Research Guides: Theatre Arts: Primary Sources

Theatre Arts Primary Sources

American Memory from the Library of Congress
American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.

Artstor This link opens in a new window
Artstor's interface has become integrated with JSTOR as of August 1, 2024. Personal artstor accounts have been migrated to the new home on JSTOR

ARTstor is a nonprofit digital library of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences with a suite of software tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.

Performing Arts in America 1875 -1923
A database of 16,000 objects. Included are clippings from a broad range of newspapers; composite photographs, called "keysheets" that contain large numbers of reduced-size promotional shots; music sheet samples featuring popular music, show-tunes, jazz and dance music; photographs of theater, dance, and popular performance; and publicity posters and lobby cards.
Ringling Collection
These images trace the history of stagecraft through Shakespearean prints, 18th, 19th and 20th century European and American handbills, posters and heralds, souvenir photographs and prints of the legendary performers of the past three centuries, numerous production and publicity stills of 20th century plays and films, and hundreds of individual photographs of the legendary and the now forgotten stars of minstrel, vaudeville and burlesque.