Guide to the Cheyenne Theatres Collection

Collection

Identifier: C-1210

Staff Only

Scope and Content

The Cheyenne Theatres Collection was assembled by Mrs. Harry B. Henderson, Sr. (Vivia Ava Buck Henderson), society editor of the Wyoming Tribune. The collection primarily consists of printed materials for performances at the Capitol Avenue Theatre in Cheyennesuch as programs, fliers, and other promotional materials for plays and other productions shown from 1910 to 1915. There are also several programs from the Atlas and Princess Theatres, as well as school programs and newspaper clippings.

Microfilm roll H-4 contains approximately 100 handwritten pages of Capitol Avenue Theatre corporation and Board of Directors meeting minutes from 1904 to 1917. The bulk of the information lies in the first year of the theatre’s existence, 1904-05, and in 1911, when Heaney and Bradley took over management.

Dates

undated, 1907, 1910 - 1923
Majority of material found within 1910-1923

Creator

Henderson, Vivia A.B., 1861-1938 (Person)

Language of Materials

English

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Copy Restrictions

Limited duplication of print materials allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Historical Note

The Capitol Avenue Theatre in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was incorporated on August 20, 1904, and included among its investors and on its Board of Directors such people as Joseph M. Carey (Governor of Wyoming from 1911 to 1915), Francis E. Warren (territorial governor, first state governor, and at the time of the Capitol Avenue Theatre, U.S. Senator for Wyoming), and John W. Lacey (prominent Cheyenne lawyer). Other early Board of Director members included Max Idelman, J.L. Murray, George Hoyt, Leopold Kabis, and Thomas Cosgriff. The first manager of the Theatre was Edward Stahle. In 1911, the Theatre was sold and the Board of Directors completely changed. Thomas Heaney and Walter J. Bradley took over control and management of the Theatre.

The Theatre attracted many Broadway plays on tour across the United States, such as "The Passing of the Third Floor Back" by Jerome K. Jerome, "Alice Sit-By-The-Fire and What Every Woman Knows" by J.M. Barrie, "The Pirates of Penzance" by Gilbert and Sullivan, and the operetta "The Chocolate Soldier" based on George Bernard Shaw’s play "Arms and the Man." Theatrical stars of the time as Sarah Bernhardt, Henry Miller, Ethel Barrymore, and John Drew also came to Cheyenne.

Extent

.5 cubic feet and one roll of microfilm

Additional Description

Abstract

The Cheyenne Theatres Collection consists of programs, fliers, and other promotional materials for plays and other productions shown from 1910 to 1915 at the Capitol Avenue Theatre in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but also includes programs from the Atlas and Princess Theatres and school productions.

Arrangement

Alphabetical by theater or record type, chronological thereunder.

Acquisition Information

This collection was assembled by Mrs. Harry B. Henderson, Sr. (Vivia Ava Buck Henderson), society editor of the Wyoming Tribune. The October 1907 Capitol Avenue Theatre program was found in a subject file and originally accessioned as H2001-103. The "Robin Hood" program dated March 27, 1914, was pulled from H69-65, Harris accession.