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/mm78032839
Collection material in English, with some French
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 papers of George Middleton, playwright, author, and copyright specialist, were given to the Library of Congress by his wife, Fola La Follette, in 1969. Subsequent gifts, originally acquired as part of the La Follette Family Papers, were added to the collection by Mary La Follette, 1970-1971.
The Middleton Papers were processed in 1970 by Julie Kyllonen, and expanded in 1977. The finding aid was revised in 1985 and again in 2010 by Michael McElderry. The finding aid was updated in 2023 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
Photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress where they are identified as a part of these papers.
Related collections in the Manuscript Division include the La Follette Family Papers .
Copyright in the published and unpublished writings of George Middleton in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress is controlled by Fola La Follette's heirs.
The papers of George Middleton are 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, George Middleton Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of George Middleton (1880-1967) span the years 1872-1970 with the bulk of the material between 1911 and 1958. The collection is composed of correspondence and literary manuscripts organized into the following series: Family Correspondence, General Correspondence, Business Correspondence, Subject File, Literary Manuscripts, Miscellany, and Addition. The material is in English, with some in French.
The Family Correspondence consists of letters written to his wife, Fola La Follette, and to his brother, nephew, and his wife's family about the many activities, places, and people he was involved with as a playwright and as a representative of the writing profession abroad. Events relating to the 1924 presidential campaign of Robert M. La Follette (1855-1925) are also chronicled in Middleton's correspondence with his wife and the La Follette family.
The General Correspondence contains letters from a broad segment of the theatrical, literary, and governmental communities. Among the correspondents are J. M. Barrie, Cecil B. DeMille, Eleanora Duse, Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman, Richard Rodgers, and Peggy Wood from the theatrical community; John Dos Passos, Anatole France, Hamlin Garland, Sinclair Lewis, Percy Mackaye, Don Marquis, John Masefield, Edgar Lee Masters, H. L. Mencken, Clifford Odets, Eugene O'Neill, Bernard Shaw, Lincoln Steffens, Booth Tarkington, and P. G. Wodehouse from the literary community; and Louis Dembitz Brandeis, Felix Frankfurter, David Eli Lilienthal, Gerald P. Nye, and Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt in the governmental community.
The Business Correspondence documents the publication and production of Middleton's plays and articles, his collaboration with David Belasco and Guy Bolton, and his relationship with various agents, producers, and managers.
Of particular interest in the Subject File are papers relating to the Dramatists Guild, of which Middleton was a founding member, and the fight to protect foreign and domestic playwrights' monetary and literary rights in the production and publication of their works. Middleton's service as a copyright specialist in the Justice Department is documented under the headings "Office of Alien Property," "copyright legislation," and "copyrights." Middleton's social relationships with the theatrical community are documented in files relating to the Dutch Treat Club and to Players Club. Important biographical information about Middleton is contained in the "Who's Who" file.
The Literary Manuscripts series contains succeeding drafts, as well as final typescripts or printed versions, of all of Middleton's plays and of his autobiography,
The remainder of the collection consists of family photographs, miscellaneous papers, a card index that Middleton keyed to his correspondence, and his collection of Balzaciana. Scrapbooks include articles written by Middleton on the theater for various newspapers and journals, press reviews, publicity and programs for his plays, and letters of congratulations on his eightieth birthday.
An addition appended to the original arrangement in 1979 spans the period 1879-1970, with the major part dating from 1953 to 1967. Correspondence of George Middleton and Fola La Follette with members of the Middleton and La Follette families is included in the Addition, as is Middleton's correspondence with various friends and associates. This material supplements that found in corresponding series in the main body of the collection.
Much of the material in the headings grouped under the subject file and miscellany subseries of the Addition relates to topics of a personal or family interest. Correspondence and printed matter pertaining to Middleton's involvement in theatrical and literary organizations such as the Dramatists Guild and the Authors League of America are also included.
Carbon copies of typescripts of poems are contained under the speeches and writings heading, as is a final typescript of Middleton's unpublished novel, "A Prisoner of Fame."
The collection is arranged in seven series:
Letters received and copies of letters sent.
Correspondence with wife, Fola La Follette, is arranged chronologically; the other correspondence is divided into two general sections, Middleton family and La Follette family, with some entries by name of correspondent.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, memoranda, printed material, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other material relating to the correspondent.
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent.
Letters received and copies of letters sent, contracts and copyright records, programs and publicity for plays, notes, printed material, and newspaper clippings.
Arranged in three sections by name of agents and individuals and by titles of plays.
Correspondence, reports, memoranda, manuscripts, printed matter, newspaper clippings, drafts of writings, contracts, certificates of award, and bound volumes.
Arranged alphabetically by topic.
Notes, scenarios, drafts, manuscripts, typescripts reviewer's copies, printed material, correspondence, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, notebooks, photographs, contracts, and programs.
Arranged by type of literary work and thereunder by title.
Photographs, articles and newspaper clippings, notes, printed material and memorabilia, card index, diplomas, and scrapbooks.
Arranged by type of material.
Letters received from and copies of letters sent to family members, friends and associates, printed matter, financial records, newspaper clippings, literary typescripts, and notebooks.
Arranged according to the series in the main body of the papers, including family correspondence, general correspondence, business correspondence, subject file, and miscellany.
The box numbers that Middleton refers to in his "Index" and annotations were changed when this collection was organized. The following are the relationships between old and new box numbers.