Item Response #3 — due 4/12

Your assignment is to find and analyze an archival document or item relating to the Federal Theater Project.

First, read this overview to learn about the Federal Theater Project: Birth of the FTP

Then, find an item to analyze from one of the following links:

 

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/federal-theatre-project/exhibititems.html

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/federal-theatre-project/slideshow/

https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/ftwpa.html

Your next step is to analyze the item. What is it that you found? What details can you observe about it? What does this item tell us about the Federal Theater Project? About theater in the United States during the 1930s? See this handout for more questions you might ask of an archival document.

Then, write about it. Your paper should be 2-3 double-spaced, typed pages and should contextualize your item in its historical and theatrical context based on your observations and the readings (not on outside research). You will be assessed on how well you contextualize the object and how carefully and thoughtfully you’ve examined it.

Please include a printout of the object with your paper, as well as information about where you found it.