Thomas Orton Jones papers relating to Gilbert and Sullivan
Overview
Correspondence of and materials gathered by Thomas Orton Jones concerning Gilbert and Sullivan and Gilbert and Sullivan productions.
Dates
- Creation: 1935-2004
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material.
The majority of this collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
Extent
3 linear feet (9 boxes)Thomas Jones' correspondence and subject files make up the bulk of the collection. While his Gilbert and Sullivan research was in aid of personal interest, Jones often made copies of certain items to send to others doing similar research, chiefly Arthur Jacobs and Jane Stedman. With these people and some others, what started as an exchange of research, developed into personal relationships, and the correspondence reflects this. When possible, enclosures where kept with the relevant letter and/or correspondent.
The collection also contains notes on Gilbert and Sullivan productions in which Jones likely participated; exhibit labels and other materials composed and compiled by Jones for exhibits in his local Montgomery Country (Md.) library and elsewhere; programs and playbills from Gilbert and Sullivan productions; periodicals published by Gilbert and Sullivan societies; a scrapbook; realia; and other materials.
Biographical / Historical
Thomas Orton Jones (1916-2004) served in the U.S. Army's Manhattan Engineering District during World War II as chief intelligence officer at the Los Alamos Laboratory under J. Robert Oppenheimer. In 1946, he joined the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission where he continued to work until his retirement in 1970.
Jones had personal passion for Gilbert and Sullivan operas, performing in productions himself, along with a research interest in Gilbert and Sullivan and links of their work to Oscar Wilde and James Whistler.
Arrangement
Arranged into the following series:
- I. Correspondence
- II. Correspondence of others
- III. Production notes
- IV. Subject files
- V. Other research material
- VI. Exhibit materials
- VII. Scrapbook
- VIII. Photographs
- IX. Programs and playbills
- X. Periodicals
- XI. Other printed materials
- XII. Other materials
- XIII. Realia
- IV. Scores and Librettos
Physical Location
Harvard Depository, b
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2004MT-127. Bequest of Thomas Orton Jones '38, through Carl R. Gerber; received: 2005 March 15.
Separated Materials
Some printed material, chiefly Gilbert and Sullivan librettos, were removed from the collection and cataloged separately.
General note
The majority of this collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access restrictions below for additional information.
Processing Information
Processed by: Susan Wyssen
- Title
- Jones, Thomas Orton. Thomas Orton Jones papers relating to Gilbert and Sullivan, 1935-2004: Guide.
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hou02300
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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