Finding Aids

This collection contains various ballet programs from the 1930s to 1950s. Companies include: Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo and the New Ballet Russe, the Mordkin Ballet, the Ballet Caravan, the Ballet Theater, and the National Ballet of Canada. Many famous dancers are featured in the programs, including Alicia Alonso, Frederic Franklin, Rosella Hightower, Yvonne Chouteau, Tamara Toumanova, and Jerome Robbins.

This collection consists of diaries, correspondence, military papers, autobiography, and cloth bosom of George F. Havens. The collection also contains typed transcripts and information provided by the donor, a great-granddaughter of George F. Havens. The diaries, dated 1862-1865, cover his time enlisted in the army during the Civil War. One letter from Havens’ mother, dated 1858, reminisced on the Battle of Black Jack two years earlier and the killing of Gaius Jenkins by General James Henry Lee. A few items in the collection also have additional typed information included with them, added by the donor.

The materials in this collection were accumulated and created during the writing of Kathleen Hegarty Thorne’s book, The Story of the Starlight Theatre. Thorne donated her research materials and a copy of the completed book to the Missouri Valley Special Collections in 2016.