Mountain Plays, Mount Tamalpais, 1913-1972
Owning Institution: Marin County Free Library
About this Collection
Since 1913, the Mountain Play has been performed annually in a natural outdoor amphitheater on Mt. Tamalpais. The first six decades of the Mountain Play are well-documented in our collection of Mountain Play scrapbooks which include photographs, play programs, clippings and ephemera and which cover 1913-1958 and 1961-1972. Three men are generally credited with the inspiration for the Mountain Play: lawyer and hiker John C. Catlin; producer and director Garnet Holme; and inveterate hiker “Dad” O’Rourke. One day as they hiked the Rock Springs area of Mt. Tam, Holme paused to look at the view and saw a perfect setting for play performances: a natural outdoor amphitheater. Until the late 1930s, when the Civilian Conservation Corps built what we now recognize as the Mountain Theater, performances took place in this natural amphitheater as audiences watched from the surrounding hillside. View this collection on the contributor's website.View our statement on digital primary resources and historical description.
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