Scope and Content Note
The papers of Lucy Kroll (1909-1997) span the years 1908-1998, with the bulk of the material dating from 1950 to 1990. The papers are organized in the following series: Client File , Miscellany , Office File , and Oversize .
The Client File forms the largest part of the papers. The Lucy Kroll Agency managed the careers of numerous clients in the fields of dance, journalism, literature, motion pictures, music, poetry, psychology, science, sociology, television, and theater. The amount of material for each client is uneven. It ranges from one folder to eighty-two boxes depending on the client's success and longevity with the agency. Therefore, not all types of material are found in every client's file. Typical material includes contracts, referred to as representation agreements, between the client and the Lucy Kroll Agency as well as work contracts between the clients and their employers; incoming and outgoing correspondence between the agency, the clients, and employers; and notes written primarily by Lucy Kroll during negotiations on behalf of her clients. Many files contain financial records such as royalty statements or box office receipts. Also present is publicity material in the form of photographs, playbills, and press clippings. Files of the theatrical clients often include scripts of plays they were considering or in which they appeared. Files of other clients might include various forms of their writings, such as typescripts or printing proofs. Some clients' files contain material called submissions, a process by which the agency submits an actor's name in response to a general casting call by a producer.
The Client File documents the association between Lucy Kroll and her clients. In most cases it went beyond a business arrangement and developed into a deep friendship and mentoring relationship. Kroll often handled the personal affairs of her clients, including financial support and medical care. Notable clients included E. R. (Edward Ricardo) Braithwaite, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Vincent J. Donehue, Lillian Gish, Joanna M. Glass, Martha Graham, Uta Hagen, Helen Hayes, Dorothy Fields (estate of), Horton Foote, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, James Earl Jones, Daniel and Dorothea G. Petrie, Carl Sandburg, Kim Stanley, Howard Teichmann, and Fritz Weaver.
The Miscellany series contains family papers, material for Kroll's unfinished memoirs, and scripts. The family papers include correspondence with family and personal friends, drama school notes, and household papers. The memoirs section consists entirely of tributes from friends and colleagues which Kroll intended to incorporate into her memoirs. The scripts do not have an identifiable association with any of her clients but may have been under consideration for various projects.
The Office File documents the operations of the Lucy Kroll Agency. Included are daily appointment books, material relating to national and international business trips, financial records, notes, and items relating to prospective clients and projects. Incoming and outgoing correspondence records negotiations with other literary and talent agencies, as well as with publishers, studios, theaters, producers, and various professionals in the literary and entertainment fields. The “deal memoranda file” served the office staff as a quick reference source for the terms of each client's contracts. A Christmas cards and gifts section documents the many “extras” that Kroll extended to clients she considered especially important.