Rosilyn Wilder Papers

Dr. Rosilyn Wilder, acting coach, actress, author, director, playwright, middle and high school teacher, university professor, intergenerational and senior adult theatre specialist, and theatre as therapy specialist, was born in Newark, New Jersey on April 12, 1924. She originally made her living as a stage actress on and off-Broadway in New York City and as an acting coach. Later she became a university and classroom educator, playwright, director, and advocate of the use of the arts as therapy for the elderly.

She graduated from Upsala College and received her masters degree from Seton Hall University. She received her PhD in gerontology from New York University in 1984. The title of her dissertation is A Curriculum Guide for Creative Arts Activities Designed to Promote Social Interaction among Institutionalized Nonambulatory Elderly. She taught as an adjunct professor at New York University's Gallatin School for 25 years, at Montclair State University, at Hunter College, at Fairleigh Dickinson University, at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, and as a teacher at the School of Performing Arts at Montclair High School.

Some of her college teaching involved working with youth. At Seton Hall she directed a Summer Teen Touring Theatre and Workshop. Her Folklore Theatre was a joint project between the Morris Museum of Arts and Sciences and Fairleigh Dickinson University. This improvisational children's theatre created original dramas that represented the culture and people from around the world and enriched the museum's exhibits. At Upsala, she directed the Carpet Bag Players, an ensemble of college students and teenagers.

Wilder was co-founder of The National Association for Drama Therapy and was founder and director of Encomium Arts Consultants. She was the director for Autumn Stages, an improvisational life story theatre for older adults. She received grants from the Ford Foundation, the New Jersey State Department of Education, the New York State Society on Aging, and the New Jersey Society on Aging, among others, to fund her work. Wilder was a keynote speaker and workshop leader for such organizations as the New Jersey Arts Council, the Essex County Arts Council, Rutgers and Paterson State Universities, the American Society on Aging, the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, and the National Creative Arts Therapies Association. She was a regional governor and served throughout the years in other positions with the American Association for Theatre and Education and actively participated in the Attleboro Conference, a by-invitation limited member series of creative drama/childrens' theatre work conferences from 1973 to 1976.

Wilder co-edited the following books with Naida Weisberg: Creative Arts with Older Adults: A Sourcebook (1985), Expressive Arts with Elders: A Resource (2000/2001, translated into Hebrew 2004), and Drama Therapy with Older Adults: Therapeutic Interventions (1986). She also authored The Lifestory Re-play Circle: A Manual of Activities and Techniques (1997) with a contribution by Ann Grunberg; A Space Where Anything Can Happen: Creative Drama in a Middle School (1977); and Come, Step into My Life: Life Drama with Youth and Elders (1996). She also wrote scripts, critical essays, and periodical articles. Her honors and awards include New Jersey Outstanding Woman in the Arts, the Gertrude Schattner Award from the National Association of Drama Therapy, Essex County Leadership in the Arts award, the Governors Volunteer Award, Innovation in Education Award from the New Jersey Education Association, the Fameghetti Award for Innovation from the New Jersey Society on Aging, the Woman of the Year Award from the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and the Creative Drama Award from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE).

Dr. Wilder died at her home in Montclair, New Jersey at age 81 on April 6, 2006.