00401 DEBORAH SIMMONS MEADER: An Inventory of Her Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society Finding aid prepared by Kit Smemo Minnesota Historical Society

St. Paul MN.

Manuscripts Collection

Finding aid encoded by Dennis Meissner July 25, 2005Finding aid written inEnglish August 2008Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to Version 2002 by Monica Manny Ralston, Daniel Sher, and Joyce Chapman. OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Minnesota Historical Society Meader, Deborah Simmons, 1895- . Deborah Meader papers. 1920-[199-] (bulk 1931-1940). Papers of a puppeteer, puppet play writer, and puppet theater fabricator who was employed in church and WPA puppetry programs during her life in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1927 to 1942. 1.1 cu. ft. (2 boxes). See Detailed Description for shelf locations. BIOGRAPHY OF DEBORAH SIMMONS MEADER

Deborah Meader was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1895. Upon graduating from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, Meader married Amos Kingsley Meader in 1919. The family settled in Saint Paul in 1927. With the onset of the Great Depression and the prolonged illness of Amos, Meader took to making puppets and producing plays for wealthy families as a means of financial survival. Following her stint with the WPA, the Meader family left Minnesota in 1942.

Deborah Simmons Meader was a driving force in the educational use of puppets throughout Minnesota and the Midwest during the 1930s and 1940s. The technical innovations Meader introduced in the early 1930s, such as the "semi-transparent back drop" and the "miniature puppet theatre," helped make puppetry a more accessible art form. Through the programs of the New Deal, Meader taught courses on puppetry and staged shows for the Work Projects Administration. Meader's belief in the egalitarian nature of puppetry meant that a wider variety of people could be afforded an important educating and entertaining experience.

SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE PAPERS

Meader's papers relate her adoption of puppetry as a means of supporting her family during a period of financial hardship, her championing of puppetry as an educational tool, her employment by the Minnesota WPA, and her writings and presentations about her puppetry work. Papers include correspondence, articles and speeches, academic lecture notes, puppet and performance design notes, play scripts, and related materials.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE PAPERS

These documents are organized into the following sections:

General Files University of Minnesota Files Work Projects Administration Files Puppetry Scripts and Designs OTHER FINDING AIDS

A print version of this finding aid is available in the repository; filed in ALPHA notebooks under the heading: Meader, Dorothy Simmons.

CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics: Hand puppets. Puppet making -- Minnesota. Puppet plays. Puppet theater in Christian education -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul. Puppet theater in education -- Minnesota. Puppet theaters -- Design and construction. Puppets -- Therapeutic work. Persons: Colburn, Elizabeth M. Organizations: Unity Church (Saint Paul, Minn.). Works Projects Administration. Minnesota Division of Women's and Professional Services. Document Types: Scripts (documents). Design drawings. Occupations: Puppeteers. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Deborah Meader Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

Accession Information:

Accession number: 16,065

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kit Smemo, July 2005

Catalog ID number: 3701438

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION General Files

The General Files consist of puppet designs, articles, speeches, and correspondence from the late 1920s through the early 1980s, though little postdates her Minnesota years. The patents for the puppet theater demonstrate the inventiveness Meader brought to bear in terms of the technical aspects of puppetry (1931). Meader used these developments to launch her own Meader Puppet Company which specialized in selling miniature puppet theaters. These theatres were advertised regularly in Child Life Magazine, a publication to which Meader also contributed articles (1935-1937). Meader felt that puppets could be of considerable educational value; her essay "Puppets Solve Patty's Problem" is meant to demonstrate how puppetry can help children overcome hardship (1935). Throughout the rest of her career Meader spoke and wrote extensively on this topic.

146.I.7.14F 1 Elizabeth M. Colburn, "The Power of Puppetry: The Career of Deborah Simmons Meader, 1927-1942," [after 1998.] 33 pp. ; typescript. Puppet Theatre patent information, 1931.

Includes patents for a "semi-transparent back drop" and a "miniature theatre" as well as detailed schematics and the research of St. Paul lawyer Thomas H. Simmons.

Design for puppet stage, [ca. 1930s]. Ads in Child Life Magazine, undated and 1935-1937. Puppet construction articles by Deborah Meader, June 1936-December 1936. Deborah Meader, "Puppets Solve Patty's Problem" (essay), [ca. 1935]. Notes on puppet construction, [ca. 193-]. Correspondence, 1931-1942. News clippings, undated and [1929-ca. 1942]. Articles, undated and 1935-1936. Speech notes, undated and 1949-1982. Miscellaneous documents, [1939-ca. 1980]. University of Minnesota Files

The University of Minnesota Files contain information on Meader's time (1935-1940) as a student and lecturer at the university. They include transcripts and registration for courses that Meader took, as well as notes from her own lectures. Meader's time at the university reflects her own academic interest in the history and development of puppets, principally Chinese shadow puppets.

146.I.7.14F 1 Lectures for University of Minnesota courses, [193-]. Syllabi for course material from University of Minnesota, 1939. Transcripts and university documents from University of Minnesota, 1935-1940. Work Projects Administration Files

The WPA Files cover Meader's work in the Work Projects Administration, 1935-1941. Meader's role was in training teachers how to most effectively employ puppets in their curricula. For six years Meader traveled the Upper Midwest producing plays that taught children about topics such as hygiene and cooperation. While many criticized the WPA's funding of puppetry as frivolous, Meader responded with numerous editorials and articles championing the puppetry's worth.

146.I.7.14F 1 Work Projects Administration training materials, [ca. 1930s]. United States Work Projects Administration (Minnesota) Summary Report, 1936. "Manual on Certification," 1938. Work Projects Administration articles, undated and 1935-1940. 2 folders. Miscellaneous Work Projects Administration material, [ca. 1930s]. Puppetry Scripts and Designs

Comprising scripts from various puppet plays and the accompanying puppetry materials, this section begins with 156 scripts reflecting a wide variety of entertainments and educational plays. The scripts span more than thirty years, from the early 1930s through the early 1960s. Titles such as A Christmas Carol and The Frog Prince were typical Meader productions. Meader also worked with churches to produce religiously themed stories like Jonah and the Whale and The Prodigal Son. The final section contains materials used in the productions themselves such as back drops, shadow play cutouts, and designs for sets. Of particular note is an entire mock-up for a production of The Frog Prince (ca. 1930s).

146.I.7.14F 1 Scripts for puppet plays, [ca. 1930-1962]. 7 folders.

Includes scripts for 156 plays produced from the early 1930s through the mid 1960s; titles include The Frog Prince, Playing Hooky, and Winnie the Pooh.

Backgrounds for puppet plays, [ca. 1920s]. Puppet theater model, [ca. 1930]. Puppet designs, undated. Shadow puppet cut-outs, undated. 142.G.15.1B-2 2 Shadow puppet notes, cut-outs, and designs, undated. Mock-up for production of The Frog Prince, [ca. 1930s].