May O’Donnell (1909-2004), an American dancer, choreographer, and teacher, studied with Estelle Reed in San Francisco and Martha Graham in New York. She was a soloist with Graham’s company from 1932 to 1938. In 1939 she presented her first program of her own work, and from 1940 to 1942 she toured with José Limón. She returned to Graham’s company in the mid-1940s, appearing as a guest artist from 1944 to 1952. In 1949 she founded the May O’Donnell Dance Company which performed in New York and on tour until the 1980s. She was married to the composer Ray Green. May O’Donnell died in 2004 at the age of ninety-seven.

The May O’Donnell Collection, 1930s-1996, is arranged into two series, I. Photographs and II. Publicity Materials. The photographs are subdivided into personal and performance photographs, with the latter arranged alphabetically by title. The majority of the photographs show May O’Donnell or her company in performance, 1930s to 1980s. Except for one color photograph for , all photographs are black and white. Some of the photographs are reproductions of originals not held by the Ransom Center.

The publicity materials are arranged chronologically and consist of promotional fliers, programs, reviews, and articles, supplemented by a few miscellaneous items such as a 1959 contract with the University of California and two letters, one from 1956 written by May O’Donnell to the critic Walter Terry, and a 1978 letter from Grace Cohen Jaffe (formerly Grace Marcus) to May O’Donnell (filed in the 1949 folder).

Elsewhere in the Performing Arts Collection, the Dance Collection contains reviews of performances by May O’Donnell’s company. A compact disc titled is located in the Ransom Center Library.