Scope and Content Note
The Ralstin/Murphy Collection Relating to Vera-Ellen and the Hessler Dance Studio documents the activities of the Hessler Dance Studio of Cincinnati, Ohio, during the 1930s and also the career of one of the studio's most famous pupils, Vera-Ellen, who acted and danced in Hollywood movies of the 1940s and 1950s. The scrapbooks were compiled initially by twin sisters Violet and Catherine Ralstin, who took classes and performed in recitals and local events with their friend, Vera-Ellen, and other Hessler Dance Studio students. In adulthood when Violet married George A. ("Curly") Porter, Catherine continued the collecting aided by her husband, Paul Murphy.
In addition to two scrapbooks, the collection includes loose materials, including correspondence between the Ralston twins and Vera-Ellen and her mother, Alma Rohe; programs and related studio notes; informal and studio photographs; and ephemera such as ticket stubs.
The Scrapbooks series includes one for the years the children studied dance at the Hessler Studio and one predominantly celebrating Vera-Ellen's career. The scrapbook of the mid-1930s focuses on the Hessler Dance Studio classes and recitals as well as souvenirs and newspaper clippings related to performing arts events in the Cincinnati area. The Hessler studio items include recital records and class schedules, invoices and receipts for classes taken, newspaper features and calendars. The second scrapbook includes print coverage and published photos of Vera-Ellen (local and national), beginning in the 1940s through the 1950s. Sets of reference copies of the pages of both scrapbooks have been created as the fragility of the paper precludes handling by patrons.
A small amount of loose material related to the scrapbooks is divided between the Hessler Dance Studio Papers series and Vera-Ellen Papers series. Some of these items were at one time attached to scrapbook pages, but were removed or came loose at some point. Of particular interest amongst the Hessler materials are handwritten notes by both Catherine and Violet that describe recital routines for tap dancing, toe (pointe), and other dances, along with adaptations of popular song lyrics that accompanied the recital routines. The Vera-Ellen materials include correspondence between the Ralston family and Vera-Ellen or her mother, informal photographs and studio portraits, clippings and articles not affixed to scrapbook pages, an autograph book of Paul Murphy containing only the single inscription from Vera-Ellen, and such.
The Miscellany series include reference materials on the Ralstins and the Rohes. Two books in the collection are now in the reference collection of the Music Division's Performing Arts Reading Room: an illustrated biography of dancer-producer Jack Manning who visited the Hessler studio as guest artist, and a 2003 biography on Vera-Ellen.