Recordings of an interdisciplinary conference co-sponsored by Humanities West and the Archives of American Art, held in San Francisco, California, 1985 March 29-31, at the Asian Art Museum. The participants speak about the environment for the arts in Los Angeles during the 1940s. They include: architectural historian Reyner Banham, actor Claudia Barr, columnist Digby Diehl, art historian Susan Ehrlich, writer William Fadiman, actor Hal Haswell, coordinator Paul Karlstrom, professor Edward Kaufmann, actor Douglas Leach, choreographer Bella Lewitzky, architectural historian Esther McCoy, music historian Michael Meyer, dancer Iris Pell, film critic Robert Rosen, historian Kevin Starr, and music historians Leonard Stein and Michael Steinberg.
General:
Originally recorded on 4 sound cassettes.
Provenance:
Donated 1985 by Humanities West.
Collection Restrictions:
Use requires an appointment.
Topic:
Art, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
Arts -- California -- Los Angeles -- History Search this
Genre/Form:
Sound recordings
Sponsor:
Funding for the digital preservation of these recordings was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service.
An interview of Bella Lewitzky conducted 1965 Apr. 21, by Betty Hoag, for the Archives of American Art.
Biographical / Historical:
Bella Lewitzky (1916-2004) was a dancer, associated with the Federal Dance Project.
General:
Originally recorded on 2 sound tape reels. Reformatted in 2010 as 2 digital wav files. Duration is 1 hr., 11 min.
Provenance:
Conducted as part of the Archives of American Art's New Deal and the Arts project, which includes over 400 interviews of artists, administrators, historians, and others involved with the federal government's art programs and the activities of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s and early 1940s.
Scrapbook containing clippings, theater programs, and newspaper articles about Lewitzky's career as a dancer in the southern California dance troupe the Lester Horton Group and the WPA Federal Theater Dance Group.
Biographical / Historical:
Ballet dancer, San Bernardino, Calif. Attended high school and junior college in San Bernardino. Danced with the WPA Federal Theatre Dance Group before joining the Lester Horton Group in Los Angeles where she became the group's prima ballerina.
Provenance:
Lent for microfilming 1964 by Bella Lewitsky.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Ballet dancers -- California -- Los Angeles Search this
