Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Alternative Form Available

There are documents from this and other GMU FTP collections in the Federal Theatre Project collection.

Preferred Citation note

Kate Lawson papers, Collection C0222, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Donated to Special Collections and Archives by Kate Drain Lawson on October 31, 1977.

Processing Information

Processing and EAD markup completed in October 2012 by Greta Kuriger Suiter.

Biographical Information

Born Kathryn Drain on July 27, 1894 in Spokane, Washington, her family moved to Washington, D.C., in the early 1900s. Drain left D.C. to become a nurse's aide in Paris, France, during World War I. She served in World War I in Paris as a nurse and in World War II in India with the American Red Cross. It was in Paris that she met and married John Howard Lawson, and she began her theatrical career. By 1922 she was working on Broadway as a technical director, costume and stage designer, and actress. She joined the FTP in July 1936 and headed the Bureau of Research and Publication and was the Chief Technical Officer for the FTP in New York City. She resigned in September of 1937 and moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a career in film and television.

Scope and Content

The Kate Lawson papers include newspaper clippings and press releases on Federal Theatre Project productions, FTP administrative correspondence including job descriptions, memorandums on employee reclassification, complaints from employees and audience survey questionnaires, research lists, production records, and personal correspondence.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Related Material

The Works Progress Administration oral histories collection, the Federal Theatre Project collection, the Federal Theatre Project photograph collection, as well as numerous other personal papers.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Federal Theatre Project (U.S.)
• New Deal, 1933-1939
• Theater -- United States