Madeline Lee Gilford Papers
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Abstract
Madeline Lee Gilford (1923-2008) was an actor, producer, and social activist who was blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and subpoenaed to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1955. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, press clippings, programs, scripts, and speeches relating to her career and activism as well as documents pertaining to 170 Years of Show Business, an autobiography co-authored with actor Kate Mostel (1918-1986).
Historical/Biographical Note
Madeline Lee Gilford (1923–2008) was born Madeline Lederman on May 30, 1923 to Polish immigrant parents in the Bronx, New York. The youngest of four children, she began acting at the age of three at the Heckscher Foundation for Children's Theatre in Manhattan segueing into radio, television, and film under the stage name Madeline Lee.
While a student at Walton High in the Bronx, Gilford joined the American Student Union. She continued to be active in progressive politics throughout her life and was a target of blacklisting during the McCarthy Era. In 1955 she and her husband, the actor and comedian Jack Gilford (1908-1990), were called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) after being named by the choreographer Jerome Robbins. Madeline Gilford testified before the committee on August 17 of 1955. Gilford continued producing in television and theater under the assumed name of Maggie Giles including two early children's television programs: the Attic Playshop and Sing A Song with Charity Bailey, the first interracial children's television program in New York. Gilford co-authored an autobiography with Kate Mostel, which describes their lives in the entertainment industry and the effects of blacklisting on their careers and those of their husbands, Jack Gilford and Zero Mostel (1915-1977). The memoir was published in 1978 as 170 Years in Show Business.
Gilford had two sons, Joseph and Samuel, with Jack Gilford and a daughter, Lisa, from a previous marriage to Mitchell Fein, an engineer. Gilford died April 15, 2008 in Greenwich Village in New York City.
Subjects
Organizations
People
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection, created by Madeline Gilford was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Lisa Gilford, 2008. The accession number associated with this gift is 2008.040.
About this Guide
Repository
Series I: Subject Files, 1940-2005, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Series I contains correspondence, clippings, photographs, scripts, and speeches documenting Gilford's career and social activism. A significant portion of the collection relates to 170 Years of Show Business. The series includes transcripts of Gilford's testimony before HUAC and correspondence from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) regarding the failure or refusal of its members to answer questions posed by HUAC. Other notable items include correspondence from Woody Guthrie, E. Y. (Edgar Yipsel) Harburg, and Arthur Miller. Photographs include over forty scenes from Attic Playshop, a children's television program produced by Gilford in the 1950s; publicity shots of Madeline Gilford, Jack Gilford, and John Randolph; the 1940 cast of Meet the People; and Robert Meeropol circa 1970s.
Appointment Calendar, 1974, inclusive
Blacklist: Clippings, 1961, 1980-1998, inclusive
Blacklist: Correspondence, 1981-1995, inclusive
Blacklist: Programs, 1992-2005, inclusive
Casting, Apr 1980, undated, inclusive
Center for Constitutional Rights: Docket, Fall 1992, inclusive
Children's Television Programming: Attic Playshop, 1955, [1950s], inclusive
Children's Television Programming: Sing A Song with Charity Bailey, 1953, 1954, [1950s], inclusive
Clippings: General, 1955-1994, undated, inclusive
Commission for the Tenth Anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution: International Symposium on Democracy and Revolution, 29037, inclusive
Congress Monthly, v. 53, no. 4, May-Jun 1986, inclusive
Correspondence: American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Aug 10, 1955, inclusive
Correspondence: Arthur Miller, Apr 1940, inclusive
Correspondence: General, Apr 1940-Mar 2002, undated, inclusive
Correspondence: Howard Linkoff to Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oct 1991, inclusive
Correspondence: John Randolph, May 14, 1990, inclusive
Correspondence: Woody Guthrie, Mar 1940, undated, inclusive
Cue, v. 46, no. 18, Sep 3-16, 1977, inclusive
Early Stages: City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, May 1997, inclusive
Faulk, John Henry: Correspondence, Clippings, and Programs, 1988-1993, undated, inclusive
Federal Works Agency, Work Projects Administration for the City of New York, Adult Education Program, Board of Education: Pamphlets, 1941, inclusive
Folk Music: Advertisements and Programs, 1952-1960, undated, inclusive
Folk Music: Clippings, 1956-1964, undated, inclusive
Folk Music: Ear to the Ground, Oct 1963, [1960s], inclusive
Folk Music: "Folk-Say" Festival, Boston, 20486, inclusive
Gilford, Jack: Clippings, 1948, 1976-1982, undated, inclusive
Grant, Lee: Interview with Sylvia Drake, Oct 1990, inclusive
Harburg, E. Y. (Edgar Yipsel): Correspondence, Obituaries and Tributes, 1960s, 1981, inclusive
Headshots, [1980s], inclusive
Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities House of Representatives, Aug 15-18, 1955, inclusive
Institute for Media Analysis, Apr 1988, inclusive
Kazan, Elia: Correspondence and Clippings re Tributes, 1987-1999, inclusive
Look to the Rainbow: Clippings, Feb-Mar 1985, inclusive
Monocle, v. 6, no. 3, 23682, inclusive
Mostel, Zero: Clippings and Programs, 1977-1984, undated, inclusive
National Committee to Abolish the House Un-American Activities Committee: Correspondence and Pamphlet, HUAC: Bulwark of Segregation, 1963-1964, inclusive
National Committee to Reopen the Rosenberg Case, 1974, inclusive
National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee: Bill of Rights Dinner: Correspondence, Programs, and Speeches, Dec 1992, inclusive
National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee: Publications, 1960, 1991-1992, inclusive
Notes, undated
Obituaries, 1980-1998, inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Advertising Mock-Ups, [1978], inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Clippings, Oct-Nov 1977, inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Clippings, Jan-Aug 1978, inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Clippings, Sep-Dec 1978, inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Clippings, 1979-1980, inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Clippings, undated
170 Years of Show Business: Contracts, financial statement, schedules, 1976-1979, inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Correspondence, 1976-1997, undated, inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Drafts, [1970s], inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Drafts, [1970s], inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Drafts, [1970s], inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Film Proposal, 1991, undated, inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Photography Credits, [1970s], inclusive
170 Years of Show Business: Publicity, 1978-1979, inclusive
Perelman, S. J. (Sidney Joseph): Clippings, 1974, 1979, undated, inclusive
Photographs, 1940s-1980s, inclusive
Programs, 1965-2004, inclusive
Publicity: Personal, 1940s, inclusive
Put Your Mouth Where Your Mouth Is: An Irish-Jewish Cookbook: Unpublished Manuscript Drafts and Clippings, 1974-1975, inclusive
The Races of Mankind: Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish, Public Affairs Pamphlet (85), New York: Public Affairs Committee Inc., 1943, inclusive
Robeson, Paul: Leaflet and Pamphlet for Paul Robeson Centennial Celebration; Clippings, 1998, inclusive
Rosenberg Era Art Project, 1985-1989, inclusive
Rosenberg Fund for Children, 1990-1998, inclusive
Rosenberg, Susan: Correspondence and Clippings re Imprisonment, 1987, 1989, undated, inclusive
Scripts, 1962, 1964- 1965, undated, inclusive
World of Sholom Aleichem: Clippings, Correspondence, and Playbill, 1953, 1981-1982, inclusive
Series II: Oversized, 1944-1988, inclusive
Scope and Content Note
Series II contains clippings and programs relating to blacklisting in the entertainment industry, publicity for 170 Years of Show Business, and an annotated broadside commemorating the performances of Jack Gilford.
