Guide to the Papers of Marjorie Lawrence, 1938-1968

 

Collection context

Summary

Collection number:
MS 7225
Creator:
Marjorie Lawrence
Extent:
0.3 metres and (2 boxes, 1 folio)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], MS 7225, National Library of Australia, Papers of Marjorie Lawrence, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers received include programs, journal articles, publicity material and miscellaneous items. There is also background correspondence on the acquisition of the collection.

The programs are for concerts and operas in which Lawrence appeared as an artist, and also for performances of the Southern Illinois University Marjorie Lawrence Opera Theatre and students at the University of Arkansas. Journal articles are by or about Lawrence, and the publicity material includes a notebook of 'stories' suitable for use by the media. In the miscellaneous items is a copy of one of Lawrence's treasured items, a letter from Gian Carlo Menotti.

Biographical Note:

Marjorie Lawrence, dramatic soprano, was born at Dean's Marsh, Victoria, on 17 February 1907. After studying singing in Melbourne from 1926 to 1928 with Ivor Boustead, she left Australia for further studies in Paris. She made her operatic debut at Monte Carlo in Tannhauser in January 1932, at the Paris Opera the next year in Lohengrin, and at the Metropolitan Opera as Brunnhilde in Die Walkure in 1935. In 1939 Lawrence returned to Australia for a concert tour. The last of her four further visits was in 1976 for the season opening of the Sydney Opera House.

At the height of her career and shortly after marrying Dr Thomas King in 1941, Lawrence contracted polio. It was eighteen months before she made her first public re-appearance. She undertook tours to entertain troops in the South-West Pacific in 1944 and in occupied Europe in 1945 and 1948. Her autobiography, Interrupted melody, published in 1949, was made into a film in 1955.

Lawrence retired from public performances in 1952. She was Professor of Voice at Tulane, New Orleans (1957-60), and at Southern Illinois University (1960-73), where she was also the director of the Opera Workshop and opera productions. In 1974 she joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and also ran opera workshops at her home in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Lawrence was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1977. She died on 13 January 1979 at Little Rock, Arkansas.

Provenance:

The papers were donated to the Library by the Manuscripts Section of the Southern Illinois University in 1981.

Indexed terms

Names:
Marjorie Lawrence

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2607679).
Conditions Governing Use:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s).Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], MS 7225, National Library of Australia, Papers of Marjorie Lawrence, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: