress were not retained because the originals are available for study here at the Library. The notes on other playbills relate not only to Cushman's performances but also to other productions of plays in which she frequently acted and the performances of other actors and actresses of the period. The largest collection of notes on playbills covers the holdings of the Brander Matthews Museum at Columbia University.
The notes on books relate to those books which are not available in the Library of Congress collections. A large portion of these books concerns the theater.
The Miscellany file includes Lorenz's master's thesis completed in 1929, "Charlotte Cushman: A Study in Acting," notes containing thoughts for a biography of Cushman, printed matter, and a few reproductions of portraits and Cushman correspondence. There are two items dating from the period of Charlotte Cushman's lifetime: a November 1871 playbill from the Globe Theatre in Boston for
This collection is arranged in three series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm92081445
Correspondence relating to Lorenz's research on Charlotte Cushman.
Arranged chronologically.
Notes taken circa 1930-1960 on Charlotte Cushman correspondence and miscellaneous correspondence dating from circa 1830-1890, and on collections, playbills and programs, portraits, and exhibits arranged alphabetically by repository.
Notes on genealogy and books arranged alphabetically by name of ancestor or author. Notes on newspapers and magazines arranged alphabetically by title and chronologically therein.
Master's thesis, notes and writings, printed matter, and reproductions.
Arranged by type of material.