Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Dr. Lizzie May Ulmer Dramatic Co. account book must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Dr. Lizzie May Ulmer Dramatic Co. account book, C0314, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Purchased by the Special Collections Research Center before June 2018.

Processing Information

Processing completed by Elizabeth Beckman in July 2018. EAD markup completed by Elizabeth Beckman in July 2018.

Biographical note

Lizzie May Ulmer and George T. Ulmer were actors and theater impresarios in the second half of the 19th century, travelling and performing across the United States. According to his memoir, George Ulmer served as a drummer boy in the 8th Maine Regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War, including at the Battle of Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg (Ulmer 38, 46). After the war, he married his stepsister, Lizzie May, and they "adopted the stage as a profession" (Ulmer 76). Lizzie May achieved a degree of notoriety, and Nelson A. Primus, an African-American artist from Connecticut who was living in Boston, painted her portrait in 1876 (See Jenn Phelps, 'Me and Lizzie May,' and Samella S. Lewis, 37).

Scope and Content

This account book records the cash intake and expenditures of the Dr. Lizzie May Ulmer Dramatic Co. from September 14, 1885 to October 31, 1885. The company traveled to cities across the Southern and Eastern United States during that time - the first entry is for Savannah, GA, and the final entry is for Philadelphia, PA. Expenditures documented include percentages paid to staff, cost of advertising in various forms, etc. The intake side of each entry lists number of tickets sold, different prices of tickets, and total cash intake from each type of ticket sales.

Arrangement

Entries in the account book are arranged chronologically.

Related Material

SCRC holds other collections related to 19th century American theater, such as the Guide to the stage direction and dialogue for Oliver Twist manuscript and the North American 19th Century broadside collection.

Index Terms

Subjects:

• Actors--United States.
• Theater--United States.

Document Types:

• Account books.