Theatre Manager

 

New York Clipper, 10 Nov 1906.

As I have been recapping the career of my 2nd-great-aunt Agnes Atherton this week, it has been fascinating to see her progression from young singer and dancer to actress, star performer, producer and stage manager. Agnes added another title in her career to business owner, running her own stage production company, the Atherton Stock Company. Through her association with Harrison's Garden Theatre in Lima, Ohio, she also took on the role of theatre manager in 1907. She ran advertisements for acts in various trade publications, booked shows and entertainers for the theatre.

Billboard, 27 June 1907.

New York Clipper, 12 Oct 1907.

New York Clipper, 30 Nov 1907.

Lima, Ohio was not then and isn't now a major metropolis. It is a small town in northwest Ohio, north of Dayton, south of Toledo, east of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Agnes had previously served as stage director for performances in 1905 at the competing Miller's Theatre in Lima. Both Joe Miller and Fred Harrison, proprietors of the stages in Lima, ran into trouble with local officials in 1906. 

Lima had enacted a local ordinance against women working in locations where liquor was sold. The ordinance effectively shut down Harrison's Theatre, and likely ended Agnes' role as theatre manager. The timing is odd, as the wanted ads for performers, particularly for women, continued to run in trade publications in late 1907, while the cases against the theatres were being challenged.

Lima News, 31 Dec 1906.

Lima News, 15 Jan 1907.

Lawyers for Miller and Harrison were able to invalidate the legality of the ordinance on a technicality, as the minutes of the city council meeting where the ordinance was approved was not properly signed and executed (22 January 1907, Lima News). The Lima mayor sent the ordinance back to the council, and it was re-enacted. The case against both theatres continued in 1908.

Times-Democrat, 13 Mar 1908.

Harrison's Theatre was raided on 12 March 1908, and nine women employees were arrested. Agnes was not among those listed. Harrison closed the theatre the following week.