Peg Lynch's typewriter: A window into the birth of sitcoms
The past meets the present in our Friday File series, where we delve through artifacts housed at the UO Libraries and let them talk. Some of the first sitcoms were typed on these keys. This typewriter belonged to Peg Lynch, creator of the TV and radio sitcom Ethel and Albert .
Our collections exist to be used. When students work directly with primary source materials, historic photographs, and documents that are old or unique, they discover an excitement and passion not generated by textbooks.
Primary source documents can inspire, but they also teach about learning to verify sources, tracking down connections, finding evidence from content and from physical clues.
Special Collections and University Archives collects in the topical area Oregon Filmmakers, including papers and films of Oregon filmmakers are sought on a very selective basis. Priority is given to UO alumni.
These collections may contain scripts for television series, ideas for series, and notes about series. This list only gives the name of the television shows found in each collection; it does not specify which are scripts, ideas, etc., and it does not give the titles of the episodes. For more complete information, see the individual inventories for each collection.
Adams, Frank Ramsay
Papers, 1908-1955.
27 lin. ft. (18 boxes)
Adams was educated at the University of Chicago. He was the manager of the Playhouse Theater and owner of the Sylvan Beach Resort Co., Whitehall, Mi., from 1916 to 1932. Adams also wrote short stories, plays, musical comedies, motion picture scripts, and lyrics for popular songs such as "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now?"
The collection includes story manuscripts, manuscripts of musical comedies such as "The Umpire" and "The Flirting Princess," written with William M. Hough and Joseph E. Howard; manuscripts of plays and motion pictures; published works; scrapbooks; and correspondence. Correspondents include Jerry Vogel (Vogel Music Co.); William H. Hough; Joseph E. Howard; The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; and the Music Publishers Holding Company.
Ax 527
Ball, William David
Miscellaneous Papers, 1920-1965
.5 linear ft.
Short story and photoplay writer. Includes correspondence concerning writing of story line for "Flaming Youth,\" 1925.
Ax 704
Ballard, Willis Todhunter
Papers, 1926-1975
15.75 linear ft. + 127 free standing volumes
Includes professional correspondence 1947-1972, publication records, papers of western writers of America documenting his activity in that organization, 1960-1974 and manuscripts of 70 books, 17 teleplays, one screenplay, and a few magazine articles. There are also 127 books that are mainly paperback foreign editions.
Coll. 49
Behn, Harry
Papers, 1914-1968.
1.5 linear ft. Includes 28 screenplays, scenarios, screen treatments and continuities written 1926-1939, among them The Big Parade, The Crow, and Hell's Angels. There are also nine play manuscripts, and minor correspondence.
Ax 420
Bendick, Robert
Television scripts, 1952-1964
1.5 linear ft.
Television producer and director. Includes six scripts.
Ax 505
Blocklinger, Peggy O'More
Papers, 1927-1965
6 linear ft.
Includes 32 book manuscripts, correspondence with agents and publishers, copies of books and other published material. Author's books published under a number of pseudonyms, most often Peggy O'More, or Jeanne Bowman.
Ax 297
Branch, Houston
Papers, 1919-1958
15 linear ft.
Novelist, dramatist, screenwriter, publicist. Papers include manuscripts of plays, screen stories, screen treatments, television plays, and minor papers of Houston Branch Associates and the American Library Foundation.
Coll. 249
Brentano, Lowell and Francis Hyams
Papers, 1917-1952
6 linear ft.
Publisher, author, playwright. Includes manuscripts and contracts; also some papers of Frances Hymes Brentano. Correspondents include Fulton Oursler, George Bernard Shaw, Jerry Wald.
AX 568
Burnet, Dana
Papers, 1915-1963
6 linear ft.
Writer of short stories, plays, poems, and screenplays. Of note is the screenplay for The Great Commandment, a film released by Twentieth Century Fox in 1939.
Coll. 141
Clements, Calvin J.
Papers, 1958-1966
3 linear ft. Writer of adventure stories and television scripts. Includes especially scripts for "Gunsmoke" and "The Rifleman."
Ax 493
Collins, Richard J.
Papers, 1932-1967
9 ft.
Writer for motion pictures, television. Includes scripts, scenarios, screenplays, professional correspondence, contacts.
Ax 691
Cox, William Robert
Papers, 1914-1980.
18 linear ft. (38 boxes, 23 free standing volumes)
Author of western, mystery, and sport stories and books. Includes correspondence with publishers, other writers, and agents; manuscripts of books, screenplays, and stories; notebooks; pulp magazine tear-sheets; and books.
Coll. 32
Curry, Thomas Albert
Papers, 1922-1967
12 linear ft.
Manuscripts of novels and novelettes, comic strip treatments, radio scripts, motion picture treatments. Curry wrote western and mystery stories. His correspondence with publishers and editors includes; Black Mask, Clayton Magazines, Frank A. Munsey Co., Laurence Pollinger, Ltd., Real Detective Tales, Standard Magazines Inc.
Ax 318
Fessier, Michael
Papers, 1927-1967
5 linear ft.
Includes manuscripts of 185 short stories, 7 plays, 7 teleplays, 9
screenplays, 3 novels, and a collection of published pieces. Correspondence is minor.
Ax 428
Glidden, Frederick Dilley (Luke Short)
Papers, 1933-1966
10 linear ft.
Fred Glidden, better known for his pen name, Luke Short, was born in Kewaunee, Ill., and educated at the University of Missouri. He worked on newspapers in the Middle West and as a fur trapper in northern Alberta. His first published piece appeared in 1935, and he has since written for magazines, motion pictures, television, and the book market, almost exclusively in the field of western fiction. The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts of novels, novelettes, short stories, articles, teleplays, and screenplays, and published magazine pieces, books, and teleplays. Correspondence includes originals of letters received and sent.
Coll. 148
Goldstone, Nathan C.
Screenplays, screen treatments, and other literary properties (undated).
1 box
Author was a senior member of the Goldstone-Tobias Agency, Inc., Beverly Hills, CA. Among the properties is a screenplay, "The Winner," by Houston Branch, and a screen treatment, "The Republic Of Irving," by Howard Fast.
Ax 390
Green, Paul Eliot
Screenplays and scripts, 1925-1942
11 pieces
Includes screenplays, Carolina, by Reginald Berkley, House of Connelly, by Paul Green; Voltaire, by Paul Green, based on the novel by George Gibbs and E. Laurence Dudley.
Ax 429
Hawkins, John and Ward
Screenplays, and television plays, 1967-1969
25.5 linear ft.
Author was born in Vancouver, B.C. and attended Oregon State College and the University of Oregon. He commenced writing fiction for pulp magazines in 1935, and in 1960 began writing for television and motion pictures. The collection includes television scripts for numerous shows, and four versions of the screenplay, "Cascade."
Coll. 71
Hoyt, Vance Joseph
Papers, 1913-1963
4 linear ft. Author, naturalist. Includes copies of his books, correspondence with publishers, and personal letters. Correspondents include Hamlin Garland, Jim Tully, John R. White, and Charmain London.
Ax 312
Josephy, Alvin M.
Papers, 1946-1968
70 linear ft.
Journalist and historian. Josephy worked at MGM as a screenwriter after World War II. The papers include screenplays, screen treatments, television program formats, and scripts.
Coll. 14
Knight, Ruth Adams
Papers, 1938-1971
3 linear ft.
Author of radio and television scripts, books for children and young people and non-fiction books for women. Knight created the radio series, "Brave Tomorrow." The collection is comprised mainly of manuscripts and research notes, with some correspondence and biographical materiel.
Ax 784
Lynch, Margaret (Peg) Francis
Papers, 1944- 1976
46.5 linear ft. (101 boxes)
Author and actress. Consists largely of the radio and television scripts written by Miss Lynch for the two shows which she created and starred in with Alan Bunce: "Ethel and Albert" and "The Couple Next Door." Includes kinescopes and tapes. Also of note are two folders of material relating to the Radio Writers Guild, 1950-1952.
Coll. 66
McGivern, Maureen Daly
Papers, 1938-1973
6 linear ft.
Writer of fiction, nonfiction, juveniles, and television scripts. Includes correspondence and manuscripts.
Ax 753
Newton, Dwight Bennett
Papers, 1944-1966
1.5 ft.
The collection includes manuscripts of seven books, one short story, and thirteen published teleplays. Correspondence is with other writers, including Frank Bonham, Frank Gruber, and agent August Lenniger.
Coll. 192
Norton, Henry M.
Papers, 1942-1952; 1970-1975
1 linear ft. (4 boxes)
Writer and teacher. Includes correspondence, particularly from literary agents; tear sheets of detective fiction stories mainly from pulp magazines; television and radio scripts; teaching material; and two financial ledgers delineating the expenses and earnings of a writer.
Coll. 72
Steiner, George (music, not scripts)
Music manuscripts, 1914-1964
6 linear ft.
Musician, composer. Includes original compositions, arrangements, radio, motion picture and television music, notebooks, and published pieces.
Ax 537
Taylor, Matthew Ambrose
Papers, 1931-1961
1.5 linear ft.
Author. Includes manuscripts of published and unpublished short stories, plays radio and television scripts, and screenplays, and a collection of published magazine pieces.
Ax 367
Warren, Charles Marquis
Screenplays, 1947-1953
1 linear ft. Includes scripts by Sy Bartlett, Jonathan Latimer, Ranald McDougall, and Warren.
Ax 714
Woodman, Ruth Cornwall
Papers.
12 linear ft.
Scriptwriter. Collection includes radio and television scripts for "Death Valley Days," and miscellaneous papers, 1914-1916, 1930-1969.
Ax 690
Wright, Robert Vincent
Television scripts, 1961-1969
.5 linear ft.
Thirty-two television scripts, synopses, story outlines, and production scripts.
Ax 433
[Identification of item], Date (if known), Collection Title, Collection Number, Box and Folder number [or photo ID number], Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.
Special Collections and University Archives is the primary repository for the University of Oregon’s archives, rare books, historic photographs, and one of the largest historical manuscripts collections in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to acquire, preserve, and make available a clearly defined set of primary sources and rare books, reflecting the written, visual, and audio history and culture of Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, and selected aspects of American and world history. Our diverse collections support all types of research, from K–12 education to international scholarship. We strive to play an active and creative role in the teaching, research, and service missions of the University.
Historical Collection Strengths
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Eugene, OR 97403
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