www.ColemanAJennings.com is a digital document that serves as portal into the papers /materials of Dr. Coleman A Jennings.  Through his voice and the voices of those who worked beside Dr. Jennings, the website invites researchers in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences and Creative Drama to explore Dr. Jennings' extensive collection of documents.  The collection is a vast treasure-trove of his career in Children's Theatre at the University of Texas at Austin, a career that spans over 5 decades of teaching, leading, writing, directing – inspiring countless individuals.  

 

How Material is Organized:  This website is organized by the important roles Dr. Jennings played in the field of Arts Education locally, throughout the State of Texas, and nationally.  Based upon Oral History Practices, the website includes interviews with Jennings' colleagues and students, using their recollections to examine the impact of Dr. Jennings on their personal work as well as the field as a whole.  Whenever possible, the interviews are linked to digitized material from Dr. Jennings archive of papers which are housed at the Briscoe Center of American History on the UT Austin Campus. 

 

 Similarly, the site includes an interactive timeline of the field of Theatre for Young Audiences as a whole in an effort to place Jennings' many spheres of influence into the context of the greater field from 1960 thru 2018.  It is only through the interplay of personal stories, historical documents and national trends that the impact of Coleman A. Jennings at UT Austin can be fully explored. 

 

It is the goal of the creators of this project, created and maintained by his ex-students, and website that this be an ongoing digital repository of reflections and discoveries and that the project evolves to include ever more voices, becoming a research tool for members of the field, preserving the best of one Artist Educator's body of work while inspiring each of us to strive for quality for theatre for all children.

 

Why this website and why now?  With the lack of one single comprehensive history of our field, it is important that an attempt is made to create a cohesive look at the history of this area and of study.  Dr. Jennings tirelessly collected the papers, scripts, articles and artifacts of Theatre for Young People.  It is a treasure-trove for those seeking resources for research.  It is our hope that this website can serve as an open door to those who wish to study the development of this dynamic and growing sector of arts education and entertainment

​