Scrapbooks, 1913-1934, 1966, 1968, 1975

This series consists of two scrapbooks with a wide variety of materials. The first scrapbook contains materials documenting Sweetser's involvement in collegiate and professional theatrical productions and his later radio work with NBC. Photographs include cast and individual shots of performers in the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig productions of the 1910s and snapshots of acquaintances from World War I. Complementing these are 82 small portrait sketches (up to 4 in. by 6 in.) by Sweetser of show business personalities, many of them cast members who performed with Sweetser in 1920s Broadway shows such as "Beggar on Horseback," "Mayflowers," and "Annie Dear." Another set of photographs consists mostly of shots of actors, announcers, and production staff involved with NBC radio broadcasts of the late 1920s through 1930s. Among the remaining items are play reviews, theater programs, articles about Sweetser's radio activities, and identification cards certifying his membership in several broadcasting organizations.

The second scrapbook contains photographs and 8 small (under 4 in. by 6 in.) portrait sketches by Sweetser of performers and other notables from his career in Broadway theater in the 1920s and radio broadcasting in the 1920s and 1930s. A few items date from the 1960s and 1970s, including an article about a television movie recreating Orson Welles' 1938 "War of the Worlds" broadcast, and several others are undated. Many of the photographs are autographed, including those of Ben Grauer, Eddie Cantor, Billie Burke, Rudy Vallee and Babe Ruth.

The scrapbooks have been rehoused in acid-free binders and maintain the original order of pages.