University of Arizona

                                             Special Collections will be closed December 20, 2023 through January 1, 2024 in observance of the University Holiday break.

American Vaudeville Museum Collection

1850 to 2007
1910 to 1940
MS 421
Digital Collection
Collection Guide
Black and white photograph of an all-female band, The Ingenues, from the 1928 motion picture The Band Beautiful

This archive was collected by Frank Cullen and Donald McNeilly, founders of the American Museum of Vaudeville, focusing on areas surrounding Boston and New York.

The collection consists of materials documenting vaudeville and other entertainment in the United States, particularly in the 1910s through 1940s. The collection focuses on vaudeville but encompasses other forms and eras of American entertainment as well. The collection comprises theatre programs and postcards, sheet music, magazines, playbills, photographs and posters, stage scripts and other manuscripts, clippings and scrapbooks, films, miscellaneous papers, and a large collection of LP albums, as well as some entertainers' costumes and accessories. Some materials are included as photocopies rather than in original form.

Included materials:
Artifacts
Audio Recordings
Photographs
Manuscript
Collection Area:
Performing Arts

Land Acknowledgement

We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples. Today, Arizona is home to 22 federally recognized tribes, with Tucson being home to the O’odham and the Yaqui. Committed to diversity and inclusion, the University strives to build sustainable relationships with sovereign Native Nations and Indigenous communities through education offerings, partnerships, and community service.