Thomas Cullinan, born on November 4, 1919, was a Cleveland author and playwright. He graduated from Cathedral Latin High School in 1938 and attended Western Reserve University for three years. After leaving Western Reserve he worked as a roofing sale sman for several years. In 1945 he started working for the Cleveland Plain Dealer where he worked for the accounting department. In 1957 he left the Plain Dealer and began writing for television station KYW Channel 3's weekly television series titled Breakthrough, a program which examined the lives of famous scientists. He left Channel 3 and from 1959 to 1967 he wrote and produced the television show Perpsective for Western Reserve University.
Throughout his career he wrote various radio commercials, industrial films, documentaries, and television scripts. In the early part of his career he concentrated on play writing. His early plays include St. Columkille's Eve, which in 1948 was under option to be produced on Broadway, Native Shore, Maddigans Wedding, and First Warm Day of Spring. His greatest commercial successes were Mrs. Lincoln which was produced by the Cleveland Play House in 1968 and was held ov er for six months. His Black Horse Tavern was produced in 1976 and was Cleveland's Bicentennial play.
He was the winner of several awards including the Cleveland Arts Prize in 1971 and two Ford Foundation grants. The first, in 1964, allowed him to spend six months in Berlin as part of the Literarisches Colloquium. Also at this six person colloquium was British playwright Tom Stoppard who wrote the original one act version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which was produced along with Cullinan's one act play The Sentinel.
The other Ford grant, awarded in 1966, sent him to the University of Utah for one year where he was playwright in residence. While there his play Madigans Wedding was produced.
Later in his career Cullinan's emphasis shifted to writing novels. His novel The Beguiled was published in 1966 and in 1970 was made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood. His other novels include The Besieged, The Eighth Sacrament, a nd the The Bedeviled.
Throughout his life he was keenly interested in helping those interested in the theater. He participated in Cuyahoga Community College's Writer's Conference in 1977 and 1978. From 1978 to 1995 he was a judge for the Marlilyn Bianchi Kids' Playwriting Festival. It was while attending the 1995 festival that he collapsed and died on June 11, 1995.
His last play The Rose of Tralee was a college graduation gift to his son. It was finished posthumously by his son and his wife and was produced by the Dobama Theatre in 1996.
Thomas Cullinan's papers were placed on deposit with Kent State's Department of Special Collections and Archives by his wife, Helen Borsick Cullinan, in November of 1996. The collection contains business and personal correspondence, as well as an extensive amount of his writings, including drafts of his plays, novels, and short stories. It also contains reviews of his works, and materials about the theater. The researcher needs to be aware that his handwriting is very difficult to decipher making working with his personal notes very difficult.
1-80 Unpublished manuscript titled Vincent and Ellie, four copies. 81 Incomplete elements of Vincent and Ellie, chapters 10-13. 82-91 Incomplete copy of the manuscript Bedeviled . 92-106 Copy of the manuscript The Besieged. 107-108 Part of Eighth Sacrament. 109 Chapters 1-7 and 9 of Eighth Sacrament.
1-54 Manuscript The Betrayed, 3 copies, folders 1-54. 55 Proposal for manuscript titled Bones, a sequel to Eighth Sacrament. 56-62 Chapters 1-7 of Bones. 63-131 Manuscript Bones, also titled Bones of Contention, three copies. 132 One extra chapter 6 of Bones. 133 Synopsis of Bones.
1-72 Two copies of The Beguiled
(which was originally titled A Painted Devil).
73-82 Unpublished manuscript, Slaves.
83-85 Slaves, pages 145-210.
86-106 Unpublished manuscript, Murder at Manasas.
1-84 Murder at Manasas, folders 1-84.
85-86 Two folders of photocopies about the Lusitania.
and the Uinited States entrance into the First World War.
87-127 Unpublished manuscript, The Lusitania Letter.
128 Annotated chapter of the Lusitania Letter.
1-41 The Lusitania Letter, 2 copies. 42-140 The Lusitania Letter, incomplete elements.
1-90 The Man Who Became Santa Clause, unpublished manuscript, 6 copies.
1-6 Chapters 1-6 7 Summary of books 2-4 8-14 Chapters 1-7 15 Book 2, chapter 1 16-22 Book 1, chapters 1-7 23 Book 2, chapter 1 24 Synopsis 25-31 Chapters 1-6 32 Chapter 2 of book 2 33 Summary 34-37 Chapters 1-5 38-39 Chapter 1-2 40-45 Chapters 1-6 46 Synopsis 47 Endings 48-51 Notes 52 Criticism of the manuscript.
1-10 O'Malley's Wake, 2 copies.
12-18 O'Malley's Wake, acts 2 and 3 plus notes and revisions.
19-23 Emperor of the World, five copies.
24-38 A Game for Two Players, later titled The Attic.
39 Part of The Attic.
40 Reviews of The Attic.
41-44 Lincoln and Herndon.
45-54 The City is Burning, 3 copies.
This is a play version of the Besieged.
55 Parts of The City is Burning.
56-67 The Last Three Days of the Empire, 4 copies.
68-70 The Last Three Days of the Empire, incomplete.
71-72 Mutiny on the Somers.
73-79 Mutiny on the Somers, incomplete parts.
1 Playbill and tickets for First Warm Day in Spring. 2 Synopsis for First Warm Day in Spring. 3 Beginning of First Warm Day in Spring as a novel. 4-18 Copies of First Warm Day in Spring, 5 copies. 19-39 Notes/ drafts of First Warm Day in Spring. 40-48 Night of the Tiger, 3 copies. 49-51 Miss Hatch and the Poet. 52 Domestic Issue, only act one of three acts. 53-54 Billy Boy 55 Brownstone 56 Posthumus article about Rose of Tralee. 57-59 Notes, playbills, reviews of Rose of Tralee. 60-71 Rose of Tralee, 3 copies.
1-10 Proserpero and Friends , five copies. 11-17 Parts of a play titled Native Shore. 18-20 Untitled play about hostages on a bus. 21 Criticism of play St. Columkille's Eve. 22-27 St. Columkille's Eve. 28-29 Untitled play about Cain and Abel, 2 copies. 30 Black Horse Tavern notes. 31 Black Horse Tavern synopsis. 32-40 Black Horse Tavern, 3 copies. 41 Domestic Issue, Act 1. 42-45 Mrs Lincoln, scrapbook material, playbills, and notes. 46-51 Mrs Lincoln, 2 copies. 52-54 Mrs Lincoln, revised copy. 55 Mrs Lincoln, notes. 56-57 Outline of a play titled A Fourth of July in Toronto. 58 Billy Boy.
1-4 Untitled story about tourists in England.
5-6 Untitled first two chapters "Tom Sawyer" story.
7 Four short stories:
Untitled.
"The Wayfarers".
"The Fugitive".
"The Players".
8 Short story "Everybody's got a Christmas Tree".
9 Untitled short story about a married couple and a banshee.
10-12 "Letter to the President", 3 copies.
13-14 "Nicholas Tyndale", 2 copies.
15-16 Poems
17 Reviews written by Thomas Cullinan for the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
18-19 "Mister Hickey" short stories:
"Introducing Mr. Hickey"
"Mr. Hickey and the New York Elections"
"Introducing Mr. Hickey"
"Mr. Hickey and the Peregrinating Canaries"
"Mr. Hickey and the Misunderstood Man"
"Mr. Hickey at Valley Forge"
"Mr. Hickey and the Scavengers"
"Mr. Hickey and the One Legged Pigeon"
20 Ireland stories written by Thomas Cullinan
for the Cleveland Plain Dealer
21 Informational movie about Bellefaire hospital, incomplete
22 Untitled essay on historical fiction
1 Radio Script for the Ohio Bell Telephone Co., titled "The Ohio Story".Breakthrough Television Scripts:
2 "George Washington Carver" 3 "The Measurement of Time" 4 "Albert Einstein" 5 "Communication though the Air" 6 "The St. Lawrence Seaway"Perspective television scripts:
7 "The Measurement of Blood Pressure". 8 Title page missing, about big brothers. 9 Title page missing, about Norman Cousins. 10 Outline for the 1960-1961 Perspectivetelevsion season 11 "Undergraduate Research Participation", January 30, 1960. 12 "Blood Research and Distribution - 1960", March 12, 1960. 13 "Changing Libraries for a Changing World", April 2, 1960. 14 "Mental Drugs", April 9, 1960. 15 "Theatre-1960", April 23, 1960. 16 "Aging in America" October 9, 1960. 17 "Interview with Max Lerner" October 30, 1960. 18 "What is an Informed Electorate" November 6, 1960. 19 "Information Searching" November 27, 1960. 20 "Liberia" March 25, 1961. 21 "Abbey Theatre", April 1, 1961. 22 "Radiation Research-1961", April 22, 1961. 23 "The Minority and the Community", October 7, 1961. 24 "Crisis in the Congo", January 14, 1962. 25 "Western Reserve University Trio", March 31, 1962. 26 Televsion script titled "The Assassin".Other television scripts:
27 Television script titled "The Fugitives". 28-29 Television script titled "The Prisoner", 2 copies. 30 Television script titled "Wednesday's Child". 31-34 Television script titled "The Wayward Angel", 4 copies. 35 Part of a television script titled "The Cherry Pickers". 36 Script titled "Take the Stand John Brown". 37-40 Play/ Television script "The Constitution and Sam Sheppard". 41 Commercial for Duquesne Light. 42 Part of a Commercial for Montgomery Ward. 43 Television script "The Human Adventure: Einstein Theory" (Revised Repeat).
1-2 Notes for Billy Boy. 3 Folder marked documentary materials. 4 Notes 5 Short story notes 6 Notes from Black Horse Tavern. 7 Notes for O'Malley's Wake. 8-9 Miscellaneous.. 10 Notes frpm an envelope marked "end of summer". 11 Notes from a folder marker "Letter for the President". 12 Notes from a folder marked "Lusitania Letter". 13 Notes from a folder marked "City is Burning". 14 Notes from a folder marked "Mutiny". 15 Notes from a folder marked "McCarthy".
1-58 Notes
1-88 Notes
1-2 Undated business correspondence 3 Undated correspondence from the Lucy Kroll agency 4 1945 5 1946 6 1948 7 1949 8 1950 9 1951 10 1952 11 1953 12 1954 13 1955 14 1956 15 1957 16 1958 17 1959 18 1960 19 1961 20 1962 21 1963 22 1964 23 1965 24 1966 25 1966 26 1967 27 1968 28 1968
1 1969, January-April 2 1969, May-December 3 1970, January-July 4 1970, August-December 5 1971 6 1972 7 1973 8 1974 9 1975 10 1976 11 1977 12 1977 13 1978 14 1979 15 1980 16 1981 17 1982 18 1983 19 1984 20 1985 21 1986 22 1987 23 1988 24 1989 25 1990 26 1991 27 1992 28 1993 29 1994
1 Undated cards 2 Undated cards 3 Undated correspondence 4 Blank cards 5 1940 6 1943 7 1944 8 1945 9 1948 10 1949 11 1950 12 1951 13 1952 14 1953 15 1954 16 1955 17 1956 18 1957 19 1959 20 1960 21 1961 22 1962 23 1963 24 1964 25 1965 26 1966 27 1967 28 1968 29 1969 30 1970 31 1971 32 1972 33 1973 34 1974 35 1975 36 1976 37 1977
1 1978 2 1979 3 1980 4 1981 5 1982 6 1982 stay at the Hannah House. 7 1983 8 1984 9 1985 10 1986 11 1987 12 1988 13 1989 14 1990 15 1991 16 1992 17 1993 18 Letters from Piers Paul Read 19 Letters from Pat Schearer, 1949 20 Letters from Pat Schearer, 1951 21 Letters from Pat Schearer, 1952 22 Letters from Pat Schearer, 1953 23 Letters from Pat Schearer, 1954 24 Letters from Pat Schearer, 1955 25 Letters from Pat Schearer, 1956 26 Letters from Pat Schearer, 1962 27 Undated letters from Pat Schearer 28 Undated letters from Elizabeth Brady 29 Letters from Elizabeth Brady, January-September 1959 30 Letters from Elizabeth Brady, October-December 1959 31 Letters from Elizabeth Brady, 1960 32 Letters from Elizabeth Brady, 1961
1 Biographical clippings.
2 Mrs Lincoln materials .
3 Black Horse Tavern materials.
4 Rose of Tralee materials.
5-9 School materials.
10 Sam Sheppard clippings.
11 1974 Daily Planner
12 1976 Daily Planner
13 1995 Daily Planner
14-18 Plays written by others
19-33 Play materials
34 Copy of President Wilson's speech asking for war on Germany.
35 Civil War materials.
36 Museum exhibit materials "The Celts in Central Europe".
37 Clippings about Tom Stoppard.
38 1977 and 1978 brochures for the
Cuyahoga Community College's writers conference.
39 Brochures from the Cleveland Arts Prize council
1978, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1993.
40 Compendium of the Cleveland Arts Prize recipients.
41 Bulletin "Arts and Philanthropy" from the Ford Foundation.
42 Prosspectus from Advanced Drama Research
43 Newsletter "Forest City Log" August 15, 1966.
44 Material from the Literaische Coloquium
45-47 Church materials.
48 Pamphlets from the Cleveland Orchestra.
49 Map of Berlin.
50 Ford Foundation Program for Playwrights August 23, 1961.
51 Business cards library cards.
52 Pamphlet titled "Der Spielplan" February 1962.
53 Written tour of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
54 Newsletter from May Company.
1 Éire Nua: The Social and Economic Programme of Sinn Féin. 2 Auction Book. 3 Belfast 1971 August 1971: A Case to be Answered. 4 The Battle for Northern Ireland. 5 Massacre at Derry. 6 Northern Ireland: The Plain Truth. 7 Map of Dublin. 8 Law (?) and Orders: The Belfast 'Curfew' of 3-5 July, 1970. 9 Burntollet. 10 Newspaper The Advocate. 11 Newsletter "The Irish Bulletin" July 1977 and December 1989-January 1990. 12 Various newspaper clippings about Ireland.Reviews and clippings
13 Reviews for Bedeviled. 14 Reviews for The Beguiled. 15 Reviews for The Besieged. 16 Reviews for The Eighth Sacrament. 17 Clippings from The Attic. 18 Clippings from Maddigans Wedding. 19 Clippings from miscellaneous writings.Other scrapbook
21 Author's Guild Bulletin
22-29 Dramatist Guild Newsletter 1977; 1986-1993, and undated parts.
30-32 Materials about literary agents.
33 Newsletter "Disarmament News and Views"
34 Two pamphlets: "Middlebury College Bulletin" and
"Formalism and Illusion in Shakespearean Drama".
35 Material about the authors guild.
1 Pictures from Agnes Brodie c. 1990 of Civil War battlefields. 2 Pictures, not dated, of a television production. 3 Black and White wedding pictures. 4 Color wedding pictures. 5 Pictures of Thomas Patrick Cullinan and others. 6 Pictures of Thomas Patrick Cullinan's son at his high school graduation. 7 Black and White pictures, not dated. 8 Color pictures of Thomas Cullinan and his son c. 1987. 9 Pictures in a St. Patrick's day card, c. 1953 10 Miscellaneous color Pictures. 11 Black and white pictures of Thomas Cullinan. 12 Miscellaneous black and white pictures.
1 Newspaper clippings, including an article about Osawba Island 2 Scrapbook of drawings made by Thomas Cullinan as a child 3-4 Copies of "Cleveland College Life" (Newspaper of Western Reserve University) 5 "Manchester Guardian Weekly" 6 Ireland Clippings 7 Abraham Lincoln Materials 8 Map of Nova Scotia 9 Magazine "Harpers Weekly" 10 Magazines "Christian Union Herald" and "Leslie's Gettysburg Number 11 Theater poster for "The Most Happy Fella"
Return to List of Special Collections
Return to Literature Collections (text only index)