Elizabeth Hodge

Elizabeth married James Monroe Flack, II [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Andrew Hodge Flack
2. James Bardin Flack

Notes:

OBITUARY
Francis R. Hodge
December 17, 1915 - April 6, 2008

Francis R. Hodge, 92, died at home in Austin, Texas, on April 6. Dr. Hodge was a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. He was both feared and loved by his undergraduate and graduate students as an exceptional and dedicated director and teacher, with an eye to the intricacy of human emotion and experience. During his tenure at the University and summers at other institutions, he directed over 55 plays by such playwrights as George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht, and Eugene Ionesco.

In selecting plays, he "always tried to pick plays that matter" plays of conscience, morality, and human fragility fraught with irony and humor. Along with his colleagues in the drama department set designer John R. Rothgeb, costumer Lucy Barton, and lighting designer David Nancarrow, among many others, he tuned the craft of stage production to a fine art. Later in his career he chose to concentrate his efforts on the work of his graduate students and oversaw the production of 150 student-directed plays. As a classroom teacher he taught acting and directing at both undergraduate and graduate levels, History of the Theatre, Dramatic Literature, Theatre Research, and Technical Theater. His students are dispersed to theatres around the world.

He is the author of Yankee Theatre: The Image of America on the Stage, 1825-1850; six editions from 1971 - 2005 of a text entitled Play Directing: Analysis, Communication and Style; and a travel memoir, From America to Elsewhere. He wrote numerous articles for educational theatre journals, and served as editor for the American Theatre Journal. He participated on many faculty committees; and with great joy spent five years on Coach Darryl Royal's Athletic Council for the University of Texas football team.

During the last years of his professional life, he worked on a book about theatre audiences entitled The American Theatre Unbound. It contains a long chapter on the theatrical nature of spectator sports. In 1972 he was elected Fellow of the American Theatre Association, and is included in Who's Who of the American Theatre. In 2006 he received the E. William Doty Award, which is granted annually to individuals who have distinguished themselves professionally and who have demonstrated extraordinary interest in the College of Fine Arts of the University of Texas.

As a true Renaissance man, he sketched his way through years of travel throughout the world, leaving behind 50 small books filled with insightful drawings. He was trained as an airplane mechanic during his three years of service in the US Army Air Force and continued to repair things throughout the rest of his life - literally stitching or wiring them together rather than replacing them. His early Eagle Scout experience made him an avid camper and he and his family explored most of the National Parks during their VW bus years. He played the piano and accordion by ear.

Francis Hodge was born in Geneva, New York, and was educated at Hobart College in Geneva. He obtained his PhD in theatre at Cornell University. His two sisters, librarian Muriel Hodge, 98, and math teacher Helen Hodge Hofer, 94, live in Pittsford, New York. He taught at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and at the University of Iowa, before coming to Austin in 1949.

His wife of 65 years, Beulah Wiley Hodge, holds degrees in theatre and was his most attentive supporter and critic. Her own work in educational television is still remembered by her many Central Texas fans, who watched hours of her show "People and Ideas: Conversations with Beulah Hodge". The pair retired to Austin's Westminster Manor in 2003 where Beulah continues to reside. Their only child, Betsy Hodge Flack, is a landscape architect and lives in San Francisco with her husband Jim Flack. Their two sons, Andrew Flack and Bardin Flack live in San Francisco and Kona, Hawaii, respectively. The neighbors on Bluebonnet Lane in South Austin where Beulah and Fran lived for over 50 years have continued to show their love and support. Phyllis Rothgeb Schenkkan as friend and "other daughter" has been irreplaceable.

Contributions may be made to the Francis Hodge scholarship fund through the Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Texas at Austin, 512-232-5301. A gathering of friends and family will take place in the Chapel at Westminster Manor, 4100 Jackson Ave, on April 14 at 3:30 pm. Obituary and guestbook online at wcfish.com



OBITUARY University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Francis R. Hodge passed away on April 6, 2008 in Austin, Texas, at the age of 92. Hodge was a professor emeritus in The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance and served as professor of directing from 1949-1979. He was presented the College of Fine Arts E. William Doty Award at the college's spring commencement in May 2006. The award was established in 1995 and is the College's uppermost recognition given to individuals of distinction in their fields and/or have demonstrated extraordinary interest in the college.

Among his many scholarly contributions, Hodge supervised more than 100 master's thesis productions and contributed in an editorial capacity to the Educational Theatre Journal and the Journal of Speech. He is also the founder of the American Society for Theatre Research, an organization for theatre scholars that promotes theatre as a field of serious scholarly study and research. Hodge was also a member of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre Association. His published works include: Play Directing: Analysis, Communication and Style, Innovations in Stage and Theatre Design and Yankee Theatre: The Image of America on the Stage, 1825-1850, the latter for which he received the Golden Anniversary Book Award from the National Communication Association.

Hodge received his bachelor's degree in English and history from Hobart College, and his master's and doctoral degree in theatre and drama from Cornell University. While teaching at The University of Texas, Hodge developed the Demonstration Laboratory. The "Dem" Lab was a weekly meeting open to all Theatre and Dance students that encouraged students to present new works to each other. The lab was very popular, but ended after Dr. Hodge retired, due primarily to lack of space for the volume of students who attended each week. In 1984, the Francis Hodge Endowed Scholarship in Drama supporting outstanding directing majors was created in his honor.



FRANCIS HODGE COLLECTION
University of Texas Libraries - Fine Arts Library Archival Collections

About the Collection

NOTE this collection has not been fully housed and cataloged (7/2016)

For further information regarding this collection, please contact the Humanities Liaison Librarian for Performing Arts, Corinne Forstot-Burke at cfburke@austin.utexas.edu or +1 512 495 4482.

Biography

Francis R. Hodge was born in Geneva, New York, in December 17, 1915. He earned degrees from Hobart College and Cornell University. He was a member of the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin from 1949 until he retired in 1979 as professor emeritus. Prior to coming to the University he taught at Carroll College, Cornell University, and the University of Iowa. He served in the United States Army Air Force from 1942 until his discharge in 1945 at the rank of staff sergeant.

During his 30-year career in the Department of Drama (now the Department of Theatre and Dance), he taught classes in every aspect of theatre activity, but his primary interests were in theatre history and directing. He directed more than 55 plays. He was especially known for his interpretations of the works of Lope de Vega, Marlowe, Farquhar, Ibsen, O?Casey, Anouilh, Bertolt Brecht, Eugene Ionesco, and George Bernard Shaw. As the producer/supervisor of the MFA program in directing he supervised more than 100 master?s candidates through their departmental careers as each directed, first an original student written one act play, and then, a fully produced production of a full-length play. As a mentor he was without peer; he challenged his students and gave unstintingly of his experience, energy, and talents to those who had the good fortune to study with him.

He was a guest professor at the University of Colorado, the University of British Columbia, and the Banff School of Fine Arts at the University of Alberta over the course of several summers. Hodge wrote extensively for scholarly journals in his field. He served as the editor of the Educational Theatre Journal (1966-68) and was theatre editor for the Quarterly Journal of Speech (1959 1962). He was on the executive boards of both the American Society for Theatre Research and the Theatre Library Association. He is the author of Yankee Theatre (University of Texas Press, 1965) and Play Directing: Analysis, Communication, and Style (Prentice-Hall, 1971). This book has become the seminal text for the teaching of directing technique throughout the United States. In 1972, he was named a Fellow of the American Theatre Association in recognition of his leadership and contributions to educational theatre.

Citation: Nancarrow, D., Jennings, C., and Isackes, R. "In Memoriam: Francis Hodge." Memorial Resolution published by the Faculty Council of the University of Texas at Austin. 13 Aug. 2008.



Alumni Publications
B.A., William Smith College, 1939
FRANCIS R. HODGE

Author of:
Play Directing: Analysis, Communication and Style
Prentice Hall PTR, 1994

Yankee Theatre: The Image of America on the Stage
Ayer Company Publications, 1969

Co-author of:
Dramatic Life As I Found It
Ayer Company Publication; Reprint edition, 1966

Francis married Beulah Bernice Wiley in 1942. Beulah was born on 29 Aug 1919 in Galesville WS; died on 28 Nov 2009 in Austin TX. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

University of Texas
In Memoriam: Beulah Bernice Wiley Hodge
Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Beulah Hodge lived her 90 years with a grace and completeness that has been a gift to all who knew her. She was born on August 29, 1919, in Galesville, Wisconsin, the daughter of Guilford M. Wiley and Beulah Bernice Arnold; she died on November 28, 2009.

She arrived in Austin with her husband Francis Hodge and daughter Betsy, in 1949. Beulah's grandparents, Captain Alexander Ahab Arnold, a lawyer and a farmer, and his wife Mary Douglas gave the town of Galesville the land for its Pine Cliff Cemetery and the County Fair Grounds. Their Victorian brick house, built in 1874, now belongs to the Garden of Eden Preservation Society. Its unique barn had been a National Register Building before it collapsed several years ago in high winds.

Beulah was born on her grandfather's farm and spent her childhood between Galesville and La Crosse, where her father was Superintendent of Schools and her mother ran a loving and chaotic household of four children and gave energy and strength to her community. Beulah played a great game of golf and as a teenager was a state champion; she detassled corn, picked beans and caddied in the summer. Beulah graduated in 1937 from Central High School in La Crosse, and, in 1941, she earned her degree in English and theatre from Carroll College in Waukesha. Her senior year she fell in love with her young theatre instructor, Francis R. Hodge, from Geneva, NY, and married him in 1942. Also that year she completed her Masters Degree from Cornell University in Ithaca NY and returned to Carroll College to teach dramatic interpretation and English literature, while her professor husband served as a propeller specialist in the United States Army Air Corps.

Their single child, Betsy, was born in 1945. Beulah and Fran returned to Cornell after the war to complete Fran's Ph.D. in theatre, taught briefly at the University of Iowa, and made their way to the University of Texas at Austin in 1949 in an old Ford. For the next 30 years, they spent their academic winters in Austin and many summers teaching at the School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta. Summer vacations included annual camping treks through the national parks in the United States and Canada to visit their respective families in NY and Wisconsin. Beulah served as principal critic and a constant source of inspiration and support for her husband's work as a professor and play director in the Department of Drama.

By the late 1950s she was embarked on her own career in community service that included lobbying for protective legislation for migrant farm workers with the American Friends Service Committee, urban planning and political education with the League of Women Voters. In 1963 she entered the new field of Public Television and for almost 20 years was known and loved by Central Texans who watched and listened to her many hours of interviews on KLRU television (then KLRN) and KUT-FM radio. She hosted her own show "Nigh Noon" in the 1960s and "People and Ideas" in the 1970s (originally "Men and Ideas") in collaboration with her producer and friend Marye "Chub" Benjamin. She produced and hosted numerous specials that included exploring social and career issues for high school students, and hours of programming in science, music, the arts, election analysis and observation of the workings of state and local government for the Austin community. Her shows were conversational and her interviews were creative and intimate.

From the 1960's on Beulah and Fran's modest-budget travels took them all over the world on trains, buses, and ships. He recorded his impressions in small sketch books and later in self-published stories. She tracked their budgets and itineraries. Upon retirement in 1979, they teamed up to produce several more editions of Fran's book on directing, "Play Directing: Analysis, Communication", and Style. Beulah sewed her own wardrobe, created amazing Halloween costumes for her daughter (under Fran's direction!), and later for her grandsons. She was a great cook, serving solid Mid-Western fare and homemade bread. At heart she was a farm girl who made a comfortable home for her visitors, whether they were students, famous actors or writers, community organizers, or her many friends. It did not phase her one bit going after a bat in her grandfather's farm house with a tennis racket.

Her interviewing skills in television and radio really stemmed from her strong personal attributes as a sensitive listener and a genuine liking for people. Her daughter Betsy recalls her favorite image of her mother hanging out the laundry in short shorts, dripping in the heat, but looking as cool as a cucumber with her long legs and beautiful smile. She enjoyed her coffee black and her beer from Milwaukee (until her dear friend and neighbor Danny Roy Young introduced her to Shiner Bock) - always a lady, with her beautiful silver hair, her dramatic earrings, and her great laughter, which pealed above the rest of the audience during any performance.

Francis Hodge, her partner and devoted husband of 66 years died in April 2008. She spent her last two years enjoying the quiet, her friends and reading four books a week. Loving and missing her terribly are her brother Guilford "Bud" Wiley and his wife Pat from Oshkosh, WI; her daughter Betsy Hodge Flack, son-in-law Jim Flack, San Francisco, CA, and grandsons, Andrew, San Francisco, and Bardin, Kona, HI; her sister-in-law Helen Hodge Hofer, Fairport, NY; her six nieces and nephews and their children in Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Georgia; her phenomenally generous and loving neighbors on Bluebonnet Lane and the Girls in the Bluebonnet Book Club; her Sewing Circle of 50 years and their daughters; and our family friend Phyllis Rothgeb Schenkkan who made the many trips to the doctors a labor love and conversation.

Heartfelt gratitude and thanks to her wonderful new and life-long friends, administrative and dining room staff at Westminster Manor residential community in Austin; and most especially in recent weeks to the staff of Westminster Health Care Center and Home Health Services, who loved her and cared for her and considered her individually their special friend. A gathering of friends and family will be held at 3 PM on December 29, at Westminster Manor Chapel, 4100 Jackson Avenue, Austin. A memorial garden fund is being established at the family farm in Wisconsin.