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Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm87061995
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 papers of John Thompson Ford, theater executive and dramatist, were given to the Library of Congress by Stanley W. McClure in 1960 and John F. Sollers in 1986. Additional material was received from Sollers between 1988 and 1998.
The papers of John Thompson Ford were arranged and described in 1986. Additional items were placed in the collection in 1992. The collection was partially reprocessed and expanded in 2011 by Laura J. Kells. The finding aid was updated in 2023 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
Some photographs have been transferred to the Library's Prints and Photographs Division where they are identified as part of these papers.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of John Thompson Ford is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States(Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of John Thompson Ford 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, John Thompson Ford Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of John Thompson Ford (1829-1894) document his career as a theater manager. Ford is best known as the owner of the Washington, D.C., theater where President Abraham Lincoln was shot in April 1865, but he managed theaters in Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charleston, South Carolina; Alexandria, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; and Washington, D.C., in the last half of the nineteenth century. He also managed traveling and resident acting companies. His papers are arranged into the following series: General Correspondence, Subject File, Writings, Playbooks, Playbills, Scrapbooks, Addition, and Oversize. The collection spans the period 1809-1960, with the bulk of the material from 1850 to 1894.
The General Correspondence covers the period 1832-1894 and includes letters from notable theatrical personalities such as Edwin Booth, Edwin Forrest, Joseph Jefferson, Clifton W. Tayleure, and William Winter. These letters, as well as those written by Ford's friends and business associates, reflect the influence Ford had on the theater during this period. Copies of letters from Ford, some from other manuscript repositories, are included. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln by the actor John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre, the subsequent arrest of Ford and his brothers, and the closure of the theater are related in the correspondence. Ford's civic activities, particularly in Baltimore, are also documented.
A large portion of the Subject File consists of unbound scrapbook pages documenting productions at the Holliday Street Theatre and Ford's Grand Opera House in Baltimore, his charitable activities, and management of Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Included also is biographical and genealogical information.
The Writings File contains writings and notes by Ford and plays written by his daughters, Annie E. Ford and Lizzie Ford. Among John Thompson Ford's writings are handwritten transcriptions of his letters to the
A Playbooks series is comprised of playbooks for productions staged at theaters managed by Ford. They include one-act farces, full-length comedies, and dramas. Such books were bought by patrons at the theater and contained the entire script of the play by character. They were helpful in following the play and also were kept as souvenirs. A few of the playbooks contain annotations.
A series of Playbills spanning 1856-1881 contains theater programs and broadsides for productions at theaters Ford managed in Washington and Baltimore. Arranged chronologically under the name of the theater, it provides details such as names of performers and theater managers, dates of performances, and the cost of admission.
The Scrapbooks series is comprised of seven volumes compiled by Ford's daughter, Lizzie Ford. They contain mainly newspaper clippings, but include programs, notes, menus, and other memorabilia. Focusing on theatrical topics, her father's career and interests, and productions and benefits at Ford's theaters, they also chronicle events in Baltimore.
An Addition to the papers contains family correspondence between members of Ford's extended family, a ledger, 1869-1870, of a theatrical company in Charleston, S.C., that was also used as a scrapbook about his Baltimore theaters in the years 1875-1879, a copy of a diagram depicting John Wilkes Booth's escape from Ford's Theatre, and copies of autograph books containing entries by prominent theatrical figures of the nineteenth century. An incomplete biography written by Ford's grandson, John Ford Sollers, covers Ford's early years, the Lincoln assassination, and Ford's struggles to retain his theater following that event.
The collection is arranged in eight series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm87061995
Letters to Ford from actors and managers, friends and family members, and some letters sent by Ford.
Arranged chronologically.
Newspaper clippings, contracts, printed matter, notes, and other documents.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Writings primarily by Ford and his daughters, Annie E. Ford and Lizzie Ford.
Arranged alphabetically by name of author.
Theatre playbooks.
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Theater programs and broadsides.
Arranged chronologically under the name of the theater.
Lizzie Ford's scrapbooks.
Arranged according to the numbers assigned to six of the volumes by Lizzie Ford, followed by a seventh unnumbered volume. Scrapbooks are accompanied by folders of loose material that had been inserted in the volumes.
Family correspondence, ledger, photocopies of autographs books, incomplete typescript biography of John Thompson Ford, a list of plays, printed matter, and other documents.
Arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material.
Programs, broadsides, and a theater seating plan.
Arranged and described according to the series, containers, and folders from which the items were removed.