Rosamond Gilder (born Janet Rosamond de Kay Gilder, 1891 - September, 1986) was an American theater critic. Gilder was a native of

Marion, Massachusetts Marion is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,347 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the village of Marion Center, please see the article Marion Center, Massachusetts. His ...

, daughter of writer

Richard Watson Gilder Richard Watson Gilder (February 8, 1844 – November 19, 1909) was an American poet and editor. Life and career Gilder was born on February 8, 1844 at Bordentown, New Jersey. He was the son of Jane (Nutt) Gilder and the Rev. William Henry Gi ...

. She was raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in artistic surroundings, and met such figures as

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...

, and Eleonora Duse. She began contributing articles to ''

Theatre Arts Monthly ''Theatre Arts Magazine'', sometimes titled ''Theatre Arts'' or ''Theatre Arts Monthly'', was a magazine published from November 1916 to January 1964. It was established by author and critic Sheldon Warren Cheney. History Cheney established the ...

'' during the 1920s, and joined its staff in 1936. Ten years later she succeeded Edith Isaacs in its editorship. In 1947 she was one of the founders of the

International Theater Institute The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an inte ...

, in which role she promoted the idea of sending American theater companies to tour abroad. She was elected president of its American arm in 1963, remaining in the post until 1969. She spearheaded the production of numerous theatrical publications, and published articles and books on dramatic subjects as well. (This source has "Rosamund" instead of "Rosamond". The ''New York Times'' obituary and all of her books have "Rosamond".) Gilder received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

in 1948 and a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 1950. In 1964 she was enrolled in the French

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

. A selection of her papers are held at the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

References

External links

Rosamond Gilder papers, 1917-1949
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

1891 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American women journalists American theater critics American women theatre critics 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women writers People from Marion, Massachusetts Journalists from Massachusetts Journalists from New York City Tony Award winners Recipients of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres {{US-journalist-19thC-stub