Summary
Overview
1821-1966 (mostly 1895-1917)
56.6 linear feet, 64 archival boxes, 8 record center cartons, 2 21″ flat boxes, 2 15″ flat boxes, 12 12″ flat boxes, 1 31″ flat box, 1 5″ card catalog box
Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Abstract
The Lulu Glaser Papers contains various artifacts, letters, photographs, and other items belonging to Lulu Glaser, a popular singer and actress during the early 1900s. Glaser broke into show business at age seventeen and quickly proceeded to become a leading star. After several years of extreme popularity, however, Lulu Glaser faded from the front stage, making her last stage appearance in 1917. For the remainder of her life, she lived on her Connecticut farm in a hermit-like seclusion.
Description
Description
Consists of various artifacts, letters, photographs, and other items belonging to Lulu Glaser, including production files and family papers.
Collection Creator
Biography
Born June 2, 1874 in Sewickly, Pennsylvania, Lulu Glaser was an early fan of the theater. The singing lessons she took since early childhood paid off when she managed to convince her parents to allow her to audition for a role in the Francis Wilson Opera Company. Wilson himself took an immediate liking to her and admitted her into his chorus. After six months, as a result of a cold that the leading lady had caught, Lulu Glaser was called upon to take her place as the star in The Lion Tamer. The leading lady soon left the company, following Glaser's immediate success as her replacement, and Glaser proceeded to take over all of her roles, including those in The Merry Monarch and Erminie. By the 1895-96 season, Glaser was promoted to the role of prima donna of the company. She was featured in The Chieftain and Half a King.
In 1900 Glaser left Wilson's company to open the Lulu Glaser Opera Company where her first production, Sweet Anne Page, received lukewarm receptions. However, her second production, Dolly Varden, which opened the following year, was to be her biggest hit. For the next three years, Dolly Varden created a successful business on the road.
From 1904-1912, in addition to her first marriage and divorce with Ralph Herz, there was a succession of new operas, most directed by a variety of managers. None of them managed to attract even close to the amount of attention that Dolly Varden received. A Madcap Princess came first, followed by Miss Dolly Dollars, The Aero Club, Lola from Berlin, and The Merry Widow. Mlle. Mischief, under the management of the Shubert Brothers, followed and became Glaser's biggest success since Dolly Varden. The next two productions, The Girl from the States and The Girl and the Kaiser, also managed by the Shubert Brothers, however, were dismal failures, and her last comic opera in 1911, Miss Dudelsack, convinced her to withdraw from the theater scene.
For several years afterwards, Glaser performed short musical sketches with her second husband, Thomas Richards, from whom she later divorced. However, by 1917, she had stopped performing altogether and slipped away into quiet farm life to raise chickens in Connecticut. Lulu Glaser passed away on September 5, 1958, at the age of 84.
Collection History
Acquisition
All of Lulu Glaser's belongings were sent to her sister-in-law upon her death; when her sister-in-law passed away in 1981, Princeton University purchased the entire collection.
Additional material was transferred from the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library in 2010.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Mary Ann Jensen, Janet Begnoche, Caterina Teuscher in 2001 and Joanna Polyn in 2002. Finding aid written by Mary Ann Jensen, Janet Begnoche, Caterina Teuscher in 2001 and Joanna Polyn in 2002.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research use.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Preferred Citation
Lulu Glaser Papers; 1821-1966 (mostly 1895-1917), Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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