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)
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