Robert Putnam Willamette University Theatre collection, 1947-2005

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Putnam, Robert
Title
Robert Putnam Willamette University Theatre collection
Dates
1947-2005 (inclusive)
Quantity
2 linear feet, (2 boxes)
Collection Number
WUA110
Summary
Robert Putnam was an Assistant Professor in the Drama Department at Willamette University from 1953-1974. The collection contains programs, photographs, and other materials related to the productions he was involved with during his career and after his retirement.
Repository
Willamette University Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Mark O. Hatfield Library
900 State Street
Salem, OR
97301
Telephone: 5033706866
Fax: 5033706141
archives@willamette.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open to researchers.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Robert "Bob" M. Putnam was born June 22, 1918. He earned his undergraduate degree in Dramatic Arts from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. He married Jeanette Ruth Hershey on January 7, 1944. Putnam served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. When Putnam returned to the United States, he earned his master's degree in radio speech from the University of Wisconsin.

Robert Putnam started working at Willamette University in the 1953-1954 school year as an Assistant Professor in the Speech and Drama Department. He directed many of the Drama Department's productions between 1953 and 1974. It was common for him to produce four to five shows a year. He not only directed and produced, he also designed and built sets and costumes, occasionally acted, sold tickets, oversaw the technical aspects of productions, and handled publicity.

Between 1974 and 1980, Putnam managed the Smith Auditorium. He retired in 1980 as an Associate Professor of Theatre with 27 years of service. In 1954, during his tenure at Willamette, he helped found the Pentacle Theatre, the successful Salem community theatre. Robert Putnam died on July 5, 2007.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Robert Putnam was an Assistant Professor in the Drama Department at Willamette University from 1953-1974. The collection contains programs, photographs, and other materials related to the productions he was involved with during his career. There are also programs from Willamette University Theatre productions after Putnam retired.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Library acts as "fair use" reproduction agent.

For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Willamette University Archives and Special Collections.

Copyright Information: Before material from collections at Willamette University Archives and Special Collections may be quoted in print, or otherwise reproduced, in whole or in part, in any publication, permission must be obtained from (1) the owner of the physical property, and (2) the holder of the copyright. It is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain both sets of permission. Persons wishing to quote from materials in any collections held by University Archives and Special Collections should consult the University Archivist. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Robert Putnam Willamette University Theatre collection, Archives and Special Collections, Mark O. Hatfield Library, Willamette University.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Arranged in chronological order. Undated material was processed again and dated, but the folders remained in the order in which they were first processed.

Location of Collection

Mark O. Hatfield Library

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1 Blithe Spirit program 1947 January
1 2 Our Town program 1949 December
1 3 Religious Emphasis Week Program 1950 February
1 4 The Man Who Would be Sick program 1950 Spring
1 5 The Winter's Tale program 1950 December
1 6 Murder In The Cathedral program 1951 February
1 7 School for Scandal program 1951 May
1 8 Night Must Fall program 1951 November
1 9 Papa Is All program 1952 February
1 10 Christ's Way Today? 1952 February
1 11 Twelfth Night program 1952 April-May
1 12 The Happy Time program 1952 November
1 13 The 1953-54 Season of W.U. Theatre flyer 1953-1954
1 14 The Glass Menagerie program 1953 February
1 15 Pygmalion program 1953 March
1 16 Good News program 1953 April-May
1 17 Hay Fever program and other materials 1953-November
1 18 The 1954-55 Season of the W.U. Theatre flyer 1954-1955
1 19 Electra program and other materials 1954 February
1 20 Seven Keys to Baldpate program and other materials 1954 April
1 21 She Stoops to Conquer program and other materials 1954 December
1 22 The 1955-56 Season of W.U. Theatre flyer 1955-1956
1 23 Shadow and Substance production materials 1955 March
1 24 Lo And Behold! production materials 1955 May
1 25 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1956-57 Season flyer 1956-1957
1 26 The House of Bernarda Alba program 1956 March
1 27 Curious Savage production materials 1956 November
1 28 Plautus production materials 1956 December
1 29 The WU Theatre Announces its 1957-58 Season flyer 1957-1958
1 30 The Victors production materials 1957 March
1 31 Don Juan production materials 1957 May
1 32 Trial by Jury production materials 1957 October
1 33 Thunder Rock production materials 1957 December
1 34 The WU Theatre Announces its 1958-59 Season flyer 1958-1959
1 35 An Evening of One-Act Plays program 1958 January
1 36 Summer and Smoke production materials 1958 February-March
1 37 Squaring the Circle production materials 1958 May
1 38 Menaechmi production materials 1958 October
1 40 The WU Theatre Announces its 1959-60 Season flyer 1959-1960
1 41 An Evening of One-Act Plays program 1959 January
1 42 One-Act Plays materials 1959 March
1 43 Out of the Frying Pan production materials 1959 May
1 44 One-Acts 1959 May
1 45 Varsity Varieties, "Armchair Holiday" 1959 October
1 46 Death Takes a Holiday production materials 1959 November
1 47 The Perfect Fool: The Marriage of Figaro 1959 November
1 48 Two Short Operas materials 1959 November
1 49 Tender Trap materials 1959 November
1 50 The Sign of Jonah production materials 1959 December
1 51 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1960-61 Season flyer 1960-1961
1 52 An Evening of Theatre program 1960 January
1 53 The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial production materials 1960 March
1 54 Othello production materials 1960 April
1 55 The Circle production materials 1960 May
1 56 Annie Get Your Gun production materials 1960 November
1 57 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1961-62 Season flyer 1961-1962
1 58 An Evening of Theatre program 1961 January
1 59 Two One-Act Plays materials 1961 May
1 60 Royal Gambit production materials 1961 March
1 61 The Crucible production materials 1961 March
1 62 Angel Street production materials 1961 May
1 63 Look Homeward, Angel production materials 1961 November
1 64 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1962-63 Season flyer 1962-1963
1 66 Ghosts production materials 1962 March
1 65 How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Memorandum 1962
1 67 Twelfth Night production materials 1962 May
1 68 Varsity Varieties, Parents Weekend program 1962 October
1 69 The Swan production materials 1962 November
1 74 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1963-64 Season flyer 1963-1964
1 71 The Just Assassins production materials 1963 March
1 72 See How They Run production materials 1963 May
1 75 The Devil and Daniel Webster production materials 1963 November
1 76 Misalliance production materials 1963 December
1 70 An Evening of Theatre program 1963 January
1 73 An Evening of Theatre program 1963 May
1 77 An Evening of Theatre production materials 1964 January
1 78 The Wingless Victory production materials 1964 March
1 79 A Midsummer Night's Dream production materials 1964 May
1 80 An Evening of Theatre article clippings 1964 May
1 81 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1964-65 Season 1964-1965
1 82 Varsity Varieties program 1964 October
1 83 Blithe Spirit production materials 1964 November
1 84 An Evening of Theatre materials 1965 January
1 85 The Lady's Game program 1965 January
1 86 Hippolytus production materials 1965 February
1 87 The American Dream program 1965 April
1 88 An Evening of Theatre 1965 May
1 89 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1965-66 Season flyer 1965-1966
2 1 Laura production materials 1965 May
2 2 Once Upon a Mattress production materials 1965 December
2 3 An Evening of Theatre program and article clippings 1965 December
2 21 Willamette Dancers Spring Concert program 1968 Spring
2 4 Dirty Hands production materials 1966 February
2 5 The Second Annual Festival of Contemporary Arts materials 1966 April
2 6 An Evening of Theatre materials 1966 May
2 7 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1966-67 Season flyer 1966-1967
2 8 On the Town, Varsity Varieties program 1966 September
2 9 Tiny Alice production materials 1966 November
2 10 The Physicists production materials 1966 December
2 10 An Evening of Theatre materials 1966 December
2 12 Braggart Warrior production materials 1967 February
2 13 Finian's Rainbow production materials 1967 April
2 14 An Evening of Theatre article clippings 1967 May
2 15 Varieties program 1967 October
2 16 Three by Albee production materials 1967 October
2 17 The Death of Bessie Smith programs 1967 October
2 18 All's Well That Ends Well production materials 1967 November
2 19 Let's Get a Divorce production materials 1968 February-March
2 20 Mary, Mary production materials and correspondence 1968 April
2 22 The W.U. Theatre Presents Its 1968-69 Season 1968-1968
2 23 The Associated Students of W.U. Present Varieties 1968 October
2 24 Pygmalion production materials 1968 November
2 25 Marian Fuller, Senior Recital program 1969 January
2 26 The Four Fake Spirits production materials February 1969
2 27 The Willamette Dancers program 1969 Spring
2 28 Becket production materials 1969 April
2 29 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1969-70 Season 1969-1970
2 30 Wait Until Dark production materials 1969 November
2 31 Antigone program 1970 February
2 32 The Chinese Wall production materials 1970 March
2 33 Is There Life After Birth? programs 1970 March
2 34 Tartuffe production materials 1970 April
2 35 An Evening of Theatre materials 1970 May
2 36 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1970-71 Season 1970-1971
2 37 King Lear production materials 1970 November
2 71 News clippings, articles, and notes 1953-1980
2 38 The Armagh Cup production materials 1971 February
2 39 What Fools These Mortals Be program 1971 March
2 40 The Love of Four Colonels production materials 1971 April
2 41 Evening of Theatre materials 1971 April-May
2 42 The W.U. Theatre Announces its 1971-72 Season flyer 1971-1972
2 43 Celebration production materials 1971 October
2 44 J.B. production materials 1971 November
2 45 Willamette Dancers Present 1971 Fall
2 46 Ten Little Indians production materials 1972 February
2 47 Mission! Impossible Theme, Willamette Dancers program 1972 April
2 48 Inherit the Wind production materials 1972 April
2 49 W.U. Theatre mailer 1972-1973
2 50 The Boy Friend program 1972 October
2 51 Prometheus Bound production materials 1972 November
2 52 Jacques Brel Is-- tickets 1972 November
2 53 My Three Angels production materials 1973 March
2 54 Willamette Dancers Present flyer 1973 APril
2 55 Experimental Theatre program 1973 April
2 56 W.U. Theatre mailer 1973-1974
2 57 Man of La Mancha program and correspondence 1973 September
2 58 Abelard and Heloise production materials 1973 November
2 59 The Dark at the Top of the Stairs program 1974
2 60 Tom Paine production materials 1974 February
2 61 You Can't Take It With You production materials 1974 April
2 62 Willamette Dancers Present program 1974 April
2 63 Kent Wells, Senior Recital flyers 1974 April
2 64 W.U. College of Music and Theatre performance schedule 1974 October
2 65 Godspell program 1974 October
2 66 Crimes of the Heart program 1974 October
2 67 The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail program 1974 November
2 68 Slow Dance on the Killing Ground program 1975 February
2 69 Two Gentlemen of Verona program 1976 October
2 70 Child's Play program 1980 November
2 72 The Learned Ladies program 1981 February
2 73 The National Health program 1981 November
2 74 Jurgen! program 1982 June-July
2 75 Blood Wedding program 1994 November
2 76 Waiting for the Parade program 1995 February-March
2 77 The Cherry Orchard program 1995 April
2 78 Dancing at Lughnasa program 1995 October
2 79 Othello program 1995 November
2 80 The Broken Jug program 1996 February-March
2 81 Immigrants and Innocents program 1996 March
2 82 Once in a Lifetime program 1996 April
2 83 Fefu and her Friends program program 1996 November
2 84 The Sea program 1997 March-April
2 85 Boys' Life program 1997 April-May
2 86 On the Verge program 1997 October
2 87 As Freedom is a Breakfastfood program 1998 March
2 88 Romeo and Juliet program 1998 October
2 89 Arcadia 1998 November
2 90 Oleanna program 1998 December
2 91 The Body Eclectic program 1999 March
2 92 A Flea in her Ear program 1999 April-May
2 93 Lysistrata program 1999 November
2 94 A Bright Room Called Day program 2000 February
2 95 You Can Never Tell program 2000 April
2 96 A Doll's House program 2000 October
2 97 How I Learned to Drive program 2000 November
2 98 The Bald Soprano program 2001 February
2 99 Art in Action program 2001 March
2 100 The Good Person of Sichuan program 2001 October
2 101 Quilters program 2001 November
2 102 Stop Kiss program 2002 February
2 103 ...And we Dance program 2002 March
2 104 All My Sons program 2002 April
2 105 The Diviners program 2002 October
2 106 Big Love program 2002 November
2 107 From Within program 2003 February
2 108 Savage in Limbo program 2003 February-March
2 109 Moveable Feast program 2003 March
2 110 The Taming of the Shrew 2003 April
2 111 Theatre 2003-2004 Season mailer 2003-2004
2 112 Our Country's Good program 2003 November
2 113 The Promise program 2004 March
2 114 Three Farces and a Funeral program 2004 April-May
2 115 A Lie of the Mind program 2004 December
2 116 Sueno program 2005 September
2 117 Alice in Willametteland program 1960 October
2 118 A Delicate Balance program circa 1970-1975
2 119 Forty Carats program 1973 December
2 120 Kiss Me Kate program 1955 October
2 121 Mame program 1970 October
2 122 Macbeth 1955 November
2 123 Mr. F. photographs circa 1950s
2 124 The Two Executioners
Does not appear to be a Willamette production of this play.
undated
2 125 This Land is Our Land program
Production for Parent's Weekend.
1965 October
2 126 Willamette Dancers Present...program 1971 April 23-24
2 127 Willamette Dancers Present...program 1973 April 26-28
2 128 Addressed of Drama Alumni undated
2 129 Photographs from plays
Includes photographs from Lysistrata, A Phoenix Too Frequent, Othello, and others.
circa 1959-1960
2 130 Unknown plays photographs
Includes an envelope reading: "These are snaps of shows just before I came to Willamette. Given at North High and in Waller Hall at W.U.".
undated
2 131 Miscellaneous unannotated photographs
Includes photographs of a renaissance-era play.
circa 1960s
2 132 Miscellaneous annotated photographs
Annotated with either the play or the name of the people in the photographs, some include dates.
1952-1957

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Theater

Corporate Names

  • Willamette University
  • Willamette University. Department of Theatre

Geographical Names

  • G. Herbert Smith Auditorium (Willamette University)
  • Kresge Theatre Playhouse (Willamette University)
  • M. Lee Pelton Theatre (Willamette University)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographs
  • playbills
  • theater programs

Finding aid processed by Karmen Chavez-Sam and Selicity Icefire.
2018

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West