Vida Ravenscroft Sutton (1878 — July 27, 1956) was an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

voice teacher A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing. Typical work A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in sing ...

, and radio professional.

Early life and education

Vida Ravenscroft Sutton was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

and raised in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat, seat of Lewis and Clark County, Montana, Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold ...

, the daughter of David M. Sutton and Mary Ravenscroft. She studied philosophy at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, graduating in 1903.

Career

Sutton was a member of the New Theatre Company in New York City beginning in 1910, and performed as an actress and singer as a young woman. She wrote plays and pageants with mainly historical and biblical settings, intended for church and community groups. Titles of her works included ''Christ is Born in Bethlehem'' (1924), ''Pageant of the Fifteenth Century'' (1928), ''A Pageant of Women of the Sixteenth Century'' (1927),''The Pilgrims' Holiday'' (1920), ''Wooings and Witches: A Shakespearean Medley'' (1925), ''A Masque of the Seventeenth Century'' (1927) and ''The Mantle of the Virgin'' (1921) She also co-wrote at least one play set in China, with Kyung Shien Sung (''The Betrothal of Mai Tsung''). Later in life she directed plays, and was the organizer and director of the small Onteora Playhouse at

Tannersville, New York Tannersville is a village in Greene County, New York, United States. The village is in the north-central part of the town of Hunter on Route 23A. The population was 568 at the 2020 census.U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census results, Tannersville vill ...

. From 1929 to 1937, Sutton was director and presenter of the NBC radio program "The Magic of Speech," and spoke on gender and broadcasting. She wrote a book of the same name, ''The Magic of Speech: Studies in Spoken English'' (1936), and another on similar themes, ''Seeing and Hearing America: Studies in Spoken English and Group Speaking'' (1936). She also taught speech and diction to NBC on-air personnel in the 1930s. She was also head of the drama and speech department at the

Finch School Finch College was an undergraduate women's college in Manhattan, New York City. The Finch School opened as a private secondary school for girls in 1900 and became a liberal arts college in 1952. It closed in 1976. Founding Finch was founded in ...

in New York for many years. In 1936, she was chair of the Radio Council for American Speech, which collaborated with the

National Council of Teachers of English The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discip ...

on public education programs. Sutton was active on behalf of suffrage and a member of

Heterodoxy In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek: , + , ) means "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". ''Heterodoxy'' is also an ecclesiastical jargon term, defined in various ways by different religions and ...

, a women's debating club based in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

. She wrote at least one suffrage play, ''Winning the Voter''.

Personal life and legacy

Sutton died in July 1956, age 77. Her unfinished manuscript about her father's Quaker upbringing and journey on the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

in the 1860s was posthumously developed into a biography of David Sutton, by her nephew William R. Sutton, titled ''The Wind Blew Him West'' (Outskirts Press 2008).Vida R. Sutton and William R. Sutton, ''The Wind Blew Him West'' (Outskirts Press 2008).
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Vida Ravenscroft 1878 births 1956 deaths American dramatists and playwrights University of Chicago alumni