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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)
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
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Biographical Note

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.

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Content Description

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.

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Use of the Collection

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.

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Administrative Information

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.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Description: Baker, Mary Edgett
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 1
  • Description: Barker, Corinne R.
    Dates: 1919
    Container: Folder Oversize 1
  • Description: Buzzell, Eddie [Edward] and Ona Munson [Mrs. Eddie Buzzell]
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 1
  • Description: Carson, Frances
    Dates: 1917 April
    Container: Folder Oversize 1
  • Description: Cowl, Jane
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 1
  • Description: Creel, Blanche Bates [children of]
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 7
  • Description: Drew, John
    Dates: 1911
    Container: Box 1, Folder 1
  • Description: Edeson, Robert
    Dates: 1910
    Container: Box 1, Folder 2
  • Description: Eltinge, Julian -- in street clothes
    Dates: undated
    Container: Box 1, Folder 2
  • Description: Eltinge, Julian -- in street clothes
    Dates: 1912; 1917
    Container: Folder Oversize 2
  • Description: Eltinge, Julian -- as a female impersonator
    Dates: 1918; undated
    Container: Folder Oversize 7
  • Description: Evans, W. H.
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 2
  • Description: Fairbanks, Douglas, Sr.
    Dates: 1920
    Container: Folder Oversize 9
  • Description: Figman, Max and Lolita Robertson with their children
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 2
  • Description: Forbes-Robertson, J. [Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson]
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 2
  • Description: Foy, Eddie [Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys]
    Dates: 1913
    Container: Folder Oversize 7
  • Description: Foy, Eddie [Eddie Foy and the Seven Little Foys]
    Dates: 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 2
  • Description: Gable, Clark with Norman Shearer (film still)
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 2
  • Description: Galli-Curci, Amelita
    Dates: 1920
    Container: Folder Oversize 2
  • Description: Gentle, Alice
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 2
  • Description: Guinan, Texas
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 2
  • Description: Hampden, Buford
    Dates: 1911
    Container: Box 1, Folder 3
  • Description: Heather, Josie
    Dates: 1911
    Container: Folder Oversize 8
  • Description: Hedman, Martha
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 3
  • Description: Hickman, Nance O'Neil
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 3
  • Description: Hite, Mabel
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 3
  • Description: Horton, Edward Everett

    Includes signed portrait and Horton with Lois Wilson in a scene from a stage production.

    Dates: circa 1920
    Container: Box 1, Folder 3
  • Description: Houdini, Harry

    Includes autographed portrait and a postcard portrait of Houdini and his wife.

    Dates: 1923; undated
    Container: Box 1, Folder 3
  • Description: Howard, Eugene and William Howard
    Dates: 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 3
  • Description: Irwin, May
    Dates: 1914
    Container: Folder Oversize 3
  • Description: Howard, Eugene and William Howard
    Dates: 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 3
  • Description: James, Louis
    Dates: 1910 February 7
    Container: Box 1, Folder 4
  • Description: Lackaye, Wilton
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 4
  • Description: Loftus, Cecilia
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 4
  • Description: Lloyd, Alice
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 8
  • Description: Lynne, Felice
    Dates: 1914
    Container: Folder Oversize 3
  • Description: Mantell, Robert B.
    Dates: 1910
    Container: Folder Oversize 4
  • Description: Miller, Harry
    Dates: 1911
    Container: Folder Oversize 4
  • Description: Monterey, Carlotta
    Dates: 1916
    Container: Folder Oversize 4
  • Description: Morton, Harry K.
    Dates: 1921
    Container: Folder Oversize 4
  • Description: Munson, Ona
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 4
  • Description: Muratore, L. [Lucien]
    Dates: 1914
    Container: Box 1, Folder 5
  • Description: Olcott, Margaret
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 5
  • Description: Pangborn, Franklin J. [Franklyn]
    Dates: 1921
    Container: Box 1, Folder 5
  • Description: De Pasquali, Bernice
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 5
  • Description: Pickford, Mary
    Dates: 1920
    Container: Folder Oversize 9
  • Description: Powell, Maud
    Dates: 1919 March 25
    Container: Box 1, Folder 5
  • Description: Rice, Fanny
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 8
  • Description: Roberts, Florence
    Dates: 1910
    Container: Box 1, Folder 6
  • Description: Roberts, Theodore

    Composite with formal portrait and 8 portraits in costumes for roles played.

    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 5
  • Description: Roland, Ruth
    Dates: 1917
    Container: Box 1, Folder 6
  • Description: Roland, Ruth
    Dates: 1922
    Container: Folder Oversize 5
  • Description: Ruegger, Elsa
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 6
  • Description: Russell, Lillian
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 6
  • Description: Russell, Marie Booth
    Dates: 1910
    Container: Folder Oversize 5
  • Description: Samuels, Rae
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 6
  • Description: Scheff, Fritzi
    Dates: 1916
    Container: Box 1, Folder 6
  • Description: Schumann-Heink, Ernestine
    Dates: 1910
    Container: Folder Oversize 8
  • Description: Sothern, E.H. [Edward Hugh]
    Dates: 1912
    Container: Folder Oversize 6
  • Description: Steele, William
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 6
  • Description: Stone, Fred
    Dates: 1923; undated
    Container: Box 1, Folder 6
  • Description: Taylor, Laurette
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 7
  • Description: Tellegen, Lou

    Touring with "Mme. Sarah Bernhardt and Her Company."

    Dates: 1913
    Container: Box 1, Folder 7
  • Description: Terry, Ellen [Dame Ellen Terry]
    Dates: 1917
    Container: Folder Oversize 6
  • Description: Russell, Thaw
    Dates: 1916
    Container: Folder Oversize 6
  • Description: Tucker, Sophie
    Dates: 1912
    Container: Box 1, Folder 7
  • Description: Vanderbilt, Gertrude
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Folder Oversize 6
  • Description: Walsh, Blanche
    Dates: circa 1915
    Container: Box 1, Folder 7
  • Description: Background information
    Dates: undated
    Container: Box 1, Folder 8

Sharon M. Howe; revised by Katie Mayer
2004; revised 2025

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