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Roger L. Stevens papers, 1863-2002

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BOX 1-54, 397, 401, 404-405, 411-412, 425-426, 431, 433-434, 436 MAPCASE FOLDER 7, 22 Arts Administration, 1935-1998
Roger L. Stevens spent a significant portion of his career establishing and managing arts organizations. He worked in both the public and private sectors to extend the reach of the arts to all areas of the country. This series documents Stevens's role as an advocate, administrator, and funder of the arts—particularly the performing arts—as a government appointee, business manager, and advisor.

Materials consist of agendas, bills, brochures, clippings, contracts and agreements, correspondence, financial reports, incorporation and dissolution papers, meeting minutes, photographs, programs, realia, reports, salary lists, speeches and writings, tax filings, and travel records that document Stevens's activities.

Organized alphabetically as three subseries.
BOX 1-26, 397, 401, 404, 411-412, 425-426, 431, 433-434, 436 MAPCASE FOLDER 22 Government Appointments, 1960-1998
This subseries documents Stevens's role as a presidential advisor, the first chairman of the National Council on the Arts (NCA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and founding chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It consists of agendas, clippings, correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs, programs, reports, speeches and writings, and travel documents.

Between 1961 and 1969, Stevens simultaneously held four government appointments: chairman of the NCA, chairman of the NEA, chairman of the board of the National Cultural Center (renamed the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1964), and special assistant for cultural affairs to Lyndon B. Johnson. These positions, while separate, were also inter-related: the NCA advises the NEA, with the chair of the NEA also chairing the arts council. The organization of the Government Appointments subseries reflects this complex relationship.

The National Council on the Arts - National Endowment for the Arts (NCA-NEA) sub-subseries documents activities related to the formation and management of both organizations from their inception to the end of the Johnson administration in early 1969. This included establishing the advisory panels, conducting meetings, and traveling across the country to promote both the arts and the new arts organizations. Stevens's position as arts advisor to President Johnson fully overlapped his NCA tenure with his activities managed from the NCA office and interfiled with them.

The National Cultural Center - John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (NCC-KC) sub-subseries documents activities related to the formation and management of that organization from Stevens's appointment by President Kennedy, to his death in 1998. The materials are incomplete as the collection holds just those documents Stevens had in his Kennedy Center office while the Center itself retained its operating files. While the sub-subseries is most rich for the period 1961-1979 when Stevens worked to get the center funded and opened, there is not extensive documentation for any one activity. Correspondence in this sub-subseries provides further insight into Stevens's role producing shows at the Kennedy Center with materials related to specific theatrical productions located in the Theatrical Production Files series

Both the NCA-NEA and NCC-KC sub-subseries contain extensive sets of speeches that Stevens gave at congressional hearings and cultural organization events and dedications, as well as writings that collectively provide his vision of and advocacy for the performing arts in society and the need for a national theater. Unless otherwise noted, all speeches and writings are by Stevens.

The Organizations Affiliated with the John F. Kennedy Center sub-subseries documents several of the organizations that came under the Kennedy Center's purview. The American Film Institute and Fund for New American Plays are extensively documented.

The President's Task Force on the Arts and the Humanities sub-subseries documents Stevens's role in this group to which he was first appointed by Ronald Reagan.

Arranged as four sub-subseries.
National Council on the Arts - National Endowment for the Arts
Advisory panel
BOX-FOLDER 1/1 Lists, 1965-1971
BOX-FOLDER 1/2 Art, 1965-1967
BOX-FOLDER 1/3 Dance, 1965-1967
BOX-FOLDER 1/4 Film, 1965-1967
BOX-FOLDER 1/5 Literature, 1965-1967
BOX-FOLDER 1/6 Music, 1966-1967
BOX-FOLDER 1/7 Theatre, 1965-1967
Includes: Correspondence from Elia Kazan
BOX-FOLDER 1/8 to 2/1 Benefit for "Inner City" project, 1968
Includes: Correspondence from Harper Lee and Gregory Peck
BOX-FOLDER 2/2 Carnegie commission on educational television, 1966
BOX-FOLDER 2/3 Clippings, 1963-1969
BOX-FOLDER 2/4 Congressional hearings, legislation, and reports, 1960-1975
BOX-FOLDER 2/5 to 3/3 Correspondence and reports, 1963-1969 and undated
BOX-FOLDER 3/4 Correspondence - commendations, 1969
Includes: Correspondence from Robert Anderson; Aaron Copland; Agnes de Mille; Lawrence Halprin; Helen Hayes; Harper Lee; Charles Mathias; Robert Merrill; Walter Prude; Arthur Schlesinger Jr.; Gunther Schuller; John Wharton; and Peggy Wood
BOX-FOLDER 3/5 to 4/2 The Current State of Criticism in the Performing Arts - Sessions 1-5, 1966-1968
BOX-FOLDER 4/3 Dinner for Vice President Hubert Humphrey, 1966 February
BOX-FOLDER 4/4 Festival '66, 1965-1966
BOX-FOLDER 4/5 The Fine Arts in American Culture, 1967 September 18
BOX-FOLDER 4/6 Foundation for the Advancement of American Art, undated
BOX-FOLDER 4/7 Literary Anthology, 1966-1969
Includes: Stevens article draft "Censorship: National Arts Council vs. Elitism"
BOX-FOLDER 4/8-9, 411/1 Meetings, 1965-1969
BOX-FOLDER 4/10 Member lists, 1965-1974
BOX-FOLDER 4/11-12 "The National Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts During the Administration of Lyndon B. Johnson," 1968
BOX-FOLDER 4/13 to 5/1 A National Institute for Design - feasibility and program, 1967 July
BOX-FOLDER 5/2-3 A National Institute for Design - appendices, 1967 July
BOX-FOLDER 5/4-5 A National Program in Design - report to the National Council on the Arts, 1967 November
BOX-FOLDER 5/6 New York City visit of Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan, 1963
BOX-FOLDER 5/7 Party in honor of Jennie Lee, 1967
BOX-FOLDER 5/8 Peace Corps supper, 1965
Photographs
BOX-FOLDER 5/9 Ceremony honoring the signing of the Arts and Humanities Bill, 1965 September 29
Includes: Carter Brown, Charlton Heston, Hubert H. Humphrey, Christine G. Stevens, and Roger L. Stevens
BOX-FOLDER 5/10 National Council on the Arts panel at University of Michigan, 1966 June 15
Includes: Elizabeth Ashley, Gregory Peck, and Roger L. Stevens
BOX-FOLDER 397/1 Swearing in the National Council on the Arts
BOX-FOLDER 5/11-12, 426/1 Presidential appointment, 1964
Includes: Correspondence from Kaye Ballard; Lucius D. Battle; Marie Bullock; Warren Caro; Richard Coe; George Freedley; W. Averell Harriman; Leland Hayward; August Heckster; Anna Hoffman; Jacob Javits; Eleanor Lambert; Irving Paul Lazar; Robert E. Lee; Louis J. Lefkowitz; George Marek; Jan Meyerowitz; David Oppenheim; William D. Patterson; Claiborne Pell; Howard Reinheimer; S. Dillon Ripley; John D. Rockefeller, 3rd; John J. Rooney; James Schellenberger; Nathan Schulman; Leslie Stevens; Adlai E. Stevenson; Sam Taylor; Howard Teichman; Ben Tobin; Herschel Williams; Peggy Wood; and Stanley Woodward
Includes: Certificate of appointment in Box 426, Folder 1
BOX-FOLDER 426/1 Presidential appointment, 1965 March 11
BOX-FOLDER 6/1 Regional theatre, 1967-1968
Speeches
BOX-FOLDER 6/2 Speech list, 1964 May-1966 March
BOX-FOLDER 6/3 1966 Community Arts Fund Drive, Ft Worth, TX, 1966 June 6
BOX-FOLDER 6/4 Actors' Equity Association - conference on the creative use of minorities in the theatre, 1964 November 19
BOX-FOLDER 6/5 Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY, "Why the Arts Should Be an Important Factor in Our Lives Today," 1965 February 27
BOX-FOLDER 6/6 American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1966
BOX-FOLDER 6/7 American Educational Theatre Association annual conference, Miami, Florida, 1965 August 25
BOX-FOLDER 6/8 Arizona State University, 1966 January 31
BOX-FOLDER 6/9 "Artmobiles and Their Possibilities for This Country," 1965 March 19
BOX-FOLDER 6/10 Arts Council legislation, 1975
BOX-FOLDER 6/11 Aspen Institute - convocation honoring Martha Graham, 1965 July 30
BOX-FOLDER 6/12 Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, 1964 July 30
BOX-FOLDER 6/13 Business Council for the Arts - annual dinner, 1960 January 27
BOX-FOLDER 6/14 Central Michigan University - Festival of the Arts, 1969
BOX-FOLDER 6/15 Composers recognition week ceremony, 1968 May 27
BOX-FOLDER 6/16 Concert managers conference, 1966 January 7
BOX-FOLDER 6/17 Conflict of interest statement, 1965 October 8
BOX-FOLDER 6/18 Constructive National Program in Support of the Arts, 1968 March 4
BOX-FOLDER 6/19 Cultural Alliance Conference, New York City, 1965 April 2
BOX-FOLDER 6/20 De Cordova Museum - groundbreaking, Lincoln, Nebraska, 1965
BOX-FOLDER 6/21 Democratic National Convention Platform Committee, 1964 August 25
BOX-FOLDER 6/22 Detroit Institute of Arts - Allied Arts Festival, 1968 September 21
BOX-FOLDER 6/23 Detroit Institute of Arts - north wing groundbreaking ceremony, 1965 June 4
BOX-FOLDER 6/24 Excerpts, 1966
BOX-FOLDER 6/25 Fairfax Ball honoring Mrs. Jouett [Kay] Shouse, 1968 October 5
BOX-FOLDER 6/26 Federal Bar Association of N.Y, N.J., and Conn. Committee on Law of the Theatre, 1966 October 24
BOX-FOLDER 6/27 "Federal Legislation and the Arts and Its Implications for the Cities," undated
BOX-FOLDER 6/28 ... the future of the Arts and Humanities Endowments ..., undated
BOX-FOLDER 6/29 House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior Department and related agencies, 1967 March 9
BOX-FOLDER 6/30 Introduction of Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra to Diplomatic Corps, Michigan delegation, and guests, 1966 February 21
BOX-FOLDER 6/31 International Art Exhibition and Art Auction, 1966 March 20
BOX-FOLDER 6/32 International Association of Concert Managers annual convention, 1964 December 10
BOX-FOLDER 6/33 International Film Awards, 1966 January 21
BOX-FOLDER 6/34 Juilliard School of Music - commencement, 1967 June 2
BOX-FOLDER 6/35 Juilliard School of Music - World Theatre Day celebration, 1966 March 27
BOX-FOLDER 6/36 Lincoln Academy of Illinois at Chicago, 1965 February 11
BOX-FOLDER 6/37 Manhattan School of Music - commencement, 1967 May 26
BOX-FOLDER 6/38 Montana speech, [1969 January]
BOX-FOLDER 7/1 National Association of Schools of Music, 1965 November 27
BOX-FOLDER 7/2 National Book Committee annual meeting, 1964 December 10
BOX-FOLDER 7/3 National Conference on Higher Education - information session, 1966 March 14
BOX-FOLDER 7/4 National Conference on Higher Education, "Priorities for the Arts," 1965 March 9
BOX-FOLDER 7/5 National Electrical Sign Association - 20th Annual Convention, 1966 March 14
BOX-FOLDER 7/6 National Music Council, "National Foundation of the Arts," 1966 January
BOX-FOLDER 7/7 New Jersey Cultural Center - dedication, Trenton, New Jersey, 1965 September 26
BOX-FOLDER 7/8 Pennsylvania Society of Architects Forum, 1964 September 23
BOX-FOLDER 7/9 Pennsylvania State University, College of Arts and Architecture - dedication, 1965 May 15
BOX-FOLDER 7/10 Rhode Island School of Design - commencement, 1965 June 5
BOX-FOLDER 7/11 Rhodes School - commencement, 1965 June 25
Includes: Photographs
BOX-FOLDER 7/12 St. Louis, Missouri - Council on the Arts, 1965 October 22
BOX-FOLDER 7/13 Senate Subcommittee on Arts and Humanities, 1967 July 13
BOX-FOLDER 7/14 Southeastern Museums Conference, 1969
BOX-FOLDER 7/15 Southern Illinois University - Visions '65 Conference, 1965 October
BOX-FOLDER 7/16 University of Alabama - Festival of Arts Banquet, 1966 February 22
BOX-FOLDER 7/17 University of Iowa Museum of Art - inauguration, 1969 May 9
BOX-FOLDER 7/18 University of Oklahoma Fine Arts Center - dedication, 1965 October 24
BOX-FOLDER 7/19 Untitled, undated
BOX-FOLDER 7/20 State arts agencies, 1966 January 27
Travel
BOX-FOLDER 7/21-22 Crossroads, USA, 1967
see also Barter Theatre, award
Includes: Photographs
BOX-FOLDER 7/23 Europe trip, 1964
BOX-FOLDER 7/24 Landscapes and landmarks tour, 1965
Includes: Correspondence from Isaac Stern
BOX-FOLDER 8/1 South America, 1966-1969
Includes: Photographs
BOX-FOLDER 8/2 "This Is Our Country," 1968
Westbeth
BOX-FOLDER 8/3-6, 397/2 Correspondence, 1967-1973, 1984-1988, and undated
Includes: Photograph of Roger L. Stevens
MAPCASE FOLDER 22 Floor plan, undated
BOX-FOLDER 8/7 Proposed offering, 1984
BOX-FOLDER 8/8 to 9/2 Appendix of documents to Report on Offering Plan, Parts I and II, undated
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