ohy_orglot367.xml Guide to the Leone Cass Baer Hicks photographs Hicks (Leone Cass Baer) photographs Sharon M. Howe; revised by Katie Mayer Oregon Historical Society Research Library 2004; revised 2025
1200 SW Park Ave. Portland, OR 97205 Business Number: 5033065204 Business Number: 5033065240 libreference@ohs.org https://www.ohs.org/research-and-library/
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-01-23. Finding aid is written in English. Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition. 2007-05 Corrected title and controlled access points, MKF. 2015 Revised to reflect updates to best practices. 2025-01-22 Title was revised to better reflect name of compiler; biographical note was revised to correct some dates and provide additional detail; inventory was revised to reflect renumbering of oversize folders for clarity; and minor revisons were made throughout to conform to current standard. Oregon Historical Society Research Library Leone Cass Baer Hicks photographs Hicks, Cass Baer, 1881-1949 Org. Lot 367 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 1910-1923 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. English

Collection is open for research.

Gift of Marti Staehle, November 1984 (Lib. Acc. 17017, Photo Acc. 984D161).

The photographs are arranged alphabetically by surname of performer, with a folder of background information at the end.

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.

Leone Cass Baer Hicks photographs, Org. Lot 367, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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."

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.

A 1915 letter from Harry Houdini to Leone Cass Baer was separated to the Correspondence collection, Mss 1500, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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.

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

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

 Houdini, Harry 1923 undated 1 3

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

 Howard, Eugene and William Howard 1915 Oversize 3 Irwin, May 1914 Oversize 3 Howard, Eugene and William Howard 1915 Oversize 3 James, Louis 1910 February 7 1 4 Lackaye, Wilton circa 1915 1 4 Loftus, Cecilia circa 1915 1 4 Lloyd, Alice circa 1915 Oversize 8 Lynne, Felice 1914 Oversize 3 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 Oversize 4 Muratore, L. [Lucien] 1914 1 5 Olcott, Margaret circa 1915 1 5 Pangborn, Franklin J. [Franklyn] 1921 1 5 De Pasquali, Bernice circa 1915 1 5 Pickford, Mary 1920 Oversize 9 Powell, Maud 1919 March 25 1 5 Rice, Fanny circa 1915 Oversize 8 Roberts, Florence 1910 1 6 Roberts, Theodore circa 1915 Oversize 5

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

 Roland, Ruth 1917 1 6 Roland, Ruth 1922 Oversize 5 Ruegger, Elsa circa 1915 1 6 Russell, Lillian circa 1915 1 6 Russell, Marie Booth 1910 Oversize 5 Samuels, Rae circa 1915 Oversize 6 Scheff, Fritzi 1916 1 6 Schumann-Heink, Ernestine 1910 Oversize 8 Sothern, E.H. [Edward Hugh] 1912 Oversize 6 Steele, William circa 1915 1 6 Stone, Fred 1923 undated 1 6 Taylor, Laurette circa 1915 1 7 Tellegen, Lou 1913 1 7

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

 Terry, Ellen [Dame Ellen Terry] 1917 Oversize 6 Russell, Thaw 1916 Oversize 6 Tucker, Sophie 1912 1 7 Vanderbilt, Gertrude circa 1915 Oversize 6 Walsh, Blanche circa 1915 1 7 Background information undated 1 8