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Oral History Of Professional Theater Beaders In New York City, Mary Lalon Alexander

Theses & Dissertations

A historic division between fine and mechanical arts led to a marginalization of certain art forms including textile beading and embroidery. Despite the opulence of beading and embroidery in theater costumes, there is limited documented history and scant scholarly literature about professional beading and the beaders who create the costumes. The aims of this study were to construct a history of professional theater beading in New York and to examine the oral histories of professional theater beaders. This qualitative oral history study included 12 participants who work in the professional beading industry. Open-ended interviews took place in New York City …