Administrative Information
Provenance
The papers of Charlotte Cushman, actress, were given to the Library of Congress by Victor N. and Louise Cushman in 1925 and 1927. Additional material was given by Charles V. B. Cushman and others via Lyman Beecher Stowe from 1949 to 1955 and by Ethel B. Clark in 1947. Other items were purchased by the Library from 1957 to 1990.
Processing History
The papers of Charlotte Cushman were arranged and described in 1978. The collection was expanded and revised in 1997, and additions and revisions to the finding aid were made in 2008.
Transfers
Some photographs have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division where they are identified as part of the Charlotte Cushman Papers.
Related Material
The papers of Jennie Lorenz in the Manuscript Division contain correspondence, notes, copies of correspondence and portraits, a thesis, and printed matter from her research on Cushman's life and career. Additional material pertaining to Cushman, including portraits, photographs, drawings of her in costume, and copies of her most important acting scripts, are located in the Folger Shakespeare Library. Many of her letters were included in the biography, Charlotte Cushman: Her letters and Memoirs of Her Life (1878), written by her friend, the sculptor, Emma Stebbins. A later biography by Joseph Leach, Bright Particular Star: The Life and Times of Charlotte Cushman (1971), was based in part on Cushman's papers at the Library.
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of a Hamlet prompt book is available on one reel from the Library's Photoduplication Service for purchase subject to the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). The microfilm consists of a negative copy and is housed in the Photoduplication Service.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Charlotte Cushman Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.