Paton Price papers on Frank Lloyd Wright's New Theater for Hartford CT, 1948-1958

Paton Price papers on Frank Lloyd Wright's New Theater for Hartford CT, 1948-1958

Summary Information

Abstract

The material spans the years 1948 to 1958 and documents Paton Price's relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright through the course of planning the New Theater to be located in Hartford, CT. The collection consists of letters, telegrams, publicity material, photographs, and a perspective view of the Theater signed by Wright.

At a Glance

Bib ID:
8866938 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Price, Paton, 1916-1982; Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959; Masselink, Eugene, 1910-1962
Repository:
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Physical Description:
1 manuscript box; 1 architectural drawing
Language(s):
English .
Access:

This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.

Description

Scope and Content

Series I: Correspondence is made up of 73 letters, 12 telegrams, 1 invoice and 1 contract between Frank Lloyd Wright and The New Theater Corporation. The letters primarily document the efforts of theater director Paton Price to construct a "New Theater" designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Hartford, CT. As the project takes shape, the letters offer a window into the relationship Wright had with his clients.

Series II: Visual Materials consists of 15 gelatin silver prints of Wright and the model of the Theater, several taken at an introductory luncheon for the planned Theater, and 8 photographic negatives of Wright and others.

Series III: Files includes publicity material for the New Theater as well as some Taliesin brochures and programs, and miscellaneous receipts and notes.

Series IV: Architectural Drawing contains 1 perspective drawing of the New Theater in brown ink on trace paper dated January 2, 1949 and signed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Publication Date

1948-1958

Arrangement

This material is arranged in four series: Correspondence, Visual Materials, Files, and Architectural Drawing.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Permission to publish must be obtained in writing from the Director, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, 1172 Amsterdam Ave., MC 0301, New York, NY 10027.

Preferred Citation

The New Theater, Hartford, CT / Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--Purchased. Date of acquisition--September 2010. Accession number--2010.017.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Processing Information

Processed; Shelley Hayreh 2011.

Revision Description

2011-07-27 File created.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

History

Wright had originally designed a "New Theater" for Woodstock, NY in 1931 that never came to fruition. When Paton Price (1916-1982) wrote to him in early 1948 proposing a new venue in Hartford, CT, the architect took the opportunity to revive his earlier project. Price would fund the construction through his own savings and from donations and loans, and received endorsements from members of the theater community including Kirk Douglas, Helen Hayes, and Henry Fonda. Understanding the need for publicity, Price asked whether Wright would allow the theatre to be named after him (Wright refused), and got local leaders and media interested. The two formally entered into a contract in November of 1948, and Price was soon anxiously asking Wright for drawings, a model, and designs for a brochure.

The New Theater plan was debuted at a party in Hartford on January 25, 1949, hosted by Hartford Times publisher Francis Murphy for Price and Wright. Said Wright at the time, "This theater is the one thing I simply must build before they put me in a box." Guests at the Hartford News luncheon included the Governor of Connecticut Chester Bowles, architectural scholar Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Broadway producer Oscar Serlin, and Director of the Wadsworth Atheneum Charles Cunningham.

The project received opposition from local Hartford residents, and eventually was turned down by the zoning board. Wright and Price remained on friendly terms, and the architect later realized his dream to build a theater in the Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas, TX, which opened in 1959.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Genre/Form
Correspondence
Photographs
architectural drawings (visual works)
Name
Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, 1903-1987
Price, Paton, 1916-1982
Taliesin (Spring Green, Wis.)
Taliesin Fellowship
Subject
Architecture -- Connecticut -- Hartford
Architecture -- Exhibitions
Architecture -- United States
Architecture -- United States -- Designs and plans
Theater architecture
Theaters -- Designs and plans

Series I: Correspondence

is made up of 73 letters, 12 telegrams, 1 invoice and 1 contract between Frank Lloyd Wright and The New Theater Corporation. The letters primarily documents the efforts of theater director Paton Price to construct a "New Theater" designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Hartford, CT. As the project takes shape, the letters offer a window into the relationship Wright had with his clients.

Box 01 Folder 01

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1948 Feb 20

Letter : 3 p. ; re: request to hire FLLW to design a small theater in the Hartford, CT area

Box 01 Folder 02

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1948 Mar 10

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 03

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1948 May 24

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 04

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1948 Jun 15

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 05

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright (Draft), 1948 Sep 25

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 06

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1948 Oct 14

Letter : 1 p. ; re: project support and obstacles

Box 01 Folder 07

Price, Paton to [Eu]gene Masselink, 1948 Oct 24

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 08

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1948 Oct 24

Letter : 1 p. ; re: requesting contracts and sketches to present to the Zoning Board

Box 01 Folder 09

Eugene Masselink to Paton Price, 1948 Oct 29

Letter : 1 p. ; re: fundraising for the theater and reasoning behind wanting to name the building the Frank Lloyd Wright Theater

Box 01 Folder 10

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1948 Nov 2

Letter : 2 p.

Box 01 Folder 11

Frank Lloyd Wright Invoice, 1948 Nov 5

Invoice : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 12

Contract for New Theatre Corporation, 1948 Nov 6

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 13

Price, Paton to Eugene Masselink, 1948 Nov 6

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 14

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1948 Nov 10

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 15

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1948 Nov 30

Letter : 1 p. ; re: fundraising

Box 01 Folder 16

Price, Paton to Eugene Masselink, 1948 Dec 11

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 17

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1948 Dec 15

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 18

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1948 Dec 28

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 19

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1948 Dec 30

Telegram : 1 p. ; re: Hartford's Avery Memorial Museum requesting to exhibit the model and preliminary drawings of the New Theater

Box 01 Folder 20

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright (Draft), 1949

Letter : 4 p.

Box 01 Folder 21

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1949 Jan 1

Letter : 2 p. ; re: challenges to the site, the Hartford Times luncheon

Box 01 Folder 22

[Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright ?] (Draft), 1949 Jan 8 [?]

Envelope: 1 item ; draft written on envelope addressed to Paton Price from The Hartford Times

Box 01 Folder 23

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1949 Jan 11

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 24

[Masselink, Eugene] to Paton, Price, 1949 Jan 19

Letter : 1 p. ; re: model

Box 01 Folder 25

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 Jan 22

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 26

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 Jan 22

Letter : 1 p. ; re: model

Box 01 Folder 27

Price, Paton to Masselink, Eugene, 1949 Feb 3

Letter : 1 p. ; re: the Hartford Times luncheon

Box 01 Folder 28

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 Feb 15

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 29

Price, Paton to Eugene Masselink (Draft), 1949 Mar

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 30

Price, Paton to Eugene Masselink, 1949 Mar 8

Letter : 3 p. ; re: model being exhibited at MOMA, progress on the New Theater brochure, and increasing theater seating capacity

Box 01 Folder 31

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1949 Mar 14

Letter : 1 p. : re: "Would rather increase diameter of house than balcony to increase seating. Can do if imperitive [sic]. Reluctant."

Box 01 Folder 32

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 Mar 23

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 33

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 Mar 25

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 34

Price, Paton to Eugene Masselink, 1949 Apr 1

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 35

[Weston, Marcus] to Paton Price, 1949 Apr 7

Letter : 2 p.

Box 01 Folder 36

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1949 Apr 16

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 37

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 Apr 28

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 38

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 May 20

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 39

Howe, John to Paton Price, 1949 Jun 2 [?]

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 40

Price, Paton to Olgivanna Frank Lloyd Wright, 1949 Jun 17

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 41

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1949 Aug 5

Letter : 2 p. ; re: site changes, brochure, model exhibition

Box 01 Folder 42

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1949 Aug 17

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 43

[Weston, Marcus] to Paton Price, 1949 Aug 28

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 44

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 Sep 24

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 45

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1949 Nov 11

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 46

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright (Draft and Western Union response), 1949 Dec 12

Letter : 2 p.

Box 01 Folder 47

Howe, John to Paton Price, 1949 Dec 13

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 48

Howe, John to Paton Price, 1950 Jan 1

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 49

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Jan 7

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 50

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1950 Jan 10

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 51

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Jan 11

Letter : 2 p. ; re: Travelers Insurance rejection of site, "These disappointments, deflections and postponements only stiffen my determination - if such a thing is possible - to see this theatre built and built this year."

Box 01 Folder 52

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1950 Jan 25

Letter : 1 p. ; re: Edgar Kaufmann, "I think we can forget Kaufmann! He is "in" with the N.Y. Insurance gang who work with Dowling, Easkin, et al and isn't what he used to be."

Box 01 Folder 53

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1950 Jan 25

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 54

Paton, Price to John How, 1950 Jan 29

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 55

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1950 Jan 31

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 56

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Feb 20

Letter : 4 p. ; re: plan to purchase Thompson site in West Hartford, fees, and "items relating to extra-income possibilities."

Box 01 Folder 57

"Important Items" (Draft), [1950 Feb 20]

Letter : 6 p. ; re: project details such as ticket booth, linens, parking area, etc.

Box 01 Folder 58

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1950 Feb 28

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 59

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1950 Mar 11

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 60

Price, Paton to John Howe, 1950 Mar 11

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 61

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Mar 17

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 62

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Mar 17

Letter : 2 p.

Box 01 Folder 63

Price, Paton to John Howe, 1950 Mar 28

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 64

Howe, John to Paton Price, 1950 Apr 22

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 65

Howe, John to Paton Price, 1950 May 16

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 66

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Jun 2

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 67

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Jun 8

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 68

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Jun 9

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 69

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1950 Sep 29

Letter : 1 p. ; re: "What's up? You aren't pouting are you?"

Box 01 Folder 70

Johnson, H.F. to Paton Price, 1950 Oct 2

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 71

Price, Paton to Eugene Masselink, 1950 Oct 11

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 72

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Oct 30

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 73

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Nov 2

Letter : 1 p. ; re: "No, Mr. Wright, I will never pout -- no matter what the deflection or disappointment. We shall go doggedly on; nothing is going to delay for long or prevent us from eventually building this theatre."

Box 01 Folder 74

Howe, John to Paton Price, 1950 Nov 8

Letter : 2 p.

Box 01 Folder 75

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1950 Dec 5

Letter : 1 p. ; re: given up Thompson site

Box 01 Folder 76

Telegram to Paton Price, 1951 Jan 23

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 77

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, 1951 Feb 27

Letter : 1 p. ; re: model damage

Box 01 Folder 78

Howe, John to Paton Price, 1951 May 16

Postcard : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 79

Bolles, John B. to Paton Price, 1958 Feb 11

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 80

Paton, Price to John B. Bolles, 1958 Feb 16

Letter : 1 p. ; re: "Mr. Wright and I both were so disgusted with the smallness and meanness and viciousness of the nature of the opponents of our enterprise, that we abandoned the project for Hartford."

Box 01 Folder 81

Paton, Price to Frank Lloyd Wright, 1958 Apr 9

Letter : 2 p.

Box 01 Folder 82

Wright, Frank Lloyd to Paton Price, 1958 Apr 22

Letter : 1 p. ; Envelope : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 83

Howe, John to Paton Price, undated

Letter : 2 p. (2 separate letters)

Box 01 Folder 84

[Price, Paton ?] to Eugene Masselink, undated

Telegram : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 85

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, undated

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 86

Price, Paton to Frank Lloyd Wright, undated

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 87

Masselink, Eugene to Paton Price, undated

Letter : 1 p.

Box 01 Folder 88

Envelopes, 1948-1951, undated

20 items

Series II: Visual Material

consists of 15 gelatin silver prints of Wright and the model of the Theater, several taken at an introductory luncheon for the planned Theater, and 8 photographic negatives of Wright and others.

Box 01 Folder 89

Kalita Humphreys Theater (Dallas, TX), ca. 1960s

Postcard : 1 item : col. ; 9 x 14 cm.

Box 01 Folder 90

Rendering of the New Theatre, ca. 1949

Gelatin Silver Print : 1 item : b&w ; 20 x 25.5 cm.

Box 01 Folder 91

(L-R) Frank Lloyd Wright, Paton Price, and Henry-Russell Hitchcock with model of New Theater at [Hartford's Avery Memorial Museum?], ca. 1949

Gelatin Silver Print : 1 item : b&w ; 10 x 12 cm.

Box 01 Folder 92

Model at Taliesin [East], undated

Gelatin Silver Print : 1 item : b&w ; 12 x 16.5 cm.

Box 01 Folder 93

(L-R) Frank Lloyd Wright, [unidentified man], and Paton Price, undated

Gelatin Silver Print : 2 items : b&w ; 21. 5 x 24.5 cm.

Box 01 Folder 94

The Hartford News Luncheon, ca. 1949

Gelatin Silver Print : 7 items : b&w; various sizes

Box 01 Folder 95

Frank Lloyd Wright Portrait, 1937

Gelatin Silver Print : 1 item : b&w; 29 x 22.5 cm.

Box 02 Folder 01

Olgivanna and Frank Lloyd Wright Portraits by Hedrich, undated

Gelatin Silver Print on board : 2 items : b&w; 36 x 27 cm

Box 01 Folder 96

The New Theater Fundraiser [?], ca. 1949

Negatives : 8 items

Includes images of Wright with others; 2 images show Wright with an oversize pair of binoculars.

Series III: Files

includes publicity material for the New Theater as well as some Taliesin brochures and programs, and miscellaneous receipts and notes.

Box 02 Folder 02

"Frank Lloyd Wright," The Architectural Forum, Vol 88, No. 1, 1948 Jan

Publication : 1 item

Box 02 Folder 03

Clippings on New Theater, 1948-1949

Newspaper Clippings : 6 items

Box 02 Folder 04

Clippings on New Theater and Kalita Humphreys Theater, 1949, 1060

Tearsheet : 5 p.

Box 02 Folder 05

Pacific Arts Association Bulletin on Frank Lloyd Wright, 1959

Bulletin : 2 items

Box 01 Folder 97

Plan Tearsheet, undated

Tearsheet : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 98

The New Theater Exhibition Brochure, Wadsworth Athenuem, 1949

Brochure: 3 items

Box 01 Folder 99

Eugene Masselink Art Exhibition Brochures, 1959 Feb, 1960 Apr

Brochures : 2 items ; Arizona State University's Memorial Union Gallery and The Stanford Art Gallery

Box 01 Folder 100

The Taliesin Festival of Music and Dance, 1957 Apr

Program : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 101

The Taliesin Festival of Music and Dance, 1959 July 19

Program : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 102

Taliesin program commemorating Frank Lloyd Wright's birthday, 1956 Jun 8

Program : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 103

"Sixty Years of Living Architecture: The Work of Frank Lloyd Wright," Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1953

Catalog : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 104

The New Theater Envelopes, undated

Envelopes : 6 items

Box 01 Folder 105

Patton Price / The New Theater Business Card, undated

Business Card : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 106

Miscellaneous Receipts and Notes, 1948, 1960, undated

7 items

Box 01 Folder 107

Fundraising Brochure and Letter, ca. 1949

Letters: 2 p.

Brochures : 3 items

Envelopes : 2 items

Box 01 Folder 108

Taliesin Fellowship, 1959 Jun

Brochure: 1 item

Application Form : 1 item

Box 01 Folder 110

Appraisal Report for 123-129 South Main Street, West Hartford, Connecticut, 1950-01-13

Series IV: Architectural Drawing

Drawer 99

Perspective View, Theater for the New Theater Corporation for Paton Price & Associates / Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect, 1949 Jan 2

Drawing : 1 item : Brown ink on trace paper ; 64 x 90 cm. ; signed lower right ("F.L.L.W")