{{short description|American writer}} {{Infobox person | name = Adele Gutman Nathan | image = AdeleGutmanNathan1927.png | alt = A smiling woman with light skin and dark hair, wearing a knit sweater and a whistle | caption = Nathan, from a 1927 newspaper | birth_name = | birth_date = September 15, 1889 | birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. | death_date = July 24, 1986 (age 96) | death_place = New York, New York, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Writer, director | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse(s) = | relatives = [[Elizabeth Gutman Kaye]] (sister) }}
'''Adele Gutman Nathan''' (September 15, 1889 – July 24, 1986) was an American writer and theatrical director. She created historical pageants and events, including at two [[World's fair|World's Fairs]] and at the centennials of the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] (1927), [[International Harvester]] (1929), and the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] (1963). She also wrote several American history books for young readers.
==Early life and education== Gutman was born in [[Baltimore]] to a Jewish family, the daughter of Louis K. Gutman and Ida Newburger Gutman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jadt.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2018/11/07/pageants-and-patriots-jewish-spectacles-as-performances-of-belonging/|title=Pageants and Patriots: Jewish Spectacles as Performances of Belonging|date=November 8, 2018}}</ref> Her father was a department store executive.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 27, 1927 |title=Louis K. Gutman. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/04/27/104071797.html |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The New York Times |pages=25 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Her mother founded the Baltimore Music Club and was active in the [[National Federation of Music Clubs]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 1, 1939 |title=Mrs. Louis K. Gutman; Leader in Music Clubs Former Baltimore Store Executive |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/04/01/91559458.html |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The New York Times |pages=19 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Her sister [[Elizabeth Gutman Kaye]] was a noted soprano and painter.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1971-04-24 |title=Rites Today for Mrs. Kaye, Who Was Singer, Painter |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-rites-today-for-mrs-k/193876544/ |via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2026-03-21 |work=The Baltimore Sun |pages=17}}</ref> She graduated from [[Goucher College]] in 1910, and earned a master's degree at [[Johns Hopkins University]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Adele Gutman Nathan |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/nathan-adele-gutman |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=Jewish Women's Archive |language=en|last=Hammack|first=Loraine}}</ref> ==Career==
=== Theatre === Gutman was a suffragist after college, and directed and acted in plays in Provincetown, Baltimore and New York City beginning in the 1910s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuhl |first=Nancy |url=http://archive.org/details/intimatecirclesa0000kuhl |title=Intimate circles : American women in the arts |date=2003 |publisher=New Haven, Conn. : Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8457-3149-9 |pages=52, 63, 82-84}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=February 17, 1927 |title=Cellar Players in Three Playlets |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/02/17/101437545.html |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The New York Times |pages=21 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She was a founding member of the Vagabonds,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koenig |first=Linda Lee |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Vagabonds_America_s_Oldest_Little_Th/UKkvVqncLnIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Adele+Gutman&pg=PA32&printsec=frontcover |title=The Vagabonds, America's Oldest Little Theater |date=1983 |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press |isbn=978-0-8386-3124-9 |publication-date= |pages=18, 23 |language=en}}</ref> and worked with children's theatre specialist [[Alice Minnie Herts]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1918-07-05 |title=Kept Busy Providing Amusement for Yank; Mrs. Adele Gutman Nation is On Job Every Hour of Day and Night |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-sun-kept-busy-providing-amus/193950697/ |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The Evening Sun |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> During [[World War I]], she directed shows for the [[National Recreation Foundation|War Camp Community Service]], providing entertainment to troops stationed in the Baltimore area.<ref name=":3" /> In summer 1931, she was drama director at Camp Wah-na-gi, a summer arts camp for girls, held on [[Lake George (New York)|Lake George]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 1931 |title=Wah-na-gi (advertisement) |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Child_Study/7CLsCMO0zToC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Adele+Gutman&pg=PA278&printsec=frontcover |journal=Child Study |volume=8 |issue=9 |pages=278}}</ref> She was in charge of the [[Federal Theatre Project]] in New Jersey during the 1930s, and a script writer at the [[United States Department of Education]] in 1941.<ref name=":0" /> In 1954, she taught a course on "Theatre in Industry" for the [[American Theatre Wing]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 1, 1954 |title=Industrial Theatre Course Set |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1954/12/01/96511496.html |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The New York Times |pages=38 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
=== Pageants === Nathan became known as a director of large-scale pageants for commemorating historical events.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=Lilian |date=1934-09-25 |title=Directs Pageants; New York Woman Said to be the Only One Engaged in This Line of Work |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-waukesha-county-freeman-directs-page/193951271/ |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The Waukesha County Freeman |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1927, she directed the centennial pageant of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scarborough |first=Katherine |date=1927-10-23 |title=She Made Those Iron Horses Prance |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-she-made-those-iron-ho/193951911/ |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The Baltimore Sun |pages=117 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Central Committee on Public Relations |first= |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Story_of_the_Centenary_Pageant_of_th/7eNiXooGXsoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Adele+Gutman&pg=PA3&printsec=frontcover |title=The Story of the Centenary Pageant of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company: Held at Baltimore (Halethorpe), Maryland, September 24 to October 16, 1927 |date=1928 |publisher=Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company |language=en}}</ref> She directed ''The Dark Mirror'' in 1928, and ''The Subway'' in New York in 1929, a play that [[Burns Mantle]] described as "a series of drab experiences."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chapman |first=John |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Burns_Mantle_Best_Plays_and_the_Year_Boo/NgrYjR89wIcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Adele+Gutman&pg=PA462&printsec=frontcover |title=Burns Mantle Best Plays and the Year Book of the Drama in America |last2=Sherwood |first2=Garrison P. |date=1929 |publisher=Dodd, Mead |pages=414, 462-463 |language=en}}</ref> In 1933 she directed a train-themed pageant at the [[Century of Progress|World's Fair]] in Chicago,<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Griffin |first=Frances |date=1955-05-11 |title=The 'Forsythorama' Lady and the Train to Gettysburg |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sentinel-the-forsythorama-lady-and/193950174/ |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The Sentinel |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1934 she directed ''The Pathways of Progress'' for the centennial of the city of [[Rochester, New York]],<ref name=":5" /> and in 1939 she directed a pageant at the [[1939 New York World's Fair|New York World's Fair]]. In 1949 she directed ''Forsythorama'', the centennial pageant for [[Forsyth County, North Carolina]].<ref name=":4" />
=== Writing, radio, film, clubwork === Nathan wrote more than a dozen children's books, and contributed to several newspapers, including ''[[The New York Times]]'',<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Nathan |first=Adele Gutman |date=July 30, 1950 |title=Pageant Parade; Ancient Form of the Drama Is Finding Widespread Popularity With Public The Stories Told Price Is Right Past Errors Expert Assistance Training Courses |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/07/30/113394323.html |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The New York Times |pages=180 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and from 1943 to 1944 she was features editor for ''[[St. Nicholas (magazine)|St. Nicholas Magazine]]''.<ref name=":0" /> She was archivist for the American Revolution Roundtable from 1941 to 1950. She was president of The Woman Pays, a feminist club, from 1967 to 1968, and again from 1977 to 1983.<ref name=":0" /> Gutman directed short educational films including ''The Poodle'' (1936), and ''Delaware the First State in the Union'' (1946). In 1975 she gave an interview for [[WBAI]]'s program ''In the Living Room''.<ref>{{Citation |last=Mende |first=Nina |title=In the living room with Adele Gutman Nathan |date=1976 |work=WBAI Pacifica Radio Archives |url=http://archive.org/details/pacifica_radio_archives-BC3021 |access-date=2026-03-21 |others= |language=English |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In 1981 she had a cameo role in the film ''[[Reds (film)|Reds]]''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=July 26, 1986 |title=Adele Nathan, Author Of Books for Children |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1986/07/26/693986.html |access-date=2026-03-21 |work=The New York Times |pages=8 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Publications== * ''The Farmer Sows His Wheat'' (1932)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eaton |first=Anne T. |date=October 16, 1932 |title=The New Books for Children |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1932/10/16/100809122.html |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The New York Times |pages=53 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * ''Let's Play Garden'' (1937, with Nadine L. Rand and Elinor G. Loeb)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 1937 |title=New Publications in the Leisure Time Field |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Recreation/Wj_oWQC9VX4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Adele+Gutman&pg=PA205-IA4&printsec=frontcover |journal=Recreation |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=207}}</ref> * ''The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad'' (1950)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Adele Gutman |url=http://archive.org/details/buildingoffirstt00nath |title=The building of the first transcontinental railroad |date=1950 |publisher=Chicago, Spencer Press |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> * "Pageant Parade; Ancient Form of the Drama is Finding Widespread Popularity with Public" (1950, ''The New York Times'')<ref name=":1" /> * ''Seven Brave Companions'' (1953)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Adele Gutman |url=http://archive.org/details/sevenbravecompan00nath |title=Seven brave companions; |date=1953 |publisher=New York, Aladdin Books |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> * ''Famous Railroad Stations of the World'' (1953) * ''Wheat Won't Wait'' (1954)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Adele Gutman |url=http://archive.org/details/wheatwontwait00nath |title=Wheat won't wait |date=1954 |publisher=New York : Aladdin Books |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> * ''When Lincoln Went to Gettysburg'' (1955)<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Adele Gutman |url=http://archive.org/details/whenlincolnwentt00nath |title=When Lincoln went to Gettysburg |date=1955 |publisher=New York : Aladdin Books |others=University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign}}</ref> * ''The First Transatlantic Cable'' (1959)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Adele Gutman |url=http://archive.org/details/firsttransatlant00nath |title=The first transatlantic cable |date=1959 |publisher=New York : Random House |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> * ''[[Winston Churchill|Churchill]]'s England'' (1963)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Adele Gutman |url=http://archive.org/details/churchillsenglan00nath |title=Churchill's England |date=1963 |publisher=New York, Grosset & Dunlap |others=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Costin |first=Kenneth W. |date=February 2, 1964 |title=New Titles for the Younger Reader's Bookshelf |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/02/02/97167844.html |access-date=2026-03-22 |work=The New York Times |pages=120 |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * ''Major [[John André]], Gentleman Spy'' (1969)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Adele (Gutman) |url=http://archive.org/details/majorjohnandrege00nath |title=Major John André, gentleman spy |date=1969 |publisher=New York, F. Watts |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> * ''How to Plan and Conduct a Bicentennial Celebration'' (1971)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nathan |first=Adele (Gutman) |url=http://archive.org/details/howtoplanconduct00nath |title=How to plan and conduct a bicentennial celebration |date=1971 |publisher=[Harrisburg, Pa.] Stackpole Books |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8117-0853-1}}</ref>
==Personal life== Gutman was married to James Nathan from 1912 until they divorced around 1920. She died in 1986, at the age of 96, in New York City.<ref name=":2" /> Her papers are in the [[Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library]] at [[Yale University]].<ref>[https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/1671 Adele Gutman Nathan Theatrical Collection], Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University</ref> The Adele Gutman Nathan Theatrical Fund at Yale supports the acquisition and conservation of theatre history materials. Some of her manuscripts and notes are in the [[B&O Railroad Museum]] in Maryland. ==References== {{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{IMDB name|0622205}} * {{IBDB name|id=3906}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, Adele Gutman }} [[Category:1889 births]] [[Category:1986 deaths]] [[Category:People from Baltimore]] [[Category:Goucher College alumni]] [[Category:American women writers]] [[Category:Jewish American women writers]]