Annotated Primary Source Bibliography
Adrian Suskauer
HIST 451
Pierce
3/16/15
Primary Source Bibliography
John and Hazel Robinson. Collection of Papers and Photographs. Ca. 1973-2000. Privately held by John and Hazel Robinson, Asheville, North Carolina.
This collection will comprise the bulk if not the entirety of the primary sources to be used in my thesis. The collection is varied and includes material from roughly thirty years of activity, and as such must be reduced to particular categories of pertinent documents.
The inception of the Montford Park Players is well chronicled in a series of photographs taken in the first few years of its existence. Most of these are simply pictures of actors in costume, but even those are useful in discerning the scope and commitment of the organization even in the face of limited finances and resources. There are also photographs that give the viewer an idea of the space and stage in which they worked, which helps us to understand the contributions made by Parks and Recreation to MPP, which were crucial to its survival and which are important in understanding the difficulty of such an enterprise as well as the original philosophy which drove the Robinsons to create free Shakespeare in the Park in Asheville (a phenomenon that remains extremely rare in the United States, with fewer than ten other American cities hosting free Shakespeare festivals, and nearly all of these far larger than Asheville).
Over the years a number of articles have been written in the Asheville Citizen, the Asheville Times, and the Citizen-Times about MPP, which are crucial to understanding how the community at large perceived the organization and which will help provide a useful outsider perspective on a paper that will be dominated by that of its members.
The Robinsons have in their hands a very large collection of playbills, flyers, and newsletters spanning MPP’s entire existence that perform several functions. First, each one bears the endorsement of the city’s Parks and Recreation
HIST 451
Pierce
3/16/15
Primary Source Bibliography
John and Hazel Robinson. Collection of Papers and Photographs. Ca. 1973-2000. Privately held by John and Hazel Robinson, Asheville, North Carolina.
This collection will comprise the bulk if not the entirety of the primary sources to be used in my thesis. The collection is varied and includes material from roughly thirty years of activity, and as such must be reduced to particular categories of pertinent documents.
The inception of the Montford Park Players is well chronicled in a series of photographs taken in the first few years of its existence. Most of these are simply pictures of actors in costume, but even those are useful in discerning the scope and commitment of the organization even in the face of limited finances and resources. There are also photographs that give the viewer an idea of the space and stage in which they worked, which helps us to understand the contributions made by Parks and Recreation to MPP, which were crucial to its survival and which are important in understanding the difficulty of such an enterprise as well as the original philosophy which drove the Robinsons to create free Shakespeare in the Park in Asheville (a phenomenon that remains extremely rare in the United States, with fewer than ten other American cities hosting free Shakespeare festivals, and nearly all of these far larger than Asheville).
Over the years a number of articles have been written in the Asheville Citizen, the Asheville Times, and the Citizen-Times about MPP, which are crucial to understanding how the community at large perceived the organization and which will help provide a useful outsider perspective on a paper that will be dominated by that of its members.
The Robinsons have in their hands a very large collection of playbills, flyers, and newsletters spanning MPP’s entire existence that perform several functions. First, each one bears the endorsement of the city’s Parks and Recreation
Bibliography: John and Hazel Robinson. Collection of Papers and Photographs. Ca. 1973-2000. Privately held by John and Hazel Robinson, Asheville, North Carolina.