News
Events
Blogs
Francis Bosworth papers
Francis Bosworth (1904-1983) of Minnesota, later Philadelphia, was long involved with the theatre and the arts. He worked with the Federal Theatre Project, established under the Works Progress Administration in 1935. Bosworth acted as director of the Play Bureau which reviewed scripts offered by A...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Collection: | Francis Bosworth Papers |
| Collection Number: | 2086 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects and Genres: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Physical Description: |
2.4 Linear feet ; 7 boxes |
|---|---|
| Access: |
The collection is open for research. |
| Summary: |
Francis Bosworth (1904-1983) of Minnesota, later Philadelphia, was long involved with the theatre and the arts. He worked with the Federal Theatre Project, established under the Works Progress Administration in 1935. Bosworth acted as director of the Play Bureau which reviewed scripts offered by American authors. He remained associated with the Theatre Project until 1938.
In Philadelphia, he also worked for the Friends Neighborhood Guild, a settlement house.
Included are scripts of plays and Bosworth's personal copies of correspondence, memoranda, conference reports, manuals and other publications of the Federal Theatre Project. There are also letters and reports, 1940-1942, on the Community Arts Workshop, sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee; carbon copies of letters, 1943, to Everett McCarter who was stationed in Iceland, reporting stateside events and personal activities in New York City, and his opinions on the war; correspondence and progress reports, 1948-1951; Bosworth's own letters, 1955, sent while traveling in North Africa, Europe and the Middle East; and those on his ward, John Rybczyk.
John Rybczyk Bosworth (1934-2006) was a gifted artist, and he became Bosworth's ward after John's mother, Isabella (Slivak) Rybczyk, asked Bosworth to care for him (in his role with the guild). John had difficulties reading and writing, and he received remedial education through Temple University’s Reading Clinic Laboratory School. He improved greatly while at the school and became the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, the "Reading Clinic Laboratory School Star," to which he contributed artwork and writings. In the late 1940s and 1950s, John’s art was featured at a Bucks County art festival, the Print Club, an art festival held by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1956, and apparently in France. At some point, John began using “Bosworth” as his last name, signing himself as John R. Bosworth. On August 14, 1954, he wed Melvina Cooper of Philadelphia. |