Part 586: Women employed at the Olympic Music Hall in 1908
Thomas G. Moses worked on scenery for the Olympic Music Hall in Chicago during 1908. An interesting article was published that year about the women who managed the venue (Inter Ocean, 15 Nov. 1908, page 32). Considering the continued struggles of women in the United States and recent legislative setbacks nationwide, this article was a breath of fresh air for me. Lottie B. Akass, Nellie Revell, Minnie Sleeper were credited for their knowledge and skill 110 years ago; this still at a time when women could note vote. Here is a little background on the individuals mentioned in the article below.
John J. Murdock, was listed as the general manager of the Olympic Music Hall in 1908. L. B. Akass was listed as the assistant manager. Murdock was previously the theatrical manager of the Masonic Temple Theatre in Chicago, married performer Grace Akass, a singer from Indianapolis. Murdock was head of the Western Vaudeville Manager’s Association, and later a large stockholder in the organization headed by Keith, Fox, Warner, Metro-Goldwyn.
Grace Akass was from Indianapolis and entered into vaudeville with a unique singing act.
By 1903, she was performing the “The Girl With the Auburn Hair” (Indianapolis Journal, 16 March 1903, page 3). Akass began her professional career in approximately 1899. Her sister, Lottie Akass, also toured with the production. Lottie performed as the onstage organist, playing a portable organ that accompanied all of the sacred scenes sung in the production’s church scene. Lottie was also a distinguished singer and performer.
While the two sisters were on tour, they made snapshots of the people and places they visited, creating pictorial travelogues. They had several cameras and a trunk that held all of the necessary supplies to create a dark room for developing the results of their “daily work abroad” (The Indianapolis News, 18 March 1903, page 5). At the time, newspapers noted that the sisters possessed one of the finest collection of Kodak photographs in the country. Grace and Lottie were also known for their extensive study of music and literature. The two also drove automobiles, contributing to their independence.
Another Akaas sister, Minnie Belle, was quite talented and well-known for her artistic skills. Of the three, Minnie Belle was the artist, a member of the Chicago Academy. She also moved from Indianapolis to Chicago were she exhibited her paintings, winning many awards. Her painting of Grace, “Girl in the Red Kimono” took first prize in Indianapolis. The same painting also received second prize at a Chicago Academy exhibit. Minnie married William Bancroft Sleeper in 1904 (Inter Ocean, 3 Jan. 1904, page 44). Sleeper was a Wyoming ranchman and member of the legislature (Indianapolis Journal, 17 July 1903, page 12). He also managed a number of mining and oil enterprises along the way. Among Sleeper’s personal friends were President Roosevelt and William F. Cody. Minnie and William had a daughter who became the film star, Martha Sleeper.
Back to the article about the Olympic Music Hall being managed by three women in 1908. John J. Murdock renovated the Olympic theatre to really showcase the women in his life; Grace was on stage, Lottie managed the venue, and Minnie did much of the painted décor throughout the building.
Here is the article from the “Inter Ocean” that highlighted the women who worked at the Olympic Music Hall (15 Nov. 1908, page 32):
“Here you have the marvel of the place. The new music hall is the only place of the sort in the world managed by women. There is only one place of importance on the staff of employees and managers that is not filled by a woman. He is in the box office. The only reason there is a “he” there instead of a “she” is that Mr. Murdock who financed the scheme, and who is one of the most experienced vaudeville managers, feared that certain people who are as yet unable to realize the full value of women’s actual services, might misconstrue the presence in the box office of a woman and fancy that it was not a nice place to take his wife or his sweetheart or his sister, which, of course, would be exactly contrary to the real purpose. To give the public confidence he put his own name on the program as manager, but just under it in big type is the name of a woman, “Miss Lottie Marie Akass.”
And Miss Akass is the manager. She is his sister-in-law, and he briefly states his reason for building a theatre for her.
“I wanted to give her a chance to attain something,” he said, “She is and ambitious girl, and there is a small outlet for the ambitions of a clever woman. So I fixed this theatre for her.” He looked out over the rows of flowers that were in baskets and vases and wreaths and embankments. “Not to boast,” he said. “Do you know there are almost $3,000 worth of flowers there? [the 2018 equivalent is over $82,000] They came from everywhere in the United States. See that basket of red roses? The Hengler sisters sent it from San Francisco. And that immense bunch of American beauty roses? That is from George Cohan. There is the Heath and McIntrye offering. There are hundreds of them. I tell you they mean a lot to me, for with every one is a card of good wishes. And the telegrams – there were over 1,400.
Then he smiled. Too, with his sweet faced sister-in-law, who stood beside him. He is delicate of frame and fine featured as to face, but worn looking from the tension of preparation.
“For two weeks before the opening I could not sleep,” he said. “You see, I want the girls to succeed. Miss Akass isn’t the only one. There is Miss Nellie Revell [1873-1958], who is the press agent and serves us valiantly.”
The music of the orchestra drifted out through the doorways faintly and sweetly. The big divan was very, very comfortable. I wanted to see the next turn on the stage, but I lingered among the flowers and talked with the woman press agent. An oddly straightforward creature she is too, with honest hazel eyes and many direct qualities in her speech.
“Come over to the ladies’ room,” she said. “Let me tell you a secret – you may wash your face here, or your hands. You may powder your nose and polish your nails. If you are ill the matron will take care of you, and you may lie down on this beautiful couch. You wash your hands with a bit of soap that is all your own. You powder your face with a cloth that you throw away.” She held the box of white celluloid with a perforated top toward my nose. “Isn’t is fragrant?” she asked. It was-and woefully expensive, I am sure. We strolled back to the foyer. Another dark-eyed, soft voiced woman stood beside Manager Miss Akass.
“Look” said Press Agent Miss Revell. “Did you ever see so beautiful a rose tint on a wall?” I confessed that I had not.
“Mr. Murdock and Mrs. Sleeper showed the painters how to mix it,” she said. “They were days and days getting the right tint. After it was on, Mrs. Sleeper painted every one of those roses in the decorative design.”
My incredulity must have been plain.
“Ceilings and all?” I asked.
Press agent Miss Revell nodded her head. “Ceilings and all,” she said. “She is sister to Miss Akass and she is an artist. It was hard work, but she could do it better than anybody who was just hired. She loved it, you see.”
Mr. Murdock had the last word. “I believe in women,” he said. “I have a secretary who receives $100 a week [2018 equivalent of approximately $2750.00]. Over in the Majestic theater offices, we have a woman who has eighteen stenographers under her. I pay very little attention to my correspondence because my secretary knows the business details of forty or fifty theaters as well as I do. The moment we feel that it will not be misunderstood by the public, we shall probably have a woman in the box office.
The three women who control the destinies of the rose tinted theater stood there – Manager Miss L. M. Akass, Press Agent Miss Revell, and Decorator Mrs. Minnie Akass Sleeeper…They were three women, and in theirs are the fortunes of the house. Sometimes fortune is a trustworthy lady – most trustworthy.
The orchestra music still drifted through the flowers, as I came away. It was sweet and faint, but the time was a rollicking lilt of promise.”
To be continued…
