Fred Ballard, Theater Scrapbooks
Title: Fred Ballard, Theater Scrapbooks
Creator:
Ballard, John Frederick, 1884-1957
Dates: 1912-1957
Quantity: 2 boxes (1.5 linear feet)
Collection Number: MS 138
Language: English
Restrictions: None
Copyright: To inquire about usage, please contact Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries. For more
information see the Use Guidelines
Preferred Citation: Fred Ballard, Theater Scrapbooks (MS 138). Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries.
Biography:
John Frederick (Fred) Ballard was born in Grafton, Nebraska in 1884 and moved with his parents to Havelock, Nebraska in 1891.
Ballard enrolled at the University of Nebraska in 1900 and graduated in 1905 with a Bachelor's degree in Literature. He completed
a Master's degree in English Literature in 1907. His thesis was entitled "The History and Tendancy of American Drama."
After college he moved to Chicago on the advice of playwright Charles Klein to work in theaters and study the theater industry
in order to become a playwright. Ballard's experience in Chicago gave him an idea of how successful plays were written, acted,
and produced. Shortly thereafter he wrote "Believe me, Xantippe,"
a play that won the John Craig, Harvard Prize and would eventually star actor John Barrymore on Broadway and become a motion
picture. Ballard also earned another Master's degree from Harvard. He continued to write plays and many eventually became
movies. Some of his more successful plays were: "Believe me, Xantippe," "Young America," "Ladies of the Jury," "What's Wrong," "We,
the People," "A Rainy Day," "Out of Luck," "The Cyclone Lover," and "Dollars and Chickens."
Scope and Content:
The collection consists mostly of scrapbooks containing newspaper articles, programs, and photographs from and about Ballard's
plays. The plays represented are "Believe me, Xantippe," "Young America,"
and "Ladies of the Jury."
There is one small file of biographical materials, one file of correspondence, and one file containing legal descriptions
of real estate in Kansas City, Missouri. Also included are photographs of scenes from his plays, which include scenes with
actor John Barrymore.
Subjects:
Ballard, John Frederick, 1884-1957
Barrymore, John, 1882-1942
Motion pictures
Lincoln (Neb.)
Chicago (Ill.)
New York (N.Y.)
Boston (Mass.)
University of Nebraska--Lincoln
Harvard
Theater 20th century
Broadway
Container List:
Box 1.
Folder 1. Legal matters, real estate document
Box 1.
Folder 2. Biographical materials
Box 1.
Folder 3. Correspondence, 1946-1952
Box 1.
Folder 4. Scrapbook, "Believe Me, Xantippe," 1912
Box 1.
Folder 5. Scrapbook, "Believe Me, Xantippe," 1912
Box 2.
Folder 1. Photographs, "Believe Me, Xantippe," 1912
Box 2.
Folder 2. Scrapbook, "Ladies of the Jury," 1929
Box 2.
Folder 3. Photograph album, "Young America," 1915
Box 2.
Folder 4. Photograph album, "Young America," 1915
Related Material and Resources:
Ballard's thesis and other published work can be found by searching the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Libraries on-line catalog. There is also correspondence in the Mari Sandoz papers, Spec MS 80 and the Erwin H. Barbour papers, RG 32/01/01.
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