Anne V. McGravie Papers

Dates: 1949-2019; bulk dates: 1965-2016
Size: 9 linear feet in 6 boxes and 1 oversize folder
Repository: Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Library Center, Special Collections, 400 S. State Street, Chicago, IL 60605
Collection Number: spe-t00214
Immediate Source of Acquisition: Donated by Anne V. McGravie in 2021, Anne McGravie Wright (niece) in 2022 and Hilary Mac Austin in 2023
Conditions Governing Access: Materials are open without restrictions.
Physical Location Note: Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least 24-hours prior to your research visit to coordinate access.
Conditions Governing Use: Please consult staff to determine ability to reuse materials from collection. Scripts, prompt books and musical scores can be read and viewed in person, but not copied without written permission of the creator or their assigns.
Preferred Citation: When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is: Anne V. McGravie Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections, Chicago Public Library
Finding Aid Author: Accessioned by Michelle McCoy in 2025

Processing Information

Please note that current Chicago Public Library staff has only minimally processed the material. Many of the donated materials were loose and intermixed upon arrival. When possible, identifying information was used to reunite loose materials by title or topic. However, portions of typescript drafts may not be sequential in folders and folders may contain portions of different drafts. This is especially the case with undated documents.

Abstract

Anne V. McGravie (1926-2022) was a Scottish-born playwright and author who lived and worked in Chicago. Her plays include the Jeff Award-winning WRENS, The Cairn Stones, The Poppy Garden, Bags, Alice and Margo and The Radiance of a Thousand Suns: The Hiroshima Project, a collaboration with Nicholas Patricca at Bailiwick Repertory. The collection is composed primarily of scripts and other writings along with notes, research and production materials for plays that were staged. Additional materials include contracts, correspondence, diaries, photographs and other biographical materials.

Biographical/Historical

Anne V. McGravie (1926-2022) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1943, McGravie enlisted in the British Women’s Royal Naval Service, or the WRNS and spent most of World War II in Great Britain’s Orkney Islands. This experience inspired her Jeff Jefferson award-winning play, WRENS, that explores women’s roles in the armed forces. Following the war, McGravie came to the U.S. where she worked in educational publishing. By the mid-1960s, she shifted her writing to the theater and emerged as an award-winning playwright whose work was produced in Chicago and elsewhere.

In the 1980s, Commons Theatre produced The Life and Death of Anna May Wong, about the pioneering Chinese American movie star and Oona and the Oyster Girl. In 1992, Organic Theater produced A Few Simple Truths. WRENS was staged several times in Chicago, first at the Footsteps Theatre and later at the Organic Theater and the Rivendell Theatre and won three Jeff Jefferson Awards. After being diagnosed with breast cancer at age 60, McGravie wrote The Poppy Garden, a dark comedy about women with breast cancer that was produced by Footsteps Theatre in 1993. In 1995, McGravie collaborated on writing The Radiance of a Thousand Suns: The Hiroshima Project for Bailiwick Repertory. The production won a Jeff Jefferson Committee Citation in 1996. In 2013, at age 87, McGravie published her first novel, Dancing on Ashes. Two more of her plays, The Clown Next Door and A Stone-cold Case, were staged in the early 2010s. Her other notable plays include The Cairn Stones, Bags and Alice and Margo.

Scope and Contents

Anne V. McGravie (1926-2022) was a Scottish-born playwright and author who lived and worked in Chicago. Her plays include the Jeff Award-winning WRENS, The Cairn Stones, The Poppy Garden, Bags, Alice and Margo and The Radiance of a Thousand Suns: The Hiroshima Project, a collaboration with Nicholas Patricca at Bailiwick Repertory.

The collection is composed primarily of scripts and other writings along with notes, research and production materials for plays that were staged. Additional materials include contracts, correspondence, diaries, photographs and other biographical materials.

Arrangement

The Anne V. McGravie Papers are arranged into three Series:

  • Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1949-2019
  • Series 2: Plays and Theatrical Works, 1975-2014
  • Series 3: Other Writings, 1965-2016

Separations

Approximately 3 linear feet of duplicated materials and unrelated materials were discarded.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Access to some audiovisual material and computer files may not be possible due to available replay equipment or to state of physical media. Tapes have not been checked to ensure content or playability. Titles and other descriptive information are as written on packages. Based on the information written on the floppy disks, it is probable that the contents were printed and researchers should consult those files.

Subject Headings

  • McGravie, Anne
  • Plays
  • Playwriting
  • Theater -- Photographs
  • Theater -- 20th century -- Sources
  • Theater -- History -- Sources

Related Collections

  • Bailiwick Repertory Records
  • Commons Theatre Records
  • Organic Theater Records
  • Nicholas A. Patricca Papers
  • Steppenwolf Theatre Company Records
  • Victory Gardens Theater Records

Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1949-2019

Scope and Contents

Series 1 contains biographical materials related to McGravie’s work as an author, playwright and educator. The materials include awards, contracts, correspondence, diaries, photographs and theatrical instruction materials.

Arrangement

Series 1 is arranged alphabetically by topic.

Box 1 Folder 1 Australia visit, 1994
Box 1 Folder 2 Autobiographical documents, 1949-200s
Box 1 Folder 3 Autobiographical writings, undated
Box 1 Folder 4 Awards, 1984-2016
Box 6   Awards, Jeff Jefferson Committee Citation, If the Radiance of a Thousand Suns, plaque, 1996
Box 1 Folder 5 Contracts and agreements, 1988-2003
Box 1 Folder 6 Contracts and agreements, copyrights, 1979, 1986
Box 1 Folder 7 Contracts and agreements, grants, 1984-2001
Box 1 Folder 8 Contracts and agreements, publishing, 1976-2011
Box 1 Folder 9 Correspondence, 1965-1969
Box 1 Folder 10 Correspondence, 1970-1979
Box 1 Folder 11 Correspondence, 1980-1989
Box 1 Folder 12 Correspondence, 1990-1999
Box 1 Folder 13 Correspondence, 2000-2009
Box 1 Folder 14 Correspondence, 2010-2019
Box 1 Folder 15 Correspondence, undated
Box 1 Folder 16 Diary, 1964-1967
Box 1 Folder 17 Diary, circa 1977
Box 1 Folder 18 Diary, 1980-1981
Box 1 Folder 19 Diary, 2014
Box 1 Folder 20 Family history, correspondence and notes, circa 1980s-2000s
Box 6   McGravie, Anne, “The Immigrant,” WBEZ interview, audiocassette, undated
Box 1 Folder 21 News clippings, circa 1993-2016
Oversize Folder 1   Photograph, circa 1960s
Box 1 Folder 22 Photographs, circa 1980s-2000s
Box 1 Folder 23 Resumes, circa 1990s-2002
Box 1 Folder 24 Submission and planning notes, undated
Box 1 Folder 25 Theater and writing instruction, college and community, 1981-2010
Box 1 Folder 26 Theater and writing instruction, correctional institutions, 1971-1997
Box 1 Folder 27 Theater and writing instruction, senior programs, 1988

Series 2: Theatrical Works, 1975-2014, undated

Scope and Contents

Series 2 contains scripts and other writings related to theatrical performances along with notes, research and production materials for plays that were staged. Unless otherwise noted, the scripts and drafts are typescript.

Arrangement

Series 2 is arranged alphabetically by title or topic.

Box 1 Folder 28 Alice and Margo, Dramatic Publishing proof, 2011
Box 1 Folder 29 Alice and Margo, production materials, circa 2010
Box 1 Folder 30 Alice and Margo, script [final], 2010
Box 1 Folder 31 Amanda, monologue and reviews, 1998
Box 6   [Amanda], “The Monologue Show,” VHS videotape, undated
Box 1 Folder 32 Army women, notes and research, undated
Box 1 Folder 33 Bags, production materials and programs, 1989-1997
Box 1 Folder 34 Bags, script [drafts], 1986, 1991
Box 1 Folder 35 Bags, script, 1997
Box 1 Folder 36 Bags, script [draft], 2002
Box 1 Folder 37 Bags, script published in Other Voices, 1990 Summer/Fall
Box 6   Bags, VHS videotapes (2), [1997]
Box 1 Folder 38 Birthday, script, 1998
Box 1 Folder 39 Blood on the Number 112, script [drafts], 2009
Box 1 Folder 40 The Bog Witch, production materials, undated
Box 1 Folder 41 Bremen-Town Musicians, adaptation, undated
Oversize Folder 1   The Cairn Stones, poster, 1999
Box 1 Folder 42 The Cairn Stones, production materials and program, 1999
Box 1 Folder 43 The Cairn Stones, script, 1997
Box 1 Folder 44 Candy Loving John, scripts and draft, 1986
Box 1 Folder 45 Chicago, research, undated
Box 1 Folder 46 Chicago, Chicago, script [draft], 1985
Box 1 Folders 47-48 Chicago in the Morning [working title], script [drafts], 1985
Box 1 Folder 49 Chicago in the Morning [working title], script, 1998
Box 2 Folder 1 The Children’s War [The Ipsy, Wipsy Spider], notes, undated
Box 2 Folder 2 The Children’s War, script [annotated], 2005
Box 2 Folder 3 The Children’s War, scripts, 2006
Box 2 Folder 4 The Children’s War, script, 2nd draft, 2010
Box 2 Folder 5 The Children’s War, scripts, 2015
Box 2 Folder 6 Clown, monologue, 1998
Box 2 Folder 7 The Clown Next Door, script, [festival version], undated
Box 2 Folder 8 Composer-Librettist Studio, 1994
Box 2 Folder 9 Critic’s Choice, research, undated
Box 2 Folder 10 Critic’s Choice, (Catch Forty-Four), script [drafts], 1987
Box 2 Folder 11 Critic’s Choice, script [drafts], 1990
Box 2 Folder 12 Critic’s Choice, script, 1997
Box 2 Folder 13 Critic’s Choice, script [drafts], undated
Box 2 Folder 14 Dandelions, Reading Series, production materials and script, 2005
Box 2 Folder 15 Dandelions [also labeled “Nuns”], research, article draft and notes, undated
Box 2 Folder 16 Dandelions [also labeled “Nuns”], research and notes, undated
Box 6   Dandelions [also labeled “Nuns”], research, audiocassette, undated
Box 2 Folder 17 Dandelions, script, 2004
Box 2 Folder 18 Dandelions, script, drafts, undated
Box 2 Folder 19 Death, script notes, undated
Box 2 Folder 20 The Death Watch, script, undated
Box 2 Folder 21 Deprofundis, script, 2009
Box 2 Folder 22 Dolls, research, undated
Box 2 Folder 23 Dolls, script, 1994
Box 2 Folder 24 Dolls, script [drafts], 1998
Box 2 Folder 25 Dolls, script, 1998
Box 2 Folder 26 Dolls, script, 2000
Box 2 Folder 27 Dolls, script [final], 2012
Box 2 Folder 28 Dolls, script [draft], undated
Box 2 Folder 29 Dolls, staged reading notes, 1993
Box 2 Folder 30 Evacuation, script [drafts] with research, undated
Box 2 Folder 31 Fallen, script [drafts], 2004
Box 2 Folder 32 A Few Simple Truths, script and reviews, 1992
Box 2 Folder 33 Fiona, lyrics, 1994
Box 2 Folder 34 Fiona Fintoul, script [draft], 2001
Box 6   Ghosts, reading, audiocassettes (2), 1980
Box 2 Folder 35 Ghosts, script [draft], 1980
Box 2 Folder 36 Gloria Moonday, script, draft, 1979
Box 2 Folder 37 Gloria Moonday, script, 1979
Box 2 Folder 38 If the Radiance from a Thousand Suns: The Hiroshima Project, production materials, 1993-1996
Box 6   If the Radiance from a Thousand Suns: The Hiroshima Project, VHS videotape, 1996
Box 2 Folder 39 Irish American Play, script, 1989
Box 2 Folder 40 Last Bus to Cuba, skits and editor’s notes, undated
Box 3 Folder 1 [Life and Death of] Anna May Wong, production materials and program, 1981
Box 3 Folder 2 [Life and Death of] Anna May Wong, research, circa 1970s-1990s
Box 3 Folder 3 Life and Death of Anna May Wong, script, 1981
Box 3 Folder 4 Life and Death of Anna May Wong, script [original production script], 1981
Box 3 Folder 5 Life and Death of Anna May Wong, scripts [Reader’s Series], 1987
Box 3 Folder 6 [Life and Death of] Anna May Wong, script [drafts] and notes, undated
Box 6   Life and Death of Anna May Wong, VHS videotapes (2), circa 1980s
Box 3 Folder 7 Little Rude Riding Hood, story draft, undated
Box 3 Folder 8 The Matchless Mayden, script, 1st draft, 2002
Box 6   Media - audiocassettes (2), undated
Box 6   Media - CDs (4), undated
Box 6   Media - film strips (3), undated
Box 6   Media - floppy disks, 5 ¼” (5), undated
Box 6   Media - floppy disks, 3 ½” (83), undated
Box 6   Media - mini-cassettes (7), undated
Box 3 Folder 9 No Ifs, Ands or Buts, lyrics, 1995
Oversize Folder 1   No Place Like Home, posters, 2003
Box 3 Folder 10 No Place Like Home, Community Workshop Project, production materials and program, 2002-2003
Box 3 Folder 11 No Place Like Home, script [final draft], 2003
Box 3 Folders 12-13 Notes for theatrical and other writings (mostly manuscript), undated
Box 3 Folder 14 One More Time, script, 1993
Box 3 Folder 15 Oona and the Oyster Girl, script [drafts], 1986
Box 3 Folder 16 Oona and the Oyster Girl, script [drafts], 1994
Box 3 Folder 17 Oona and the Oyster Girl and Jack the Great Dog of Ireland, script, drafts, 1997-1988
Box 3 Folder 18 Oona and the Oyster Girl, script [also called Orphans], 1998
Box 3 Folder 19 Oona and the Oyster Girl and Jack the Great Dog of Ireland, script, 2000
Box 3 Folder 20 Oona and the Oyster Girl, script [drafts], undated
Box 3 Folder 21 Orphans, script [drafts], undated
Box 3 Folder 22 The Parting, score, undated
Box 3 Folder 23 Playwriting and theater resources, circa 1970s-2010s
Box 3 Folder 24 Playwriting submission resources, circa 1980s-2010s
Box 3 Folder 25 The Pomegranate Tree, lyrics, undated
Box 3 Folder 26 Poppies, script, 2004
Box 3 Folder 27 Poppies, script, 2005
Box 3 Folder 28 Poppies, script, 2006
Box 3 Folders 29-30 Poppies, script [drafts], undated
Box 3 Folder 31 The Poppy Garden [also called Counting Stitches] production materials and programs, 1993
Box 3 Folder 32 The Poppy Garden [also called Counting Stitches] script [drafts], 1989
Box 3 Folder 33 The Poppy Garden [also called Counting Stitches] script, 1989
Box 3 Folder 34 The Poppy Garden [also called Counting Stitches] script, 1993
Box 3 Folder 35 The Poppy Garden [also called Counting Stitches] script, 1994
Box 3 Folder 36 The Present, libretto, undated
Box 4 Folder 1 Queen Margaret, research, undated
Box 4 Folder 2 Queen Margaret, script and notes, undated
Box 4 Folder 3 Radio drama scripts, circa 1980s-1990s
Box 4 Folder 4 Rebels, script, 1982
Box 4 Folder 5 Rebels, script [used for Goodman Theatre reading], 1982
Box 4 Folder 6 The Red Shoes, adaptation, 1975
Box 4 Folder 7 Rose Cat and Cat Bush, script [drafts], 1981
Box 4 Folder 8 Runaways, or Going Home, script [draft], 1982
Box 4 Folder 9 Scotland, research, undated
Box 4 Folder 10 Short plays, scripts, includes Another Bus Play, Battle of Hoe Joe Hill, Beaches, Don’t Make Me Think, Double Wedding, The Faerie Girl, House on the Range, Last Train to Nowhere, Miscounter, The Mummy Room at the Field Museum, Red Poppies, The Reunion of ’71, Sepia, Sharing a Ride, Shoot a Soldier, Stack O’Barley, Three’s Company,  Whose Wife Is It, Anyway? and Women in the Military, circa 1979-1995
Box 4 Folder 11 The Short Sad Life of Maddie Mullins, script, 1st draft, 2002
Box 4 Folder 12 Siamese Twins, monologue, 1998
Box 4 Folder 13 [Sic Transit], script [draft], undated
Box 4 Folder 14 A Stone-cold Case, script [final] and program, 2012
Box 4 Folder 15 Swallow the Moon, script [draft], 2010
Box 4 Folder 16 Swallow the Moon, script [draft], 2011
Box 4 Folder 17 Swallow the Moon, script [draft], undated
Box 4 Folder 18 Sweet Dreams, script, undated
Box 4 Folder 19 Tabernacles, script, 1st draft, 2000
Box 4 Folder 20 The Warped Weaver, script [drafts], undated
Box 4 Folder 21 What I Learned About Golf, monologue, 1998
Box 4 Folder 22 Where the Poppies Grow, script with correspondence, 2001
Box 4 Folder 23 Woman Who Lived by the Sea, script, undated
Box 4 Folder 24 Wonderella and Partner, scripts, undated
Box 4 Folder 25 Wrens, BBC proposal, undated
Box 4 Folder 26 Wrens, correspondence, 1984-2012
Box 4 Folder 27 Wrens, dramaturgy packet drafts, 2012
Box 4 Folder 28 Wrens, photo booklet by Rover Dramawerks by Naifah Photo, undated
Box 4 Folder 29 Wrens, photographs, circa 1996-2012
Oversize Folder 1   Wrens, posters [multiple productions], 1996-2012
Box 4 Folder 30 Wrens, production materials and programs [multiple productions], 1984-2014
Box 4 Folder 31 Wrens, research and ephemera [includes CD], 1981-circa 1990s
Box 4 Folder 32 Wrens, reviews, 1995-2012
Box 4 Folder 33 Wrens, script, 1989
Box 4 Folder 34 Wrens, script, 1992
Box 4 Folder 35 Wrens, script, 1996
Box 4 Folder 36 Wrens, script used by Rivendell?], 2011 October

Series 3: Other Writings, 1965-2016, undated

Scope and Contents

Series 3 contains typescripts, drafts and publications of McGravie’s stories, articles and her novel, Dancing on Ashes. Research files for some of these publications are also included.

Arrangement

Series 3 is arranged alphabetically by title or topic.

Box 5 Folder 1 Ann Gallagher, story typescript, 1975
Box 5 Folder 2 Better Than Bingo, story typescript, 1998
Box 5 Folder 3 The Bonfire, story, typescript, undated
Box 5 Folder 4 The Boyhood of Pope John XXIII, Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1979
Box 5 Folder 5 The Contest, story typescript, undated
Box 5 Folder 6 Dancing on Ashes, book typescript [annotated with revisions], 2008
Box 5 Folder 7 Dancing on Ashes, book typescript, 2008
Box 5 Folder 8 Dancing on Ashes, book typescript [draft], undated
Box 5 Folder 9 Dancing on Ashes, book release, 2013
Box 5 Folder 10 Dancing on Ashes, book correspondence and notes, 2007-2008
Box 5 Folder 11 The Girl Who Danced with Fairies, story typescript, undated
Box 5 Folder 12 The Gushygin, SRA Reading Laboratory, story, 1978
Box 5 Folder 13 Inishfree: Quiet Little Island, essay, undated
Box 5 Folder 14 Ireland, film script, undated
Box 5 Folder 15 Ireland (and Inishfree), notes and research, undated
Box 5 Folder 16 Island Summers/Inishfree Summers, correspondence and research, circa 1970s
Box 5 Folder 17 Island Summers/Inishfree Summers, typescript [drafts], circa 2006
Box 5 Folder 18 Island Summers/Inishfree Summers, notes, undated
Box 5 Folder 19 It Suddenly Happens to You, story typescript, undated
Box 5 Folder 20 Lady Megan in a Hurry, story typescript, 1979
Box 5 Folder 21 “Life in a Castle,” article typescript and research, circa 1979
Box 5 Folder 22 “Local Women Playwrights and Chicago Theatres,” article typescript, undated
Box 5 Folder 23 “The Opposite Game,” article typescript and research, 2004
Box 5 Folder 24 Poetry, typescript drafts [some with reader comments], 1973-2016
Box 5 Folder 25 Reading Series books, typescripts and notes, 1984
Box 5 Folder 26 Robot Rob Will Do His Job, Reading Series book text, 1985-1986
Box 5 Folder 27 Rose, story typescript, undated
Box 5 Folder 28 Sam-Sam Leads a Dog’s Life and Other Stories, story typescript, 1986
Box 5 Folder 29 Sam-Sam Leads a Dog’s Life and Other Stories, story typescript [drafts], undated
Box 5 Folder 30 Seeing, story typescript, 1975
Box 5 Folder 31 Short writings, typescript drafts, includes The Haunted Mirror, The Gander, The Lark in the Still Air, The Muse, The Rise of Towns, Skara Brae and The Whimsical Cat, 1965-1998
Box 5 Folder 32 The Twelve Swan Princesses of Ireland, typescript [draft], 2001
Box 5 Folder 33 Una and the Oyster Girl, story typescript [drafts], 2011
Box 5 Folder 34 Unfinished stories [drafts], undated
Box 5 Folder 35 Untitled short writings, typescripts [drafts], undated
Box 5 Folder 36 The Visitors, story typescript [draft], undated
Box 5 Folder 37 “Voice of the People,” article, typescript, undated
Box 5 Folder 38 Weard Beasties, story typescript, undated
Box 5 Folder 39 The Witch in the Apartment, story typescript [drafts], undated
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