Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

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May O'Donnell, 1909-2004
Collection, 1930s-1996
Preliminary Inventory

2 document boxes, 2 oversize folders (0.84 linear feet)

Note: This brief collection description is an accession record. The collection is not fully processed or cataloged; no biographical sketch, descriptions of series, or indexes are available.
Acquisition: Gift, 2005 (G12430)
Access: Open for research
Processed by: Helen Adair, 2005
RLIN Record ID: None

Table of Contents

Scope and Contents
Folder List

Scope and Contents

May O'Donnell (1909-2004), an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher, studied with Estelle Reed in San Francisco and Martha Graham in New York. She was a soloist with Graham's company from 1932 to 1938. In 1939 she presented her first program of her own work, and from 1940 to 1942 she toured with José Limón. She returned to Graham's company in the mid-1940s, appearing as a guest artist from 1944 to 1952. In 1949 she founded the May O'Donnell Dance Company which performed in New York and on tour until the 1980s. She was married to the composer Ray Green. May O'Donnell died in 2004 at the age of ninety-seven.

The May O'Donnell Collection, 1930s-1996, is arranged into two series, I. Photographs and II. Publicity Materials. The photographs are subdivided into personal and performance photographs, with the latter arranged alphabetically by title. The majority of the photographs show May O'Donnell or her company in performance, 1930s to 1980s. Except for one color photograph for Homage to Shiva, all photographs are black and white. Some of the photographs are reproductions of originals not held by the Ransom Center.

The publicity materials are arranged chronologically and consist of promotional fliers, programs, reviews, and articles, supplemented by a few miscellaneous items such as a 1959 contract with the University of California and two letters, one from 1956 written by May O'Donnell to the critic Walter Terry, and a 1978 letter from Grace Cohen Jaffe (formerly Grace Marcus) to May O'Donnell (filed in the 1949 folder).

Elsewhere in the Performing Arts Collection, the Dance Collection contains reviews of performances by May O'Donnell's company. A compact disc titled "Ray Green and His Music" is located in the Ransom Center Library.

Folder List

Box	Folder	Description

Series I. Photographs, ca. 1930s-1980s

1	1	Personal, 1977, 1980s
		Performances
	2		APPALACHIAN SPRING, 1944 (2 photos)
	3		CAVE OF THE HEART, 1946 (1 photo)
	4		CELTIC RITUAL, 1949 (2 photos)
	5		CORNERSTONE, 1937 (1 photo)
	6		DANCE CONCERTO, 1954, 1980s (4 photos)
	7		DANCE ENERGIES, 1959, 1980s (3 photos)
	8		FOLKSAY, 1940 (1 photo)
	9		HOMAGE TO SHIVA, 1980s (2 photos)
	10		HORIZON SONG, 1946 (1 photo)
	11		ILLUMINATIONS, 1956 (2 photos)
	12		INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE, 1954 (1 photo)
	13		LEGENDARY FOREST, 1954 (1 photo)
	14		THE QUEEN'S OBSESSION, 1958 (1 photo)
	15		SUSPENSION, 1943, 1970s (2 photos)
	16		THIS STORY IS LEGEND, 1941 (1 photo)
	17		THREE INTERPRETATIONS OF CASEY JONES, 1939 (5 photos)
	18		With Martha Graham's company, 1930s (4 photos)
	19		At Bennington College, 1944 (1 photo)
	20		With Erick Hawkins, 1945 (1 photo)

Series II. Publicity Materials, 1936-1996, undated

	21	1936
	22	1940
	23	1941
	24	1942
	25	1944
	26	1945
	27	1946
	28	1947
	29	1948
	30	1949
	31	1951
	32	1952

2	1*	1953 [*plus oversize, Flat File 1]
	2	1954
	3*	1955 [*plus oversize, Flat File 1]
	4	1956
	5	1958
	6	1959
	7	1960
	8	1961
	9	1964
	10	1969
	11*	1971 [*plus oversize, Flat File 1]
	12	1972
	13	1975
	14	1976
	15*	1977 [*plus oversize, Flat File 2]
	16	1978
	17	1979
	18	1980
	19	1981
	20	1982
	21	1983
	22	1984
	23	1985
	24	1987
	25	1988
	26	1996
	27*	Undated  [*plus oversize, Flat File 2]

May O'Donnell Papers Finding Aid
(Last modified: 21 February 2006 )

Reference queries to: performingarts@hrc.utexas.edu

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