Research Catalog

Brooks Atkinson papers

Title: Brooks Atkinson papers, 1904-1980.
Author: Atkinson, Brooks, 1894-1984.
Supplementary Content: Finding Aid

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Status	Vol/Date	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 45	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 45	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 44	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 44	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 43	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 43	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 42	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 42	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 41	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 41	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 40	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 40	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 39	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 39	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 38	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 38	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 37	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 37	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 36	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 36	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 35	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 35	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 34	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 34	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 33	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 33	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 32	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 32	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 31	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 31	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 30	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 30	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 29	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 29	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 28	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 28	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 27	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 27	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person.	Box 26	Mixed material	Supervised use	*T-Mss 1968-001 Box 26	Performing Arts Research Collections - Theatre

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Details

Additional Authors

Description

11.25 lin. ft. (46 boxes).

Subjects

Access (note)

Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Source (note)

Brooks Atkinson; Oriana Atkinson

Biography (note)

Brooks Atkinson, drama critic for the New York Times was born Justin Brooks Atkinson in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1894.

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

Finding aid available in repository and on Internet.

Processing Action (note)

Processed/Cataloged

Call Number

*T-Mss 1968-001

OCLC

NYPW94-A493

Author

Atkinson, Brooks, 1894-1984.

Title

Brooks Atkinson papers, 1904-1980.

Restricted Access

Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Summary

The Brooks Atkinson papers contain correspondence, awards, personal papers, photographs, ephemera, scrapbooks, datebooks, clippings and subject files and document his life and career as a drama critic for the New York Times. The papers span the years 1904-1980. Significant in the correspondence are letters from notables figures of the theater community including writers, actors, scholars and other journalists. Included in these are Sean O'Casey, Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder, Eugene and Carlota O'Neill, Robert W. Anderson, Maxwell Anderson, Clifford Odets, Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, to name a few.

The papers give a detailed look at most aspects of his personal and professional career and contain not only letters he received but often carbon copies of his responses. Issues of the day are reflected not only in his articles and columns but also in his correspondence to his readers and friends. Prominent in his files is correspondence dealing with Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Atkinson writings include diaries from his time as a correspondent in China, as well as a manuscript copy of Once Around the Sun. Other items of note are examples of his early writings and publishing attempts when he was a child.

Biography

Brooks Atkinson, drama critic for the New York Times was born Justin Brooks Atkinson in Melrose, Massachusetts in 1894. Atkinson was a graduate of Harvard University and began writing for the New York Times in 1922. In 1926 he became the drama critic after the retirement of Stark Young. A hiatus in this work occurred during World War II when he became a foreign correspondent. He returned to the drama desk in 1946 and remained the New York Times drama critic until his retirement in 1960.

Brooks Atkinson's love of theater revealed itself not only in his frequenting of traditional Broadway theater but also by his discovery and encouragement of new talents to be found on the off-Broadway stage. A champion of all aspects of theater in New York, Atkinson was also known as an outspoken voice against the practices of the McCarthy era and the investigations of the House Un-American Activities Committee, using his skill as a journalist to inform the public and expose the tactics of Joseph McCarthy and his supporters.

Brooks Atkinson retired from the New York Times in 1960 but continued writing a twice-weekly column for another 5 years called Critic-At-Large. He died in Huntsville, Alabama on January 13, 1984.

Indexes

Finding aid available in repository and on Internet.

Local Note

Some materials in this collection previously cataloged as MWEZ+ n.c. 1788A; 17305; 20753; 20962-20966; 20968-20970; 20975; 20994; 21089; 22180; 23872; 26304-26315; 26315; 26318-26335.

Connect to:

Finding Aid

Added Author

O'Casey, Sean, 1880-1964.

Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983.

O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953.

Wilder, Thornton, 1897-1975.

Anderson, Robert, 1917-2009.

Anderson, Maxwell, 1888-1959.

Odets, Clifford, 1906-1963.

Kaufman, George S. (George Simon), 1889-1961.

Hart, Moss, 1904-1961.

Service, John S., 1909-

Hoover, J. Edgar (John Edgar), 1895-1972.

Webster, Margaret, 1905-1972.

Research Call Number