Anne Ford papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-1995-027

Staff Only

Dates

Creation: 1930 - 1990
Creation: Majority of material found within 1940 - 1970

Scope and Contents

Contains typescript drafts of Ford's autobiography that describe her childhood in a Boston Irish-American family and her memories of actors and authors she knew through her role as publicist for the Theatre Guild and Boston and New York publishing houses. Copies of her correspondence with those she represented over the years complement her autobiography. Her papers also include newspaper clippings of her articles for Variety and the Boston Globe, as well as articles about her retirement from publishing. Photographs show Ford at work and at leisure, as well as a few publicity photographs of those Ford worked with.

Creator

Ford, Anne (Anne Adelaide) (1901-1993) (Person)

Restrictions on Access

Collection is open for research.

Restrictions on use

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Biographical note

Anne Adelaide Ford was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 12, 1901 to Michael Joseph and Johanna (Cuthbert) Ford. Her siblings included Margaret (Ford) Kieran and John Cuthbert Ford, SJ. She attended Brookline High School and earned her BA from Boston University.

Ford began her career writing "variety news" for Boston newspapers. She then took a position as a press agent for the Theater Guild, promoting plays across the United States. She made connections with publishers by cross-promoting books that became Theater Guild plays. In about 1945 she became director of publicity for Little Brown and Company in New York and later held the same postion at Harcourt Brace & Company. She returned to Boston as director of publicity for Houghton Mifflin, a position she held from 1953 until the time of her retirement in 1970. She also wrote a series of occasional articles for the Boston Globe beginning in February 1970 called "Anne Ford remembers." Ford died on November 16, 1993 in Rockport, Massachusetts.

Sources:

"Anne Ford, 92." Boston Globe obituary, 18 November 1993.

Ford, Anne. "Judith Anderson's chilling sleepwalk." Boston Globe 24 February 1970, p.19.

State of Massachusetts. "Anne A. Ford." Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003. Boston, MA, USA: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Health Services, 2005.

"That Girl from Boston," Anne Ford papers, MS.1995.027, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Extent

3 Linear Feet (4 containers)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

These papers document the life of twentieth-century theater and publishing executive Anne Ford through her unpublished autobiography and her correspondence. Much of her correspondence is comprised of single letters, but Ford maintained long-running relationships with James Cagney, Ogden Nash, Frank Sullivan, Evelyn Waugh, and Katharine White that are documented in these papers. Also included are photographs of Ford, clippings of articles by and about her, and a small amount of memorabilia.

Arrangement

Arranged in six series: I. Autobiography; II. Clippings; III. Correspondence; IV. Memorabilia; V. Photographs; and VI. Reference file on Andrew Wyeth.

Provenance

Gifts of Margaret Ford Kieran in 1995 and 1996.

Related Materials

Eleanor Early papers, MS.1995.005, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Katherine E. Conway papers, MS.1994.015, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Margaret M. Fitzgerald papers, MS.2000.019, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Mary Boyle O'Reilly papers, MS.2003.045, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Separated Materials

Published works associated with this collection have been transferred within the Burns Library and can be found in the Boston College Library catalog.