Nancy Hamilton Papers, 1862-1992

Nancy Hamilton, Broadway actress, lyricist, author, scriptwriter, producer, and playwright was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, July 27, 1908, daughter of Charles Lee Hamilton and Margaret Miller Marshall. She was educated at Miss Dickinson's School in Sewickley, at the Sorbonne, and received a B.A. from Smith College in 1930. Hamilton began writings songs and sketches while at Smith, acting in and directing The Chocolate Soldier in her senior year. She was Producing Director of the Dramatic Association Council at Smith. After a period of amateur acting and producing in Pittsburgh and Montclair, New Jersey, she moved to New York City in 1932 and leased a large apartment with an assortment of women friends. For a short time she worked for Stern's Department Store and then for RKO Pictures as a spy checking audience reactions and reporting on vaudeville acts. She began her acting career as understudy to Katharine Hepburn in The Warrior's Husband and also had a walk on part in the play. She made her Broadway debut in 1934 in New Faces, not only appearing in the show but also writing many of the lyrics. When it closed she turned to play writing. She collaborated with Rosemary Casey and James Shute on Return Engagement which was made into a film entitled Fools for Scandal. During the next two years Hamilton wrote radio scripts for comic actress Beatrice Lillie, Fred Astaire, and Lois Long, and published articles and poems in Stage Magazine and Harper's Bazaar. She went on to write lyrics for three successful Broadway revues (a genre of musical theater that flourished in the 1930s): One for The Money (1939) ran for 132 performances, Two for the Show (1940) ran for 124 performances, and Three to Make Ready (1946) ran for 323 performances. These revues launched the careers of Alfred Drake, Keenan Wynn, Gene Kelley, Betty Hutton, Eve Arden, and Ray Bolger. Song lyrics written by Hamilton include "How High the Moon," "The House with the Little Red Barn," "The Old Soft Shoe," "I Hate the Spring," "The Old Gavotte," "Lovely Lazy Kind of Day," and "Clambake." In 1945 she spent six months with the American Theater Wing War Players touring the battle areas of France, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In the mid-1950s Hamilton produced Helen Keller In Her Story (also known as The Unconquered), a documentary on the life of Helen Keller narrated by Katharine Cornell. It won an Academy Award in 1955 for the best documentary.

Nancy Hamilton is known as one of the first women to succeed as a lyricist. Korey Rothman in her dissertation, "Somewhere There's Music: Nancy Hamilton, The Old Girls Network, and the American Musical Theatre of the 1930s and 1940s,"¹ states that Hamilton is "…an important unsung figure of the twentieth century musical theater" and that she "…was part of a large network of women with whom she maintained overlapping professional and romantic relationships." She was the life-long partner of actress Katharine Cornell. Hamilton died in New York City, February 18, 1985, after a long illness.

[¹ PhD Dissertation, University of Maryland at College Park, 2005]

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Nancy Hamilton Papers contain 26 linear feet of correspondence, printed materials, photographs, memorabilia, miscellaneous papers, and sound track and original film footage for Helen Keller in Her Story (1955). The materials are concentrated in the period from 1952 to 1959 when Hamilton developed, produced, and distributed the film. They relate primarily to the film, Helen Keller, and some of Keller's friends and associates. There is no material related to Hamilton's other professional work or her personal life. Of particular interest are 132 reels of original film footage of Helen Keller and others from Helen Keller and Her Story. Almost half of this footage has been reformatted for preservation and research use [see list in Appendix].

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into six series:

• I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND CORRESPONDENCE
• II. HELEN KELLER IN HER STORY
• III. SUBJECT FILES
• IV. PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES
• V. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS
• VI. OVERSIZE MATERIALS

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SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND CORRESPONDENCE (1862-1985) .25 linear ft.

This series consists of one folder of miscellaneous biographical material related to Nancy Hamilton which includes clippings, articles, and notes (1939-1985). The remaining part of the series consists of general correspondence arranged alphabetically. This is primarily personal correspondence and includes letters from Billie Burke, Douglas Edwards, Dwight D. and Mamie Eisenhower, Helen Hayes, Helen Keller, and Eleanor Roosevelt. There is correspondence from some of the same individuals in SERIES II. HELEN KELLER IN HER STORY. This series also contains a transcript of an 1862 letter from Julia Gardiner Tyler (widow of President John Tyler) to the Commanding Officer of U.S. Forces at Jamestown and Williamsburg. There is no information about how or why this letter is connected to Nancy Hamilton.

SERIES II. HELEN KELLER IN HER STORY (1919-69) 1.75 linear ft.

This series consists of six subseries: Development and production, Distribution and showings, Financial and legal matters, Promotion, and Awards and tributes.

Development and production contains two sections, Source Materials For the Film, and Scripts. The former contains correspondence and notes, particularly from consultant Nella Braddy Henney; Dwight D. Eisenhower regarding his appearance in the film; Rebecca Mack owner of Helen Keller material; and director Richard Carver Wood. Miscellaneous printed material about blindness and undated notes are included as well. The scripts section contains scripts from every stage of filming, including shot sheets and narration scripts for Katharine Cornell. Helen Keller's Braille script is located in SERIES VI. OVERSIZE MATERIAL. Still photographs of Helen Keller's 1919 film, Deliverance, which are part of Development and production, are located in SERIES IV. PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES.

Distribution and Showings consists of correspondence, notes, and clippings about distribution arrangements; problems regarding commercial bookings; and Keller's efforts to promote the film, the proceeds of which were to support services for the blind and the blind-deaf. There are letters and other papers from ABC News, the American Foundation for the Blind, the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind, legal counsel Fitelson and Mayers, and agents Information Productions and Louis de Rochemont Associates. There is also information about special showings of the film, including in Birmingham and Tuscumbia, Alabama, and the Scottish Film Council. In addition there is material regarding showings in foreign countries and in celebration of Keller's seventy-fifth birthday. There is also information about the film's distribution via the United States Information Agency.

Financial and legal matters contains correspondence, receipts, financial statements, and contracts. These include material from Albert Margolis Co., Information Productions, Louis de Rochemont Associates, Nathan W. Levin, and the American Foundation for the Blind.

Promotion contains correspondence and other papers regarding publicity and promotion activities, film reviews, and letters of appreciation from viewers. These relate to the film's opening, the "Arlene Francis Show," and miscellaneous promotion events. There is also correspondence, a typescript, and articles related to a Katharine Cornell interview. This section also includes reviews and letters of appreciation.

Although the film was not a commercial success, it received a number of awards, including an Oscar for best documentary film of 1955. Most of the material in the Awards and tributes section consists of congratulatory and miscellaneous correspondence and printed material related to the Oscar. In addition there is a film of Hamilton receiving the Oscar located in SERIES V. AUDIOVISIUAL MATERIALS. The Oscar statuette and certificate are in SERIES VI. OVERSIZE MATERIAL. There is a small amount of material on an award Hamilton received from Scholastic Teacher and various other tributes.

SERIES III. SUBJECT FILES (1888-1972) .75 linear ft.

This series contains correspondence, clippings, articles, notes and other papers that are not about the production of the film. Although the largest amounts of material relate to Katharine Cornell and Helen Keller, there are also documents related to blindness; Brenda Forbes; Adele Levy; The Miracle Worker in which Hamilton invested; Florence Nightingale; the gift of the Hamilton Papers to Smith College, including a report on film footage; Keller's teacher Anne Sullivan, and companion, Polly Thompson.

The section about Katharine Cornell contains material related to her trusteeship for the American Foundation for the Blind and her support for the American Foundation of the Overseas Blind, as well as an interview with Arlene Francis; correspondence, especially with Helen Keller; and miscellaneous clippings, notes and printed material. The section on Helen Keller includes articles, clippings, awards, medical information, obituaries and materials related to her funeral service, speeches, writings, and transcripts of radio broadcasts. In addition, there are materials regarding proposals to write a biography of Keller; and Keller's seventy-fifth, eightieth and eighty-fifth birthday celebrations; and her overseas tours.

SERIES IV. PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES (1888-1969) .75 linear ft.

This series consists primarily of photographs and stills related to, and from, Helen Keller In Her Story. These include photographs of Keller alone, mostly undated, that range from her childhood to old age. There are also photographs of Keller with Alexander Graham Bell, Katharine Cornell, her sister Mildred, Anne Sullivan, Polly Thompson, and the Martha Graham Dancers. In addition, there a photographs of Nancy Hamilton, the Keller Homestead, and Anne Sullivan.

SERIES V. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS (1953-92) 23 linear ft.

This series contains original film and sound recordings (open reel audiotapes, film soundtracks, and photographs records) most of which relate to Helen Keller In Her Story. There is also a VHS videotape of the documentary. The 132 canisters of original film footage, including 16 and 35 mm prints, trims and out-takes, and footage from other sources are shelved separately. Portions of the film footage and the soundtrack (footage that did not make it into the final version of the film or was used as source material) have been transferred to DVDs for research use [see Appendix]. In addition, this series contains film footage of Nancy Hamilton receiving her Oscar in 1956 and an audiotape of Helen Keller at the Library of Congress in 1992, as well as miscellaneous other sound recordings related to Helen Keller and Helen Keller in Her Story. These items have not been reformatted, but could be on request.

SERIES VI. OVERSIZE MATERIALS (1952-55) .5 linear ft.

This series contains two subseries: Photographs and Memorabilia. The Photographs subseries contains two photographs of Keller with Polly Thomson, one with Anne Sullivan, and two with Martha Graham. In addition there is an oversize photograph of a clipping and a photograph of a portrait of Keller in her academic robes. Memorabilia consists of Helen Keller's Braille script and a scrapbook of her seventy-fifth birthday celebration. In addition there are Nancy Hamilton's Golden Reel Award plaque, her Oscar statuette and certificate from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND CORRESPONDENCE

SERIES II. HELEN KELLER IN HER STORY

SERIES III. SUBJECT FILES

SERIES IV. PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES

SERIES V. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

SERIES VI. OVERSIZE MATERIALS

APPENDIX

Reformatted film footage from Helen Keller in her Story (1955)

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