Native American Women Playwrights Archive facts for kids
The Native American Women Playwrights Archive (NAWPA) is a special collection of writings and other items about Native American women who write plays for the theater. It was started in 1997 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. You can find this important collection inside the university's King Library. NAWPA also keeps many documents related to Spiderwoman Theater, including things like advertisements and personal papers from the theater group and its members.
Contents
How the Archive Started
The idea for NAWPA began in 1996. Dr. William Wortman, a librarian who specialized in humanities, and John Allen Johnson, a graduate student at Miami University, worked together. John Allen Johnson, who is Cherokee and African American, was researching Native American women playwrights. He found it very hard to find enough materials for his studies. Because of this challenge, Dr. Wortman and Johnson decided to build an archive themselves. They reached out to many writers and performers, asking them to contribute their work to the collection. This is how the archive grew and became what it is today.
What You Can Find in NAWPA
The Native American Women Playwrights Archive is located in the Walter Havighurst Special Collections at Miami University's King Library. It holds many different types of materials.
Play Scripts and Recordings
The main part of the collection includes original play scripts written by Native American women. But there's much more! You can also find audio and video recordings of performances, like old VHS tapes, audio cassettes, CDs, and DVDs. There are also photographs that show scenes from plays and the people involved.
Other Important Documents
The archive also keeps newspaper articles, reviews of plays, flyers, and posters that advertised shows. Beyond creative works, NAWPA has administrative and financial documents. These include notes, forms, mailing lists, and letters that show how the archive is managed. They also show how conferences and events sponsored by NAWPA were organized.
Spiderwoman Theater Collection
A significant part of the archive focuses on the work of Spiderwoman Theater. This includes many photographs of their performances and programs from their plays. You can also find interviews with the theater troupe members and their personal stories. The archive even holds documents about a legal disagreement that Spiderwoman Theater had with Marvel Comics over the use of the name "Spiderwoman."
Accessing the Collection
All the materials in NAWPA are open for everyone to use. This means anyone can visit the library and read or view the items in the collection. NAWPA is always adding new playwrights and their works to its collection. The archive encourages writers at any stage of their career to submit their materials. This helps the collection grow and ensures that more voices are heard.
See also
- Spiderwoman Theater
- Native American dramatists and playwrights
- Indigenous theatre
