Special Collections Preserves Collection That Shows the History of Theater in Chicago
The Helen Tieken Geraghty Collection in the Richard J. Daley Library's Special Collections department includes costume drawings, set designs, blueprints, photographs, theater programs, scripts, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, director's notes related to blocking, casting charts, timing, lighting, sound, and properties. The collection is a complement to the Department's extensive collections on Chicago's second world's fair, A Century of Progress, 1933-34.
Geraghty (1902-1987), long associated with the arts in Illinois, was a Chicago theatrical producer and director, involved in the production of historical pageants, industrial shows, and drama direction and instruction. She worked under Max Reinhardt in Germany, staged and directed Wings of A Century; directed the Hull-House People's Theater (1937-1940); taught dramatics at Chicago's Francis Parker School (1943-1957); and produced pageants and industrial shows (e.g. Chicago Railroad Fair, 1949; Museum of Science and Industry Centennial of Engineering, 1952). She served as general manager of the Ravinia Festival (1963-1964), and chief of the arts program for the Illinois Sesquicentennial (1968).
Shown here is an original costume design from the pageant, Wings of a Century, performed at A Century of Progress.
Researchers can visit the Special Collections department at the Richard J. Daley Library to access the Helen Tieken Geraghty Collection as well as many art and design materials.
