Lili P. Segal Memorial Theater Collection: Home

Lili Packman Segal was raised in Lancaster, Kentucky. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Glouchester College, she moved to Louisville where she married Herbert Segal in 1951.  Together they had one daughter. Lili, or Lee as everyone called her, worked at WHAS-TV in the early days of television.  But her first love was print journalism. She spent several years as a weekly book columnist for the Sunday Courier-Journal and Times. She also contributed book reviews and travel articles to national magazines such as; Saturday Review of Literature and Sports Illustrated.  She obtained a master's degree in English from the University of Louisville, and her thesis on James Thurber is now in the prestigious Thurber room of Ohio State University. After obtaining her Master's she taught freshman English and Composition and Creative Writing at Jefferson Community College.

The Lili P. Segal Memorial Theater Collection includes videos relating to the theater, the performing arts and theater history with a primary focus on videotaped productions of actual stage performances (rather than video/film adaptations of plays). Our staff is always looking for additions to this small but strong collection of videos and we are in contact with media librarians, theater scholars and stage professionals about new titles to include. Each video is marked with a special bookplate and colored sticker. Films are purchased with public performance rights and can be used in any setting where admission is not charged. The videos circulate to faculty, staff, and are widely used in the classroom and for research. This collection is made possible by a generous donation from Mr. Herbert W. Segal and Amanda Troy Segal.

Although a lifelong Kentucky resident, Mrs. Segal loved to travel. She especially enjoyed New York City. While visiting the Big Apple, in addition to collecting material for her column, she would indulge her passions for art, theater, and music. She acted in community theater productions, and collected contemporary painting and sculpture for her home. Not only did she enjoy these things for herself, she loved to teach others about them as well. As a docent at the J.B. Speed Museum and the Whitney in New York, her favorite groups were those of children. To her, great plays, paintings and books were not life's luxuries but necessities.