Harry P. Mawson
Harry Phillips Mawson (August 27, 1853 – April 20, 1914) was an American dramatist and writer for magazines. A native of Philadelphia, he penned two plays which were staged on Broadway: A Fair Rebel and Little Nell and the Marchioness.
Life and career
[edit]The son of Edward T. Mawson and Ellen Mawson, Harry Phillips Mawson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 27, 1853.[1] In the 1870s he was a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Young Men's Hebrew Association.[2] He began his career writing for American magazines;[3] including articles for Harper's Weekly.[4] He authored the play A Fair Rebel;[5] a military drama which was based on the Libby Prison escape during the American Civil War in which 109 imprisoned men from the Union Army escaped from the Confederate Libby Prison in 1864.[6] It premiered in December 1889 at the Star Theatre in New York City (located at Broadway and 13th Street).[7][8] The cast included his brother, the actor Edwin R. Mawson.[3] The show subsequently toured nationally;[3][6] including returning to New York for a Broadway run at the Fourteenth Street Theatre in 1891.[9] It was later revived in New York in 1901.[10]
In 1891 Mawson was a founding member of the American Dramatists Club (precursor to the Dramatists Guild of America).[11] He served in the National Guard of the United States during a series of labor strikes in 1892. From this experience he concluded, "organized labor within the past six weeks has shown itself to be synonymous with organized lawlessness".[12] With J. W. Buel he co-authored Leslie's Official History of the Spanish-American War which was published by the War Records Office of the United States in 1899.[13] In 1900 he adapted Charles Dickens's fourth novel, The Old Curiosity Shop, for the stage. Titled Little Nell and the Marchioness, it premiered at the Tremont Theatre in Boston on 22 January 1900.[14] It transferred to Broadway where it ran at the Herald Square Theatre in March and April 1900.[15]
He wrote a short biography of dramatist Bronson Howard which was published in In MemoriamL Bronson Howard, 1842-1908; Founder and President of the American Dramatists Club (1910, Marion Press).[16] He also penned campaign literature for William McKinley,[4] and contributed work to The New York Tribune.[17] His final play, Her Own Boss, was accepted by theatre manager Fred C. Whitney for production shortly before his death.[18]
Mawson died at his home at 607 W. 136th St. in New York City on April 20, 1914.[11] He was survived by his wife, Rachel B. Mawson.[19]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ↑ Harry Phillips Mawson in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey, U.S., Church and Town Records, 1669-2013
- ↑ "The Y.M.H.A. of Philadelphia". The American Israelite. May 21, 1875. p. 6.
- 1 2 3 "Notes". The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. November 16, 1890. p. 3.
- 1 2 Hayes 2016, p. 102.
- ↑ Mayer 2009, p. 273.
- 1 2 "Music and Drama". Boston Evening Transcript. August 8, 1890. p. 3.
- ↑ "Views of Dramatic Life". New York Herald. December 20, 1889. p. 5.
- ↑ "A Fair Rebel". Brooklyn Eagle. December 20, 1889. p. 5.
- ↑ "A Fair Rebel Proves a Successful War Drama". The New York Evening World. August 4, 1891. p. 3.
- ↑ "A Fair Rebel at Proctor's". The New York Times. September 1, 1901. p. 12.
- 1 2 "Henry P. Mawson". New York Herald. April 21, 1914. p. 9.
- ↑ Cooper 1997, p. 57.
- ↑ Roan 2010, p. 223.
- ↑ Granqvist 1995, p. 185.
- ↑ "A Dickens Play". New-York Tribune. March 25, 1900. p. 42.
- ↑ Silvester 1993, p. 311.
- ↑ "The Road". New-York Tribune. May 28, 1911. p. 35.
- ↑ "The End of a Playwright". Chicago Tribune. April 26, 1914. p. 58.
- ↑ "Died: Mawson". The New York Times. February 8, 1916. p. 11.
Bibliography
[edit]- Cooper, Jerry M. (1997). The Rise of the National Guard: The Evolution of the American Militia, 1865-1920. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803214866.
- Granqvist, Raoul (1995). Imitation as Resistance: Appropriations of English Literature in Nineteenth-century America. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 9780838636398.
- Hayes, Kevin J., ed. (2016). Stephen Crane. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (A Story of New York). Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 9781137100115.
- Mayer, David (2009). Stagestruck Filmmaker: D. W. Griffith and the American Theatre. University of Iowa Press. ISBN 9781587298400.
- Roan, Jeanette (2010). Envisioning Asia: On Location, Travel, and the Cinematic Geography of U.S. Orientalism. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472050833.
- Silvester, Robert (1993). United States Theatre: A Bibliography, from the Beginning to 1990. G.K. Hall. ISBN 9780783820590.
