Larry Ropp Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection is composed of materials created and collected by Lawrence A. "Larry" Ropp, first Director of Costumes at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Costume designs make up the bulk of the collection, with photographic prints and slides depicting their use in productions also heavily represented. Ephemera related to Ropp's work at NCSA including programs, brochures, correspodence, and newspaper clippings are also included. Materials span his enrollment at Kenyon College and Carnegie-Mellon University, his employment at NCSA, and his freelance work after leaving the school in 1977, with the bulk of the material produced for NCSA.
Of particular interest are Ropp's notes regarding clothing history which include descriptions of historical fashions and notes on fabric choice, design, and construction.
Dates
- April 1970-1983
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright is retained by the creators of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Biographical Note
Lawrence A. "Larry" Ropp received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Kenyon College and Master of Fine Arts in Costume Design from Carnegie-Mellon University before coming to work for the North Carolina School of the Arts. From 1974 to 1977 he served as the Director of Costumes and taught courses in costume history, design, and construction.
In 1978, Ropp relocated to New York City where he worked as a freelance designer creating costumes for ballet, opera, and Broadway stage productions. Ropp continued to work with NCSA on a freelance basis, creating costumes for the 1978 North Carolina Shakespeare Festival and the 1981 production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Over his career, Ropp created costumes for a variety of organizations including the Prospectus Players, the University of Alabama, Salem Academy, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Tanglewood Barn Theatre, and the American Theatre Alliance.
Extent
10 Linear Feet (4 drop-front boxes, 3 document boxes, and 1 artifact box )
23 Photographic Prints
655 Photographic Slides
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Lawrence A. "Larry" Ropp was the first Director of Costumes at the North Carolina School of the Arts and created costumes for a range of school and local productions in addition to teaching courses in costume history, design, and construction. Ropp's costume designs make up the bulk of this collection and include designs he created as a student at Kenyon College and Carnegie-Mellon University, as an employee at NCSA, and freelance work produced after leaving the school in 1977. Photographs of his work are also included, as are ephemera related to his career including programs, NCSA brochures, correspondence, and newspaper clippings.
Arrangement
The collection has been organized into two series: Series 1. Design Drawings and Production Documents; Series 2: Manuscripts and Ephemera. Items are arranged chronologically within each series with undated materials held last.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials found in collection; there is no documentation concerning the provenance of these materials.
Separated Materials
One program from A Midsummer Night's Dream, May 13-22 1976, was moved to the Program Collection (RG-45).
Processing Information
Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2021 are unknown. In 2021 the collection was arranged into series based on format. Creator's file names were used where available; archivist supplied descriptive folder titles where the creator did not include one. Materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes.
- Brochures Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Costume design Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Performing arts Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Printed ephemera Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Programs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Slides (photographs) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Universities and colleges -- Faculty Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts. School of Dance
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts. School of Design and Production, Visual Arts
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts. School of Drama
- Title
- Guide to the Larry Ropp Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Laura Silva
- Date
- August 2021
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the UNC School of the Arts Archives Repository
