Special Collections and University Archives: Popular Culture

The Rutgers Photograph Collection represents the photographic documentation of Rutgers University. It is organized into the following categories: Academic and Administrative Functions, Athletics, Art, Buildings and Grounds, etc. Sports covered in the Athletics series include football, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, crew, cross country, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling.

The records mostly detail Twitchell's actions as director of intercollegiate athletics between 1961 and 1973, though there is also a fair amount of Fred Gruninger's correspondence from his days as assistant athletic director and early days as athletic director. There is also some correspondence from Don Heilman, an assistant athletic director under Gruninger. The records consist of letters, contracts, schedules, expense reports, receipts, drawings, and other correspondence, which cover the administration of varsity and freshman teams, recruitment, student recreation, physical education curriculum, and management of the athletic fields and gymnasiums.

Records of the Centennial Football Game Committee from 1967 to 1971. The committee was formed by the Rutgers University Athletic Department to have planning oversight for the September 1969 centennial football game between Rutgers University and Princeton University. These records relate primarily to the planning logistics surrounding the game and other events that took place that weekend in commemoration of the first intercollegiate football contest between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869.

Includes photographs of the baseball, football, golf, wrestling, basketball, soccer, crew, cross-country, fencing, ice hockey, lacrosse, swimming, tennis, track, and sailing teams, as well as photographs at football games.

Includes photographs of swimming, diving, archery, water ballet, fencing, basketball, golf, boating, tennis, dancing, field hockey, and volleyball.

Includes photographs of basketball, billiards, football, golf, gymnastics, and ping pong.

Paul Robeson was an American actor, athlete, bass-baritone concert singer, writer, and civil rights activist. This collection is composed of material gathered to document the career of one of Rutgers most famous and influential alums. It includes newspaper clippings, published articles, books, sound recordings, correspondence, photographs and negatives, bibliographies, and writings. News clippings and articles from the Targum document Robeson’s athletic honors at Rutgers and achievements as an All-American football player. Photographs of Robeson during his years as a student at Rutgers show him as an athlete participating in football, basketball, baseball, and track.

Letters from Nicoll Floyd Elmendorf to his sister Hattie, written while he was a student at Rutgers College. In them, he relates his social life as a student, covering such topics as football games, parties, boating club events, and working on the school paper.

This collection primarily consists of Rutgers University documents and notes and printed material relating to Rutgers. Amongst the topics in the subject files is the history of crew at Rutgers and an investigation into whether a race occurred between Harvard and Rutgers in the 1870s. The collection also contains material pertaining to Elizabeth R. Boyd’s husband, William M. Boyd, and his 1932 painting of the first Rutgers versus Princeton football game in 1869.

These records from the Rutgers University Office of Media Relations comprise those created and accumulated during the Don Imus controversy, spanning April 4 to May 9, 2007. The controversy involves Don Imus, a radio talk-show host, and the comments he made during his show concerning the Rutgers University Women's Basketball team after their loss to Tennessee in the NCAA Women's National Championship game. The comments were deemed racist and sexist, and subsequently sparked a heated debate regarding the consequences of offensive speech.

Theatrical papers reflecting the career of actor Jerry Cunliffe, especially his work with director Tom O'Horgan and La Mama E.T.C. Materials represented include resumes, contracts, scripts, music, theatrical posters, programs, reviews, photographs, and other papers.

Scripts of his plays (sometimes in multiple versions) and related theatrical posters, photographs, programs, reviews, and other papers, including materials pertaining to Caffe Cino.

Tom O'Horgan was a musician, composer, and innovative theater director. His papers consist chiefly of scripts, music manuscripts, programs, photographs, videotape recordings, stage designer's drawings, posters, reviews, and other materials pertaining to over 50 theatrical productions (plays, musicals, television productions, and films) and other staged events (primarily concerts). Included are materials relating chiefly to performances in the United States (at La Mama E.T.C., other New York City venues, and elsewhere) and in Europe (especially Denmark). Some of the scripts are the copies used by J. Galen McKinley, the stage manager for several of O'Horgan's productions.

Biographical file, calendars, address books, correspondence, writings, productions file, theatrical posters, artwork, photographs, audio and video recordings, contracts, financial documents, travel documents, memorabilia, and general files relating chiefly to theater in New York City, including materials pertaining to La Mama E.T.C. and off-off-Broadway.

Paul Robeson was an American actor, athlete, bass-baritone concert singer, writer, and civil rights activist. This collection is composed of material gathered together to document the career of one of Rutgers most famous and influential alums. It includes newspaper clippings, published articles, books, sound recordings, correspondence, photographs and negatives, bibliographies, and writings. News clippings and articles cover his recitals, concerts, and theatrical performances. Performances and productions in which Robeson had a role are also documented by ephemera, clippings, reviews, programs, and playbills. Photographs include theatre and publicity shots and a selection of sound recordings includes sounds from various plays in which Robeson performed.

Singer and actress Tamara Drasin began her career on Broadway at age 17. Newspaper clippings found in the papers chronicle reviews of her various stage performances. A scrapbook includes further newspaper clippings that chronicle Drasin’s on and off-Broadway career. Many of the newspaper clippings are from the period when Tamara toured the United States, Canada, and Europe in various revues. Historical documents about Drasin document her career and death. Also included are some notes written by Tamara, dialogue from one of her radio performances, and a script written by her husband. Photographs date from her early childhood to later in her career.

Ardrey's experiences as a Hollywood screenwriter are chronicled in several of his published articles, as well as in an unpublished autobiography. Completed in 1979, the autobiography traces his entire career as a writer, from playwright to scriptwriter to world authority on the evolution of human behavior. Anecdotes related in the autobiography pertain to many actors, directors, screenwriters, playwrights and producers active in New York and Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s.

The papers of Beryl de Zoete include letters received, notes and drafts of writings on folk dance and the drama, prose compositions (including plays), typescript copies of English translations of articles in French and Italian, journals, and printed items dealing with folk dance and other topics.

Papers related to Zatlin’s scholarship in the field of Spanish theater and literature. The collection documents her scholarly projects and work with Estreno, a journal dedicated to contemporary Spanish theater. Zatlin corresponded regularly with Spanish theater critics and playwrights throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and this correspondence is a large portion of the subject files. Duplicate and unpublished dramatic texts collected or consulted by Zatlin during her scholarly research, translation work, and editorial duties with Estreno are also present. Many of these plays are in early draft form or were published only as stage scripts; other plays can also be found in the collection. Zatlin's involvement in local and national theater productions is represented by theater ephemera. Additional theater ephemera includes posters from various French and Spanish productions and Spanish theater conferences. Zatlin's interviews with Spanish and French literary figures, as well as recordings of drama productions, are included in various audiovisual formats.

The later files of the publication’s New York office consist of anthology files and general files. The anthology files pertain to the creation and publication of two books: Stories from the Transatlantic Review (1970) and Behind the Scenes (1971), the latter reproducing interviews pertaining to theater and film that had originally appeared in the magazine.

Letters received, theater programs, and scrapbook of clippings, relating to Birch, his family and carriage works, Birch Opera House, and William Jennings Bryan.