Contributed primarily by the Isaacs children, the Edith J.R. Isaacs Papers represents in some way each member of the Isaacs family, as well as their mother. Their father, Lewis Montefiore Isaacs (1877-1944) was not only a distinguished attorney, but also a gifted composer and author. The Isaacs' daughters, Marian Rich Brody and Hermine Isaacs Popper, have also distinguished themselves as contributors to the American theater. Mrs. Brody became a noted teacher of voice in New York. Mrs. Popper, herself a writer, was for many years also on the staff of Theatre Arts Monthly. A great portion of the collection has been turned over to the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research from the personal memorabilia of Lewis M. Isaacs, Jr.
In addition to typescripts of works by the Isaacs, the collection contains several original manuscripts and typescripts presumably prepared for Theatre Arts Magazine. Among these are diary notes by O'Neill on the writing of Mourning Becomes Electra, articles by Gordon Craig, William Saroyan, Edouard Bourdet, and Robert Edmond Jones, as well as considerable correspondence from Thornton Wilder, Paul Green, D.H. Lawrence, Edith Hamilton, Martha Graham, Jacques Copeau, and others. It is believed that the typescripts of the early twentieth century operettas, The Spectre Bridegroom and The Revolt of the Flowers, by Lewis and Edith Isaacs, are the only existing copies of these works.
