Finding aid created by: Steffi Chappell
Date: 2014
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Summary |
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Creator: | Reidenbaugh, Gerald F. |
Title: | Gerald F. Reidenbaugh Papers |
Dates: | 1911-1990 |
Size: | 4 boxes (3 linear feet) |
Abstract: | The Gerald F. Reidenbaugh Papers contains materials relating to his career as a professor and administrator at Syracuse University and documenting his involvement in theatrical productions. |
Language: | English |
Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 |
Gerald Francis Reidenbaugh was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on February 8, 1925. He enrolled at Syracuse University in 1946 and graduated magna cum laude with his bachelor’s degree in drama in 1949. Reidenbaugh immediately entered into the graduate program at SU and received his master’s degree in drama in 1951. His master’s thesis was an original play, My Heart Don’t Say So, a drama about the Pennsylvania Amish. Eventually Reidenbaugh also received his PhD in communications from SU, in 1966.
Reidenbaugh met his future wife, Shirley Ann Fenner, in the drama department at Syracuse University. They acted together in many school productions and in community theaters over summer breaks. The couple married on June 16, 1956 and eventually had three children: Jonathan Edward, Melissa Anne, and Gerald Francis, Jr.
Reidenbaugh devoted much of his life to the education of others. He began teaching at Syracuse University in 1949 as a graduate assistant in the drama department while working to obtain his master’s degree. After receiving that degree in 1951, Syracuse University hired Reidenbaugh as a full-time assistant professor of drama. He held this position until 1961, at which time Reidenbaugh was named acting chair of the drama department. Six years later, in 1967, he was named the permanent chair of the drama department. During Reidenbaugh’s time as chair the department experienced many changes. Reidenbaugh played an important role in developing a relationship between the University's drama department and the Syracuse Repertory Theatre, an acting company formed in 1963. Today known as Syracuse Stage, the Repertory Theatre was founded with the intent to bring more live professional theater to Syracuse. Reidenbaugh was one of the founders of the Repertory Theatre and served as its artistic director for many years. He also took part in the consolidation of the School of Art, the School of Music, and the departments of speech and drama into the College of Visual and Performing Arts in 1971. Reidenbaugh became the dean of administration for the College in 1972 and associate dean in 1975. He retired from Syracuse University in 1989, after forty years of teaching and administrative work.
Reidenbaugh was passionate when educating students of all ages about the theater. In 1982 he worked to develop a Shakespeare program at Corcoran High School in Syracuse, named the Corcoran Shakespeare Company, which he directed until 1989. The program was designed to improve the English language skills of high school students through the study and performance of a classic Shakespeare play. Students would study a chosen play for a number of weeks in conjunction with an English class and then work with Reidenbaugh to perform the play for their community. The popularity of the program is a testament to Reidenbaugh’s commitment to his students, no matter their age or educational background.
Throughout his teaching and administrative career, Reidenbaugh was very active in theatrical productions, both at Syracuse University and in community theaters. He performed in and directed over 250 productions, ranging from those produced by the Boar’s Head Dramatic Society (a student-run organization at Syracuse University) to various community theaters around Central New York. Reidenbaugh was also a guest director for many productions around the country. His original play The Strongest was optioned for Broadway in 1957 but unfortunately was never produced. In 1961 University College and the Syracuse University drama department opened the New Playhouse, a professional summer theater. Reidenbaugh was named director and producer. In this capacity he directed multiple shows over the course of four summers. Reidenbaugh also directed a performance of his original play My Heart Don’t Say So at the Royal Poinciana Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida while on a leave of absence from teaching in 1960, and he had his directing debut with the Syracuse Repertory Theatre in 1967. Reidenbaugh took great pride and pleasure in both performing and directing, and in 1975 he received the Mary Eva Duthie Award at the New York State Community Theater Association’s annual conference for his contributions to community theater.
Gerald Reidenbaugh passed away on July 9, 1994 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Gerald F. Reidenbaugh Papers are divided into five series: Correspondence, Negatives, Subject Files, Teaching Materials, and Theatrical Productions.
The Correspondence series contains general correspondence and letters between Reidenbaugh and current and former students.
The Negatives series contains several hundred identified negatives of theatrical productions at Syracuse University performed between the years 1932 and 1967.
The Teaching Materials series contains materials used by Reidenbaugh when teaching drama classes at Syracuse University. Included in the materials are many lecture notes as well as assignments and handouts.
The Theatrical Productions series contains materials relating to Reidenbaugh’s involvement with theatrical productions at Syracuse University and in private community theaters. The folders in this series contain programs, photographs, newspaper clippings, and promotional materials for shows in which Reidenbaugh performed or which he directed.
The Subject Files series contains materials mostly relating to Reidenbaugh’s career as a professor of drama at Syracuse University. Highlights of this series are folders with information on guest speaking engagements Reidenbaugh participated in, arts festivals and conferences he or his students attended, a number of photographs (some of which document a visit Peter Falk made to Syracuse University in 1965), newspaper clippings, the text of Reidenbaugh’s master’s thesis, My Heart Don’t Say So, and correspondence and production information regarding Broadway’s optioning of his original play The Strongest.
Access Restrictions:
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Use Restrictions:
Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.
In addition to these papers, the Syracuse University Archives holds a clippings file and a portrait file on Gerald F. Reidenbaugh as well as the papers of Reidenbaugh's wife, Shirley Fenner Reidenbaugh.
Names
Reidenbaugh, Gerald.
Syracuse University -- Alumni and alumnae.
Syracuse University -- Faculty.
Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.
Subjects
Theater.
College teachers.
Higher education.
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Gerald F. Reidenbaugh Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
The materials in the Gerald F. Reidenbaugh Papers were donated to the Syracuse University Archives by Shirley Fenner Reidenbaugh in 1997 and 2007.
Processing Information
The materials have been processed and placed in acid-free folders and boxes.
Correspondence
Negatives
Subject Files
Teaching Materials
Theatrical Productions
Correspondence | |||||||||||
Box 1 | General | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1952, 1971-1974 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1975-1983 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Students | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1973-1974 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1975-1984 |
Negatives | |||||||||||
Box 4 | Tartuffe 1932 (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Skin of our Teeth 1944 (27 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Claudia 1945 (29 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Male Animal 1946 (10 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Shadow and Substance 1946 (21 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Soldier's Wife 1946 (20 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Student Prince 1946 (8 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Blithe Spirit 1947-1948 (15 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Blossom Time 1947 (10 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Golden Boy 1947 (23 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Mikado 1947 (17 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Roberta 1947 (8 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Temper the Wind 1947 (24 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | All My Sons 1948 (35 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Angel Street 1948 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Beautiful People 1948 (12 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Blithe Spirit (Oneida Players) 1948 (9 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Claudia 1948 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | German Play 1948 (3 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Girl Crazy 1948 (11 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Late Chris Bean (Oneida Players) 1948 (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Little Foxes (Oneida Players) 1948 (7 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Long Live Love 1948 (8 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Rocket to the Moon 1948 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Room Service (Oneida Players) 1948 (2 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Weekend Co. 1948 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Blithe Spirit 1949 (2 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Boar's Head Dinner 1949 (15 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Case of the Crushed Petunias 1949 (1 negative) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Heiress 1949 (13 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | A Night of Tennessee Williams 1949 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Silver Cord 1949 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Boar's Head Banquet 1950 (10 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Bourgeois Gentleman 1950 (30 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Down in the Valley 1950 (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Light Board 1950 (10 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Second Man 1950 (3 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | After the Party 1951 (1 negative) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Boy with a Cart 1951 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Great Big Doorstep 1951 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Phoenix Too Frequent 1951 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Portrait of a Madonna 1951 (2 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Power 1951 (2 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Red Rose and the Briar 1951 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Tom Sawyer (Children's Theater) 1951 (9 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Toy Balloon 1951 (2 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Witches' Sabbath 1951 (14 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | My Heart Don't Say So 1951 (11 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Hello Out There 1952 (2 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Night Must Fall 1952 (2 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Patience 1952 (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Richard III 1952 (18 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Some Faint Star 1952 (3 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Antigone 1953 (17 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Tempest 1953 (16 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Gigi 1954 (12 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Lysistrata 1954 (7 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Abduction from the Seraglio 1955 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Death of a Salesman 1955 (14 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Winter's Tale 1955 (23 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Cretan Woman 1956 (12 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Bus Stop 1957 (17 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Bald Soprano 1958 (3 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Desire Under the Elms 1958 (18 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Androcles and the Lion 1959 (12 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | George Dandin 1959 (7 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Postponement 1959 (10 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Cosi Fan Tutte 1960 (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Othello 1960 (34 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Gigi (The New Playhouse) 1960 (7 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | A Raisin in the Sun (The New Playhouse) 1961 (8 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Touch of a Poet 1961 (8 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Death of a Salesman (The New Playhouse) 1962 (9 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Glass Menagerie (The New Playhouse) 1962 (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The House of Bernarda Alba 1962 (7 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | J.B. 1962 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Life with Father 1962 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Our Town 1962 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Toys in the Attic 1962 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Born Yesterday (The New Playhouse) 1963 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Gideon (The New Playhouse) 1963 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Hostage 1963 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Romeo and Juliet 1963 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Skin of our Teeth (The New Playhouse) 1963 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Thurber Carnival (The New Playhouse) 1963 (9 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Tobacco Road 1963 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Zoo Story and American Dream 1963 (9 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Cherry Orchard (The New Playhouse) 1964 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Man and Superman 1964 (3 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Merry Wives of Windsor 1964 (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Pirates of Penzance 1964 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Plough and the Stars 1964 (27 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Ten Nights in a Barroom 1964 (8 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Thieves' Carnival 1964 (5 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Waiting for Godot 1964 (4 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Ah, Wilderness 1965 (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Paint Your Wagon 1965 (12 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | As You Like It 1966 (17 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Firebugs 1966 (26 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Me and Juliet 1966 (14 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | King Lear 1967 (23 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Devil and Daniel Webster undated (9 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Jane Eyre undated (9 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | The Maids undated (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | National Theater Exhibit undated (31 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | O'Neill undated (6 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Return of Rip Van Winkle undated (8 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Seven Keys to Baldpate undated (9 negatives) | ||||||||||
Box 4 | Unidentified undated (23 negatives) |
Subject Files | |||||||||||
Box 1 | Awards and Certificates 1947, 1949, undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Corcoran High School Shakespeare Program 1983-1990 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Curriculum Vitae 1965, 1982, 1986, 1989 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Guest Directing Engagements 1955, 1967-1969, 1976-1981, 1989, undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Guest Speaking Engagements 1966-1970, undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Kum Bak Show | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1957 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | 1958, 1962-1964, 1967, 1980 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Lutheran Church of the Resurrection Festival of the Arts 1961, 1965 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Magazines for Theater in Syracuse 1964-1968 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Master’s Thesis: My Heart Don’t Say So 1951 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Miscellaneous Programs 1960, 1963, 1968, undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | National Theatre Conference 1972-1980 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | New Drama Complex Proposals and Clippings 1965 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Newspaper Clippings 1950, 1957, 1961-1975, 1979-1980, undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | New York State Community Theatre Association 1969-1974, 1979-1980 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | New York State Community Theatre Journal 1967-1970 | ||||||||||
FC 2-1 | Original Sheet Music for The Tempest, by Ernst Bacon 1953 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Personal History at SU Drama Department 1975-1985 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Photographs | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Peter Falk 1965 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Syracuse University Drama Professors and Students 1967 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | A Winter’s Tale and Prunella, Commencement 1911 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Proposed Production Plans for The Taming of the Shew undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Rationale for a New Academic Area for Speech Communication undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Scripts | ||||||||||
Box 1 | The Guns of Carrar adapted by George Tadori 1963 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | My Heart Don’t Say So by Gerald Reidenbaugh 1961 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | The Strongest 1956-1957 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Syracuse University Drama Festival 1958-1959 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Syracuse University Festival of the Arts 1960-1969 | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Syracuse University High School Drama Festival 1964 |
Teaching Materials | |||||||||||
Box 1 | Class Materials | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Drama 33: Appreciation of the Drama 1952-1954, 1962-1963, 1971, undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | Drama 116 (removed from binder) 1972-1973, undated (2 folders) | ||||||||||
Box 1 | FIA 570: Form and Style: The Theater and Drama as Art 1976, undated | ||||||||||
Box 1 | SPC 214: Voice and Diction undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | SPC 314: Voice and Diction undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Lectures on Acting undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Liaison Lectures undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Miscellaneous Teaching Materials 1985 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Notes on Medieval Shakespeare's Theater; Valuable Diagrams per Sawyer Falk undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Selective Acting Scenes and Shakespeare Speeches undated | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Styles in Shakespearian Acting from 1890 to 1950 1953 (audio reel) | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Stanislavski and Moscow Art Theater Notes undated |
Theatrical Productions | |||||||||||
Box 2 | 1000 Islands Summer Theatre 1968, 1973-1975 | ||||||||||
Box 2 | Academy Royale Theatre, Inc. 1960-1961, 1965 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Boar’s Head Dramatic Society | ||||||||||
Box 3 | My Heart Don’t Say So 1951 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | King Richard III 1952 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Patience 1952 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The Tempest 1953 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | White Bucks and Tails 1953 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Gigi 1954 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Up in Lights 1954 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Abduction from the Seraglio 1956 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The Bald Soprano 1958 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Bus Stop 1958 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Androcles and the Lion 1959 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | George Dandin 1959 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The Postponement 1959 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Cosi Fan Tutte 1960 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Othello 1960 (2 folders) | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Telephone and Medium 1962 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | A Tree on the Plains 1963 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The Firebugs 1964 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Paint Your Wagon 1965 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | As You Like It 1966 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1972 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Newspaper Clippings 1949-1952, 1956-1968 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Photographs 1948-1957, 1960-1964 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Programs | ||||||||||
Box 3 | 1927-1947 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | 1949-1953 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | 1954-1964, 1968 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Famous Artist’s Country Playhouse 1955-1956, 1959-1960 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The New Playhouse | ||||||||||
Box 3 | A Touch of the Poet 1961 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Death of a Salesman 1962 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | J. B. 1962 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Our Town 1962 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Toys in the Attic 1962 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The Skin of our Teeth 1963 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Articles and Newspaper Clippings 1961-1964 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Photographs 1961 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Programs 1961-1964 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Rome Civic Theater | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Newspaper Clippings 1951, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Photographs and Programs 1951, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Salt City Playhouse 1972-1973, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Syracuse Repertory Theatre | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Newspaper Clippings and Programs 1966-1970 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Photographs 1967-1969, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Syracuse University Children’s Theatre 1959, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Syracuse University Drama Department | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Programs 1962-1968, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Photographs 1967-1968, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Syracuse University Touring Company 1964-1969, undated | ||||||||||
Box 3 | University Regent Theater | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The Fantasticks 1962 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The Lark 1962 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | The Maids and The Bald Soprano 1963 | ||||||||||
Box 3 | Three Sisters 1963 |