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Acknowledgments This book has been many years in the making, and in the process of researching and writing it, I have accumulated many debts both inside and outside academia. I’d like to begin by thanking Howell John Harris at the University of Durham for sparking my interest in American labor history; the late Bernard Sternsher for mentoring me throughout my time as a master’s student at Bowling Green State University; and Danny Walkowitz and Paul Mattingly for their help and support both while I was a doctoral student at New York University and long after. I’d also like to express my thanks to my colleagues in the sadly now defunct American Studies program at Brunel University, especially Martin Folly, Niall Palmer, David Ingram, James Massender , and Steven Want—a more able and committed group of teachers and scholars one could not hope to meet, and it was a pleasure to work with them. In researching the lost world of the early twentieth-century theater, I spent many hours going through archival collections and scouring clippings files, a task that was facilitated by dedicated staff members at all the libraries that I visited. In the early stages of my research, the late Deborah Bernhardt and her team at the Tamiment Library/Wagner Labor Archives in New York City gave me free and unlimited access to the papers of the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA). More recently, Kevyne Baar came to my rescue when I discovered to my horror that the AEA collection had been entirely reprocessed since I had first looked at it, rendering my original endnotes worthless. I also received invaluable assistance from Maryann Chach and Mark E. Swartz at the Shubert Archive and from librarians at the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library, the Margaret Herrick Library in Los Angeles, and the Special Collection Library at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Holmes_Weavers text.indd 9 12/7/12 8:28 AM Working with the University of Illinois Press has been a delight. Laurie C. Matheson first approached me in her capacity as commissioning editor after reading my article on the 1919 actors’ strike in the Journal of American History.That it took me five years to deliver a completed manuscript for her consideration did nothing to diminish her enthusiasm for my project, and she was wonderfully supportive throughout the review process.The anonymous readers who recommended the manuscript for publication helped restore my faith in the value of my work and offered some very useful suggestions as to how I might improve it. Katherine Kornell provided valuable advice on permissions. Dawn M. Durante was unfailingly prompt and helpful in her responses to all my questions. Jill R. Hughes was an exemplary copyeditor, picking up numerous errors and sharpening up the text considerably. My debts to friends and family are so huge that they can never be truly measured or repaid. I’d like to express my gratitude to the following people (some of whom I have lost along the way, but all of whom helped me in one way or another while I was working on this project): Steve Corey, Alastair Cowan, Andrew Dawson, Marianne Emerson, Sheila Ferguson, Brad Greenquist, Paul Henggeler, David Holt, Suzanne Markham, Kara Martinson, John and Linda Matlin, Suzanne Niznik, Laura O’Loughlin, Paul Racioppi, Keith Robinson, Helga Schier, Aileen Shaw, Lisa Signorelli, Karen Stetler, Chris Stevens, and Jennifer Thompson. My parents, Geof and Jenifer Holmes, deserve a special mention for always being there with their love and support, as do my sister and brother-in-law, Becky and Billy Trevitt; my nephews, Joseph, Zac, and Elijah Trevitt; and my late grandmother, Barbara Brier. My final and most heartfelt words of thanks, however, are reserved for Alicia Brooke Robinson. Why one so bright, funny, and beautiful would want to spend her life with me I will never know, but I am forever grateful. x acknowledgments Holmes_Weavers text.indd 10 12/7/12 8:28 AM ...

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