UUM_Ms0677 Inventory of the Keith Maurice Engar papers, 1903-1997 Engar (Keith Maurice) papers Finding aid created by Lisa DeMille Manuscripts Division, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
295 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0860 801-581-8864 http://www.lib.utah.edu/collections/manuscripts.php
© 1999 (last modified: 2019) Finding aid encoded by Lisa DeMille 2007 Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script. Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition) 2013 Finding aid revised and re-encoded by Emma McFarland. University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections Manuscripts Division
Special Collections 295 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, Utah 84112-0860 801-581-8864 http://www.lib.utah.edu/collections/manuscripts.php
MS 0677 Keith Maurice Engar papers 1903-1997 Engar, Keith Maurice 24.75 linear feet The Keith Maurice Engar papers (1903-1997) consist of materials relating to Keith Engar (1923-1994) and his professional contributions to Utah radio, television, and theater. Collection materials are in English. Biographical Sketch

Keith Maurice Engar was born in Preston, Idaho, to Charles J. and Alveretta Engar on 2 April 1923. His family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, where he attended East High then West High. While in high school, Engar became involved in various activities, including tennis, basketball, theater, and radio. Radio, however, was different in that it was a job. In an oral history present in the collection, Engar noted that "from age sixteen on, I earned my bread in radio." He began as a guide for KSL Radio, stationed in Salt Lake City, and performed on their daily children's show, "Storytelling Time." Later he would become an announcer, producer, and manager for various radio stations, including KDYL, KLO, and KUER. He graduated from West High School in 1940 and went on to college at the University of Utah.

While in college, Engar enlisted in the Army Reserve Corps in 1942 and completed his basic training in 1943. He started out in Field Artillery but transferred to the Air Corps where he was made a flight navigator. He was honorably discharged in July 1946 and, in that same year, married Amy Kathryn Lyman. He received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Utah in 1947 and 1948 respectively. He then went on to the University of Minnesota where he was an instructor and earned his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1951.

Engar returned to the University of Utah in 1951 as an instructor in the Theater Department as well as a radio and television producer for the university. His involvement in television actually began in 1948 when Channel 4 went on the air. The manager of this station had seen a review of My Sister Ilene, a play directed by Engar, and wondered if he would like to come and work for Channel 4. He did just that and was involved in the first telecast of the first television station between Denver and the Pacific Coast. While helping to establish the University of Utah's radio and television stations, Engar accepted a Fulbright research grant to Paris, France. From 1956 to 1957 he worked with the French broadcasting system on educational television programs. Upon returning to Utah, Engar initiated educational television's use in the schoolroom and helped get KUED Channel 7 on the air in 1958. Three years later, as director of Radio and Television Services, Engar succeeded in getting KUER on the air.

While running both KUED and KUER, Engar accepted the positions of president of the Pasadena Playhouse and director of the University Theater in 1964. However, feeling he had contributed all he could to television and radio, Engar resigned as director of those services and turned his full attention to the theater. He was able to lift the standards of the university's theater by bringing in more professionals to perform in its productions. At the same time, Engar made the theater a "true university theater," directed by the faculty and having students as performers, by devoting the Babcock Theater to student productions. He pioneered the university's summer theater festivals and performed in many of their productions, including Oklahoma, Brigadoon, and South Pacific. Engar was made dean of the College of Fine Arts in 1981 and served in that capacity for three years. In 1984 he relinquished most of his theatrical duties to others but stayed on as executive producer. He retired in 1987.

Engar's involvement in local and national organizations was widespread. He became a member of the Theta Alpha Phi Fraternity in 1942 and was part of the National Collegiate Players Fraternity while attending the University of Minnesota. He served as president of Utah's Radio and Television Council and the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters; and was a member of the American Theater Association during the 1970s and 1980s. Engar was also a member of the Utah Board of Fine Arts, the Board of Directors of Educational Television Stations (a division of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters), as well as the Sons of Utah Pioneers. He received several awards throughout his career, including the Professor Emeritus of Theater Award from the University of Utah in 1988. Keith Engar died in 1994 after a long illness.

The Keith Maurice Engar papers (1903-1997) consist of materials relating to Keith Engar (1923-1994) and his professional contributions to Utah radio, television, and theater. Some personal materials are also included. The collection has been divided into four sections and contains correspondence, oral histories, writings by Engar and others, notebooks, manuals, radio and theater reports, research materials, scrapbooks, play scripts, theater programs and announcements, news clippings, and publications. A fifth series has been added for the inclusion of addenda.

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.

Transfer from the University Archives, and gifts of Amy Engar and Bill and Sheri Engar in 1995-1996.

Boxes 36-38 donated by Pioneer Memorial Theatre through Charles Morey in 2012.

Processed by Lisa DeMille in 1999.

Addendum processed by Emma McFarland in 2013.

Photographs and audio-visual materials were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0677 and A0404).

 Engar, Keith Maurice--Archives Pioneer Memorial Theater (Salt Lake City, Utah) Theater--Utah--Salt Lake City--History--Sources Theater--Utah--Production and direction--History--Sources Drama--Study and teaching--Utah--History--Sources Performing Arts Media and Communication Correspondence Oral histories Scrapbooks Notebooks Reports Scripts (documents) Programs Clippings Personal Materials

This first eleven boxes of this collection, dating from 1930 to 1995, contain personal materials pertaining to Keith Engar. While the bulk of the collection focuses on Engar's involvement in theater, this section also contains information on his radio and television career, his education, his involvement in the LDS Church, his years in the Army Air Corps, and his family. Two oral histories conducted with Engar are in box 1, folders 5-6. One was done by Everett Cooley, head of the Oral History Project for the University of Utah's Marriott Library, while the other was part of a project conducted by Robertson Associates, Inc. This latter project, headed by James Robertson, selected individuals who "played important roles in the establishment and develop-ment of noncommercial educational television in the United States." Both histories contain a great deal of information concerning Engar's pioneering efforts in the field of radio and educational television, as well as on his contributions to theater. The copyright documents in box 1, folder 16 pertain to plays Engar wrote and wanted published. Several plays written and produced by Engar were for the LDS Church Activities Committee of which he was a part. One of these plays is represented by a program in box 3, folder 7. The program in box 3, folder 10 was for a pageant, "The Message of the Ages," commemorating the centenary of the organization of the LDS Church. Where possible, photographs were taken out of the scrapbooks in boxes 6-11 and transferred to the Multimedia Section of the Manuscripts Division; photocopies were placed in their stead. Scrapbooks located in boxes 6-8 and 10 were given titles, as listed, by Engar.

 1 1-4 Correspondence 1955-1995 1 5-6 Oral Histories 1981 1984 1 7 Keith M. Engar and Dail Ogden, "Instructor-Directed Television" 1966 1 8 Keith M. Engar, "State of the Artist" 1975 1 9 Keith M. Engar, "Utah's Isolation" 1953 1 10 Keith M. Engar, "Professional Standards" 1957 1 11 Keith M. Engar and Oakley J. Gordan, "Investigating Television Distribution of Visual Aids on the University of Utah Campus via Low-Power UHF" 1964 1 12 Oakley Gordon, Keith M. Engar, and Donald Shupe, "Challenging the Superior Student by Making the Study of Russian Available in the Elementary School Curriculum via Television" 1963 1 13 Keith M. Engar, "The Great Debunk" 1957 1 14 Keith M. Engar, "Christopher Marlowe" 1 15 Address by Engar Honoring Calvin and Lucybeth Rampton 1976 1 16 Copyright Documents 1970s-1980s

Copyright law packets, correspondence, and certificates of registration are included.

 1 17 Symposium on Educational Television , Booklet 1963 1 18 KUER-FM Radio Station, 25th Anniversary Pamphlet 1985 1 19 KUED-TV Station, Report to Board of Regents 1959 1 20 Radio and Television Notebook

This lists important dates for both communication mediums.

 1 21 "Utah Survey on Educational Television" 1974

Engar was the survey director for this venture.

 2 1 "Humanities and the Theater," Final Reports, Vols. 1-2 1973 2 2 Ann Willardson, "The Legends of King Arthur as Children's Theater"

This play refers to Engar's play, .

 2 3 Bertram E. Coleman, "Rogers and Hammerstein" 1980 2 4 Ernest L. Wilkinson, "Honesty" 1957 2 5 D. W. Brogan, "A Fresh Appraisal of the Civil War" 1960 2 6 C. Lowell Lees Farewell Program 1964

Lees resigned from the University of Utah faculty to be the president and director of the Pasadena Playhouse.

 2 7 Time Magazine Cover Sheets 1940s 1963

Other miscellaneous pictures are also included.

 2 8 Altitude Computation Instrument 2 9 Teatro Olimpico (Italy), Postcard Booklet 2 10 Miscellaneous

Included in this folder are news clippings on the Battle of Wounded Knee as well as on the Reed-Donner party of pioneers who traveled to Utah in the mid-1800s.

 LDS Church 3 1-6 Church Activities Committee 1953-1986

Correspondence, organizational information, manuals, and a notebook are included.

 3 7 Mutual Improvement Association, Drama Program 1967

Engar served on the Drama Committee.

 3 8 Correlation of Church Organizations

The documents in this folder give historical dates, definitions of various terms, and information on activities carried out by LDS Correlation.

 3 9 Nauvoo Neighbor , Reproduction 1945 3 10 "The Message of the Ages," Program 1930 University of Utah 4 1 Pioneer Theater Company Report 4 2 Pioneer Memorial Theater, Proposals 1986-1987

Season schedule and ticket price proposals are included.

 4 3 Playhouse Theater and School, Proposal 4 4-5 University Resident Theater Association 1969

Correspondence, itineraries, a map, and an agenda all relating to a Wisconsin conference are included.

 4 6 Theater Park 1976

Included are correspondence and grant proposals for this park.

 4 7 Summer Festival Announcements 1954 4 8 Theater 101, Syllabus and Examinations 1979 4 9-10 Speech 173

These folders contain film scripts for television by Joe Richardson.

 4 11 Liberal Education 174, Introduction Packet 4 12 Theater 507, Syllabus 1980 4 13 Class Schedule 1947-1948 4 14 College of Fine Arts, Newsletters 1969-1970 Research Materials 5 1-2 William Lee Travel Notes

Photocopy of notes Lee made while journeying across the United States.

 5 3-10 William Howe

These folders also include research notes on Howe made by Engar.

 Scrapbooks 6 1-4 Scrapbook No. 1, "Early Days" 1930s-1980s 6 1 Scrapbook No. 3, "Army" 1940s 6 2 Scrapbook No. 7 1963-1970 7 1 Scrapbook No. 2 1939-1958 7 2 Scrapbook No. 4 1947-1959 8 1 Scrapbook No. 5 1954-1963 8 2 Scrapbook No. 6 1952-1964 9 Scrapbooks 1970s-1980s 10 1-5 University of Utah Scrapbook 1980s 10 6 "Story Telling Time" Scrapbook

This scrapbook may have been used by Engar in conjunction with a radio program he was involved with by the same name.

 11 Scrapbook, Pioneer Theater Company 1988

This scrapbook was presented to Engar by his staff when he resigned from the Pioneer Theater Company.

 Plays and Music Scores

This series contains plays and music scores dating from 1903 and 1928 to 1986. Plays written by Engar are listed first and represent the bulk of this series. Engar used the pseudonym, "Charles Staples," on the scripts located in box 12, folder 9-15. Box 15, folders 4-8 contain scripts. The materials for unidentified plays by Engar in box 17, folders 4-5 consist of notes for plays with characters such as Lot, Judge, Ferguson, and Ada. The notes were originally labeled by Engar as "VQ Material." Boxes 20-21 contain both sheet music and music scores. Music scores, located in box 20, folders 14-19 and box 21 was written by Engar in conjunction with well-known LDS composer, Crawford Gates. Scripts and notes constitute the materials for the plays, although some correspondence and other documents may also be present. Box 20, folders 16, 18, and 19 contain music that accompanies plays by Engar.

 Plays by Engar 12 1 At Home with Brigham Young 12 2-6 Bremen Town Musicians 1969 12 7-8 Buchanan's War 1980 1982 12 9-15 Gawain and the Green Knight 1973 1977 13 1-3 Gawain and the Green Knight 13 4-5 The Gifts Within 1963 13 6-9 A Good Witch for Paradise 1962 1980 13 10 The Great War 1959 13 11-12 Maverick 1956 14 1-2 Mimetic Man circa 1974 14 3-6 Montrose Crossing 1953 1983 14 7 Onagain, Offagain 1956 14 8 One Justice 1949 14 9-12 Rendevous 1967 15 1-3 Rendevous 1968 15 4-8 Right Honorable Saint 1971-1986 15 9-11 Root of the Matter 1974 16 1-3 Root of the Matter 1974 16 4-5 Shadow of a Saint 1961 16 6-9 Shanghaied Romance 1961 16 10 Toxcatl 16 11-12 Uncle Ben 1975-1978 17 1-2 Well Mr. Aladdin 1950-1951 17 3 Woman Remembered 1970s 17 4-5 Unidentified Plays by Others 18 1-2 Alan Jay Lerner, Camelot 1962 18 3 Ernest Lawrence Thayer, Casey at the Bat 18 4 David and Goliath 18 5 An Evening in Social Hall 18 6 Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, The Front Page 1955 18 7-8 Gentleman from Texas

This musical comedy is based on the play by Charles Hoyt, first produced in 1893.

 18 9-16 Little Miss Faustus 18 17 Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan, Mister Roberts 1948 18 18 Thomas Haynes Bayly, Perfection 18 19 Prometheus Bound 18 20-21 Arnold Sundgaard, The Promised Valley 1958 18 22 Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, You Can't Take It With You 1937 19 Promised Valley

This is an oversized scrapbook containing schedules, scripts, cast lists, and other materials relating to the play.

 Music 20 1 Eugene Cowles, "Forgotten" 20 2 Ervine J. Stenson, "A Glad Prayer" 20 3 Arthur L. Salmon and Teresa Del Riego, "Homing Song" 20 4 George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, "I Got Plenty O'Nuttin" 20 5 Sandy Wilson, "It's Never Too Later to Fall in Love" 1954 20 6 E. L. Ashford, "My Task" 1903 20 7 Jeff Branen and Frederick G. Johnson, "Swanee River Blues" 20 8 J. W. Bratton and Leo Edwards, "Sweethart Let's Grow Old Together" 1936 20 9 Cole Porter, "Tale of the Oyster" 1975 20 10 Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer, "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" 1928 20 11 Henry Blossom and Victor Herbert, "Thine Alone" 20 12 Lorenz Hart and Franz Lehar, "Vilia" 1934 20 13 Vincent Youmans, William Rose, and Edward Eliscu, "Without a Song" 1932 20 14-15 As You Like It 20 16 Bremen Town Musicians 20 17 Crawford Gates and Arnold Sundgaard, Promised Valley 1961 20 18-19 Keith M. Engar and Crawford Gates, Rendevous 21 Music, Ruins in a City Street

The music for this play consists of six vignettes for chorus and orchestra by Sam Morgentern and Percy Seitlin.

 Theater Documents

This series, dating from the 1930s to 1982, concentrates on theater programs and announcements for theaters throughout the United States and Europe. The University of Utah programs in box 22 are listed alphabetically by production name. Programs in boxes 23-29 are listed alphabetically by theater. Theater announcements in boxes 30-31 include those for University of Utah plays and activities, as well as those in New York and Minnesota. Some ballet and opera programs are also present but have not been separated out because of their small number.

 22 Theater Programs, University of Utah 1950s-1970s 23 Theater Programs, New York, A-F 1930s-1960s 24 Theater Programs, New York, G-M 1940s 25 Theater Programs, New York, M-R 1930s-1960s 26 Theater Programs, New York, S-Z and Miscellaneous 1930s-1940s Theater Programs 27 1 Chicago 1958 1962 27 2 Philadelphia 27 3 Washington, D.C. 1962 1971 27 4 Dallas 1965 27 5 Minnesota 1950s-1960s 28 1-2 England 1950s 28 3-12 France 1950s 29 1 France 1950s 29 2 Germany 1957 1962 29 3 Austria 1955-1957 29 4 Moscow 1935 29 5 Switzerland 1956-1957 Theater Announcements 30 Theater Announcements, University of Utah 1950s-1970s 31 1-2 New York 1930s-1960s 31 3 Minnesota 1950s-1960s 31 4 Miscellaneous 32 Theater, News Articles 1950-1982 Theater, Oversize 33 1 Pen Sketch by Robert Mackintosh of a Scene from New Highways 33 2 Greek Document

This document, written in Greek and signed by the Philosophy Head at the University of Athens, discusses some attributes of theater.

 Publications 34 1 Oscar C. Burkhard, Lernen Sie Deutsch! Basic Grammar and Reader 1936 34 2 Dorothea Eltzner and Paul Radenhausen, German 1930 34 3 Aaron Frankel, Writing the Musical Broadway 1977 34 4 Margaret Jeffrey and Johanna E. Volbehr, Zwolf Dichter der Gegenwart 1937 34 5 Reinhard Maeser, Karl G. Maeser 1928 34 6 Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man 1964 35 1 Jean Baptiste Poquelin Moliere, The Misanthrope and Tartuffe 1965 35 2 J. F. L. Raschen, Goethe's Faust 1949 35 3 Robert O. Roseler and Adelaide Ber, eds., Altes und Neues 1934 35 4 Bernard Shaw, Geneva, Cymbeline Refinished, and Good King Charles 1947 Addenda Pioneer Memorial Theatre (PMT), Pioneer State Theatre Foundation (PSTF), Utah Ballet Society, and Resident Theatre Company 36 1 PMT Historical File 1957-1984 36 2 PMT High School Touring Project Materials 1972-1973 36 3 PSTF Board Meeting Back-up Materials 1978-1990

This folder includes a Feasibility Study Report created in 1990, bylaws, meeting minues, and correspondence.

 36 4 PSTF and PMT Administrative Materials 1996-1997 36 5 Utah Ballet Society 1963-1964 36 6 Resident Theatre Company 1963-1964 1973 Budget and Financial Materials 37 1 University of Utah Ballet and Theatre Budget and Financial Materials 1962-1963 37 2-5 PMT Financial Reports 1964-1968 Summer Festival 38 1 Summer Festival 1961 1961 38 2 Summer Festival 1961, American Guild of Musical Artists 1961 38 3 Summer Festival 1961, Dennis Day Lilo 1961 38 4 Summer Festival 1961, Jean Madeira and Brian Sullivan 1961 38 5 Summer Festival 1961, Tams-Witmark Music Library 1961 38 6 Summer Festival 1961, William Morris Agency 1961 38 7 Tannhauser and Music Man 1962 38 8 Manon and Kismet 1963 38 9 My Fair Lady and Faust 1964 38 10 Aida and West Side Story 1965

Photographs and contact sheets from this folder have been transferred to Multimedia.

 38 11 Barber of Secille, You Can't Take It With You, and Coppelia 1966