Leone Cass Baer Hicks photographs
Scope and Contents
Collection of 73 autographed portraits of music, theater, and movie personalities, 1910-1923, given to Leone Cass Baer Hicks when she worked as a drama editor and critic for the Oregonian newspaper. A few are unsigned, including a photographic print on postcard stock of Harry Houdini and his wife, and a few movie stills and scenes from theater productions. In addition to Houdini, performers represented in the collection include Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Lillian Russell, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Laurette Taylor, and Sophie Tucker, among others. The collection also includes several portraits of Julian Eltinge, one of the most prominent female impersonators of the period from 1910 to 1920.
Some of the autographs and inscriptions include a date, which may differ from the date the photograph was taken. Photographers represented in the collection include many studios throughout the United States that specialized in publicity portraits of performers.
Dates
- Creation: 1910-1923
Creator
- Hicks, Cass Baer, 1881-1949 (Compiler, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Biographical Note
Cass Baer was born in 1881 in Bloomfield, Iowa, to George Franklin Baer and Catherine Beckley Baer. After attending teacher's college in Missouri and the Art Institute of Chicago, Baer moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1904, where she worked as an art teacher at St. Helen's Hall. Around 1907, she began working at the Oregonian newspaper as a feature writer, and then as drama editor and critic. She first wrote under the name Leone Cass Baer, then, after her marriage to Harve W. Hicks in 1919, as Leone Cass Baer Hicks, and later as Cass Baer Hicks. Quickly gaining a reputation for her impartial critiques of Portland stage events, she also became popular for her wit and clever comments. She remained at the Oregonian until 1927, when she and her husband moved to Hollywood, California. They later divorced, and she returned to Portland. After retiring in 1941, she moved to Tigard, where she resided until her death in 1949.
Sources: "Noted Writer Dies on Farm," Oregonian, October 4, 1949, Page 15; item in "Women in Advertising and Journalism" column, Editor & Publisher, July 10, 1926 (Vol. 59, No. 7), page 38; articles in the Oregonian, 1907-1949; vital records via Ancestry.com.
Extent
1.8 Cubic Feet (1 slim letter document case; 6 oversize folders (11x14) in shared box; 2 oversize folders (16x20) in shared box; 1 oversize folder (20x24) in shared box)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection consists primarily of autographed publicity portraits of music, theater, and movie personalities, given to Leone Cass Baer Hicks (1881-1949) when she was drama editor and critic for the Oregonian newspaper in Portland, Oregon. Performers represented include Julian Eltinge, Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, Harry Houdini, Mary Pickford, Lillian Russell, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Laurette Taylor, and Sophie Tucker, among others.
Arrangement
The photographs are arranged alphabetically by surname of performer, with a folder of background information at the end.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Marti Staehle, November 1984 (Lib. Acc. 17017, Photo Acc. 984D161).
Separated Materials
A 1915 letter from Harry Houdini to Leone Cass Baer was separated to the Correspondence collection, Mss 1500, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Processing Information
A collection guide was created by Sharon Howe in 2004. In January 2025, the collection title was revised to better reflect Cass Baer Hicks' name, to correct and expand biographical information about her, and to conform to current standard. Prior to these revisions, the collection was titled "Leone Cass Baer photographs collection."
- Title
- Guide to the Leone Cass Baer Hicks photographs
- Author
- Sharon M. Howe; revised by Katie Mayer
- Date
- 2004; revised 2025
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
Revision Statements
- 2007-05: Corrected title and controlled access points, MKF.
- 2015: Revised to reflect updates to best practices.
- 2025-01-22: Title was revised to better reflect name of compiler; biographical note was revised to correct some dates and provide additional detail; inventory was revised to reflect renumbering of oversize folders for clarity; and minor revisons were made throughout to conform to current standard.
Repository Details
Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240
libreference@ohs.org