Holt, Roland, 1867-1931.

Roland Holt of New York, N.Y., vice-president of Henry Holt & Company, publishers, 1903-1924, theater critic, and lecturer on drama, and his wife, Constance D'Arcy Mackay (1887?-1966), author of plays, pageants, books and articles for and about non-professional theater.

Roland Holt (1867-1931) of New York, N.Y., was vice-president of Henry Holt & Company, publishers, 1903-1924, theater critic, and lecturer on drama, and his wife, Constance D'Arcy Mackay (1887?-1966), was an author of plays, pageants, books, and articles for and about non-professional theater.

Roland Holt, son of publisher Henry Holt, Sr. of Henry Holt & Co., began his literary career as an editor of the Yale Courant and dramatic critic at the New Haven Palladium prior to his graduation from Yale in 1890. He began working for Henry Holt & Co. in 1890, and was vice president of the company from 1903-1924. From approximately 1923-1931, he wrote a weekly column, The Living Stage, for numerous newspapers and periodicals, and he contributed articles on drama and the theater to various magazines including Social Progress, The Forum, and Theatre and Drama. He also lectured on theater-related topics around the country, and was the director of the Century Opera Company and the New York Drama League. In 1923 he married Constance D'Arby Mackay.

Constance D'Arby Mackay, a native of St. Paul, Minn., was an author who had numerous books published by Henry Holt & Co. She wrote plays and pageants, as well as books on amateur theatrics. Additionally, she directed numerous historical pageants throughout the United States, and contributed articles and poems to Woman's Home Companion, McCalls Magazine, Holland's Magazine, and other periodicals. She was the director of the Department of Pageantry and Drama of War Camp Community Service, 1918-1919, and a member of the Society of American Dramatists and Composers, American Pageant Society, Sulgrave Institution, and the P.E.N. Club.