Don Buell theatre collection.

The Don Buell theatre collection consists of the photographs by Florence and Tommy Vandamm of Broadway plays as well as playbills, scripts, clippings, posters, and other ephemera collected by Don Buell. While the collection primarily focuses on productions in New York City, there is also materials...

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Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Buell, Donald, 1907-1960 (Compiler)
Language:English
Subjects:
Vandamm, Florence > Photograph collections.
Actors > Photographs.
Theater > Photographs.
Playbills > Photographs.
Theater programs > Photographs.
Printed ephemera > Photographs.
Photographs.
Genre:
Photographs.
Online Access:
View the inventory of the collection
Local Note:
MSU: The material is stored offsite in Remote Storage. Please contact Special Collections 3 working days in advance if you wish to use it.
Physical Description:26 boxes (18.3 linear ft.)
Variant Title:
Don Buell theater collection [Other title]
Format: Kit
Description
Summary:
The Don Buell theatre collection consists of the photographs by Florence and Tommy Vandamm of Broadway plays as well as playbills, scripts, clippings, posters, and other ephemera collected by Don Buell. While the collection primarily focuses on productions in New York City, there is also materials on the MSU Players and other Michigan theatre companies, and ephemera from Buell's "Curtain Going Up" productions.
Call Number:MSS 493
Cite As:
Item, Folder number and/or title, Box number, Buell Theatre Collection, MSS 493, Special Collections, MSU Libraries, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Source of Acquisition:
The Vandamm Theatre Photograph collection was purchased from Florence Vandamm and integrated with the theatre ephemera collection by Prof. Donald Buell in 1959, transferring the collection to MSU Special Collections in February 1960.
Biographical Sketch:
Donald Buell (1907-1960) was a Michigan State University professor of Speech. He joined the MSU faculty in 1937 and facilitated the purchase of the Van Damm Theatre Photograph collection by MSU Libraries in 1959. Buell maintained weekly program, "Curtain Going Up" for WKAR radio broadcast (from 1938) and television show (from 1954) which showcased the theater arts and frequently utilized this collection. Throughout his career, Buell mentored theatre students and promoted theater arts in the community by way of the M.S.U. Players (Michigan State Players) and Theta Alpha Phi. Florence Vandamm was born in England in approximately 1883. She studied painting and turned to photography after World War I. Upon marrying her husband, Tommy Vandamm, he decided to join her in the profession. The couple emigrated to New York in 1923, working for Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines and became some of the foremost photographers of the American stage. After Tommy's death in 1944, Florence continued the business focusing on theatrical life and the figures in it. Florence studied the plays as a director, watching each production several times before she took the shots to use for publicity. Her clients included: Maurice Evans, Paul Muni, John Gielgud, Judith Anderson, Burgess Meredith, Alfred Lunt, and Lynn Fontaine. Florence Vandamm was the first woman to be a fellow of the Royal Photographic Society.
Cumulative Indexes:
Finding aid online: https://as.lib.msu.edu/repositories/2/resources/1945