SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Florence Swisher
Papers are divided into seven series: Publications, Student Work,
Movie Photographs, Correspondence, Class Materials, Programs, and Miscellaneous.
The first series, Publications,
consists of scripts, assorted theatre and arts publications, and
other publications, divided into three folders.
Included in this series are souvenir programs from productions of
the 1920s, magazines and pamphlets, catalogues of plays, advertisements
for costume companies, and several well-used scripts.
The Student Work
series is made up of students’ assignments from Miss Swisher’s
classes. It is divided into four subject areas and five folders:
Arthurian Legend (essays and myth synopses), Creative Writing (plays,
poetry, and short stories), Literature Portfolios (collections of
contemporary poetry and biographical sketches of writers), and Theatre
Portfolios demonstrating lighting, scenery, and costume designs.
There is a Miscellaneous folder containing more student notes and
papers, as well.
The Movie
Photographs series can be found in Folders 10 and 11 of Box 1.
It consists of promotional 8x10 black-and-white photos depicting
scenes from motion pictures of the 1920s.
The first folder contains photos that include the film’s title,
arranged alphabetically. The
second folder contains photos without titles.
Correspondence is
the fourth series in the collection.
It encompasses several forms and subject areas of correspondence
between Swisher and others, including telegrams, letters, postcards,
invitations and some blank stationery.
The next series is made
up of Class Materials.
This series includes a folder of exam sheets covering British and
American literature and a folder of Swisher’s lecture notes, along with
some other notes on scrap paper.
The Programs series
consists primarily of programs from Albion, including examples from the
theatrical productions that Swisher directed.
It also includes theatre programs from other places, including
other colleges, area theatres and New York theatres. There are also
folders containing programs and associated materials from the Michigan
Oratorical League Contest of 1928 and the Methodist Church in Albion.
Miscellaneous is
the last series. It includes
travel materials and other individual items, such as a calendar made of
cork, a class assignment book, assorted notes and memoranda, and an
illustrated cruise brochure.
