George K. Nelson to Theodore Dreiser, June 8, 1933

 

 

Posted here is a copy of a letter dated June 8, 1933 to Theodore Dreiser from his nephew George K. Nelson.

George Kates Nelson (1892-1955) was the son of Dreiser’s sister Emma Wilhelmina Dreiser by Lorenzo A. Hopkins. Mr. Nelson was the manager of a hotel in Manhattan.

Dreiser was close to George K. Nelson’s sister Gertrude A. Hopkins, his niece. But, the cold, businesslike letter posted here shows that there was no personal relationship between Dreiser and his nephew George. Nelson had had a relationship in his adolescence with his uncle Paul Dresser, the songwriter (Theodore Dreiser’s brother), this according to an interview with Gloria N. Vevante, George K. Nelson’s daughter, conducted by Roger W. Smith in 2007.

Nelson writes here: “It is understood that any such moneys received by me will be received as agent for Mary F. Brennan, Sylvia Kishima, Emma A. Nelson [George K. Nelson’s mother], Albert J. Dreiser and Rome M. Dresser. …” They were Dreiser’s siblings.

 

— Roger W. Smith

  May 2017

Ed Dreiser to brother Theodore, April 30, 1938

 

 

Posted here is a copy of a letter dated April 30, 1938 from Theodore Dreiser’s younger brother Eduard Minerod Dreiser (1873-1958) to Dreiser

Mentioned in the letter:

“the Astoria family” —  Dreiser’s sisters Emma Wilhelmina Dreiser (1863-1936); Maria Franziska Dreiser (Mame; 1861-1944); and Cacilia Dreiser (ca. 1865-1945), all of whom lived in their later years in Astoria, Queens, New York City

“Mame” — Dreiser’s sister Maria Franziska Dreiser

“Mai” — Edward Dreiser’s wife Mai V. (Skelly) Dreiser (1878-1955)

“Vera” — Edward Dreiser’s daughter Vera Dreiser (1908-1998), Theodore Dreiser’s niece

“Paul” – Driers brother, the songwriter Paul Dresser (1856-1906)

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

“Dreiser Seriously Hurt in Mishap”

 

 

news item from unidentified newspaper, May 14, 1919

 

 

 

TCM screens 1931 film version of “An American Tragedy”

 

It was great to see a rare screening of the original 1931 film version of An American Tragedy on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) this evening. I am convinced that this version is superior to the acclaimed film A Place in the Sun, which I, personally, do not feel deserves the praise it has been accorded. See my post to this effect at

“A Place in the Sun” is overrated, to put it kindly (two critics’ views)

Particularly appealing — indeed, gratifying — to me was the quality of the print. I have seen the 1931 film several times, and the image was always grainy.

The host for the program, Ben Mankiewicz, got most of the details about the circumstances associated with the making of the film — and Theodore Dreiser’s objections to it — right. But, at the end of the program, he made a serious factual error. He stated that Chester Gillette’s mother sued Paramount. This is not true.

It was Grace Brown’s mother who sued the producers, as is indicated in the following news item:

“Ithaca Picked for Trial of Movie Suit; ‘American Tragedy’ Producers Denied Pre-Trial Questioning Petition,” Syracuse Herald, September 7, 1934, pg. 16

$150,000 libel action of Mrs. Grace Brown, 78, of Smyrna [NY], against Paramount-Publix moving picture corporation for alleged destructive character delineation in the film version of “An American Tragedy.” … Clifford Searl of Syracuse, counsel for Mrs. [Minerva] Brown. “Mrs. Brown claims in her suit she was depicted as ‘illiterate’ in the film version.”

Also see below a PDF file of a New York Times article dated November 9, 1934 about the settlement of the suit.

— Roger W. Smith

   May 17, 2017

 

‘Paramount Settles Suit’ – NY Times 11-9-1934

a few Dreiser book covers

 

From my personal library. Images below. For Dreiser Edition book  covers, see

https://dreiseronlinecom.wordpress.com/2016/10/20/the-dreiser-edition/

 

Sister Carrie cover, first edition

Theodore Dreiser, “Jennie Gerhardt,” The Laurel Dreiser, Dell Publishing Company, Inc., 1963

Theodore Dreiser, Jennie Gerhardt (Shocken Books, 1982)

Theodore Dreiser, “The Financier” – original edition (Harper and Brothers 1912)

Theodore Dreiser, “The Titan” – paperback; The Laurel Dreiser (1959)

Theodore Dreiser, “A Traveler at Forty” (New York: The Century Company, 1913)

Theodore Dreiser, “The Hand of the Potter” (Boni and Liveright, 1918)

Theodore Dreiser, Hey Rub-A-Dub Dub: A Book of the Mystery and Terror and Wonder of Life” (Boni & Liveright, 1920)

Theodore Dreiser, “A Book About Myself” (Boni and Liveright, 1922)

Theodore Dreiser, “Dawn” (Horace Liveright, Inc., 1931)

Theodore Dreiser, “Dreiser Looks at Russia” (Horace Liveright, 1928)

‘Theodore Dreiser, “A Gallery of Women,” Volume 1 (Horace Liveright, Inc., 1929)

Theodore Dreiser, “Tragic America” (Horace Liveright, Inc., 1931)

Theodore Dreiser, “Moods: Philosophic and Emotional; Cadenced and Declaimed” (Simon and Schuster, 1935)

“The Best Short Stories of Theodore Dreiser”; introduction by James T. Farrell (Fawcett Publications, 1961)

Dorothy Dudley, ‘Forgotten Frontiers: Dreiser and the Land of the Free” (New York: Harrison Smith and Robert Haas, 1932)

Charles Samuels, “Death Was the Bridegroom” (Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1955)

Joseph W. Brownell and Patricia W. Enos, “Adirondack Tragedy,” Fourth Edition

James L. West III, “A Sister Carrie Portfolio” (University Press of Virginia, 1985) – front cover

James L. West III, “A Sister Carrie Portfolio” (University Press of Virginia, 1985) – back cover

libretto, “An American Tragedy” (2005); opera by Tobias Picker; libertto by Gene Scheer

libretto, “Sister Carrie” (opera); composed by Robert Livingston Aldridge; libretto by Herschel Garfein

 

–– posted by Roger W. Smith

   May 2017

photos of Theodore Dreiser and relatives

 

Posted here (see below) are photos and portraits of Theodore Dreiser as well as numerous photos of Dreiser’s relatives and acquaintances.

There is some overlap with photos which I have already posted on this site. See

https://dreiseronlinecom.wordpress.com/?s=photographs

 

Notable among the persons included in these photos, besides Dreiser, are the following:

Esther A. (Schnepp) Dickerson, Theodore Dreiser’s aunt

Dreiser’s siblings Paul, Rome, Emma, Theresa, and Claire

Dreiser’s first wife Sara White Dreiser

Dreiser’s second wife Helen (Patges Richardson) Dreiser and several of her ancestors and relatives

Dreiser’s sister-in-law Mai Skelly Dreiser

Dreiser’s favorite niece Gertrude A. Hopkins

Dreiser’s niece Dr. Vera Dreiser

Harold James Dies, who was related to Helen (Patges Richardson) Dreiser and, more distantly, to Theodore Dreiser, and who served for many years as Trustee of the Dreiser Trust

 

Thanks are due to the following persons and institutions for permission to post photos:

Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Vigo County Historical Society Museum, Terre Haute, IN

the late Harold J. Dies

Gloria N. Vevante (a Dreiser family descendant)

Joann Crouch (a Dreiser family descendant)

Thomas P. Riggio

Please note: if you left click on a photo of interest, a descriptive caption for that photo will appear. If you right click on the photo, you will have the option of downloading (saving) it.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   May 2017

 

ancestors of Dreiser’s 2nd wife Helen (Patges) (Richardson) Dreiser; courtesy Joann Crouch

Esther (Schnepp) ({Parks) Dickerson, Dreiser’s aunt, with her grandson Carl Milo Dies, Jr (brother of Harold James Dies)

Dickerson family, Oregon 1884 … front, Esther A. (Schnepp) (Parks) Dickerson, Dreiser’s aunt, with her 2nd husband Samuel Turner Dickerson and their daughter Myrtle Josie Dickerson … rear, Esther A. (Schnepp) (Parks) Dickerson’s daughters by her first marriage to David Parks: Etta, Rosa, Ida, Lillian, and Amanda …. daughter Ida was the mother of Dreiser’s 2nd wife, Helen Esther Patges

Dreiser’s older brother Paul Dresser

Paul Dresser

Dreiser’s brother Markus Romanus Dreiser (Rome)

Dreiser’s sister Emma

Dreiser’s sister Mary Theresa Dreiser (1864-1897); courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser’s sister Clara Clothilde Dreiser (Claire); courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser (in rear, second from right) with spelunking group during his college days; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser in Pittsburgh 1894; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in Pittsburgh 1894; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser in New York City ca. 1907; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser in New York City ca. 1900; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in New York City 1900; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in New York City 1900; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in New York City 1900; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

editor Dreiser in New York City ca. 1907; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in New York City ca. 1907

Dreiser and Jug in New York City ca. 1907

Dreiser in New York City 1909; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in back yard of his Greenwich Village apartment building, West 11th Street, NYC

Dreiser in his Greenwich Village studio apartment

Dreiser in his studio apartment on St. Luke’s Place in Greenwich Village 1923; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser ca. 1918; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser, October 1919

sketch of Dreiser by Frank Harris

Dreiser in Indiana during his “Hoosier Holiday” trip in 1914; this photo is misidentified on the University of Pennsylvania’s site devoted to Dreiser as having been taken in Hollywood

Dreiser and Helen in Hollywood, ca. 1920-21, shortly after they had met and when Helen was pursing an acting career

Dreiser during 1920’s; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser during 1920’s; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in June 1926, shortly after publication of “An American Tragedy”; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser, June 1926; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser, June 1926; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser, June 1926; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser in Berlin, August 1926

Dreiser in New York City, setting sail for USSR, October 1927; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser with companions in Donetz Basin, USSR 12-19-1927; from left to right, l’Etienne (Latvian agronomist); Dr. Sophia Davidovskaya; Dreiser; Dreiser’s secretary Ruth Kennell; a local guide; courtesy, Vigo County Historical Society

studio photo of Dreiser, presumably 1920’s; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Helen and Dreiser on patio at Iroki, Dreiser’s Westchester County, NY estate; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser with Nick on his Westchester County, NY estate. Iroki, February 1929

Dreiser with Helen and Nick, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, May 1930

Dreiser in his penthouse apartment, West 57th St., NYC 1931

Dreiser with fellow activists supporting miners in Harlan County, Kentucky

John Dos Passos, Dreiser. and Samuel Ornitz during investigations of mine workers’ conditions in Harlan County, Kentucky

Dreiser in November 1933; photo by Carl Van Vechten

Dreiser 1930’s

Dreiser with his secretary-research assistant Harriet Bissell and the poet Edgar Lee Masters on his Westchester County NY estate,, Iroki, summer 1938

Dreiser on his Westchester County, NY, estate; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser and Paul Robeson; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser at home of Marguerite Tjader Harris, Darien, CT; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Dreiser in California 1942

Dreiser in California 1942

Dreiser in California 1942

Theodore Dreiser, undated

Dreiser with bust of John Cowper Powys, Hollywood ca. 1942

Helen and Theodore Dreiser at wedding of Lt. George B. Smith and Dorothy Tucker, Glendale, CA 12-21-1945

sketch of Dreiser by Henry Poor

portrait of Dreiser by Wayman Adams

portrait of Dreiser by Wayman Adams

portrait of Dreiser by Boris Chaliapin; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

bust of Dreiser by Onorio Ruotolo; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Jug in young adulthood

Jug ca. 1912

Dreiser’s first wife Jug with her niece Vera Dreiser

Myrtle Josie Dickerson (1880-1938), Dreiser’s cousin at the time of the photo, she was employed as a secretary to her cousin Paul Dresser; she married Carl Milo Dies Sr.; their son was Harold J. Dies; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Mai Skelly Dreiser (1878-1955), wife of Dreiser’s brother Ed; courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Claire Dreiser Gormley (1868-1918), Dreiser’s sister (wife of Henry V. Gormley) in touring car; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Helen Richardson, who became Dreiser’s 2nd wife; from the collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Helen Richardson in Hollywood; from the collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Helen Richardson with her wolfhound Nick in mid-1930’s; photo from Harold J. Dies collection, courtesy Joann Crouch

Myrtle Rose Patges (1900-1996), Helen (Patges Richardson) Dreiser’s sister; she married Chester Butcher; courtesy Joann Crouch

Dreiser’s niece Gertrude Amelia Hopkins (1894-1973); courtesy Gloria N. Vevante

Dreiser’s niece Dr. Vera Dreiser (1908-1998); courtesy Vigo County Historical Society

Harold J. Dies in Portland, Oregon 1938; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Harold J. Dies, Helen Dreiser’s cousin, in Army uniform; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Harold J. Dies in his office, Brooklyn, NY at Theodore and Helen Dreiser’s home in Los Angeles; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

Harold J. Dies in his office, Brooklyn, NY; from the private collection of Harold J. Dies, courtesy Joann Crouch

 

 

Dreiser’s Greenwich Village lover, the actress Kyra Markham (1891-1967) in “The Trojan Women’; courtesy Thomas P. Riggio

Dreiser and Helen Richardson in Hollywood 1920; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Terre Haute poet Max Ehrmann (1872-1945), Dreiser, and Robert Heinl; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Dreiser at his Westchester County, NY estate, Iroki; courtesy Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania