{"id":436,"date":"2025-05-12T08:14:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T08:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/?page_id=436"},"modified":"2025-05-22T20:11:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T20:11:31","slug":"rosamond-gilder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/rosamond-gilder\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosamond Gilder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n<p>Lorem Ipsum has been the industry&#8217;s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s.<\/p>\n\n\n<span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"><p class=\"p1\" style=\"font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 18px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica; max-width: none; color: rgb(20, 20, 19);\"><span style=\"font-family: Raleway, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"><strong>THE FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT<\/strong><br><\/span><font color=\"#141413\" face=\"Helvetica\" size=\"2\"><strong style=\"color: rgb(82, 101, 168); text-transform: uppercase; font-size: large;\">ROSAMOND GILDER<\/strong><\/font><\/p><\/span>\n<p style=\"\"><font color=\"#000000\">Rosamond Gilder<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#000000\">1891-1986<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"\"><font color=\"#000000\"><\/font><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">American Author and Theatre Critic. Director of the Bureau of Research and Publication, Federal Theatre Project<\/span><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#000000\">Written and Performed by: Caili Harris<\/font><\/p>\n<p style=\"\"><font color=\"#000000\"><\/font><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">Setting: New York City, New York. August 1936<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"\"><span style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">On a searing August day, Rosamond Gilder (Roz) and her associate Kate Drain Lawson work alongside each other in the cool office building of the Research and Publication Bureau typing up reports regarding the number of active members in the Federal Theatre Project as they officially reach its one year anniversary. However, a thought has weighed on Roz since she entered the room that morning. She has decided to part ways with the Federal Theatre Project and now must draft a letter to Hallie Flanagan detailing the reasons for her resignation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n{&#8220;title&#8221;:&#8221;&#8221;,&#8221;content&#8221;:&#8221;<iframe width=\\\"100%\\\" height=\\\"300\\\" scrolling=\\\"no\\\" frameborder=\\\"no\\\" allow=\\\"autoplay\\\" src=\\\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/2077198332%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-92sGgAOggxL&#038;color=%2300aabb&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=false&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;show_teaser=true&#038;visual=true\\\"><\/iframe><div style=\\\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\\\"><a href=\\\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-17135768\\\" title=\\\"Performing History\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" style=\\\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\\\">Performing History<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\\\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-17135768\/rosamond-gilder-recorded\/s-92sGgAOggxL\\\" title=\\\"Rosamond Gilder  Monologue\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" style=\\\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\\\">Rosamond Gilder  Monologue<\/a><\/div>&#8220;}\n\n\n\n\n<p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">Kate! Kate! Would you mind taking a break on that file for a second. How would you write this letter? I mean I know what I want to say: The system doesn\u2019t work; it never works. Where are my responses, Hallie? Why can\u2019t I get anything done around here? What I want to say is&#8230;. \u201cHello Hallie? Hello Hallie?\u201d <span style=\"white-space: pre;\">\t<\/span>Maybe I\u2019ll just start writing that in my letters. \u201cHello, period.\u201d Perhaps then I\u2019d get a \u201cHello comma Roz\u201d back. Or, better yet just send me a sheet of paper, we can use that around here.&nbsp;<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">Okay, okay, you\u2019re right Kate, I\u2019m actually going to start. I\u2019m going to start. Here we go:<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">\u201cDear Hallie. We both know I&#8217;m at the end of rope\u201d. No, I can\u2019t say that.<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">\u201cEffective, September 6th I will no longer be the director of the bureau of research and publication. Your encouragement is of course very appreciated, but if I may be frank&#8230;\u201d&nbsp; If I may be frank, where\u2019s my response Hallie? You know what. I\u2019m just going to be honest:&nbsp;<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">\u201cWhat use is encouragement in our work without change, some aid of some sort to help us improve upon our current system.\u201d<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">No, shoot. I feel like I said something like that last time. Well, there\u2019s an easy solution to that, isn\u2019t there.&nbsp;<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">\u201cExcuse me if I repeat information you have already read in our correspondence Hallie, but I am just not sure that my letters and their information are reaching you at this point based on the responses, or lack thereof, that I&#8217;ve received from you or others in the WPA.\u201d<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">Don\u2019t look at me like that Kate. I am being respectful. I know how to write a damn letter. I\u2019m a critic. I am critiquing constructively.&nbsp;<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">\u201cWe began with no structure.\u201d&nbsp; True.<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">\u201cWhich of course isn\u2019t a problem. I took what I learned from the National Theatre Conference and adjusted accordingly. But we also had no materials, only one typewriter to begin with, a couple chairs and a table, and yet still, I put my best foot forward. Even now, with far too many employees with far too few qualifications, I find them a place in our mission.\u201d<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">Okay, (beat) but now for the hard part. How do I get my point across here? How do I make it evident, the impact of the bureaucracy on our work? I know we employ people. I know we make some progress in finding materials for the FTP to use, but that wasn\u2019t supposed to be the point of this program. Okay it is partly, but that\u2019s not what I signed up for. I want change. I want impact. I want shifts in how people think, the value that we place on art as an American society. We have the power in this situation to do that, Kate. But she\u2019s so caught up in the bureaucracy of it all, that this is just another job. The federal government will never put up with the work that we truly want to do. This project won\u2019t last another 5 years, and at the end of those five years, what will we have accomplished? Where? Where will it live in the spirit of American history? I\u2019m not working my ass off to be another dusty forgotten file in an unlabeled box, pushed into some basement to be thrown out at a later date. But I can\u2019t say that can I? I\u2019ll be done with this in just a second Kate, thank you for listening to me ramble. I\u2019ll make do. Can you run it over to Hallie\u2019s office directly when I\u2019m done? Thank you. You are going to be a wonderful director of the research bureau. Much more patient than I could ever be.&nbsp;<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">\u201cHowever, even though I\u2019ve managed to orchestrate a fairly effective bureau, my skills are needed urgently at Theatre Arts Magazine. I feel that I will much more help to you as a critic than as the director anyways. I resign effectively as of the 6th of September and wish for Kate Drain Lawson to take my place. She has been trained in all our practices and will be an excellent addition to your leadership team.&nbsp;<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\"><br><\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">Kindest regards,<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">Rosamond Gilder&nbsp;<\/font><\/p><p style=\"\"><font color=\"#888888\">AKA Roz\u201d<\/font><\/p><p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/perry-bruskin\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Perry Bruskin\n<\/a>&nbsp;<span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/martin-dies\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Martin Dies\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/hallie-flanagan-1935\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Hallie Flanagan (1935)\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/hallie-flanagan-1939\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Hallie Flanagan (1939)\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/rosamond-gilder\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Rosamond Gilder\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/susan-glaspell\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Susan Glaspell\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/hazel-huffman\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Hazel Huffman\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/frida-kahlo\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Frida Kahlo\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/mary-merrill\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Mary Merrill\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/virginia-nicholson\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Virginia Nicholson\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/elmer-rice\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Elmer Rice\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/eleanor-roosevelt-1935\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Eleanor Roosevelt (1935)\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/eleanor-roosevelt-1939\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Eleanor Roosevelt (1939)\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/franklin-delano-roosevelt\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Franklin Delano Roosevelt\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/olive-stanton\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Olive Stanton\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/helen-tamiris\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Helen Tamiris\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/orson-welles\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Orson Welles\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/artwork\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Artwork\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/collaborators\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Collaborators\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/directors-note\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Directors\u2019 Note\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/front-page-tableau\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Front Page Tableau\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/music\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Music\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/pen-pals\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Pen Pals\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/research-source-material\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Research\/Source Material\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/share-your-thoughts\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Share Your Thoughts\n    <\/a>\n    <span style=\"text-align: center; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\">&nbsp;\u2022&nbsp;<\/span>\n  \n    <a href=\"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/special-thanks\/\" style=\"background-color: rgb(242, 243, 237); text-align: center;\">\n      Special Thanks\n    <\/a>\n  <\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-436","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":688,"href":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/436\/revisions\/688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performinghistory.com\/federal-theatre-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}