Montgomery Hare (1911-1998) was a playwright, theater producer, and poet. Born in New York City, Hare graduated from the Groton School in 1929 and from Yale University in 1933 with honors in literature.

Hare wrote and directed plays for the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia in the late 1940s and was also active with the Parsons Theatre and the Penobscot Charitable Trust. His published books of poetry include Three Eagles (1954), To Beat the Air: Poems and Drawings (1964), and Say This of Me (1981). He also wrote novels and memoirs.

From 1940 on, Hare lived in Cornwall, Connecticut. He was a founder and president of the Housatonic Valley Association, which worked to protect the lands and waters of the Housatonic Watershed.

The Montgomery Hare Papers consist of writings, notebooks and sketchbooks, correspondence, personal files, theater files, and audio material. The collection documents Hare’s work as a playwright, producer, and director, as well as his work in other literary genres. Writings include typescripts and manuscripts of Hare’s plays, poems, novels, memoirs, and other writings. Notebooks also contain manuscripts of poems, along with notes, sketches, and drawings. General correspondence includes letters to Hare from writers, friends, and acquaintances, among others, as well as some outgoing correspondence.

A detailed description of the papers can be found online: Montgomery Hare Finding Aid. Books by Montgomery Hare in the Yale Libraries can be located by searching Orbis, the library catalog.