Doug Swink Theater Collection

Collection

Identifier: SC-MS-102

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains theatre professor Doug Swink's memorabilia from his tenure as a Wilmington College faculty member during the 1960s. Included in the collection are slides, performance programs and tickets, photographs, newspaper clippings, and student information bulletins encompassing many facets of student and faculty happenings, as well as theatre news, both on and off campus.

Dates

1938-2006
Majority of material found within 1957-1969

Creator

Swink, Douglas (Doug) W., 1922-2005 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Copyright Statement

Copyright retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Biographical Note

Douglas (Doug) Swink was born in Richmond, Virginia on June 6, 1922. He attended Davidson College in North Carolina. After World War II, he returned to the state for a teaching position at Kings Mountain. He and his wife, Kay, moved to Wilmington in 1955 where he taught drama at New Hanover High School

Swink became involved with local theater and started a summer theater in 1959. He later joined the faculty of Wilmington College where he founded the Department of Drama. He was the founder and director of the original S.R.O. Straw Hat Theater at UNCW, which ran for many seasons on campus. He was aslo instrumental in the final design of Kenan Auditorium at UNCW and managed the facility for two decades.

Doug was very active in the local theatre community and was involved with numerous companies including Opera House Theatre Company, Thalian Association, Pied Piper Productions, and Rockin' Chair Players.

Swink and Kay were honored with Celebrate Wilmington's Lifetime Achievement Award for their work in theater and he was voted one of the Star News' 50 Most Influential Arts Leaders in 2004. Swink's last performance was in the Opera House Theatre production of “The Sunshine Boys”. He died on November 19, 2005.