Mary Sue Jones Papers

Collection

Identifier: SWWC-009a

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Jones' papers are divided into two series: 1. Texas records; 2. New Mexico records. They span the years from 1931 to 1992 with most of the material dating from the 1960s through the 1980s. Contained here are class notes, scripts, set designs, costume designs, playbills, letters, photographs, records, audiotapes, reports, clippings, magazines, articles, awards, school records, yearbooks, scrapbooks, personal effects, and mementos. The Texas series contains three subseries: Education and Teaching; Acting, Design, and Directing; and Dallas Theater Center Administration. The first subseries of the Texas files presents information on Jones' education at Baylor University and her teaching of acting and design at both Baylor and Trinity Universities. The second offers a good deal of information on her career as actor, director, and designer at the Dallas Theater Center. The third subseries covers her work as assistant artistic director to Paul Baker and is especially informative on the state of affairs during the transfer of the directorship at the Dallas Theater Center from Paul Baker to Adrian Hall. The New Mexico series is arranged into four subseries: Teaching and Directing, Paul Baker Festival, Production and Script Files, and Personal. The first subseries provides information on Jones' work as artist-in-residence, and later as a faculty member at the College of Santa Fe. The second centers on the career of Paul Baker, especially at the Dallas Theater Center, and documents the 1990 festival organized by his former students to honor him. The third subseries is Jones' collection of scripts or production files including many of the plays performed at the Dallas Theater Center. The fourth contains material on Mary Sue's private life and non-theatrical interests, such as her baby book, gardening, and decoration ideas for her Santa Fe home.

Dates

1931-1992
Majority of material found in 1949-1992

Creator

Jones, Mary Sue (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Materials from the Wittliff Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user assumes responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish, and abiding by U.S. copyright laws. https://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/research/visit/policies/publication.html

Biographical Notes

Actress, director, and designer Mary Sue Birkhead Fridge Jones was born on August 24, 1930 in Carthage, Missouri. She entered Baylor University in 1948 as an art student but eventually found her way to the Theater Department under Paul Baker. She received a Master's in Drama in 1955 from Baylor. Jones began student teaching in 1954 and became an integral part of the Paul Baker teaching team. She taught acting and design at Baylor and later followed Baker in his move to Trinity University, where she was an assistant professor. Jones was present at the founding of the Dallas Theater Center in 1959 and was made assistant director of the facility. She starred in many Dallas Theater Center productions, winning Dallas's Billy Award in 1963 as best actress for her performance in Sister. Some of her other starring roles at the Dallas Theater Center were in The Taming of the Shrew, Medea, and A Streetcar Named Desire. She was costume and set designer for Julius Caesar, Journey to Jefferson, Macbeth and Marat-Sade to mention only a few. In the 1980s, Baker promoted Jones to associate artistic director and then co-artistic director. Baker, forced to resign from the Dallas Theater Center by the Board of Trustees in 1982, picked her as his successor. The Board appointed her interim artistic director until Adrian Hall was hired to fill the position in 1983. Jones then moved to Santa Fe as artist in residence at the College of Santa Fe, where she taught acting and directed at the Greer Garson Theater Center. In 1988, she was made a full time faculty member of the college. Mary Sue Jones' first marriage was to Roy Fridge, an artist who also created posters for the Dallas Theater Center. She married Preston Jones on September 7, 1964. Mary Sue Jones died in Santa Fe June 27, 1992.

Extent

14 Linear Feet

28 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

The descriptive data created for this finding aid is licensed under the CC0 Creative Commons license and is free for use without restriction.

Additional Description

Abstract

Mary Sue Jones' Papers span the years from 1931 to 1992 with most of the material dating from the 1960s through the 1980s. Contained here are class notes, scripts, set designs, costume designs, playbills, letters, photographs, records, audiotapes, reports, clippings, magazines, articles, awards, school records, yearbooks, scrapbooks, personal effects, and mementos.

Physical Location

Materials may be stored off-site. Advance notice is required for use: https://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/research/makearesearchappointment.html.

Source of Acquisition

Donated by Diane and Don Malouf and the Birkhead family.

Related Materials

Preston Jones Papers (Collection 9) and the Paul and Kitty Baker Papers (Collection 35).

Related Materials

Books from the library of Preston and Mary Sue Jones have been cataloged and the records are searchable through the Alkek Library online catalog, http://catalog.library.txstate.edu