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Theater Research at the Library of Congress

Music Division

Hope Shippee, costume designer. [String Fever(marionette): Trapeze clowns. Green clown costume with triangles. Blue clown costume with circles.]. 1938. Federal Theatre Project collection. Library of Congress Music Division.

Many of the Library's rare materials and special collections specific to theater are housed by the Music Division in the Performing Arts Reading Room. Rare materials can include etchings of stage designs and settings. Special collections related to theater fall into two broad categories:

  • personal papers of actors, playwrights, designers, directors, and producers
  • organizational records of theater companies or organizations

Browse a complete list of special collections on the Performing Arts Reading Room website. Provided links are for finding aids (descriptive documents of collection contents) or collection-level catalog records if finding aids are not yet completed. Both finding aids and catalog records contain collection content summaries.

Finding aids and catalog records for special collections may indicate transfers of audio-visual materials to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, & Recorded Sound Division. To find this information:

  • Finding aids: select the tab "Using This Collection." Under the heading "Administrative Information" the subheading "Transfers" will contain any relevant information.
  • Catalog records: transfer information appears next to the heading "Notes."

Find the most current information on new acquisitions and finding aids using the theater category of our Performing Arts Blog In the Muse and by searching across all finding aids at the Library of Congress.

Access Note: Some collections are housed off-site and require advance notice to retrieve. Contact us through Ask a Librarian if you have questions about researching a specific collection.

Highlighted Rare Materials

The Music Division also has a handful of rare materials that have been individually cataloged, including 17th- and 18th-century theatrical designs. The following titles offer a sample of rare materials available in the Music Division. The titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are included when available.

Highlighted Special Collections

Provided links are for finding aids (descriptive documents of collection contents) or collection-level catalog records if finding aids are not yet completed. Both finding aids and catalog records contain collection content summaries.

Provided links are for finding aids (descriptive documents of collection contents) or collection-level catalog records if finding aids are not yet completed. Both finding aids and catalog records contain collection content summaries.

Provided links are for finding aids (descriptive documents of collection contents) or collection-level catalog records if finding aids are not yet completed. Both finding aids and catalog records contain collection content summaries.

Provided links are for finding aids (descriptive documents of collection contents) or collection-level catalog records if finding aids are not yet completed. Both finding aids and catalog records contain collection content summaries.

About the Performing Arts Reading Room

The Performing Arts Reading Room is the access point for the collections in the custody of the Music Division at the Library of Congress. Numbering approximately 20.5 million items and spanning more than 1000 years of Western music history and practice, these holdings include the classified music and book collections, music and literary manuscripts, iconography, microforms, periodicals, musical instruments, published and unpublished copyright deposits, and close to 500 special collections in music, theater, and dance.