Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor (Mary Eleanor), 1877-1955.

Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor (Mary Eleanor), 1877-1955.

Papers, 1915-1974.

UWM Manuscript Collection 13

3.8 cubic ft. (1 record center carton, 5 archives boxes, and 1 oversize box)

Also included in the collection are correspondence, passports, diaries, play programs, memorabilia, and photographs documenting Fitzgerald's life and activity in the anarchist/labor movement, and in the Provincetown Playhouse. Correspondence included associates and friends such as; the anarchists Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, writers or theatrical administrators, E.E. Cummings, Susan Glaspell, Paul Green, James Lights and Eugene O'Neill, long-time friend Pauline Turkel, and Danish tenor Mischa Leon.

Photographs in this collection span the period of 1890 to the 1950s and include images of, Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman, Ben Reitman, Eugene O'Neill, and Paul Robeson, also included are Fitzgerald and her family members, colleagues at the Seventh Day Adventist sanatoria in Battle Creek and Chicago. The particular strengths of the Fitzgerald collection are the Alexander Berkman material, and the materials on the Provincetown Playhouse.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The collection contains correspondence, contracts, financial records, play scripts, play bills, political printed materials, and photographs related to the life and varied work of M. Eleanor Fitzgerald. The collection contains five series:

Series 1: The bulk of the Political Files contains material about the period from 1917 to 1929. The focus of these files include a number of signed, typed and carbon copied drafts of work by Alexander Berkman, as well as a series of letters and postcards Berkman sent to M. Eleanor Fitzgerald and Pauline Turkel.

Photographs of Fitzgerald's political colleagues and acquaintances are included in the Political Files. They include pictures of Alexander Berkman, Ben Capes, Emma Goldman, Frank Harris, Hippolyte Havel, Robert Minor, Harry Kelly, Carl Nylander, Ben Reitman, Bob and Lucy Robins, and Harry Weinberger. There are eleven photographs of Berkman, a number of them affectionately inscribed to Fitzgerald. The collection also includes a photograph of Emma Goldman inscribed to Fitzgerald.

Transcriptions of letters between Goldman and Rietman from May 31-June 1 1909, September 14, 1913, and September 20, 1913 can be found in the Fitzgerald, Eleanor case file.

Series 2: The bulk of the Provincetown Playhouse Files contains material about the period from 1910 to 1947. The focus of this file includes contract agreements, correspondence, financial reports, newspaper clippings, playbills, photographs of Provincetown Playhouse colleagues, press list, and proposed budgets. Included are correspondence material covering the period 1921 to 1929. Correspondence include Susan Glaspell, Paul Green, Edmond Robert Jones, Edna Kenton, James Light, Kenneth Macgowan, Macklin Marrow, and Agnes O'Neill.

Series 3: The bulk of the Family and Personal Files contains material about the period 1890 to 1950. The focus of this file includes an account and date book, correspondence with her brothers Arthur and Judson, her sister, Cora, and the last letter sent to Fitzgerald by her mother, Ada. The series also includes a penciled hand-written four page biography on Fitzgerald, a 1906 farewell book with messages from her colleagues at Seventh Day Adventist sanatoria, Fitzgerald's passports from the 1920s, and photographs of her family.

Miscellaneous material in this series includes cancelled mortgage deeds and maps of the property Fitzgerald owned in Sherman, Connecticut, and photographs of Fitzgerald and her colleagues at the Seventh Day Adventist sanatoria where she worked in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

Series 4: The bulk of the Pauline Turkel Files contains material about the period 1899 to 1987. This file focuses on correspondence between Turkel and Fitzgerald, as well as correspondence to and from the Fitzgerald family. Also included are correspondences about Fitzgerald's death and contributions to the manuscript In Memory of Fitzi. Included are signed original letters of the contributions made by Djuna Barnes, Malcolm Cowley, E. E. Cummings, Trixie Martin, Erwin Piscator, and Edmund Wilson.

The series also includes information about the political activities of Turkel in the period 1910s and early 1920s and her involvement in the International Workers' Defense League, and the American Labor Alliance for Trade Relations with Russia.

Series 5: The bulk of the Mischa Lèon Files contains material about the period 1918 to 1927. Léon, a tenor trained in Cophenhagen, toured Europe, worked in Paris and came to the United States in 1924. The file focuses on contracts, concert programs, correspondences to Fitzgerald, notebook containing lyrics from songs, press clippings, and photographs of Léon and one of his sons.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Mary Eleanor Fitzgerald was born in Deerfield, Wisconsin in 1877, the daughter of James and Ada Fitzgerald. She lived with her family, siblings Arthur and Cora, in Hancock, Wisconsin, teaching grade school there from 1893 to 1898 when she moved to Battle Creek, Michigan to work in the Sanitorium to prepare for missionary work for the Seventh Day Adventists.

Between 1901 and 1902, Fitzgerald became interested in the anarchist and labor movement. She joined a lecture circuit in about 1902, travelling around the country, speaking in behalf of imprisoned labor leaders. She formed friendships with two fellow speakers, Benjamin Reitman and Pauline Turkel. Pauline Turkel became her life-long friend. Through her involvement with the anarchist movement, she met Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, joining them in the publication of the Mother Earth Bulletin around 1906. During World War I (1914-1918) she turned her attention to the "political prisoners"-the conscientious objectors. She raised money for their bail and defense and spoke in their behalf. She also co-edited The Blast: Revolutionary Labor Weekly at this time. She left the movement in 1918 when Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman were deported. It is often claimed that Fitzgerald gave up on political work after Berkman and Goldman were deported from the United States.

In 1918 George Cram Cook, founder of the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group, asked Fitzgerald to join his theater company. She joined the Provincetown Players as a part-time secretary in October 1918, and consequently served as executive manager for the Players until it disbanded in 1929. Keeping the group together through financial difficulties and morale problems, she became acquainted with such playwrights as Eugene O'Neil, Paul Green, and E.E. Cummings, with whom she corresponded.

From 1929 to 1940 Fitzgerald managed various theatrical enterprises. In 1940 she joined the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research. During these years she corresponded with Erwin Piscator, Helen Deutsch, Susan Jenkins, Peggy Guggenheim and Stella Hanau.

In 1953 she retired to Hancock, Wisconsin where she remained until her death two years later from cancer. The bulk of the correspondence she produced in these last years are addressed to her friend Pauline Turkel.

ACQUISITION: The collection was acquired as a gift from Pauline Turkel in 1979.

PROCESSING: Processed by Nancy Sandleback in 1984. Reprocessed by Gareth Evans in 2002. Finding aid completed by Karen Bjork in 2003.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 13. Provincetown Playhouse Files.	BOX	FOLDER
Address Book, 1925, 1928	2	32
Address Book, undated	2	31
Address Book, undated	2	33
Anonymous, "Milestones in American Drama," undated	2	39
Blair, Mary, Correspondence, 1938, 1947	2	14
Brookfield Players, Correspondence, 1932	2	34
Contracts and Agreements, 1924	2	8
Contracts and Agreements, 1926-1927	2	9
Contracts and Agreements, 1928	2	10
Contracts and Agreements, 1929	2	11
Contracts and Correspondence, Dream Play, 1924-1926	2	5
Contracts and Correspondence, Fashion, 1924-1939	2	6
Contracts, Correspondence, Receipts, 1926	2	1
Cook, George Cram, Photographs, undated	6	3
Cook, Nilla Cram, Correspondence, 1927, 1931-1932	2	12
Cook, Nilla Cram, Photographs, undated	6	4
Correspondence, 1931	2	25
Correspondence, 1936	2	13
Cummings, E. E., Playbills, undated	7	2
Cummings, E. E., Prompt Scripts, undated	2	27
Cummings, E. E., Summary Listing of Scenes, undated	7	1
Financial Reports, 1924	2	29
Financial Reports, 1925-1926	2	30
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Diary, 1926	2	35
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Photographs, Colleagues, undated	6	13
Garrick Building Company, Contracts, 1929	2	2
Garrick Theatre, Estimated Budget, 1929-1930	2	28
Garrick Theatre, Playbills, 1929-1930	2	53
Glaspell, Susan, Correspondence, 1924-1925	2	15
Green, Paul, Contracts, 1927	2	3
Green, Paul, Correspondence, 1932	2	16
Green, Paul, Diary, Playbill, Photographs, 1932	2	36
Investments, Preferred Stockholders, 1924-1926, undated	2	37
Johnson, Hall, Run Little Children, 1933	2	38
Jones, Edmund Robert, Correspondence, 1926, 1937, undated	2	17
Kenton, Edna, Correspondence, 1924	2	18
Light, James, Correspondence, 1930, undated	2	19
Lists of Productions and Subscription Forms, 1922, 1924, 1927-1929	2	55
Liveright, Horace B., Contracts, 1927	2	4
Madden, Richard, Agreement, 1928	2	45
Macgowan, Kenneth, Correspondence, undated	2	20
Marrow, Macklin, Correspondence, 1927	2	21
Matthias, Rita, Contracts and Correspondence, 1923-1925	2	7
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1925-1927, 1929	2	40
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1940, 1954-1955, undated	2	22
Music and Song Sheets, undated	7	3
Newell, Willard, "History of the Drama," undated	2	41
Newspaper Clippings, 1926, 1929	2	42
O'Neill, Agnes, Correspondence, undated	2	23
O'Neill, Eugene, Correspondence, To M. Eleanor Fitzgerald and Pauline Turkel, 1924-1925, 1929, undated	2	24
O'Neill, Eugene, Play Script, undated	2	43
O'Neill, Eugene, Play Script, undated	2	44
Playbill, 1919	2	46
Playbills, 1923-1924	2	47
Playbills, 1924-1925	2	48
Playbills, 1925-1926	2	49
Playbills, 1926-1927	2	50
Playbills, 1928-1929	2	51
Playbills, Listing, 1923-1924, 1924-1925, undated	2	52
Press List and Theatre Statement, 1939, undated	2	54
Proposed Budget, 1925-1926	7	4
Seating Diagrams, undated	2	56
Young, Stark, Correspondence, 1933, 1936, undated	2	26

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 13. Family and Personal Files.	BOX	FOLDER
Account Book, 1948-1949, 1951	3	1
Bills and Expenditures, 1947-1952	3	2
Fitzgerald, Ada, Correspondence, 1916	3	7
Fitzgerald, Arthur, Correspondence, 1930, 1932-1933, 1935	3	8
Fitzgerald, Cora, Correspondence, 1930, 1938-1941, 1944-1948, undated	3	9
Fitzgerald, Cora, Certificate of Death, 1948	3	19
Fitzgerald Family, Correspondence, 1938-1939, 1949, undated	3	10
Fitzgerald Family, Genealogy, undated	3	26
Fitzgerald Family, Photographs, 1958, undated	6	5
Fitzgerald, Judson, Correspondence, 1948-1951	3	11
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Biography, [1910]	3	3
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Correspondence, 1940	3	6
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Farewell Book, undated	3	18
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Property, Sherman, Connecticut, 1943	3	20
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Obituaries, 1955	3	23
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Outpatient Card, 1955	3	24
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Passports and Boarding Ticket, 1923, 1927-1928	3	25
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Photographs, 1923-1924, undated	6	6
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Property Detail, Sherman, Connecticut, Season Ticket Order, undated	3	17
Guggenheim, Peggy and Vail, Laurence, Remittances, 1951-1952	3	22
Job Applications, Correspondence, 1931	3	12
Mattekeunk Cabin Colony, Inc., Capital Stock, 1922	3	5
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1923-1928, undated	3	13
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1941-1942, 1947, 1949, 1952	3	14
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1954-1955	3	15
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, undated	3	16
Miscellaneous, Images and Printed Materials, 1917, 1920, undated	3	21
Miscellaneous, Photographs, 1930, undated	6	11
Mortgage Deeds, 1936, 1948, 1951	3	4
Seventh-Day Adventist and Chautauqua, Photographs, undated	6	15

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 13. Pauline Turkel Files.	BOX	FOLDER
American Labor Alliance, Correspondence, 1921	4	1
Fitzgerald Family, Correspondence, 1954-1955	4	2
Fitzgerald Family, Correspondence, 1956-1959	4	3
Fitzgerald Family, Correspondence, 1960-1961	4	4
Fitzgerald Family, Correspondence, Will and Testament, 1963, 1964	4	5
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Correspondence, 1944, 1954	4	13
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Correspondence, Turkel, Pauline, 1954	4	6
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Correspondence, Turkel, Pauline, 1955	4	7
International Workers' Defense League, Correspondence, 1918	4	8
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1954-1955	4	9
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1956	4	10
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1957, 1962-1964, 1974, 1976	4	11
Turkel, Pauline, Correspondence, Jenkins, Susan, 1955	4	12
Turkel, Pauline, In Memory to Fitzi, Manuscript 1955-1956	4	15
Turkel, Pauline, In Memory of Fitzi, Booklet, 1956	4	14

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 13. Mischa Léon Files.	BOX	FOLDER
Announcements and Concert Programs, 1918, 1925-1926, undated	5	1
Correspondence, 1924	5	4
Correspondence, Contracts, 1921-1926, undated	5	3
Léon, Mischa, Application to Reenter the United States, 1924	5	2
Léon, Mischa, Diary, 1926	5	6
Léon, Mischa, Newspaper Clippings, undated	5	8
Léon, Mischa, Pen Drawing, undated	5	10
Léon, Mischa, Photographs, 1917, undated	6	10
Léon, Mischa, Postcard, 1926	5	5
Miscellaneous, Correspondence, 1926-1927	5	7
Newspaper Clippings, 1921-1923	5	11
Newspaper Clippings, 1924	5	12
Newspaper Clippings, 1925-1926	5	13
Newspaper Clippings, undated	5	14
Proposal, Establish Art Theatre, undated	5	15
Song Lyrics, undated	5	9

UWM MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 13. Political Files.	BOX	FOLDER
Alsberg, Henry G., "Unearthed Roman Parchment," undated	1	1
Anonymous, Quotes, undated	1	3
Anonymous, "What's the Use of Poetry?" undated	1	4
Avrich, Paul, "Introduction To The Dover Edition," 1971	1	5
Berkman, Alexander, undated	1	6
Berkman, Alexander, Correspondence, 1922-1925	1	9
Berkman, Alexander, Correspondence, Contract Agreements, 1926-1927, 1929, undated	1	8
Berkman, Alexander, Correspondence, M. Eleanor Fitzgerald, undated	1	7
Berkman, Alexander, Correspondence, M. Eleanor Fitzgerald and Pauline Turkel, 1919-1921	1	10
Berkman, Alexander, Correspondence, M. Eleanor Fitzgerald, and Pauline Turkel, 1922-1923, undated	1	11
Berkman, Alexander, Deed, 1919	1	12
Berkman, Alexander, "Introduction," The Bolshevik Myth, 1925	1	13
Berkman, Alexander, "Kronstadt" 1922	1	14
Berkman, Alexander, "My Odyssey," 1922	1	15
Berkman, Alexander, Photographs, 1892, 1919, 1927, undated	6	2
Berkman, Alexander, Release from the United States Penitentiary, 1919	1	16
Berkman, Alexander, "Russian Lessons," undated	1	22
Berkman, Alexander, "The Surgeon's Duty," 1918	1	17
Deportation Fund, 1919	1	28
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Correspondence, Kropotkin, Peter, 1921	1	20
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Correspondence, Morton, E. B., 1925-1926	1	19
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Correspondence, Political Prisoners and Deportees, 1918, 1924, 1926,1955, undated	1	21
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Correspondence, Union Memberships, 1925, 1927, 1940	1	18
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Photographs, Berkman, Alexander, 1916, undated	6	7
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Photographs, Reitman, Ben, 1906, undated	6	8
Fitzgerald, M. Eleanor, Press Release, 1918-1919	1	25
Goldman, Emma, Correspondence, Ballantine, Stella, and M. Eleanor Fitzgerald, 1920, 1923-1924, 1927, 1929, undated	1	23
Goldman, Emma, Mother Earth Bulletin, 1918	1	26
Goldman, Emma, Photographs, 1928, undated	6	9
Kropotkin, Peter, "Ethics," undated	1	24
Miscellaneous Printed Material, Announcements, undated	1	30
O'Carroll, Joseph, "The City of Our Dream," undated	1	27
Photographs, 1916, undated	6	12
Photographs and Postcards, 1915, undated	6	1
Reitman, Ben, Photographs, 1905-1906	6	14
Tolstoy, Leo, "Count Leo Tolstoy's War Prophecy," undated	1	29