Title: Jane Wright-Porter papers
Inclusive Dates: 1888-1947
Bulk Dates: 1928-1940

Creator:

• Wright-Porter, Jane

Unique Identifier: Series 9/4/16/5

Quantity: Correspondence, sketches, sheet music, photographs, negatives, and scrapbooks

• 2.1 Linear Feet
• Two letter document boxes and one oversized flat storage box

Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Madison. University Archives and Records Management

Abstract:

This collection consists of photographs, sheet music, correspondence, sketches, scripts, notes, programs and miscellaneous materials collected by Jane Wright-Porter related to festivals and pageants she produced in Wisconsin. Wright-Porter staged pageants focused on Wisconsin history starring local children. The bulk of pageant materials focus on the Tower Hill Folk Festival held at Tower Hill State Park in Spring Green, Wisconsin on August 21-22, 1937 and August 13-14, 1938.

Language: English .

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-ua-series9_4_16_5

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This collection includes no known access restrictions.

Transferred from The University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture department of Agricultural and Extension Education, 1966-09 and 1969-09.

Jane Wright-Porter (1869-1953) lived in Wyoming, Wisconsin with her husband Andrew Porter (1858-1948) from 1908 to 1917 and 1935 to 1953. They lived in the Tan-y-Deri home designed by Wright-Porter's brother architect Frank Lloyd Wright on the Taliesin Estate. During the 1930s and 1940s, Wright-Porter staged pageants focused on Wisconsin history starring local children. She co-produced the Tower Hill Folk Festival held at Tower Hill State Park in Spring Green, Wisconsin on August 21-22, 1937 and August 13-14, 1938. The outdoor festival brought over 2,000 attendees to the park in 1937. During this period Wright-Porter also produced numerous small children's pageants such as "The Silver Sandals" and various seasonal events for Easter, Halloween, and other holidays. Her son Franklin Wright-Porter (1910-2002) was a music instructor whose lesson plans and sheet music is also included in the collection.

This collection consists of photographs, sheet music, correspondence, sketches, scripts, notes, programs and miscellaneous materials collected by Jane Wright Porter related to festivals and pageants she produced in Wisconsin. Wright-Porter staged pageants focused on Wisconsin history starring local children. The bulk of pageant materials focus on the Tower Hill Folk Festival held at Tower Hill State Park in Spring Green, Wisconsin on August 21-22, 1937 and August 13-14, 1938.

The outdoor festival included folk dances and songs from various immigrant communities in Wisconsin and brought over 2,000 attendees to the park in 1937. Materials of particular interest include set design sketches, photographs of the performances, and related correspondence and records focused on the production of the festivals and the park itself. For example, the collection includes a signed petition on behalf of Florence Thomas Dingle asking the Wisconsin Governor and State Conservation Commission to allow public groups such as the festival organizers to use Dingle Cottage at Tower Hill State Park. Notable correspondents include University of Wisconsin Extension agents Amy A. Gessner and A.F. Wilsen, Wisconsin State Conservation Department staff including C.L Harrington, National Folk Festival Director Sarah Gertrude Knott, journalists including Jenkin Lloyd Jones, and personal friends including Keith McCutcheon.

The collection also includes family photographs including 1888 photographs of Clara Schutter and sheet music, lesson plans, and notes written by Wright-Porter's son and music teacher Franklin Porter.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison University Archives values the diversity of Indigenous Peoples' cultures and languages and aspires to address Indigenous people using the terminology the members the community use to describe themselves. Given that the nations represented in this collection are unnamed, the Archives uses the term "Native American" to describe Wright-Porter's themed pageant along with her own description "Indian Pageant."

Collection materials may be subject to laws governing rights. Researchers are solely responsible for determining the rights status of the materials they use. Permission may be required for some uses such as publication or reproduction.

Folklore -- WisconsinSpring Green (Wis.)Tower Hill (Wis.)Pageants -- Wisconsin

Box [89125684167]   1   folder 1	"Cave Man" reference materials and clippings, 1946-1947
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 2	Miscellaneous Wisconsin folk dance books and notes, 1937, undated
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 3	"The Silver Sandals" scripts and notes, circa. 1937-1939
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 4	Tower Hill Folk Festival programs, scripts, and sketches 1937-1938
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 5	Tower Hill Folk Festival flyers, program, and ephemera 1937-08-21
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 6	Song lyrics and Tower Hill Folk Festival flyer, 1937, undated
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 7	Tower Hill Folk Festival and miscellaneous performance photographs, 1937-1939
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 8	Jane Wright-Porter, incoming correspondence regarding the Tower Hill Folk Festival (1) 1937-08-02-1939-11-07
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 9	Tower Hill Folk Festival scrapbook, 1937-1938
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 10	National Folk Festival correspondence and ephemera and miscellaneous correspondence with Jane Wright Porter, 1937-1939
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 11	Jane Wright-Porter, incoming correspondence regarding the Tower Hill Folk Festival (2) 1935-1938
Box [89125684167]   1   folder 12	Tower Hill Folk Festival notes, meeting notes, and ephemera, Badger State Historical Society materials, Tower Hill Dingle Cottage petition, and Historical Pageant Association materials 1937-1939
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 1	Clara Schutter photographs, 1888, undated
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 2	Jane Wright-Porter miscellaneous incoming personal correspondence, 1912-1936
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 3	Miscellaneous community theater notes and publications, 1937, undated
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 4	University of Wisconsin Extension publications, 1933-1939
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 5	Native American sheet music and notes for "Indian Pageant", circa. 1930-1940
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 6	Christmas Pageant script and notes, circa. 1930-1940
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 7	Franklin Porter musical compositions and lesson plans, circa. 1930-1940
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 8	Franklin Porter musical compositions, lesson plans, and family photograph negatives
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 9	"Under Three Flags: A Pageant of Wisconsin History" script, circa. 1930-1940
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 10	Autum Harvest Pageant scrapbooks and clippings, circa. 1940-1950
Box [89125684142]   2   folder 11	Easter Festival songs and notebook, circa. 1930-1940
Box [89125684183]   3   folder 1	Set design sketches (Hodag) and Bryn Mawr College 1928 May Day Pageant program, circa. 1928-1938