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Guide to the Clarence McGehee Collection on Ruth St. Denis
MS-P025
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Title: Clarence McGehee collection on Ruth St. Denis
Date (inclusive): ca. 1908-1937
Collection number: MS-P025
Collector:
McGehee, Clarence
Extent:
4.7 linear feet (5 boxes)
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: The collection is comprised of correspondence, typescripts, manuscripts, newspaper
clippings, programs and ephemera collected by Ruth St. Denis' publicist, Clarence
McGehee. Most materials, including a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, pertain to Ruth
St. Denis and the Denishawn Dancers. Other materials pertain to contemporaries of Ruth
St. Denis in the dance world, including Ted Shawn, members of Ballet Russe, Isadora
Duncan, Martha Graham, Norma Gould and Trudi Schoop. Also in the collection are clippings
of an anonymous author's newspaper column; McGehee may be the author. Items date from
circa 1908 to 1937.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by
the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish,
please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Clarence McGehee Collection on Ruth St. Denis. MS-P 25. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine,
California.
Gift of Valerie Ormont in 1996.
Processed by Laura Clark Brown in 1997.
Clarence McGehee was a writer and publicist for Ruth St. Denis in the first decade of the
twentieth century. He collected materials primarily by and about Ruth St. Denis and also
gathered information on many of her dance contemporaries. McGehee was a resident of
Redondo Beach, California.
In 1911, several papers announced McGehee's engagement to Ruth St. Denis, but they never
married.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The collection is comprised of correspondence, typescripts, manuscripts, newspaper
clippings, programs and ephemera collected by Ruth St. Denis' publicist, Clarence
McGehee. Most materials, including a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, pertain to Ruth
St. Denis and the Denishawn Dancers. Other materials pertain to contemporaries of Ruth
St. Denis in the dance world, including Ted Shawn, members of Ballet Russe, Isadora
Duncan, Martha Graham, Norma Gould and Trudi Schoop. Also in the collection are clippings
of an anonymous author's newspaper column; McGehee may be the author. Items date from
circa 1908 to 1937.
The collection is organized in three series. Series 1 is comprised of correspondence
received by Clarence McGehee and Ruth St. Denis. Series 2 contains writings by unknown
authors and an essay purportedly written by Ruth St. Denis. Series 3, the largest series,
consists of printed items, including a scrapbook of clippings on Ruth St. Denis, loose
newspaper and magazine clippings, programs, playbills and flyers.
Series 3 is arranged in five subject subseries. The first three subseries overlap in
subject; the materials illustrate the careers of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn and
document activities of their school, Denishawn, and the Denishawn Dancers. Subseries 3.4
represents other major dancers, choreographers and companies of the era; the materials
also include information on relevant topics of world dance, including Native American and
Latin American dance. McGehee's collection contains numerous playbills from dance
performances held in Los Angeles area theatres. Most performances were by nationally or
internationally renowned companies such as Ballet Theatre and Ballet Russe. The final
subseries contains materials unrelated to dance, including articles and business cards
collected by McGehee.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
St. Denis, Ruth, 1880-1968--Archival resources.
Shawn, Ted, 1891-1972--Archival resources.
Duncan, Isadora, 1877-1927--Archival resources.
Denishawn School of Dancing--Archival resources.
Dance--Archival resources.
Dance--United States--Archival resources.
Modern dance--United States--Archival resources.
Dancers--Archival resources.
Dance programs.
Scrapbooks.
Dancers.
Choreographers.
Other Index Terms Related to this Collection
Ormont, Valerie, former owner.