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Scrapbooks, 1928-1972, of programs, publicity, and newspaper clippings compiled by the directors and staff of various University theatrical productions; history of University play production, 1909-1956; and departmental correspondence and miscellanea.

Records of the Department of Speech include 31 linear feet of material and 6 oversize scrapbooks, dating from 1928 to 1982. Virtually all of the records relate directly to the department's work in theater education. Included are extensive records of university theatrical productions (1938-1972); records of the University Players, a student organization dedicated to presenting live theater on campus; and general information regarding theater in Ann Arbor. Actual department records make up a small minority of the documentation found within the collection, although some information regarding a 1972 unit review and the decisions leading to the 1979 reorganization of the department are included. Photographs include images of plays and actors in various University theatrical productions.

Official photographer for the University Players (formerly Play Production) at the University of Michigan starting in 1928; photographic negatives of cast (in costume) from various student productions.

The Francis W. Ouradnik collection consists of 421 black and white negatives of scenes from plays produced by the University Players (formerly Play Production) at the University of Michigan in the period of 1928 to 1968. Francis Ouradnik, produced the majority of the negatives. A partial listing of the plays, which he made, can be found with the negatives.

The collection has been arranged into three series: two series of negatives and a series containing positive photographs. The first series contains photographic negatives dated from 1928 to 1944 (32 photos), apparently not taken by Ouradnik. The second series, running from 1934 to 1968, numbers 389 negatives identified as being taken by Ouradnik. Each series is arranged chronologically with a very few exceptions.

All negatives and photographs are black and white, and only a few scattered copies are not identified by date. Ouradnik composed a list of his negative file of plays and a copy is enclosed with the collection. Only three productions for these years cannot be located. All there are for the year 1947: "In Spite of Heaven," "Candida," and "In the Zone."

James F. Coakley was an assistant professor in the Department of Speech at the University of Michigan from 1966 to1971. Focusing mainly in theatre and literary interpretation, he was responsible for directing and managing many of the plays that were put on by the University Players during his time at the University of Michigan. Notable productions include The Homecoming, Lysistrata, Much Ado About Nothing, and Arthur Miller's After the Fall. Includes photographs from a 1967 production of After the Fall where Arthur Miller was present. Also scrapbooks, photos, and slides from other productions by the University of Michigan's University Players during 1966-1971.

The collection provides some documentation of plays Coakley staged with the University Players, notably Arthur Millers After the Fall, and lecture notes for courses he taught. The collection is organized into three series: "After the Fall", Photographic Slides, Speech 230 "The Arts of the Theatre" and Scrapbooks.