Purdue presents collection of prominent playwright, alumnus, donor

George Ade
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The exhibit opening, featuring books, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and press clippings, will take place from 4:30-6 p.m. on Feb. 17 at Stewart Center, Room 279. An online exhibit featuring additional scanned items opens on the same day.

The complete collection includes more than 5,000 items donated to Purdue Libraries after Ade's death in 1944. The Archives and Special Collections staff spent seven months last year processing and inventorying the collection. In the 58 boxes, librarians found personal correspondence and photographs of celebrities, including Mark Twain, Will Rogers, W.C. Fields, James Whitcomb Riley, Orson Welles, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, as well as cartoonist and fellow Purdue alumnus John T. McCutcheon, who illustrated many Ade works.

Ade first gained renown as a writer for the Chicago Record, reporting on major stories such as the explosion of the freight steamer Tioga, the Sullivan-Corbett prizefight, and the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition. Ade gained fans, including Broadway producers, with the earthy, humorous style he developed while writing his series of columns, "Stories of the Streets and the Towns."

George Ade and David Ross
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After writing several successful plays, Ade returned from New York and settled into his northwest Indiana estate-country club where he played frequent host to politicians and Chicago-based writers and actors, many who were transplanted Hoosiers belonging to the Ade-created Indiana Society.

Ade, a Kentland, Ind. native who graduated in 1887, maintained a long and generous relationship with Purdue. He promoted the university in his work and donated money for several building and renovation projects. Along with fellow alumnus David Ross, Ade purchased the land for what is still known as Ross-Ade Stadium.

"Old maids adopt cats and canaries," Ade wrote. "David Ross and I adopted Purdue."

Purdue Libraries' Archives and Special Collections timed the exhibit to correspond with the Purdue production of Ade's "The College Widow," the play selected to be the inaugural performance at Purdue's new Nancy T. Hansen Theater. When the show debuted in 1904, it made Ade the first playwright ever to have three shows on Broadway simultaneously. The original manuscript, one of many to feature a slightly fictionalized version of Purdue, is part of the exhibit that will remain on display Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through March 15.

Those interested in attending the opening reception are asked to reply by Feb. 10 at libevent@purdue.edu or (765) 494-0975.

Writer: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu

Source: Sammie Morris, acting head of Archives and Special Collections, (765) 494-2905, morris18@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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