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Leone Cass Baer Hicks photographs, 1910-1923
Overview of the Collection
- Compiler
- Hicks, Cass Baer, 1881-1949
- Title
- Leone Cass Baer Hicks photographs
- Dates
- 1910-1923 (inclusive)19101923
- Quantity
- 1.8 cubic feet, (1 slim letter document case; 6 oversize folders (11x14) in shared box; 2 oversize folders (16x20) in shared box; 1 oversize folder (20x24) in shared box)
- Collection Number
- Org. Lot 367
- Summary
- The collection consists primarily of autographed publicity portraits of music, theater, and movie personalities, given to Leone Cass Baer Hicks (1881-1949) when she was drama editor and critic for the Oregonian newspaper in Portland, Oregon. Performers represented include Julian Eltinge, Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, Harry Houdini, Mary Pickford, Lillian Russell, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Laurette Taylor, and Sophie Tucker, among others.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Cass Baer was born in 1881 in Bloomfield, Iowa, to George Franklin Baer and Catherine Beckley Baer. After attending teacher's college in Missouri and the Art Institute of Chicago, Baer moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1904, where she worked as an art teacher at St. Helen's Hall. Around 1907, she began working at the Oregonian newspaper as a feature writer, and then as drama editor and critic. She first wrote under the name Leone Cass Baer, then, after her marriage to Harve W. Hicks in 1919, as Leone Cass Baer Hicks, and later as Cass Baer Hicks. Quickly gaining a reputation for her impartial critiques of Portland stage events, she also became popular for her wit and clever comments. She remained at the Oregonian until 1927, when she and her husband moved to Hollywood, California. They later divorced, and she returned to Portland. After retiring in 1941, she moved to Tigard, where she resided until her death in 1949.
Sources: "Noted Writer Dies on Farm," Oregonian, October 4, 1949, Page 15; item in "Women in Advertising and Journalism" column, Editor & Publisher, July 10, 1926 (Vol. 59, No. 7), page 38; articles in the Oregonian, 1907-1949; vital records via Ancestry.com.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Collection of 73 autographed portraits of music, theater, and movie personalities, 1910-1923, given to Leone Cass Baer Hicks when she worked as a drama editor and critic for the Oregonian newspaper. A few are unsigned, including a photographic print on postcard stock of Harry Houdini and his wife, and a few movie stills and scenes from theater productions. In addition to Houdini, performers represented in the collection include Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Lillian Russell, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Laurette Taylor, and Sophie Tucker, among others. The collection also includes several portraits of Julian Eltinge, one of the most prominent female impersonators of the period from 1910 to 1920.
Some of the autographs and inscriptions include a date, which may differ from the date the photograph was taken. Photographers represented in the collection include many studios throughout the United States that specialized in publicity portraits of performers.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
Leone Cass Baer Hicks photographs, Org. Lot 367, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Restrictions on Use
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The photographs are arranged alphabetically by surname of performer, with a folder of background information at the end.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Marti Staehle, November 1984 (Lib. Acc. 17017, Photo Acc. 984D161).
Processing Note
A collection guide was created by Sharon Howe in 2004. In January 2025, the collection title was revised to better reflect Cass Baer Hicks' name, to correct and expand biographical information about her, and to conform to current standard. Prior to these revisions, the collection was titled "Leone Cass Baer photographs collection."
Separated Materials
A 1915 letter from Harry Houdini to Leone Cass Baer was separated to the Correspondence collection, Mss 1500, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | Baker, Mary Edgett | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 1 | Barker, Corinne R. | 1919 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | Buzzell, Eddie [Edward] and Ona Munson [Mrs. Eddie Buzzell] | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 1 | Carson, Frances | 1917 April | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | Cowl, Jane | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 7 | Creel, Blanche Bates [children of] | circa 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | Drew, John | 1911 |
| 1 | 2 | Edeson, Robert | 1910 |
| 1 | 2 | Eltinge, Julian -- in street clothes | undated |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 2 | Eltinge, Julian -- in street clothes | 1912, 1917 | |
| Oversize 7 | Eltinge, Julian -- as a female impersonator | 1918, undated | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 2 | Evans, W. H. | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 9 | Fairbanks, Douglas, Sr. | 1920 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 2 | Figman, Max and Lolita Robertson with their children | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 2 | Forbes-Robertson, J. [Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson] | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 7 | Foy, Eddie [Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys] | 1913 | |
| Oversize 2 | Foy, Eddie [Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys] | 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 2 | Gable, Clark with Norman Shearer (film still) | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 2 | Galli-Curci, Amelita | 1920 | |
| Oversize 2 | Gentle, Alice | circa 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 2 | Guinan, Texas | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 3 | Hampden, Buford | 1911 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 8 | Heather, Josie | 1911 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 3 | Hedman, Martha | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 3 | Hickman, Nance O'Neil | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 3 | Hite, Mabel | circa 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 3 | Horton, Edward Everett
Includes signed portrait and Horton with Lois Wilson in a scene from a stage production.
|
circa 1920 |
| 1 | 3 | Houdini, Harry
Includes autographed portrait and a postcard portrait of Houdini and his wife.
|
1923, undated |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 3 | Howard, Eugene and William Howard | 1915 | |
| Oversize 3 | Irwin, May | 1914 | |
| Oversize 3 | Howard, Eugene and William Howard | 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 4 | James, Louis | 1910 February 7 |
| 1 | 4 | Lackaye, Wilton | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 4 | Loftus, Cecilia | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 8 | Lloyd, Alice | circa 1915 | |
| Oversize 3 | Lynne, Felice | 1914 | |
| Oversize 4 | Mantell, Robert B. | 1910 | |
| Oversize 4 | Miller, Harry | 1911 | |
| Oversize 4 | Monterey, Carlotta | 1916 | |
| Oversize 4 | Morton, Harry K. | 1921 | |
| Oversize 4 | Munson, Ona | circa 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 5 | Muratore, L. [Lucien] | 1914 |
| 1 | 5 | Olcott, Margaret | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 5 | Pangborn, Franklin J. [Franklyn] | 1921 |
| 1 | 5 | De Pasquali, Bernice | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 9 | Pickford, Mary | 1920 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 5 | Powell, Maud | 1919 March 25 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 8 | Rice, Fanny | circa 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 6 | Roberts, Florence | 1910 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 5 | Roberts, Theodore
Composite with formal portrait and 8 portraits in costumes for roles played.
|
circa 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 6 | Roland, Ruth | 1917 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 5 | Roland, Ruth | 1922 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 6 | Ruegger, Elsa | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 6 | Russell, Lillian | circa 1915 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 5 | Russell, Marie Booth | 1910 | |
| Oversize 6 | Samuels, Rae | circa 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 6 | Scheff, Fritzi | 1916 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 8 | Schumann-Heink, Ernestine | 1910 | |
| Oversize 6 | Sothern, E.H. [Edward Hugh] | 1912 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 6 | Steele, William | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 6 | Stone, Fred | 1923, undated |
| 1 | 7 | Taylor, Laurette | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 7 | Tellegen, Lou
Touring with "Mme. Sarah Bernhardt and Her Company."
|
1913 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 6 | Terry, Ellen [Dame Ellen Terry] | 1917 | |
| Oversize 6 | Russell, Thaw | 1916 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 7 | Tucker, Sophie | 1912 |
| Folder | |||
| Oversize 6 | Vanderbilt, Gertrude | circa 1915 | |
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 7 | Walsh, Blanche | circa 1915 |
| 1 | 8 | Background information | undated |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Actors--United States--Photographs
- Entertainers--United States--Photographs
- Female impersonators--United States--Photographs
- Musical theater--United States--Photographs
- Vaudeville--United States--Photographs
Form or Genre Terms
- photographs
Sharon M. Howe; revised by Katie Mayer
2004; revised 2025
