The records of the ACTA document the activities of a national organization attempting to aid the growth and development of community theater in America. The bulk of the collection relates to the years that Kay Fliehr was actively involved in ACTA, 1969-1973. The records are arranged into four series: American Educational Theatre Association, American Theatre Association, American Community Theatre Association, and Miscellany.
The AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL THEATRE ASSOCIATION series focuses on the parent organization of ACTA and gives a brief overview of it prior to its 1971 reorganization. Included are brochures, convention programs, correspondence, financial reports and budgets, minutes and agenda, newsletters, and reports from 1965 to 1971 with the latter period more heavily documented. The records reveal AETA's relationship with its constituent divisions, particularly ACTA; the development of a reorganization program to better serve its members; and a general overview of AETA's functions and programs. The AMERICAN THEATRE ASSOCIATION series contains similar types of records for the period after reorganization, 1971-1976.
The AMERICAN COMMUNITY THEATRE ASSOCIATION series forms the heart of the collection. It has been divided into two main subseries: General Files and Meetings. The General Files contain brochures, correspondence, financial reports, membership lists, minutes, newsletters, and reports which give information on ACTA's operation. Several subject files document specific ACTA projects such as the creation of a bibliography of theater works, compilation of a national directory of community theaters, and publication of the ACTA magazine Onstage. There is also a folder on the Association Internationale du Theatre Amateur/International Amateur Theatre Association (AITA/IATA), of which ACTA is a member. The Meetings section includes correspondence, reports, notes, financial records, and other materials on conventions, floating conferences, and festivals. The festival files are the most complete; they reveal the growth of this ACTA biennial event and the high degree of cooperation necessary to plan, finance, and publicize the regional and national festivals.
MISCELLANY includes a small file of Kay Fliehr correspondence which, though theater related, does not pertain to her ACTA activities. Miscellaneous membership lists and reports concerned with theater in general complete this series.
