Roland Holt Papers, 1883-1956.

Summary

Creator:
Holt, Roland, 1867-1931.
Abstract:

Roland Holt (1867-1931) of New York, N.Y., was vice-president of Henry Holt & Company, publishers, 1903-1924, theater critic, and lecturer on drama, and his wife, Constance D'Arcy Mackay (1887?-1966), was an author of plays, pageants, books, and articles for and about non-professional theater.

The collection contains correspondence, writings, clippings, photographs, and other materials of Roland Holt and Constance D'Arcy Mackay. Included are letters, late 1880s, from Roland Holt to his father about Holt's experiences as a student at Yale University; letters, 1910s-1920s, from actors and playwrights reviewed by Holt; published versions of articles by and about Holt; annual diary volumes, 1896-1920, of Holt, concerning social and theatrical activities; correspondence, 1906-1956. Mackay's papers include letters concerning theatrical business matters, including correspondence with Frederick Henry Koch (1877-1944); plays, poems, and articles by Mackay; and articles concerning MacKay's work, along with clippings, scrapbooks, and pictures.

Extent:
3000 items (4.5 linear feet)
Language:
Materials in English
Library Catalog Link:
View UNC library catalog record for this item

Background

Biographical / historical:

Roland Holt (1867-1931) of New York, N.Y., was vice-president of Henry Holt & Company, publishers, 1903-1924, theater critic, and lecturer on drama, and his wife, Constance D'Arcy Mackay (1887?-1966), was an author of plays, pageants, books, and articles for and about non-professional theater.

Roland Holt, son of publisher Henry Holt, Sr. of Henry Holt & Co., began his literary career as an editor of the Yale Courant and dramatic critic at the New Haven Palladium prior to his graduation from Yale in 1890. He began working for Henry Holt & Co. in 1890, and was vice president of the company from 1903-1924. From approximately 1923-1931, he wrote a weekly column, "The Living Stage," for numerous newspapers and periodicals, and he contributed articles on drama and the theater to various magazines including Social Progress, The Forum, and Theatre and Drama. He also lectured on theater-related topics around the country, and was the director of the Century Opera Company and the New York Drama League. In 1923 he married Constance D'Arby Mackay.

Constance D'Arby Mackay, a native of St. Paul, Minn., was an author who had numerous books published by Henry Holt & Co. She wrote plays and pageants, as well as books on amateur theatrics. Additionally, she directed numerous historical pageants throughout the United States, and contributed articles and poems to Woman's Home Companion, McCalls Magazine, Holland's Magazine, and other periodicals. She was the director of the Department of Pageantry and Drama of War Camp Community Service, 1918-1919, and a member of the Society of American Dramatists and Composers, American Pageant Society, Sulgrave Institution, and the P.E.N. Club.

Scope and content:

The collection contains correspondence, writings, clippings, photographs, and other materials of Roland Holt (1867-1931) and Constance D'Arcy Mackay. Included are letters, late 1880s, from Roland Holt to his father about Holt's experiences as a student at Yale University; letters, 1910s-1920s, from actors and playwrights reviewed by Holt; published versions of articles by and about Holt; annual diary volumes, 1896-1920, of Holt, concerning social and theatrical activities; correspondence, 1906-1956. Mackay's papers include letters concerning theatrical business matters, including correspondence with Frederick Henry Koch (1877-1944); plays, poems, and articles by Mackay; and articles concerning MacKay's work, along with clippings, scrapbooks, and pictures. The Roland Holt Papers was originally labeled Series A, and the Constance D'Arby Mackay Papers was originally labeled Series B.

Acquisition information:

Gift of Constance D'Arcy Mackay, 1936.

Processing information:

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton, and Jodi Berkowitz, January 2011

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

Sensitive materials statement:

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Access and use

Restrictions to access:

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to use:

No usage restrictions.

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], in the Roland Holt Papers, #4003, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Location of this collection:
Louis Round Wilson Library
200 South Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Contact:
(919) 962-3765
wilsonlibrary@unc.edu