The Barton Mumaw collection is comprised of materials spanning Mumaw’s lifetime. There are scrapbooks of family photographs kept by his mother, personal correspondence, professional papers, lecture notes, press clippings, formal portraits, snap shots, and dance costumes which trace Mumaw’s personal and professional relationships and activities. The extensive personal correspondence between Ted Shawn and Barton Mumaw, mostly from 1940-45 while Mumaw was in the service, is significant in that the letters document activities at Jacob's Pillow and Shawn's life during this time. These letters were later used by Shawn to draft a subsequent manuscript of his autobiography,
One Thousand and One Night Stands. Mumaw’s prolific personal correspondence with friends and colleagues is also evident in the vast amount of letters, cards and press clippings in the collection. Also of note is the rich correspondence with Jane Sherman, a Denishawn dancer from the 1920s, that began in 1977 when they formed a relationship as co-authors of his autobiography. Sherman’s voluminous correspondence, sometimes daily, included photographs and newspaper clippings, continued until Mumaw’s death in 2001. There are many notebooks and handwritten papers filled with notes for lectures, essays, and speeches. There are also copious notes on choreography, the history of dance, and acting. Correspondence and papers from Mumaw’s later years in Florida attest to his relationships with dance faculty and directors of several Florida universities and organizations. Published books in the collection are mainly on the subject of dance, some books that belonged to, or were authored by, Ted Shawn, and many books by Lucien Price. Most of the books are inscribed to Barton Mumaw or Ted Shawn. The photograph collection consists of hundreds of solo dance portraits of Mumaw in various roles and costumes. Other formal portraits include well known dancers such as Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Denis, Lisa Parnova, Nala Najan, and Richard Cragun. Many informal snap shots are related to Jacob’s Pillow staff, teachers, students and dancers, and to Mumaw’s life in Florida with his partner Marvin Morgenstern. Also of note are the photographs documenting the 1942 summer season at Jacob’s Pillow from the scrapbook of Esther Miller, the Jacob’s Pillow cook at that time. Also from that decade are photographs Ted Shawn sent to Mumaw while in the service which document Jacob’s Pillow’s development during the early 1940s. Mumaw also inherited the personal photographs collected into scrapbooks by Mazie Mumaw, Barton’s mother, which range from her childhood family photographs to her marriage to Barton Mumaw Sr,. to Barton Jr. as a young boy and young man. Framed items include a painting and drawing of Mumaw, as well as several photographs of Mumaw and his parents. The audio-visual material contains record albums, tape reels, and tape and VHS cassettes. Of note is a tape reel of Mumaw in the South Africa news from 1950 and a tape cassette of Mumaw on a National Public Radio show. Many of the VHS cassettes are taped from broadcasts of dance performances. There are also recordings of Mumaw’s lectures, programs about Delsarte, and dances by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis. The collection also contains costumes, including hats, shoes, and gloves, worn by Barton Mumaw from many of his iconic dances such as
Pierrot in the Dead City,
Bach Bourée and
Fetish. Mumaw’s leather make-up case contains a mirror, face paint, a sewing kit, and cloths.
Ted Shawn Correspondence Collection, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Archives
Jess Meeker Collection, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Archives
Larry Humphries Collection, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Archives
Ted Shawn Collection, 1903-1971, New York Public Library
Ted Shawn Papers, 1913-1982, New York Public Library
Denishawn Collection, New York Public Library