Zoë Akins papers

The papers consist of the following series:

1. Manuscripts (Boxes 1-60) are arranged alphabetically by author and title. The manuscripts cover a wide span of Akins' literary career including some of her childhood writing and the episodes for television she was working on at the time of her death. Included in this series are: Akins' articles, essays, interviews, short stories, plays, screenplays, poems and novels (both published and unpublished). This series also includes manuscripts by other authors, most notably by W.H. Auden, Carlo Beuf, Hildegarde Flanner, Patterson Greene, Orrick Johns, George O'Neil, Hugo Rumbold, and George Sterling.

2. Correspondence (Boxes 61-165) is arranged alphabetically by author. This series includes personal letters and letters related to Akins' writing; the personal letters cover almost all of Akins' life, from her teenage years when she became engaged, briefly, to William Marion Reedy, till the end of her life. A large number of letters deal with the entertainment business, both Hollywood and Broadway, concerning the production of screenplays and plays.

This series includes the personal and business correspondence of Hugo Rumbold and the Rumbold family. Akins retained many business letters of her late husband concerning his various projects. This series also includes a number of letters written or received by Rumbold family members dealing with their diplomatic work, including comments on historical events and meeting famous people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries all over the world.

This series also includes letters from notable people in the literary, acting, and publishing fields in America and Europe, including: Aline Barnsdall, Ethel Barrymore, Carlo Beuf, Billie Burke, Willa Cather, George Cukor, Patterson Greene, Gerald Grove, William Harris, Carl Hovey, Jobyna Howland, Orrick Johns, George S. Kaufman, Alice Kauser, Sonya Levien, Anita Loos, Amy Lowell, W. Somerset Maugham, H.L. Mencken, Harry Moses, Kay Rasmus Nielsen, George O'Neil, Max Pfeffer, Rosamond Pinchot, Una Pope-Hennessey, William M. Reedy, Etheldred Rumbold, Horace Rumbold, Hugo Rumbold, David O. Selznick, Edward Sheldon, Sara Teasdale, Harriet Ware, Edith Wharton, and John Wheelock. The series also includes letters from various magazines, movie studios, production companies, and theatres, including: Charles Scribner's Sons, Ladies' Home Journal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, R K O Pictures, Richard Madden Play Co., Samuel French, Inc., Shubert Theatres Corporation, and the Theatre Guild.

3. Photographs (Boxes 166-168) are arranged alphabetically by subject. The first group consists of famous actors and actresses from Hollywood and Broadway, from 1905, through the 1950s; this series also includes some photographs from various productions of Akins' screenplays and plays. The second group includes Akins and Rumbold family photographs.

4. Drawings (Boxes 169-170) are arranged alphabetically by artist. This series includes drawings by Alfred Joseph Frueh, Norman Bel Geddes, Kay Rasmus Nielsen, and Hugo Rumbold. A number of these drawings are of stage sets for Akins' plays, "The Human Element," and "Papa."

5. Ephemera (Boxes 171-184, Oversize Box 185, Oversize folder) are arranged into various subseries. These include: Akins' Personal & Family Material, Hugo Rumbold & Rumbold Family Material, Financial & Legal Material, Contracts, Agreements & Copyrights, Box Office Statements & Receipts, Printed Articles, Clippings, Scrapbooks, and the Pulitzer Prize awarded to Akins.