Clark, Barrett H. (Barrett Harper), 1890-1953

Variant names

Hide Profile

Theatre historian and theorist.

From the description of Notes on George Moore, 1922. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 78812829

From the description of Notes on George Moore, 1922. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702148335

Dorothy Lockhart (1905-1985) studied voice at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia for four years. After completing her studies, she entered the professional theater in England, starting as a stage hand and working her way up to assistant producer. In addition to her five years in English theater, Lockhart spent three years in American theater, which included a job as assistant producer under Leslie Howard.

Miss Lockhart arrived in Winter Park, Florida in 1932 to help her friend Annie Russell put on the opening play in her newly completed theater at Rollins College. She was still there four years later when Russell died, at which time Lockhart became director of the Annie Russell Theater, a position she held for many years.

From the guide to the Dorothy Lockhart papers, ca. 1922-1957, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

Writer, editor, and actor, Barrett Harper Clark was born on August 26, 1890 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to S. Henry and Anna M. Fralick Clark. Clark studied at the University of Chicago (1908-1912), spending two years in Paris, but did not complete his degree. While still a student Clark began teaching drama at Chautauqua, New York (1909-1917), an educational summer camp for adults. He also taught at Columbia University and Bryn Mawr (1928-1931).

Following graduation Clark worked as an actor and assistant stage manager in a company run by Minnie Maddern Fiske (1912-1913). Clark then worked as a literary editor for Samuel French, a company specializing in publishing drama, in New York (1918-1936). During this period Clark also served as the dramatic editor of Drama Magazine (1924-1931) and as a member of the board of directors for the Drama League America (1915-1926). When the U.S. entered WWI Clark served as the dramatic director at Camp Humphreys, Virginia, a U.S. military training camp. In 1936 Clark left Samuel French to become the executive director of the Dramatists Play Service.

In 1916 Clark married Cecile Matilda Smith, with whom he had three children: Nancy, Molly, and Barrett.

Throughout his life Clark sustained a writing career. Early in his career he translated into English a number of plays by French authors: Hervieu’s The Labyrinth (1913), Three Modern Plays from the French (1914), Four Plays of the Free Theater (1914), Four Plays of Emile Augier (1915), Three Plays of Donnay (1916), Sardou’s Patrie! (1915), Hyacinthe-Loyson’s Apostle (1916), Curel’s False Saint (1916), and Brieux’s Artists’ Families (1918), among others.

He wrote a number of books about drama, including: The Continental Drama of Today (1914), British and American Drama of Today (1915), Contemporary French Dramatists (1915), Study of the Modern Drama (1925), and An Hour of American Drama (1930). Clark also wrote a practical manual, How to Produce Amateur Plays (1917-25), which provided guidance for laypeople producing plays. In his chapbook, Speak the Speech (1930), Clark considers "standard English" and its impact on theatre. In Oedipus or Pollyanna (1927) Clark argues against censorship, re-visiting an issue he had earlier explored in Jurgen and the Censor (1919). Clark published an article about Eugene O'Neill in the New York Sun (May 18, 1919), and after this initial acquaintance, he went on to write a biography Eugene O’Neill (1926) and Eugene O’Neill Bibliography (with R. Sanborn) (1931). In 1928 Clark published Professor Clark, a Memoir .

Clark also edited the fifty-eight volume World’s Best Plays (1915-1926) and was the first editor of America's Lost Plays (1940-1965), a twenty volume series that brought attention to obscure plays by American dramatists from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Clark edited and co-edited a number of other works pertaining to theatre, including: Walter Prichard Eaton’s Plays and Players (1916), Masterpieces of Modern Spanish Drama (1917), European Theories of the Drama (1918), Representative One Act Plays by British and Irish Authors (1921), One-Act Plays (1929), Favorite American Plays of 19th Century (1943), and Nine Modern American Plays (1951).

Clark died on August 5, 1953 in Briarcliff, New York.

From the guide to the Barrett H. Clark Papers, 1905-1952, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Brown, John Mason, 1900-1969. Papers, 1922-1967. Houghton Library
referencedIn Robert E. Sherwood papers, 1917-1968 (inclusive), 1934-1955 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Howells family papers, 1850-1954 (inclusive). Houghton Library
creatorOf Cabell, James Branch, 1879-1958. Scrapbooks of James Branch Cabell [manuscript], 1886-1958 (bulk 1904-1926). University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Cabell, James Branch, 1879-1958. Papers of James Branch Cabell [manuscript], 1669-1937, n.d. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Clark, Barrett H. (Barrett Harper), 1890-1953. Correspondence to Van Wyck Brooks, 1920-1933. University of Pennsylvania Library
creatorOf Clark, Barrett H. (Barrett Harper), 1890-1953. Articles, ca. 1924. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn Nash, N. Richard. Papers, 1925-2000. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn John Mason Brown papers, 1922-1967. Houghton Library
creatorOf Clark, Barrett Harper. European theories of the drama, with a supplement on the American drama ; an anthology of dramatic theory and criticism. Greater Victoria Public Library
creatorOf Dorothy Lockhart papers, ca. 1922-1957 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Clark, Barrett H. (Barrett Harper), 1890-1953. Notes on George Moore, 1922. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Harry Weinberger papers, 1915-1944 Yale University Library
creatorOf Clark, Barrett H. (Barrett Harper), 1890-1953. Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, 1918-1931. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Ernst Toller papers, 1917-1978, 1933-1939 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
creatorOf Moore, George, 1852-1933. George Moore collection of papers, [1879]-[1935] bulk (1889-1933). New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Clark, Barrett H. (Barrett Harper), 1890-1953. Barrett Harper Clark papers, 1912-1937. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Huntington, Catharine Sargent, 1886-1987. Papers, 1919-1973 Houghton Library
creatorOf Cabell, James Branch, 1879-1958. Papers of James Branch Cabell [manuscript], 1917-1930. University of Virginia. Library
creatorOf Clark, Barrett H. (Barrett Harper), 1890-1953. Dorabella : typescript, [18--?] University of Chicago Library
referencedIn George Moore collection of papers, 1879]-[1935, 1889-1933 The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature.
referencedIn Toller, Ernst, 1893-1939. Ernst Toller papers, 1922-1976 (inclusive), 1934-1939 (bulk). Yale University Library
creatorOf National Council on Freedom from Censorship. Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, 1931-1932. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Houghton Mifflin Company contracts, 1831-1979 (inclusive) 1880-1940 (bulk). Houghton Library
creatorOf Barrett Harper Clark papers, 1912-1937 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Dramatic Art Photographs and Related Materials, 1911-1970s University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.
referencedIn Kerr, Walter F., 1913-1966. Walter and Jean Kerr papers, circa 1920-1993. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn Eugene O'Neill papers, 1872-1970, 1930-1959 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Everyman Theatre (London, England). Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, 1919-1920. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Yaddo records, 1870-1980 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Lockhart, Dorothy, 1905-1985. Dorothy Lockhart papers, ca. 1922-1957. Campbell University, Wiggins Memorial Library
creatorOf Hays, Arthur Garfield, 1881-1954. Correspondence : with Theodore Dreiser, 1926-1936. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Barrett H. Clark Papers, 1905-1952 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn New Directions Publishing records Houghton Library
referencedIn Dana, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1881-1950. Papers on Henri Barbusse and Sacco-Vanzetti, 1913-1949. Houghton Library
creatorOf Samuel French, Inc. Correspondence with Theodore Dreiser, 1920-1938. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Amy Lowell correspondence, 1883-1927 (inclusive), 1910-1925 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn John Mason Brown papers, 1922-1967. Houghton Library
referencedIn Papers, 1912-1970 (inclusive), 1912-1954 (bulk). Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
creatorOf Clark, Barrett Harper, 1890-1953. Notes on George Moore, 1922. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Clark, Barrett H. (Barrett Harper), 1890-1953. Correspondence file, 1929, from Horace Liveright, Inc. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Welles mss., 1930-1950, (Bulk 1936-1947) Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Annie Russell Theater corporateBody
associatedWith Blanche, Jacques-Emile, 1861-1942. person
associatedWith Brown, John Mason, 1900-1969. person
associatedWith Cabell, James Branch, 1879-1958. person
correspondedWith Dana, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1881-1950 person
associatedWith Davis, Elmer Holmes, 1890-1958 person
associatedWith De Casseres, Benjamin, 1873-1945. person
associatedWith Dujardin, Edouard, 1861-1949. person
associatedWith Duret, Théodore, 1838-1927. person
associatedWith Everyman Theatre (London, England). corporateBody
associatedWith Gabriel, Gilbert W. (Gilbert Wolf), 1890-1952. person
associatedWith Geddes, Norman Bel, 1893-1958 person
associatedWith Gorky, Maksim, 1868-1936. person
associatedWith Green, Paul, 1894-1981 person
associatedWith Grein, J. T. person
associatedWith Hays, Arthur Garfield, 1881-1954. person
associatedWith Henderson, Archibald, 1877-1963. person
associatedWith Hennique, Leon, 1852- person
associatedWith Hennique, Leon, 1852- person
associatedWith Houghton Mifflin Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Huntington, Catharine Sargent, 1886-1987. person
associatedWith Kerr, Walter F., 1913-1966. person
correspondedWith Komisarjevsky, Theodore, 1882-1954 person
associatedWith Lockhart, Dorothy, 1905-1985. person
correspondedWith Lowell, Amy, 1874-1925 person
associatedWith Meyerfeld, Max. person
associatedWith Moore, George, 1852-1933. person
associatedWith Nash, N. Richard. person
associatedWith National Council on Freedom from Censorship. corporateBody
associatedWith New Directions Publishing Corp. corporateBody
associatedWith O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953. person
associatedWith Quinn, Arthur Hobson, 1875-1960. person
associatedWith Rascoe, Burton, 1892-1957. person
associatedWith Rollins College (Winter Park, Fla.) corporateBody
associatedWith Russell, Annie, 1869-1936 person
associatedWith Samuel French, Inc. corporateBody
associatedWith Samuel French & Son. corporateBody
correspondedWith Sherwood, Robert E. (Robert Emmet), 1896-1955 person
associatedWith Skinner, Otis, 1858-1942 person
associatedWith Smith, Betty, 1896-1972 person
associatedWith Toller, Ernst, 1893-1939. person
associatedWith University of Chicago. Library. corporateBody
associatedWith University of Chicago. Library. Special Collections Research Center. corporateBody
associatedWith University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of Dramatic Art. corporateBody
associatedWith Van Doren, Carl, 1885-1950. person
associatedWith Weinberger, Harry, 1888- person
associatedWith Welles, Orson, 1915-1985 person
associatedWith Yaddo (Artist's colony) corporateBody
associatedWith Zola, Émile, 1840-1902. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York (N.Y.)
New York (N.Y.)
United States
New York (State)--New York
Subject
Publishers and publishing
Publishers and publishing
Theater
Theater
Authors, American
Authors
Burlesque (Theater)
Critics
Critics
Drama
Drama
Drama
Editors
French literature
Manuscripts, American
Russian literature
Theaters
Translators, American
Occupation
Theatrical producers and directors
Activity

Person

Birth 1890

Death 1953

Male

Americans

French,

English

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pn96vp

Ark ID: w6pn96vp

SNAC ID: 46844850