Celebrating Our Sesquicentennial
Photographs from the Penn State University Archives
11th in a series
The Penn State Thespians will present Cabaret in Schwab Auditorium on November 11-13. The Thespians, at 107 years the oldest continuing student organization on campus, was founded in 1897 by Professor of American Literature Fred Lewis Pattee and Professor of Mathematics John H. Leete as a “men’s dramatics club.” Because there were few female students, and probably because theatrical acting wasn’t considered proper for ladies, the club was open only to men. The above photo shows three “ladies” from the 1901 Thespians production of David Garrick, all of whom are played by men. Shows remained all-male until World War I caused a shortage of men on campus, and in the 1918 spring production of It Pays to Advertise, women were for the first time included in the cast. For that year only, however—not until 1926 would females again be admitted on-stage. Visit http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/pennstatethespians/ for more information about the Penn State Thespians.

Visit the photo archive
for previous photos from our year-long historical series

Penn State University Archives is part of The Eberly Family Special Collections Library,
of the Penn State University Libraries.

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The Penn State Sesquicentennial web pages are maintained by the Office of Advancement Projects
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