AUTOGRAPH LETTER AND INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH, BOTH SIGNED BY AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT AND FOUNDER OF THE CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE CHARLES STEPHEN BROOKS. by Brooks, Charles S. (1878-1934). Essayist, playwright and founder of the Cleveland Play House(1915) - [1930].

Cleveland, OH: circa [1930]., [1930].. Very good. - Letter penned in black ink and filling one side of an 8-1/2 inch high by 6-1/4 inch wide sheet of his cream personalized letterhead with his name and address printed at top left. Signed "Charles S Brooks". Folded twice for mailing. Together with a portrait photograph, approximately 7 inches high by 4-3/4 inches wide, inscribed and signed at top left: "for Seymour Halpern / with good wishes / Charles S Brooks". There is a piece out of the bottom right corner of the photograph, not affecting the image. Good. The letter is in fine condition.

The photograph is a head-and-shoulders portrait of Brooks who is wearing a suit & tie. The letter sends the probably teen-aged Seymour Halpern somewhat curt advice on the etiquette of writing for autographs: Place sufficient postage on your letter--"yours came to me with 1 c[ent] due"; enclose an envelope addressed to yourself for your enclosure--and sufficiently stamped; "and don't thank people in advance for favours."

Charles Stephen Brooks [1878-1934] was an essayist and playwright, a native of Cleveland who was a founder of the Cleveland Play House [1915] and its first president. One of the theatres in its first permanent home was named after him and at his death he was president of the Play House Foundation. He was the author of a number of books of essays and was also a playwright. "Wappin' Wharf", his pirate comedy, had received 150 presentations by 1931. During World War I he served on the House Commission gathering data for the use of the American peace delegation at Versailles.

The Queens, New York Republican Congressman Seymour Halpern (1913-1997) started his political career as a campaign aide to New York's powerful mayor Fiorella La Guardia and first served in New York's State Senate for 14 years before seeking a seat in the U.S. Congress. In Albany Halpern sponsored 279 bills that became law, including measures on schools, housing, civil rights, nutrition and mental health. A Liberal, he was something of an anomaly as the lone Republican representative from New York City, and generally garnered support from Labor Unions and endorsement from the Liberal Party. Yet he never even considered switching parties as he considered membership in the Republican Party a family tradition and commitment. While he found ample time for his private pursuits, including painting and collecting autographs, he took his legislative duties very seriously. Of these, he was proudest of his co-sponsorship of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and of the original 1965 Medicare legislation.