Playwright Tennessee Williams once complimented his friend Mary Hunter Wolf, a theater director and educator, by calling her "one of the most intelligent people" he had ever met. The 94-year-old Wolf, whose 70-year career in the dramatic arts included collaborations with Williams, Jerome Robbins, Thornton Wilder and other noted figures of American theater, recently complimented Yale by donating her papers -- including her correspondence with the above-named theater icons -- to the Yale Collection of American Literature at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Hunter Wolf's papers document both her career as a theater director and her later work in education. The collection includes scripts, reviews, scrapbooks, musical scores and manuscripts, as well as correspondence. Among the highlights in the latter category are: * several handwritten notes from Thornton Wilder; * Hunter Wolf's correspondence with Tennessee Williams while the two were collaborating on a stage adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's short story "You Touched Me!"; * poetry manuscripts written in 1942 by Williams and given to Hunter Wolf with notes; and * notes and correspondence with Jerome Robbins on choreography, as well as some of Robbins' musical scores, with extensive handwritten notations. Hunter Wolf was the assistant director to Robbins on the Broadway version of "Peter Pan," and also collaborated with him on other projects. Throughout her career, Hunter Wolf contributed to venues as diverse as historical pageants and Broadway productions, silent film and color television. Renowned for her productions of plays by Jean Paul Sartre, she was also director of "Musical Americana," a touring production showcasing American music that was produced as part of the Columbia Artists Series. Her career also included the directorship of the American Actors Company and her participation and support of the work of Agnes de Mille, Katherine Dunham and Jerome Robbins in developing the dance elements of American Musical Theater. Born in 1904 in Bakersfield, California, Hunter Wolf attended Wellesley College and then the University of Chicago. She first directed at the Cube Theater in Chicago in 1928. She later worked mostly in New York. In 1955, Hunter Wolf shifted her focus from New York theater to Connecticut education, using her training, experience and creativity to pioneer programs in theater and education. In 1970, she founded the Center for Theater Techniques in Education, which seeks to create a learning community that nurtures children and their creativity. The center continues to oversee the arts programs at two New Haven schools: the Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School and the Cooperative High School. Hunter Wolf, who now resides in Hamden, said in a recent interview that she decided to devote herself to education because, at the time, she was "horrified by the way the arts were treated in the public school system." She continues to be outspoken in her belief that the arts should hold a more prominent place in education. During her years as an educator and arts administrator, Hunter Wolf said she used theater improvisation with students to help them solve some of their problems and confront various important issues, including teen pregnancy. Of her earlier career as a director, Hunter Wolf said she was especially fond of directing works by Sartre and directed all but one of his plays, she says. "I was attracted to his brains and the ingenious situations in his plays that had to be resolved," Hunter Wolf explains. Hunter Wolf also helped found the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and later was named director of its educational programs. She is credited with influencing the education programs of other Shakespeare festivals across the country. "She is my model -- her discernment and her sensitivity and her sharp critical eye never cease to amaze me," said Frances Clark, director of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, of Hunter Wolf. The Hunter Wolf papers join several other theater resources in the Yale Collection of American Literature, including the papers of Eugene O'Neill, Thornton Wilder and the Theater Guild. This growing collection of theater archives contains scripts, technical notes, casting books and production photographs, as well as reviews and correspondence, providing an exhaustive view of several developments in American theater. For general information about the Beinecke Library, call 432-2977 or visit the library's website at www.library.yale.edu/ beinecke/. T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S Alumni elect Roland W. Betts as new trustee To the Yale Community Murder on the Nile? Examination suggests Peabody mummy met with . . . Study shows quality of child care affects school performance Endowed Professorships Literary critic Harold Bloom awarded Gold Medal . . . Academy of Arts and Sciences taps three Yale faculty Exhibit recalls art and poetry inspired by the Great War Downtown program will add local flavor to International Festival . . . Show by Peabody artists among Yale-related events during festival Boredom with board games prompts Green to invent new one Beinecke Library acquires papers of noted theater director The University honors its long-serving staff members Three Yale teachers are selected as Guggenheim Fellows Schell Center for International Human Rights announces new appointments . . . Traveling fellowships are awarded for students' research Downs Fellows to study health issues around the world during the summer Students make cross-country trek on behalf of charity Summer Cabaret marks 25th year of 'ambitious theater' Tours of historic Grove Street Cemetery are being offered How to order extra copies of the Yale Bulletin & Calendar Campus Notes Bulletin Home|Visiting on Campus|Calendar of Events| Bulletin Board Classified Ads|Search Archives|Production Schedule|Bulletin Staff Public Affairs Home|News Releases|E-Mail Us|Yale Home Page

 Mary Hunter Wolf is shown here with playwright Horton Foote (left) and actor Joseph Anthony going over the script for Foote's "Only the Heart," which Hunter Wolf produced. After a distinguished career as a director, Hunter Wolf devoted herself to arts education in the public schools.