Series 2 - Peter Murphy/Frank Conlan letters and autobiographical notes

18pp

Ralph A. Pugh, Assistant Curator, Archives and Manuscripts Department, Chicago Historical Society, provided reproductions of the Conlan papers to Kerby A. Miller on 24 June 1989. The original manuscripts are held in the Frank Conlan papers, Chicago History Museum [catalogued as MSS Alpha Conlan, Frank, 1874-].

Autobiographical letters and notes sent to Philip Loeb in 1954 by Frank Conlan. Conlan was born as Peter Murphy in 1874 in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin and emigrated to Chicago, Illinois in 1883 . His 'memoirs' were written as a series of letters to fellow actor, Philip Loeb, and of them Kerby A. Miller writes that they are 'very good on the socioeconomic and geographic transience of working-class life, which, in the Murphy family's case, can be employed to trace the contemporary physical development and socioeconomic characteristics of Chicago's neighborhoods. In retrospect, at least, Murphy is very conscious of class and status differences. In part that's likely a result of mature perspective, especially by a professional actor who's played a great variety of social roles. But I suspect that young Murphy was indeed very sensitive to such issues, because of his awareness of how his father and family had changed status and his mother's constant reminders of that.' Also discussed in Murphy's materials are: early family life in Ireland; his family's departure, arrival, and emigration voyage; his relationship with the Catholic Church and having gone to Catholic school; and his entrance into acting and show business.

The reference copy of Murphy/Conlan's memoir, and Kerby A. Miller's research and notes on Conlan and his acting career, are located in P155/12/8.