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[Identification of item], James Thomas Powers Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
The James Thomas Powers Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in 1976.
Processed by Josh Hager, March 2010
Encoded by Josh Hager, April 2010
Accession 4-30-76 is described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
James Thomas Powers (1862-1943) was an actor, playwright, musician, entertainer, comedian, and a general entertainer renowned for his comedic abilities and expressions as well as for his trademark red hair. His wife, Rachel Booth Powers (1862-1955), was also a famous actress in her own right, coming from the Booth family of actors. Powers lived most of his life in and near New York City and, as a result, most of his performances took place on Broadway. Some of the plays in which he performed include:
Most of the collection pertains to James T. ("Jimmy") Powers' career as a comic actor, songwriter, playwright, and vaudeville comedian from the 1870s to the 1930s. There are also materials relating to the acting career and family of his wife Rachel Booth Powers. The materials are arranged into the following series:
The Correspondence and Financial and Legal Papers Series deal mainly with professional matters, including contracts and letters of thanks for Powers' involvement in charity efforts during both world wars. The Printed Material Series contains scripts of plays, clippings relevant to James and Rachel Powers, autobiographical material, and theater ephemera. The collection contains a separate series for the writings of Rachel Booth Powers. Included here are several essays she wrote while in school, her teaching certificate, two autograph books dating from 1876 and 1877, and a diary kept in 1897. There is also a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings of poems written by her older sister, Alice Booth. In the Sheet Music Series one can find numerous popular pieces dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including some songs for which Powers wrote the lyrics. The Volumes Series consists of twenty-four undated notebooks belonging to James Powers that contain, in no immediately discernible order, ideas for plays, rough versions of what seem to be vaudeville skits, lyrics for songs, reminiscences of his career, and other miscellaneous notes. Finally, the Writings Series contains scripts of plays that Powers authored as well as some prose material. Of note in this series is a script that Powers intended to turn into, in his own words, a "motion picture play."
The Photographs Series, the most substantial in the collection, contains over 260 images dating from approximately 1860 to the early 1940s of James Powers, Rachel Booth Powers, their families, and various stage personalities; there are also related clippings and theater programs mentioning either Powers or Rachel Booth. Formats include one ambrotype and 21 tintypes, followed by many late 19th and early 20th century albumen prints and early modern gelatin silver prints. The professionally-taken photographs of persons and theater scenes are particularly rich as a resource for studying vaudeville and Broadway during Powers' life. In addition, this series contains a rare albumen print of John Wilkes Booth, a distant relative of Rachel Booth Powers, likely taken in the late 1850s or early 1860s.
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
James Powers' autobiography,
Contains letters both written to and by James Powers and Rachel Booth Powers. Major subjects include discussions of theatrical performances, letters of thanks for Powers' charitable work during both World War I and World War II, and reviews of and feedback on Powers' autobiography. In a particularly amusing undated letter Powers sarcastically examines the merits of Einstein's theory of relativity.
Contains several receipts for items as well as legal agreements of employment; there are also oversize legal and financial papers housed separately.
Contains six subseries, described fully below: Ambrotype and Tintypes; Postcards; James Thomas Powers Photographs; Rachel Booth Powers Photographs; James Thomas Powers and Family Photographs; and General Photographs. Note that James and Rachel Powers are also depicted on the cover of the sheet music in this collection,
All of these early images were professionally taken in a studio setting. Some display hand tinting of the subject's cheeks. The single ambrotype in the collection is an image of James Donnellon, the grandfather of James Thomas Powers. The rest of the subseries consists of 21 tintypes. The first three folders contain images of Rachel Booth, especially as a child and teenager. The next two folders contain images of Rachel Booth posed with her mother Cecilia Booth and her sisters Jessie and Alice Booth. The last folder contains two images of James Powers with Rachel and Cecilia Booth, one childhood image of James Powers with his brother Gus McGovern, and one image probably of Jessie Booth.
The 19 postcards contained in this subseries depict both professional studio portraits (such as in promotional postcards for James Powers as a "leading artist of the American stage") as well as outdoor photographs from various vacations. Subjects include James Powers, Rachel Booth Powers, and a vacation to Fort Benton in 1937. The James Powers postcards are particularly noteworthy. In addition to the promotional photographs, other postcards depict Powers as a clown for an unnamed production, in costume for the production
Contains 64 black and white albumen and gelatin silver prints that range the entirety of James Powers' life. There are 52 small and medium sized prints, of which the albumens are mostly cabinet cards (4 x 5.5") and cartes de visite (2.25 x 3.5") while the gelatin prints range up to 8 x 10 inches. The vast majority of the photographs are undated. Most were taken in a studio setting. One photograph from 1888 depicts Powers with other actors portraying professional baseball players at the Polo Grounds. Other notable images are photographic duplications of hand-drawn depictions of Powers in various costumes. There are also 12 larger prints ranging up to 11 x 14 inches.
Houses 37 albumen and gelatin silver prints, chiefly black and white, covering most of Rachel Booth's life. There are 32 small and medium sized prints, of which the albumens are mostly cabinet cards (4 x 5.5 inch print) and cartes de visite (2.25 x 3.5 inch print) while the gelatin prints range up to 8 x 10 inches. Some of the albumen prints, particularly of Rachel as a child, are significantly smaller than cartes de visites. The vast majority of these photographs were taken in a studio setting; many of them depict Rachel in costume for various productions. Notably, the first photograph is Rachel at the age of 2 as Hanny in
This subseries contains 57 albumen and gelatin silver prints whose subjects are either family of James and Rachel Booth Powers or group portraits. Subjects include Anne McGovern (James Powers' mother), Cecilia Booth (Rachel Powers' mother), and Jessie and Alice Booth (later Jessie Booth Church and Alice Booth Clark, Rachel Powers' sisters). This subseries also contains an albumen photograph of John Wilkes Booth from New York, likely taken in the late 1850s or early 1860s. Most of the photographs were taken in a professional studio setting, although some of the family shots are casual snapshots that depict scenes of home life such as the Powers' first automobile and vacations from their second home in Cape Cod. This subseries contains 53 small and medium sized prints that range up to 8 x 10 inches. In addition, the subseries also contains 4 larger prints ranging up to 10.5 x 14 inches with several notable photographs of Cecilia Booth.
Contains 65 albumen and gelatin silver prints whose subjects are persons unrelated to James Thomas Powers, and other miscellaneous subjects. There are 59 small and medium sized prints that range up to 8 x 10 inches. Subjects in this group include: J.K. Adams, Mary Anderson, H.C. Babcock, Digby Bell, Laura Joyce Bell, Frank W. Comyni, Eugene Cowles, Peter Donnellon, Willie Edouin, Max Ehrmann, Terry Ellen, Della Fox, Mrs. G.H. Gilbert, Pauline Hall, Evelyn Baker Harrier, Leon Harrier, Sal Harrison, Herbert Kelcey, Wilton Laekayz(?), Fanny Legan, Richard Mansfield, Jon. Mullen(?), Louis Payne, Lillian Russell, Elfie Shannon, Grant Stewart, and some unnamed individuals as well as several group shots. The other general photographs depict urban scenes, vehicles, a house exterior, and interior designs. This subseries also includes six larger prints ranging to 8.5 x 14 inches depicting Lew Fields, Manuel Klein, Jon. Urban, Henry Norway, and other individuals. Most of the photographs in this collection were professionally made in a studio setting although several may have been shot by an amateur.
Arranged in the following four subseries: Autobiographical Material, Magazine and Clippings, Ephemera, and Scripts.
Contains notes for Powers's autobiography entitled
Consists of one issue of
Houses promotional materials as well as other materials related to various plays with which Powers was involved. In addition, contains various images of James Powers that do not fit into either the Photographs or Printed Materials series. The oversize pieces include promotional material for the plays
Contains copies of scripts of plays with which Powers was involved. Distinct from the scripts held in the Writings Series that are Powers' own works. Arranged alphabetically by title.
Consists of all of the original writings and personal papers for Rachel Booth Powers. Included are several essays she wrote while in school, her teaching certificate, two autograph books dating from 1876 and 1877 (with the second containing poems written by Alice Booth Clark), and a diary kept in 1897. One oversize box contains two scrapbooks of newspaper clippings. Arranged alphabetically by contents of folders.
Contains various popular compositions that Powers wrote for his theatrical productions as well as for his other performances. Arranged alphabetically by title; oversize material housed separately. This material may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the historical record.
Houses multiple manuscript volumes kept by James Powers recording potential comedic sketches, ideas for songs and lyrics, motion picture scripts, reminiscences of his life, and inventories of goods. Arranged alphabetically by subject of content.
Consists of James Powers' original manuscript prose, notes, lyrics (without musical accompaniment), and scripts. Arranged alphabetically within each group of writings.