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Emma Sheridan Fry

American actress, playwright, teacher (1864-1936)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ49479881 ↗
Source-derived summary

Emma Sheridan Fry (née, Sheridan; pen name, Polly and E. V. Sheridan; October 1, 1864 – December 11, 1936) was an American actress, playwright, and teacher. She started her career as a stage actress, and after retiring from that, she became a writer for various periodicals and wrote plays. In 1903, she established the Children's and Young People's Theatre in New York City. Also in that city, she served as director of the Children's Educational Theatre and the Educational Players, as well as teaching at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Early life and education

Emma Viola Sheridan was born in Painesville, Ohio, October 1, 1864. Her mother, Emma Christina (Huther) Sheridan, was a niece of the New England clergyman, Rev. Joseph W. Parker. Her father, Congressman George Augustus Sheridan, fought with the Army of the Cumberland during the American Civil War, and later developed a national reputation as an orator. Fry was always his friend, confidant and counselor.

She was a graduate of Mrs.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Emma Sheridan Fry” as american actress, playwright, teacher (1864-1936). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1864, 1936, 1903—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1864-10-01. The account is most persuasive where Emma, Sheridan and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american actress, playwright, teacher (1864-1936). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q49479881. VIAF identifies the subject as 14265350. The Library of Congress control number is nb99029432. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1864, 1936 and 1903.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Emma Sheridan Fry”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Emma Sheridan Fry primary sources, Emma Sheridan Fry archive and Emma research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Emma Sheridan Fry”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Emma Sheridan Fry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.