by Sarah Bender
Carnegie Mellon University has long been a leader in performing arts education, with its School of Drama — the first degree-granting drama institution in the U.S. — consistently ranked among the best programs in the world. Now, the University Libraries is expanding its role as a destination for the preservation and study of theatrical design and performance history through major archival acquisitions connected to internationally recognized artists and celebrated Carnegie Mellon alumni.
The acquisitions — including nearly 2,000 original costume sketches from Academy Award-winning costume designer and CMU alumna Ann Roth and the collections of longtime School of Drama faculty Barbara and Cletus Anderson — mark a major step in the Libraries’ emergence as a national destination for theatrical design and performance archives. The acquisitions also reflect the Libraries’ growing commitment to preserving the creative legacy of alumni and faculty whose work has shaped theater, film, and television around the world.
“These collections document not only the creative work of extraordinary theater practitioners, but also the history of how performance is imagined, designed, and brought to life,” said Michael and Lonna Smith University Archivist and Associate Dean for Distinctive Collections Julia Corrin. “By making these materials available to students, scholars, and artists, we are helping support new research and creative exploration while preserving important theatrical histories for future generations.”
Legendary Costume Creations
Few costume designers have shaped modern theater and film as profoundly as Roth. Over a career spanning more than six decades, the 1953 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama has helped define the visual identity of productions ranging from “Midnight Cowboy” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley” to “The Book of Mormon,” “Mamma Mia!,” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” the Pittsburgh-filmed production for which she received her second Academy Award.
Roth has earned Academy Awards for “The English Patient” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” as well as a Tony Award for “The Nance.” Her collaborations with directors including Mike Nichols and performers such as Meryl Streep have helped shape the visual language of modern theater and film. Widely regarded as one of the most influential costume designers of the 20th and 21st centuries, Roth’s work spans Broadway, Hollywood, television, and regional theater, reflecting the deep connections between Carnegie Mellon alumni and the broader performing arts industry.
The donation to the Archives includes Roth’s costume sketches, along with research materials and production documents spanning more than 60 years of creative work. Highlights include designs for “Shuffle Along,” several of which were featured in the Libraries’ “Room to Imagine” exhibition, as well as extensive historical clothing research compiled for “Cold Mountain,” reflecting the depth of scholarship and historical study behind Roth’s design practice.
Together, the materials offer a comprehensive view into the creative process behind costume design. Students and researchers will be able to trace how Roth developed ideas through sketches, fittings, revisions, and collaboration with performers and directors, revealing costume design as an evolving and deeply collaborative art form rather than a fixed visual product.
“We have always been a university that maintains a warm welcome to its alumni, and honors the linking of past and present as a way to train students as they stir about in the crucible that shall form their future,” said Bessie F. Anathan Professor of Design and University Professor Susan Tsu, an award-winning costume designer who has taught at Carnegie Mellon for over two decades. “What could be more inspiring then, than to have garnered the entire collection of the great Ann Roth’s theater and film designs! To regard this body of work is to have the honor of transporting yourself into the imagination of one of this century’s greatest interpreters of human beings inhabiting the world.
Pittsburgh Production Designers
Barbara and Cletus Anderson began teaching at the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon in 1968, one year after Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with Mellon Institute to form the university, and published “Costume Design” in 1984, which is widely regarded as one of the definitive texts in the field.
Throughout their careers, the Andersons balanced teaching with extensive professional work in theater, television, and film. They collaborated on projects connected to filmmaker George Romero, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” and productions associated with WQED, making their work part of Pittsburgh’s broader cultural and creative history for generations of audiences.
The Anderson collection includes sketches, fabric swatches, prompt books, research materials, and production documents that illuminate both the creative process behind theatrical design and the evolution of theater education at Carnegie Mellon. The materials also document the Andersons’ mentorship of generations of students, many of whom received their first professional opportunities through the couple’s extensive industry connections.
“Barbara and Cletus Anderson were indelible parts of the School of Drama, both as artists and as educators,” said Teaching Professor of Costume Production Brian Russman. “As the Andersons walked this amazing line between a career in education, regional theater, and film and television, they brought students along on all of those projects to learn on the job. The collection also includes records of those experiences, and I’m grateful there is a place for these items to be celebrated and utilized by future generations of artists. The Andersons continue their legacy!”
A Destination for Theater Research
The new acquisitions build upon the Libraries’ broader commitment to preserving and expanding access to materials related to theater, performance, and design history.
The Archives’ drama-related holdings document more than a century of creative practice, theatrical innovation, and arts education connected to the university and the broader performing arts world. Collections include the papers of influential directors, designers, educators, and alumni whose work shaped regional theater, Broadway, television, and film while helping establish Carnegie Mellon as a leading center for drama education.
Among the collections of notable alumni are the papers of William Ball, founder of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, who was instrumental in re-establishing community theater in the United States. The Archives also preserves materials connected to scenic designer George C. Corrin Jr., whose career bridged stage design and the early visual language of broadcast television, including work on the nationally televised Nixon-Kennedy debates and major election coverage for ABC News, and William H. Putch, artistic director of the Totem Pole Playhouse in central Pennsylvania.
The Archives also stewards extensive records documenting the history of Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama, including production photographs, prompt books, costume materials, and student-created designs dating back to the program’s earliest productions. Collections connected to longtime faculty members such as Elizabeth “Bess” Kimberly and Lawrence Carra reflect the school’s longstanding emphasis on integrating professional practice with hands-on student learning.
“These collections, including the Ann Roth and Barbara and Cletus Anderson collections, reflect Carnegie Mellon’s longstanding excellence in the performing arts and the extraordinary impact our alumni and faculty have had both onstage and behind the scenes,” Corrin said. “By preserving these materials and making them available to students, researchers, and the broader community, we’re not only documenting theater history — we’re creating opportunities to inspire the next generation of performers, designers, directors, and creative practitioners.”
The Archives’ collections are available for use by researchers and other community members throughout the year. The University Archives will offer public drop-in hours on Thursdays throughout June and July before resuming regular semester hours in the fall. You can also contact the Archives to schedule an appointment. Researchers, students, artists, and visitors of all levels of curiosity are welcome.