Mabie, Edward Charles
Dates
- Existence: 1892-1956
Biography
Edward Charles Mabie was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin on October 27, 1892. He earned his B.A. in political science in 1915, and his masters degree in 1916, both at Dartmouth. Six months later he married Grace Chase. They had one daughter, Pricilla. Mabie served on the faculty of Illinois Wesleyan College from 1917 to 1918. He was an assistant professor of English and Speech at the University of Kentucky 1918-1920, then joined the State University of Iowa in the summer of 1920. Upon arrival in Iowa he was the head of the Department of Public Speaking; the department name soon changed to the Department of Speech. He became full professor and department head in 1925, when the department name changed again to Department of Speech and Dramatic Arts. Mabie played a large role in establishing University Theatres, a production group. Over the next thirty years Mabie shaped the University theatre department into one of the finest in the country. He served as Regional Director of the Federal Theatre Projects of the WPA (Works Progress Administration), which included Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Mabie is one of those who brought about an important change in graduate work: to allow creative work to be accepted as a thesis for both the M.A. and the Ph.D. He personally supervised MFA student directors in nearly 100 productions during his thirty-five year career at Iowa. Mabie died of a heart attack in Iowa City on February 9, 1956.
Citation:
Author: Robert Hedges, August 1964Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Edward Charles Mabie papers
Professor and Head of Speech and Dramatic Art. Director of University Theatre. Regional director of Federal Theatre Projects of the WPA. First president of the American Educational Theatre Association and a pioneer in the development of regional theatre.