Did you know the THS Archives can help you research your theatre?

posted by ThrHistoricalSociety on May 14, 2015 at 5:02 pm

You can find information for architectural restoration, to help gain landmark status, or document performances and the history of a theatre in your community.

The American Theatre Architecture Archive (ATAA) are currently home to over 100,000 items documenting over 18,000 theatres in America.The largest holding of its kind, the resources available in our collections document the architectural heritage of theatres in America from the 1880s to present day.

Browse our ‘Finding Aides’ to learn about the collections in the archive and how they can help you. For example, you can learn about the Paul S. Moore Collection, the Michael Miller Collection, and the Chicago Architectural Photographing Company Collection.

Chicago Architectural Photographing Co Collection 1,400 views of 255 theatres, mostly in the Midwest and many are contemporaneous to the opening of the buildings, done mostly for Rapp & Rapp and Paramount Publix Theatres. Mostly 8×10 film negative but some 8×10 glass plate negatives and 4×5 copy negatives. (Indexed.)

Michael Miller Collection Consists of 10,000 35mm slides mainly color and primarily in the New York City area. The Michael Miller Collection also includes his index of New York City theatres occupying 9 linear feet of space, approximately 1,088 snapshots (mainly color), and approximately 1,200 35mm negatives of the preceding snapshots with some additional views.

The Paul S Moore Collection contains 1,000+ files of research material (all photocopies) focusing on Chicago theatres and nickelodeons, but also including some files on New York City, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Milwaukee, Detroit, Orlando, Tampa, Cleveland, Toledo, St. Louis, Louisville, and Seattle. There are also a handful of subject files on theatre chains, etc. Also, a hard copy of his “Chicago Theatres 1871 – 1940,” a 550-page compilation of his research on Chicago theatres sorted chronologically, by theatre chain, by architect, by name, and by address. Additionally, approximately 70 color snapshots of Chicago, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

The American Theatre Architecture Archive collections are accessible in person by appointment at the Willis & Shirley Johnson and Classic Cinemas Research and Education Center or online at theatres.http://www.historictheatres.org/a…/browse-collection-guides/

For a lovely treat, visit our online catalog and type Photo into the search field. You will find some THS Treasures like the ones in this post. http://www.historictheatres.org/archival-collectio…/catalog/

Theatre Historical Society of America – We celebrate theatres
www.historictheatres.org