Collection
Detail

Quantity: 9.8 linear feet

Description: Scrapbooks containing an exhaustive collection of newspaper and magazine clippings in several languages (mainly English and Italian) covering the life and career of prima donna Maria Callas (1923-1977), compiled by Robert Ewen. Also includes books, 33 1/3 r.p.m. recordings, audio-taped interview, and opera video tapes.

Quantity: 6 linear feet

Description: Biographical information, chronologies, clippings, photographs, programs, writings by and about the American pioneer of modern dance Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), covering her life and career with particular emphasis on her early years in the Bay Area. Also includes miscellany such as a copy of her baptismal certificate and information on various members of the Duncan family, and material on the Temple of the Wings.

Guide

Quantity: 6"

Description: Photographs, clippings, articles, sheet music, and programs documenting the career of Stella Hurtig (1881-1973) who performed in vaudeville as the Spanish dancer La Estrellita.

Quantity: 11.1 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1895-1981

Description: This collection, on permanent loan from the California Historical Society, is considered the largest assemblage of materials in the United States on the great Norwegian Wagnerian soprano Kirsten Flagstad (1895-1962). Includes press clippings, autographed and miscellaneous correspondence, photocopies of her diaries, discography, hundreds of photographs, programs, scores, and artifacts

Quantity: 1 foot

Description: Contains iconography, articles, artifacts, clippings on the flamboyant 19th century performer Lola Montez (1818-1861).

Quantity: 3.1 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1909- present

Description: Programs, press clippings, photographs, two self portraits, and artifacts documenting the career of Russian-born prima ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881-1931).

Guide

Series 1: "Performing Arts Profiles"

Quantity: 55 linear feet; 1,164 (ongoing)

Inclusive dates: 1977 to present

Biography: KALW-FM radio announcer

Description: Approximately 2,000 radio interviews with Bay Area, national and international creators and performers from theater, film, television, opera, dance, and music ranging from Aaron Copland, Tommy Tune, Angela Lansbury, to Richard Pryor.

"The Songs of Noel Coward"

Quantity: 3.3 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1984-1988

Description: Audio tapes from radio broadcasts of recordings of the songs of Noel Coward, including "If Love Were All", "I'll See You Again", "London Morning", and "Someday I'll Find You".

Quantity: 665 original discs; 265 DAT reference copies

Inclusive dates: 1941-1953

History: The Standard Hour, the longest-running classical radio series in the West, was funded throughout its history by Standard Oil (now Chevron USA) and marks the first documented corporate arts support in the United States.

Description: The collection consists of 265 recordings produced during the live broadcasts of the Standard Hour, featuring the San Francisco Symphony and other Western symphony orchestras with notable guest artists such as Kirsten Flagstad, Igor Stravinsky, Marian Anderson, Leopold Stokowski.

Quantity: 2,200 reel-to-reel recordings

Inclusive dates: 1967-1981

Description: Recordings of live rock, blues, and folk concerts and interviews broadcast on KSAN radio from 1967-1981

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1937-1986

Description: Clippings, personal correspondence, flyers, photographs (portraits and informal), programs, performance tapes and interviews of German-born pianist Bernhard Abramowitsch (1906-1986) who settled in San Francisco in 1939. As well as performing, he taught students at the University of California, Mills College, the San Francisco Conservatory, and Holy Names College.

Quantity: 1.1 linear foot

Description: Family letters and photographs of Charles Ackerman (1850-1909), vice-president and one of the founders of the Orpheum circuit and president of the Grand Opera House, the Tivoli Opera House, and the Chutes Amusement Park in San Francisco, and his son, Irving (1885-?) who formed a vaudeville booking agency, built the San Francisco Warfield Theater and was a founder and vice-president of Columbia Pictures.

Also includes printed matter concerning the early Twentieth Century theater chains and their operation on the West Coast and many photos of dogs, Irving's lifelong hobby.

Guide

Quantity: 6.8 linear feet

Inclusive dates: [1943-1981]

Description: 42 framed black-and-white photographs from the personal collection of Kurt Herbert Adler (1905-1988) who worked for the San Francisco Opera from 1943-1981, moving from chorus master to artistic director (1953) to general director (1956). The photographs feature major performers with the San Francisco Opera.

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1920s-70s

Description: John Afendras (1897-1976) was a Greek-born classically trained violinist who led a varied career in San Francisco musical circles conducting an all-girl tango orchestra as well as the San Francisco Municipal Band. The collection contains more than 150 photographs including many inscribed photos of individuals associated withAfendras and various ensemble Greek orchestras as well as clippings, programs, and letters.

Guide

Quantity: 11 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1949-1990

Biography: Ahlstrom (1927-1993) was a composer, music director and conductor of BAYO and VOICES/SF, an ensemble specializing in performances of new American operas and works for musical theater.

Description: Contains musical scores, recordings, photographs, programs, published and unpublished writings and biographical information.

Guide

Quantity: .5 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1890s-1920s

Biography: Arimondi (1883-1931) was an Italian operatic basso, and contemporary of Enrico Caruso, who performed throughout Europe and became a member of the Chicago Opera Company in 1910.

Description: Correspondence, programs, portraits, a scrapbook and artifacts. Of note is a signed drawing of Arimondi by Caruso, an autographed music manuscript by Arturo Toscanini, and numerous signed photographs and letters of operatic greats.

Guide

Quantity: 5.8 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1910-1960 (much undated material)

Biography: President and managing director of the Musical Association, the managing board of the Symphony, from 1937 to 1954. With Pierre Monteux, Leonora Wood Armsby revitalized the San Francisco Symphony in 1934.

Description: Includes art works, awards, books, clippings, press materials, writings, a reel-to-reel audiotaped concert, and artifacts such as an inscribed music stand and phonograph player from Pierre Monteux. Of special note are more than 62 autographed photographs of prominent musicians and personalities.

Guide

Quantity: .8 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1985-1992

Biography: Barieau (1917- ) is a Bay Area watercolor artist, teacher, and lecturer who has exhibited her work throughout Northern California.

Description: Press clippings and matted watercolor sketches made at the Stern Grove Festival, depicting performers, conductors, and audience members during the summer outdoor performance series.

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1948-1957

Description: Black and white photographs taken by Lillian Bauer of Merola Opera productions at Stern Grove. These photographs include unique photographs of early SF Opera performances, and notable guest artists, as well as the last photograph taken of Maestro Gaetano Merola.

Quantity: 33 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1930-2001

Biography: Tandy Beal is an American director, choreographer, performer and teacher of dance. She has performed as a solo artist and in her ensemble Tandy Beal & Company founded in 1974. She wrote, directed and choreographed the New Pickle Circus and choreographed all of the characters' movement for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. John Beal, father of Tandy Beal, was an actor of stage, film and radio, as well as a director, a portrait artists, and the proprietor of the Actor's Hobby Market. Helen Craig, mother of Tandy Beal, was an actress and teacher primarily associated with live theater but she also appeared in several television shows and made for TV movies.

Description: The Beal Family Papers document the careers of John Beal, Helen Craig and Tandy Beal. The collection includes personal and business materials, correspondence, publicity materials, news clippings, programs, scripts, photographs and scrapbooks.

Guide

Quantity: 5.3 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1966-1989

Biography: Choreographer and dance teacher who, in 1975, formed Christopher Beck & Company and founded Centerspace Theater in San Francisco..

Description: Includes videotapes, films, photographs, slides, contact sheets, negatives, audio cassette tapes, clippings, features, reviews, programs, press releases, posters, biographical material, a script, and original promotional art work.

Guide

Quantity: 2 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1950-1960

Biography: Rachmael ben Avram founded the Company of the Golden Hind in 1951. He directed the Cathedral Civic Theater and was general director of the Oakland National Repertory Theater.

Description: Programs, slides and photos of Company of the Golden Hind and Oakland National Repertory Theater productions.

Guide

Quantity: 2 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1929 - 1964

Biography: Boris Blinder (1898?-1987) was principal cellist with the San Francisco Symphony for over 20 years.

Description: Includes recordings, photographs, both family and formal, including many of his brother Naoum Blinder, who served as concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra from 1932 to 1957.

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1930s-50s

Biography: Leah Marie Boehm (1911-) and Marissa de Leon (1911-) were dance teachers and Ph.D candidates at the University of California at Berkeley.

Description: Materials on South American dance, covering Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay. Includes sheet music, dance step instruction, handwritten scores, pencil costume sketches, a map of the dances of Colombia, typewritten notes on dances, postcards, and 33 1/3 r.p.m. records of native Argentine folk dances.

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1976-1985

Biography: Brennan (1921?-1992) was manager of the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco and talent coordinator of the Mary Martin PBS series Over Easy.

Description: Papers dealing with the renovation of the Orpheum Theate and the Mary Martin at Davies Hall benefit.

Guide

Quantity: .5 linear foot, oversized

Inclusive dates: 1977

Description: Hand-tinted color etchings on a dance theme by Edith Brozak depicting such subjects as Swan Lake, Allegro Brillante by George Balanchine, Trinity by Gerald Arpino, and Dancers at a Gathering based on a ballet by Jerome Robbins.

Quantity: 1.3 linear feet

Description: Photographs, flyers, publicity materials, programs relating to Rudolf Serkin..

Guide

Quantity: 12 linear feet

Inclusive dates: ca. 1920-2019

Biography and Description: The son of a Filipino immigrant, folk and ballet dancer/choreographer Carlos Carvajal has been recognized as one of the leaders of the San Francisco Bay Area's dance renaissance in the 1970s and served for 12 seasons as Co-Artistic Director of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. Although he began as a folk dancer, in 1951 Carvajal started dancing with San Francisco Ballet (SFB), then abroad with companies such as Ballet Nacional of Venezuela. He served as ballet master and associate choreographer with SFB in the 1960s and has created more than 200 works for ballet, opera and television, including SFB, SF Opera, Oakland Ballet, and Dance Theater of Harlem. In 1970, he founded Dance Spectrum, choreographing ballets that explored religion, mythology and eastern philosophies, as well as folk dance from around the world. The Carlos Carvajal Papers contain paper, photographic, and video documentation of his early career as a dancer/choreographer, his career with San Francisco Ballet, materials related to his company, Dance Spectrum, performances of his works by groups such as Oakland Ballet Company and Peninsula Ballet Theatre (where Carvajal served as Artistic Director then Director Emeritus), as well as materials related to the Worlds Arts West/Ethnic Dance Festival.

Guide

Quantity: 3 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1853-1983

Biography: Chen (?-1995) was an artist, journalist, author and co-founder of the Pear Garden in the West.

Description: Photographs and story boards for the Pear Garden in the West exhibit as well as the manuscript for his book Pear Garden in the West.

Quantity: 6.75 linear feet

Inclusive dates: ca. 1926- 1988

Biography: Lew Christensen (1909-1984) was America's first great classical male danseur, choreographer of the first "all-American" ballet (Filling Station, in 1938), and the Director of the San Francisco Ballet from 1951 to 1984. Gisella Caccialanza (1914- ) was a student of Enrico Cecchetti, a prima ballerina of the San Francisco Ballet and the wife of Lew Christensen.

Description: IncludeGuides biographical materials, brochures, chronologies, correspondence, clippings, flyers, libretti, memorial programs, manuscripts, hundreds of historic photographs and negatives (some by renowned American photographer George Platt Lynes), postcards, programs, souvenir books, scrapbooks, and artifacts.

Guide

Quantity: 1.3 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1978-1992

Biography: Adela Chu (1946- ) is a Panamanian-born dancer and teacher who specializes in Afro-Caribbean dance. She brought the exotic and colorful celebration of Carnaval, to the streets of San Francisco's Mission District in 1976. She was also the first to bring Carnaval and the "First Night" New Year's Eve celebration to Hawaii. Description: Fliers, copies of color and black and white photographs, press clippings, programs, and videos.

Quantity: 9.5 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1911-2000

Biography: Robert Commanday was the music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper from 1964-1993 and founded San Francisco Classical Voice.

Description: Clippings, news releases, newsletters, programs, souvenir booklets, etc., from dance, opera, and symphony performances. The programs contain Mr. Commanday's original handwritten notes used for his reviews.

Guide

Quantity: 1.4 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1967-1972

Description: Slides of San Francisco Opera, American Conservatory Theater, and Magic Theater productions taken by photographer Donal John Coney.

Quantity: 2.3 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1932-1986

Biography: Betty Miller Cooper was the wife of Robert Watt Miller, who served as President of the San Francisco Opera Association for many years.

Description: 150 photographs of singers, musicians, and actors, most of them autographed and inscribed.

Guide

Quantity: .5 linear ft.; 1 box

Description: Flyers, press releases, programs, newsletters of the High Risk Group from dancer and choreograher Rick Darnell

Quantity: 2 linear ft.; 2 boxes, 1 print box

Inclusive dates: 1925-1979

Description: Clippings, correspondence, photographs, programs, ballet sketches and costume designs of ballet dancer and teacher de Luce (1903- ). De Luce appeared in motion pictures with Albertina Raasch's ballet company, danced with the San Francisco Opera Ballet and directed the Iris de Luce Ballet Studio in Sausalito.

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1923-1940s

Biography: Edna Smith sang with the San Francisco Opera beginning in its very first season, 1923. She then became a protegee of the famed soprano Gina Cigna, and went on to sing in the major European opera houses.

Description: The core of this collection consists of an impressive group of autographed photographs and several autograph books, including virtually everyone involved with the San Francisco Opera in its early days. Also represented are people who were involved in the beginnings of the San Francisco Opera Ballet, the direct ancestor of today's San Francisco Ballet. Included are clippings, programs, and posters.

Guide

Quantity: 1.4 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1908-1928

Biography: Belgian operatic tenor who was Director General of the De Vally French Opera Company and established the Oakland Civic Opera Association. He was instrumental in the proposition of the San Francisco Opera Association, and taught music in San Francisco. Description: Clippings, correspondence, financial records, and miscellany such as licenses, a chorus notebook, and an interesting 1924 report to R. I. Bentley, president of the San Francisco Opera Association. Also includes materials on his relief work for Belgium in World War I .

Quantity: .5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1935

Biography: Set designer

Description: Original scene designs for the San Francisco Opera's first production of Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle. Also includes scrapbook on his career.

Quantity: 1.3 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1920s-1970s

Description: Brochures, correspondence, programs, tickets, photographs (some autographed), a handmade calendar and other memorabilia of popular 20s and 30s singer and radio star Jessica Dragonette collected by family friend Vera Edmondson.

Quantity: 26 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1952-2005

Biography: Philip "Phil" Elwood (1926-2006) was a music journalist and radio broadcaster. From 1965-2000, he covered jazz, blues, rock, cabaret and entertainment scene for the San Francisco Examiner.

Description: Articles and drafts written by Elwood, notes taken at various events he attended, correspondence, and other materials collected by and/or sent to Elwood due to his dual roles as radio broadcaster and music journalist. Collected materials include items such as press kits, event programs, biographical sketches, and other related documents.

Guide

Quantity: 1.5 linear ft.; 1 carton, 1 box

Description: Minutes, notes, memos, correspondence and other papers relating to the Cultural Affairs Task Force.

Quantity: 6.7 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1930-1977

Biography: Performing arts critic for the San Francisco Examiner who for over forty years wrote reviews of dance, opera, and music performances in the Bay Area.

Description: Clippings of Alexander Fried's reviews.

Guide

Quantity: .8 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1955-56, 1974-78

Biography: Charles Girvin (1935-19??) was a classical ballet teacher who graduated from the School of American Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine and taught students throughout the Bay Area.

Description: The focus of this collection is on notebooks kept by Mr. Girvin whichcover the time he spent with the School of American Ballet, the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, the Balanchine Theatre School, the Royal Academy of Dance, his classes in Sacramento, and the Cecchetti Society summer school.

Guide

Quantity: 5 1/2 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1953-1988

Biography: Robert Gladstein (1943-1992) was a ballet dancer and choreographer. He was a principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet and served as the company's Ballet Master, Assistant Director and Artistic Coordinator.

Description: The papers document Gladstein's career from 1953-1988 and include reviews, articles, photographs, programs, souvenir books, and correspondence.

Guide

Quantity: .8 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1929- 1965

Biography: Wilton Graff (1903-1969) was an actor who appeared on Broadway and in stock companies and little theaters from coast to coast. He was active in the Theater Guild and spent several years with the San Francisco Civic Light Opera. He also enjoyed a Hollywood movie career, acting in over fifty films.

Description: The collection includes biographical material, cast sheets, contracts, correspondence, obituaries, press clippings, photographs, programs, publicity materials, and scripts. Also includes autographed material from such actors as Helen Hayes, Laurence Olivier, and Vivien Leigh.

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1918 – 1949Biography: Sid Grauman (1879-1950) built several theaters in San Francisco before moving to Los Angeles where he built and operated the Million Dollar, Egyptian and Chinese Theaters

Description: Contains photographs of Grauman's theaters, some personal photographs, photographs of actors and some programs and clippings.

Guide

Quantity: 65 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1920-

Biography: For the past forty years, Anna Halprin has been an innovator in dance teaching, performance and choreography. Her workshops gave early training to such choreographers as Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown, and over the years she has collatborated with composers such as John Cage, Terry Riley, Meredith Monk, and La Monte Young.

Description: Contains correspondence, reports, newsclippings, programs, flyers, pictorial dance scores, posters, scrapbooks, music scores, video and audiocassettes documenting Halprin's work with cancer and AIDS patients, the humanistic psychology movement in California, and the modern and post-modern dance movement in the San Francisco Bay Area and its influence on art in New York and beyond.

Guide

Quantity: 12 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1924-1983

Biography: Russell Hartley was a designer and character dancer with the San Francisco Ballet in the 1940s and 50s. He designed the costumes for the first full-length Nutcracker performed in the United States and founded the Archives for the Performing Arts, now the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum.

Description: Contains correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, photos, artwork, writings, research papers and personal letters documenting Hartley's life, career and friendships with numerous San Francisco artists and personalities.

Guide

Quantity: 7.5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1937-1989

Biography: Ruth Hatfield (1914-1999) was a dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. Hatfield was born in Modesto, CA and moved to San Francisco in 1942 where she helped establish the San Francisco Dance Center, taught dance at Live Oak Recreation Center in Berkeley, started the Teen Dance Workshop and taught dance at Holy Names College.

Description: Contains clippings, photographs, lesson plans, class and choreography notes.

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1961-67

Biography: Mrs. Hendricks served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Ballet Guild from 1960-1969.

Description: Materials documenting six years of the San Francisco Ballet Guild, including annual reports, correspondence, financial materials, invitations, meeting minutes, press clippings, press releases, and rosters.

Guide

Quantity: 8 linear feet

Inclusive dates: ca. 1874- ca. 1934

Biography: This noted German-American conductor and composer served as music director of the Tivoli Opera House and in 1881 founded the San Francisco Philharmonic Society, precursor of the San Francisco Symphony. In 1885 he moved to Philadelphia and formed his own opera company, presenting the American premieres of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.

Description: This collection includes original scores, libretti, and play scripts, and handwritten sheet music as well as personal correspondence, financial materials, photographs, press clippings, programs, and scrapbooks.

Guide

Quantity: 10 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1977-1988

Biography: Free-lance Bay Area set designer who designed sets for American Conservatory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Lamplighters and Magic Theatre.

Description: Sketches and plans for more than 60 productions from the companies listed above as well as Sacramento Theatre Company, Fortworth Opera and San Fancisco Ballet, 3 set models and a few photographs.

Guide

Quantity: 2.2 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1969-1982

Biography: Lucy Jewett is a former dancer, Trustee Emeritus and former Vice President of the San Francisco Ballet, and one of the Bay Area's leading philanthropists.

Description: Administrative files from the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Ballet, including financial materials, annual reports, monthly board meetings, minutes from executive committee sessions, agendas for annual retreats, etc. The papers provide an in-depth look at the Ballet's administration during one of its most crucial decades, the 1970s, when the company, after teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, became one of the leading American examples of a professionally managed arts organization.

Guide

Quantity: 13 linear feet

Inclusive dates: [ca. 1910-85, much material is undated]

Biography: San Francisco modern dance pioneer who, for more than 50 years, directed the Bay Area's oldest dance school, the Peters Wright Creative Dance School, founded in 1912 by Job's sister, Anita Peters Wright.

Description: Contains awards, biographical material, books, correspondence, diaries, drawings, manuscripts, notebooks, obituaries, photographs, programs, press clippings, and posters. Provides invaluable documentation on the emergence of modern dance as one of the United States' few indigenous art forms.

Guide

Quantity: 2.3 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1980-86

Biography: Bay Area free lance photographer from 1982 to 1992.

Description: Negatives, contact sheets, color and black-and-white photographs, some with accompanying programs and press clippings, of rehearsals and performances of several Bay Area dancers and dance companies, particularly those of the San Francisco Peninsula area.

Guide

Quantity: 5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1950-1990

Biography: Anita Kane (1910-1994) was a dance teacher who helped introduce classical ballet to the Philippines, organized the Arts Council of the Philippines and its first truly professional ballet company. In later life she was the director of dance studios in Healdsburg and Rohnert Park.

Description: Writings by Anita Kane, scores, awards, news clippings, signed photos of ballet stars and the Philippines, programs, and scrapbooks.

Guide

Quantity: 3.5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1954-1967

Biography/History: Irma Kay was the founder and director of Opera Ring Theatre from 1954 to 1967. Her vision was to produce operas in English and in-the-round in order to reach out to and educate an audience unfamiliar with traditional opera production. Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera had its west coast debut at the Opera Ring Theatre in 1955. In the 1960s the focus of the Theatre shifted to genre of classical musical comedy.

Description: This collection includes art work, audio cassettes, costume designs, lighting diagrams, photographs, press clippings, promotional material, scrapbook, scripts, set designs, stage diagrams, tech and prop lists, and miscellaneous artifacts, documenting the history the Opera Ring Theater. Other than a permit and union contract, there are few administrative records.

Guide

Quantity: .2 linear foot

Inclusive dates: ca. 1890- ca. 1971 (much undated material)

Description: Correspondence, personal papers, scripts, published and unpublished articles written by Kellogg and Witt, photographs, press clippings, and programs, with a particular emphasis on Wagner and Wagnerian opera.

Guide

Quantity: .5 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1930s-1940s (most material is undated)

Biography: Constance Keohan was a music teacher at Galileo High School, and her [sister?] Emily was the head of the department of Home Economics of the Sacramento School District. Constance became the first female conductor of the San Francisco Symphony.

Description: The collection includes materials relating to the musical careers of Emily and Constance Keohan, particularly Constance's early years at Galileo High School. This collection provides a glimpse into the process of women breaking into what has been traditionally considered a "male" profession, conducting. Included is handwritten music, programs, and photographs.

Guide

Quantity: 2.3 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1949-1974

Biography: Chester Monroe Kessler (1919-1979) was a California-based photographer who studied with Minor White, Bill Grant Jr., andOliver Gagliani and had three one-man shows at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and various shows around the United States.

Description: Photographs of important local dancers and dance companies, negatives and transparencies, biographical information. Includes such notables as George Balanchine, Ruth Beckford, Carlos Carvajal, Lew Christensen, Anna Halprin, Welland Lathrop, and Zack Thompson.

Guide

Longtime San Francisco theatrical press agent handled such companies and performers as the Lamplighters, Circle Star theater, Barbara Cook, Shirley Bassey

Pianist and teacher performed with San Francisco Symphony and on the Standard Hour broadcasts

Guide

Quantity: 2.42 linear feet

Inclusive dates: ca. 1930s-2005

Biography and Description: Welland Lathrop (1905-1981) was a dancer, teacher, painter, choreographer, and a leader of the West Coast modern and avant-garde dance movement. He was born in upstate New York and trained in costume and scenic design at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, NY. He relocated to San Francisco in 1928 and shortly thereafter began studying dance with Ann Mundstock of the Laban School. From 1948-1956, Lathrop collaborated with San Francisco-based dancer and choreographer Anna Halprin, forming the Halprin-Lathrop Studio Theatre. Following their professional separation, Lathrop continued to perform under his own studio name while teaching dance at San Francisco State College and Dominican College until his retirement in the late 1960s. During his retirement, he served as advisor and choreographer for local dance groups, choreographing his final work with Xoregos Dance Theatre in 1977. The Welland Lathrop Papers contains biographical information about Lathrop's career and education, including photographs, programs, writings, correspondence, and related documents. The papers also include several workbooks and publications regarding Labanotation, including Lathrop's Elementary and Intermediate certificates from the Dance Notation Bureau.

Guide

Inclusive dates: ca. 1901-1973 (much undated material)

Biography: Founder and director of the San Francisco Municipal Chorus for twenty-five years.

Description: This collection consists of the personal archives of Dr. Hans Leschke, documenting his life and his career with the SF Municipal Chorus. Includes certificates, contracts, correspondence, obituaries, photographs and negatives, and personal miscellany such as a passport and college documents. Almost all material is in German.

Inclusive dates: ca. 1970-1988 (much undated material)

Biography: Bay Area choreographer, dancer and teacher.

Description: . Includes biographical material, chronologies, correspondence, obituaries, photographs (color and black-and-white), press clippings, programs, repertories, audio tapes and video tapes.

Guide

Quantity: .5 linear foot

Inclusive dates: ca. 1917-1967 (much undated material)

Biography: Francesca Ludova (1907-1979) danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, with the SF Opera Ballet in the late 1920s, and directed the Kosloff ballet studio. She appeared in several Hollywood films in the 1930s and then operated the San Jose Ballet School with her husband, Dmitri Romanoff, who became regisseur for American Ballet Theatre.

Description: The collection includes a scrapbook containing postcard correspondence from all over the world, with images depicting dance from many different countries, a commemorative pin from her teacher Theodore Kosloff, and 33 movie stills and studio publicity portraits of movie stars from the 1910s through the 1930s, some autographed, including such notables as Greta Garbo, Groucho Marx, Maurice Chevalier, and Norma Shearer.

Guide

Quantity: .4 linear foot (oversized)

Inclusive dates: ca. 1910s-1947 (early scrapbook pages are undated)

Biography: Jose Manero began his career a dancer in Mexico City's Ballet Carroll, then toured the United States and Europe with a partner as the popular ballroom dance team "Jose and Paquita". He joined the army at the time of World War II, continued dancing while he was in the service, performed benefit shows, and taught dance classes on the army base. In after leaving the army Manero taught students and performed throughout California with a dance group, billed as "Jose Manero and his Altenitas". In 1945 he choreographed Blue Plaza with Willam Christensen for the SF Ballet, and went on to present many critically acclaimed programs of Mexican dance in conjunction with the Ballet.

Description: Scrapbook pages documenting Manero's dance career, including photographs, press clippings, and programs. Includes interesting clippings from army newspapers, documenting his dance activities as a soldier during World War II.

Quantity: 29.5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: late 1950s- 1970s

Biography: Henrietta "Henri" McDowell was SF Ballet's principal photographer for twenty years, from the late 1950s through the 1970s.

Description: The collection consists of more than 20,000 black-and-white photographs, negatives, and color slides which document practically every ballet produced by the San Francisco Ballet from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s. The photographs capture the Ballet in performance, backstage, and on tour. Includes photographs of such personages as Rudolf Nureyev, Dame Margot Fonteyn, and Gelsey Kirkland.

Guide

Quantity: 2.6 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1910-83

Biography: Ethyl McFarland Joy (1896-1983) was a dancer and an actress in San Francisco. She wasa member of the Alcazar Theatre's stock company and appeared in vaudeville revues at the Orpheum Theatre before she began teaching dance with her mother, Cora McFarland.

Description: Includes music scores, certificates, correspondence, notes, photographs, programs, and scrapbooks containing clippings and photographs of Ethyl in her roles in local theaters around the 1910s.

Guide

Quantity: 7 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1980-2002

Biography: Robert J. (Bob) McLeod was a San Francisco-based photographer. He worked for years at the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle. McLeod was married to photographer Beth Witrogen, whose photographic work is also included in this collection.

Description: Collecton includes photographic prints, negatives, slides, programs, and press clippings from the Examiner and Chronicle featuring his work.

Guide

Quantity: 24 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1890-2000

Biography: Adrian Michaelis was the producer and program manager for Standard Oil Company's The Standard Hour radio broadcast, subsequent School Broadcast, and television show.

Description: The collection includes correspondence, libretti, clippings, photographs, negatives, programs, brochures, flyers, souvenir books, scrapbooks, sheet music, and transcripts.

Guide

Quantity: 8 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1937-1969

Biography: Robert Watt Miller (1899-1970) was a noted San Francisco industrialist, civic leader and President of the San Francisco Opera Association from 1937-1942 and from 1951-1966.

Description: Papers document Miller's activities as President of Opera Association and as a board member of the San Francisco Symphony and De Young Museum. Include minutes, reports, budgets, correspondence, clippings and several photo albums document SF Opera seasons.

Guide

Quantity: 2 linear feet

Inclusive dates: (1913-1970)

Biography: Virgil Morton (1913- ) was a dancer, dance teacher, and dance writer. He performed with Fanchon-Marco and in Theodore Kosloff's Hollywood Bowl productions and had minor dancing parts in motion pictures before moving to San Francisco where he taught ballroom dancing and became involved with various local folk dance groups. He was the first teacher of the International Folk Dancers and authored three books on the subject of dance.

Description: Programs, newsletters, correspondence and photos from various folk dance organizations and dance and theatre companies.

Guide

Quantity: .3 linear foot (oversized)

Inclusive dates: ca. 1959-66 (most undated)

Biography: Kyra Nijinsky was the daughter of the great ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky. She studied ballet with her aunt, Bronislava Nijinska, Mordkin, and Nicholas Legat, and studied modern dance with Isadora Duncan's half-sister, Elizabeth. In the 1960s she took up art and had her first show at the Russell Hartley Gallery in 1965.

Description: 20 original pastel drawings by Kyra Nijinsky include self-portraits, religious themes such as angels and the Virgin Mary, flowers, and, significantly, drawings of her father, Vaslav Nijinsky, in various roles.

Guide

Biography: San Francisco photographer Ira Nowinski is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, the California Historical Society, and the Museum of American Art in the Smithsonian Institution. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States and abroad.

Series 1: "Backstage at the Opera" Quantity: .3 linear foot (oversized)

Inclusive dates: 1978-1982

Description: 109 black-and-white signed limited edition photographs providing a behind-the-scenes view of the operatic process and the various elements of opera production. Included are photographs of such internationally-acclaimed singers as Joan Sutherland, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Birgit Nilsson, Montserrat Caballe, Leontyne Price, Leonie Rysanek, Renata Scotto, Giacomo Aragall, and Magda Olivero. The collection also features photographs of celebrated opera designers (David Hockney), conductors (Richard Bonynge, Bruno Bartoletti, Julius Rudel), composers (Aribert Reimann), stage directors (Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Lotfi Mansouri), and company administrators (Anthony Bliss, Kurt Herbert Adler). Chronicle Books donated these photographs by photographer Ira Nowinski on the occasion of the publisher's 1982 release, Backstage at the Opera.

Series 2: "The Ring Resplendent" Series Quantity: .4 linear foot (oversized)

Inclusive dates: 1985

Description: Twenty-eight black-and-white matted photographs taken during the San Francisco Opera's internationally-acclaimed 1985 production of Richard Wagner's "Ring Cycle". The 16"x20" archival prints include onstage performance shots, dressing room portraits, and candid backstage views of such opera luminaries as Eva Marton, Peter Hoffman, Gwyneth Jones, James Morris, Rene Kollo, and Thomas Stewart. Also pictured are conductor Edo de Waart, San Francisco Opera General Director Terence A. McEwen, and Production Director Nikolaus Lenhoff.

Series 3: Kurt Herbert Adler Series

Inclusive dates: [1943 - 1981?]

Description: Suite of color photographs of Kurt Herbert Adler and major San Francisco Opera performers and productions exhibited by SF PALM in 1989 at the San Francisco Opera House.

Series 4: San Francisco Opera Series Quantity: .5 linear foot

Description: 30 16"x20" archival prints of performances by the San Francisco Opera. Included in this suite are such renowned singers as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Shirley Verrett, Birgit Nilsson, and Leonie Rysanek.

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1885-1974

Biography: Ida O'Day's career began on the vaudeville stage where she was a singer, imitator, and banjo player on the national Orpheum circuit. She then appeared in leading acting roles throughout the country, changing her name to "Ann O'Day". She married Stanford alumnus and major donor Roscoe Maples and settled in Palo Alto.

Description: Ida O'Day's personal collection, documenting her life and career. Includescontracts, correspondence, fan letters, photographs, press clippings, programs, and audiotapes of herself looking back at her stage career in 1977 and from her 103rd birthday celebration.

Quantity: 40 linear feet

Inclusive dates: ca. 1916-64 (much undated material)

Biography: Russian-born dancer, teacher and choreographerwho partnered Anna Pavlova. Serge Oukrainsky (1886-1972) established with Andreas Pavley the Pavley-Oukrainsky Ballet, the official ballet of the Chicago Grand Opera. He became ballet master of the San Francisco Opera Ballet and staged ballets for symphonic concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.

Description: Biographical information, correspondence, Pavley-Oukrainsky Ballet Company financial and artistic records, photographs (some autographed), press clippings, programs, manuscripts, his autobiography My Life in Ballet, sketches, and a great many costumes.

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Biography: Bartalini was an actor, singer, dancer and mime who moved from Italy to San Francisco and became the teacher of Carl Palangi. Palangi made his debut in 1953 with the San Francisco Pops and performed in operas, operettas and with several orchestras in the West and Europe.

Description: Contains programs, publicity, and numerous photographs of the two performers careers.

Quantity: 2 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1981-2000

Biography and Description: The Gary Palmer Papers contain paper and video documentation of Men Dancing as well as Gary Palmer Dance Company (GPDC)/San Jose Dance Theatre (SJDT). Gary Palmer (born 1951) is a dancer/choreographer who was active in the San Francisco Bay from the early 1970s to 2000. He founded his own troupe, Gary Palmer Dance Company (GPDC) in 1977. In 1982, Palmer created Men Dancing, a popular San Francisco Bay Area dance series that featured only male dancers and choreographers in order to "give male dance artists a creative space outside of traditional roles (as partners to ballerinas) or archetypes (heroes or villains)." In 1997, Palmer became the executive director for the SJDT, with which he merged his existing company. The papers include programs, pre-performance press and subsequent reviews, flyers, promotional collateral, and audiovisual materials.

Guide

Quantity: 2 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1927-1985

Biography: Klarna Pinska was a protegee of dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis. Dancer, choreographer, designer, director, and teacher associated with the Denishawn School of Modern Dance. In later years she recreated a St. Denis technique, which she called "soaring", and taught throughout California. She was associated with North Beach Anti-Fascist Players during World War II, and with Xoregos Dance Company in the 1970s.

Description: Programs, photographs, manuscripts, correspondence, interviews, clippings, costumes and artifacts, relating to her artistic career and political activity.

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1870s-1970s

Biography: Bay Area theatre historian who in 1935 served as research supervisor of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre in San Francisco, where she compiled a history of local Chinese theatre, and published Toward a Living Theater, about the San Francisco Federal Theater Project. In the 1940s she continued her theatre research and published articles in the California Historical Society's Quarterly. She became an elementary school teacher in 1942, and continued to teach for twenty-seven years, while she wrote at least eight yet-unpublished novels and essays. In 1970 began the private Rather Press with her husband, Clif, which published 28 hardcover books. After her husband's death in 1987, she continued their printing work with the Rather Press Addenda.

Description: Personal archives on the history of the San Francisco Stage, featuring artifacts, correspondence, published and unpublished manuscripts, photographs, books, broadsides, song sheets, a collection of early playscripts, Chinese theatre memorabilia, and administrative files from the Federal Theatre project of the Works Progress Administration.

Quantity: 15 linear feet

Description: Materials on children's theatre, including scripts, school curriculum materials, comic strips, flyers, books, and artifacts.

Quantity: 7 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1907-1995

Biography: Born in Switzerland, Margrit Roma became a stage actress in Germany and then fled to France when Hitler came into power. In 1966 she and her husband Clarence Ricklefs moved to San Francisco and formed the New Shakespeare Company.

Description: Collection includes photographs, playscripts, correspondence, publicity materials, clippings documenting Roma's life as an actress and her work with Ricklefs and the New Shakespeare Company.

Guide

Quantity: 26 linear feet

Inclusive Dates: 1974-2004

Biography: Janice Ross is an author, dance critic, scholar and a Professor in the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at Stanford University. She was the dance critic for the Oakland Tribune for ten years, is the author of four books, her essays have been published in numerous anthologies and she is the recipient of Guggenheim and a Fulbright Fellowships.

Description: Contains Ross' clippings, drafts, commentaries and her subject and research files which may include programs, handwritten notes, photographs, and / or correspondence.

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Biography: Operatic soprano who was born and died in San Francisco but spent most of her career outside California, performing in the world's great opera houses.

Description: This collection was given by Saville's niece, Edith Alttman, and includes memorabilia such as an extensive set of press clippings, a series of photographs, and Saville's own diary, in which she meticulously maintained a listing of her itinerary and repertoire.

Quantity: 16 linear feet

Description: Photographic images of the San Francisco Opera, American Conservatory Theatre, and the San Francisco Symphony.

See also Robert Watt Miller San Francisco Opera Archives, and San Francisco Symphony Archives.

Quantity: 9.3 linear feet

Biography: Vaudevillean performer master of ceremonies, active in AGMA and the San Francisco Press Club

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Biography: Noted conductor and musical director of the Oakland Symphony.

Description: Programs, brochures, articles about Simmons, photographs, sound recordings, memorials and letters to Louise McTernan, early music teacher of Simmons.

Inclusive dates: [1900- 1930]

Biography: An avid San Francisco theatre-goer.

Description: Folio albums featuring playbills, original photographs of performers, and more than 103 signatures and autographed letters. The autographs include those of such performers as Maude Adams, Ethel Barrymore, Otis Skinner, Nellie Melba, and Ignace Paderewski. The photographs include originals by Arnold Genthe, one of America's leading portrait photographers.

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1975-1980

Biography: Dancer, director, choreographer, dance historian.

Description: Includes biographical materials., working papers, drawings, photographs, programs, press clippings, correspondence, and promotional materials primarily for his signature choreographic works 100 Years of Minstrelsy and Three Black and Three White Refined Jubilee Minstrels-An American Documentary.

Guide

Quantity: 12.5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1933-2004

Biography: American ballet dancer and award-winning choreographer. Smuin danced with American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet where he also served as Co-Artistic Director. He choreographed numerous ballets and many film, stage, and television productions. In 1994, he founded his own company, Smuin Ballet.

Description: The collection includes personal correspondence, publicity and business operations of the San Francisco Ballet and the Smuin Ballet, programs, video recordings, clippings, photograph and memorabilia. Also includes materials from Smuin's parents, brother, son and wife Paul Tracy.

Guide

Description: Over 100 original drawings by Antonio Sotomayor of performing arts personalities.

Manuscript for her book on the Christensen brothers

Quantity: 5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1976-1991

Biography: Dance scholar, historian, film maker and program coordinator for the San Francisco Performing Arts Library & Museum.

Description: Manuscripts, video footage, documentation for his film projects, That's Beach Blanket Babylon, Lew Christesen: The Triumph of American Dance, ABT 50th Anniversary Gala and Nijinska: A Legend in Dance.

Guide

Biography: An ardent San Francisco philanthropist who devoted most of her energies during the 1920s towards helping Gaetano Merola establish the San Francisco Opera.

Description: Includes correspondence to and from Merola; in-depth financial records from the Opera's early years; press clippings; historical photographs.

Quantity: 1.5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1916-

Biography: One of America's leading dance teachers, herself a student of Anna Pavlova, who served on the faculty of the School of American Ballet for over thirty-five years.

Description: Correspondence, programs, and promotional pieces, printed matter on Stuart's career andphotographic images of Stuart as a dancer with the Pavlova Company and dozens of signedphotographs of her contemporaries in dance, opera and the related arts, including such luminaries as Lincoln Kirstein, Anna Pavlova, and Charles Chaplin.

Guide

Quantity: 120 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1935-2013

Biography: Conrad Susa was an award winning composer, serving as the Musical Director for several prominent companies such as the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. His diverse works included operas, chorale compositions, and music for theatrical productions. Along his active work as a composer, Susa was also a teacher, working with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 1988 unitl his death.

Description: Correspondence, working documents, libretti, press clippings, photographic materials, programs, promotional materials, scrapbooks, sheet music, sound recordings, and transcripts.

Guide

Letters, photographs from stage manager Philburn Friedman who worked on many of Bob Fosse's shows and the material gathered by his sister Annette Trubowitsch for her book about him.

Quantity: 1.5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1920-1956

Biography: Italian born composer, conductor and pianist who was active in the San Francisco musical scene from the 1930s to1950s leading such orchestra's as the WPA orchestra and the SF Chamber Symphony.

Description: Contains photos and snapshots of Usigli and groups with which he was associated as well as recordings, clippings and original and photographed scores of Mr. Usigli's compositions.

Guide

Quantity: 13.3 linear feet

History/Biography: San Francisco performers

Description: Personal collection from the Valerga family, including costumes, photographs, letters, programs, libretti, scores, scrapbooks. Many of the programs are from the Tivoli Opera House. Adelina Patti and Alice Nielsen are among the noted performers who also feature in this collection.

Guide

Quantity: 1 linear ft.

Inclusive dates: 1916-1992

Biography: Dutch-born and trained conductor and cellist who came to the United Statesat the age of 24. Served as principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, associate conductor and principal cellist of the San Francisco Symphony under Pierre Monteux and assistant conductor and principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Description: Programs, photographs, reviews, and letters from Yehudi Menuhin and Leopold Stokowski.

Quantity: 1 linear foot

Inclusive dates: 1944-2006

Biography: Prima ballerina with the San Francisco Ballet from 1956-1972 who appeared in the original full-length American premiers of Coppelia, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. She also performed with New York City Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera.

Description: Programs, photographs, press materials. Also clippings of reviews of Vollmar's performances throughout her career, primarily from San Francisco newspapers, but also extensive clippings from her years in Australia and New Zealand, as well as reviews of world tours. A representative sampling of SF Ballet programs.

Guide

Photos of Waldman's dance and theater photography

Quantity: 42.5 linear feet

Inclusive dates: 1957-2013

Biography and Description: June Watanabe has created contemporary dance theater works and collaborated with distinguished artists from diverse disciplines including taiko masters, visual artists like Ruth Asawa and Sandra Woodall, and choreographers Remy Charlip and Alonzo King. Her work incorporates and illuminates the Japanese American experience and explores ritualistic formalities and womanhood. June and her family were held in an internment camp for three years, and her internment works have been used to teach students and the general public about the relocation and displacement of Japanese Americans during WWII. The June Watanabe Papers contains documentation highlighting Watanabe's extensive career in dance, the history of her troupe, June Watanabe Dance Company (1980-1985)/June Watanabe in Company (1985-2006), and her teachings.

Guide

Photos by Minor White and others of the Interplayers