THEODORE L. HAYS:

Theodore Lambert Hays, son of Lambert Hayes (1840-1893) and Mary Gertrude Rauen, was born March 29, 1867. After attending Curtiss Business College, Hays began work with the Minnesota Title Insurance and Trust Company. His career in the theater business began in 1886 when his father built the Bijou Theater in Minneapolis. Hays continued to manage the Bijou after it was leased to Jacob Litt, the director, manager, and local booking agent of a New York theatrical firm who owned or leased many theaters in the Midwest. Hays assumed management of the Metropolitan Opera House in Minneapolis (formerly the People's Theater), another Litt theater. About 1895 he took charge of the Grand Opera House in St. Paul. During the early 1900s he also acquired the Gayety Theater in Minneapolis. These theaters hosted traveling companies organized and directed by Litt, which played mainly burlesque, comedy, and melodrama. In addition, the Metropolitan occasionally featured classical music concerts, given by local and nationally known musicians. Hays is credited with the first showing of a motion picture in Minnesota, at the Bijou in 1898.

In 1916 Hays became general manager of the Finkelstein and Ruben Company. In 1928, the company reincorporated as the Minnesota Amusements Company, and Hays continued as director of insurance, real estate, and labor relations until his final illness began in 1941. By this time, he had become known as the "father of show business in the Northwest."

Hays was also active in various associations of theater managers; served as president of the Twin Cities Scenic Company (which sold scenery, curtains, and stage equipment nationwide); owned real estate in Minneapolis and in Swift and Stevens counties, Minnesota; and headed the Northern Engineering Company, an electrical contracting firm.

Hays married Mary Ellen Roberts in Kenosha, Wisconsin, April 12, 1894. They had at least one child, Theodore Albert Edward Hays. In 1918, Hays married Eva Sullivan (1883-1949) in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Hays died in Hennepin County, Minnesota, May 5, 1945, and is buried in Resurrection Cemetery (Mendota Heights, Minnesota).

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions:

The original papers are closed to general use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Theodore L. Hays Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Microfilm Production:

St. Paul, Minn.: Minnesota Historical Society, 1987. 13 reels; 35mm.

Microfilm available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 8089; 8986; 13,890

Processing Information:

The originals of the clippings scrapbooks were disposed of after filming.

The portrait of Hays used as an illustrative image in this finding aid is taken from the Minnesota Historical Society Sound and Visual collections.

Catalog ID number: 990017300540104294

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The Lucile M. Kane and John Alley Dougherty Motion Picture Research Files at the Minnesota Historical Society contain a wealth of information on the motion picture industry and theaters located in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Actors.

Advertising.

Burlesque (Theater)

Labor -- Minnesota.

Motion pictures.

Theater -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Theater -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Theaters -- Minnesota.

Theatrical managers -- Minnesota.

Vaudeville -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Herk, I. H., author.

Hogarty, John E., author.

Huey, Arthur S., 1862-1924, author.

Johnson, J. A., author.

Koenig, William, author.

Scott, Louis N., 1859-1929, author.

Sully, Daniel, author.

Van Wie, J. A., author.

Hays, Lambert, 1842-1893.

Litt, Jacob, 1860-1905.

Stafford, Lac, 1852-1919.

Witting, William W., 1862-1936.

Organizations:

Bijou Opera House (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Finkelstein & Ruben (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Gayety Theatre (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Grand Opera House (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Herk Enterprises (Chicago, Ill.)

Higbee Iron Company.

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Metropolitan Opera House (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Minneapolis Amusement Association.

Minnesota Amusement Company.

Northern Engineering Company (Minneapolis, Minn.)

People's Theatre (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Twin City Scenic (Studio)

Twin City Theatrical Managers Association.

Document Types:

Letterheads.

Microforms.

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