Esther-Rachel Kaminska Theater Museum

Title: Esther-Rachel Kaminska Theater Museum

Inclusive Dates: ca. 1900-1939

ID: RG 8

Extent Information

38'6" + 10 mpd; 90 5"lgl; 2 3"lgl; 2 3"ovr; 52 map folders

Arrangement

Organization: Boxes 1-34 are arranged in folder numerical sequence; boxes 35-37 and 89-91 are arranged alphabetically by actor name; and other boxes are partially arranged

Arrangement: The collection is divided into 9 series: I) Plays; II)Posters; III) Playbills; IV) Photographs; V) Theater ensembles; VI) Drama groups; VII) Critical reviews; VIII) Biographical material; IX) Kaminska family

Creators

Esther-Rachel Kaminska Theater Museum

Administrative/Biographical History

In 1927, Ida Kaminska and Zygmunt Turkow donated the papers of Esther-Rachel Kaminska, known as the "mother" of Yiddish theater, to the YIVO Institute in Vilna. With the gift, the Esther-Rachel Kaminska Yiddish Theater Museum was established as part of the YIVO. The present collection consists of what remains of the museum's original holdings.

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Culture
Film and Cinema
Literature
Lithuania
Music
Musicians
Poland
Russia
Soviet Union
Theater
United States
USSR
YIVO - Vilna

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Documents
Documents - Collection
Documents - Plays
Photographs
Posters

Finding Aid Information

Card Catalog: Yiddish, typed, to playbills, posters, photographs; Inventory: Yiddish, 22 pp., ms. to plays

Administrative Information

Access Notes: YIVO Archives collections are open to researchers only by appointment with an archivist. To inquire about papers and records, write to Chief Archivist, archives@yivo.cjh.org. To inquire about photographs and films, write to Photo and Film Archivist at Photofilm@yivo.cjh.org. To inquire about sound recordings, write to Sound Archivist, lsklamberg@yivo.cjh.org. For art works and artifacts, write to Chief Archivist at archives@yivo.cjh.org.

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Description:

Note to researchers: This collection is currently closed in preparation for the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Collections Project.

The collection includes handwritten manuscripts, playbills, posters, correspondence, clippings and photographs relating to Jewish theater in Poland and other countries before World War II. The following materials are included: Original manuscripts and handwritten copies of plays in Yiddish by S. An-Ski, Leon Kobrin, Joseph Latteiner, N. Rakow, Isidore Zolatarevsky and others. Playbills of theater productions, concerts, recitals, shows, films, amateur performances. Posters of theater performances. Photographs of individual actors arranged alphabetically. Materials on amateur drama circles in Poland. Clippings of critical reviews. Biographical materials about actors, directors, producers, musicians, composers. The following theater groups are among those represented in the collection: Vilna Troupe; Ararat, Lodz; VIKT (Varshever Yidisher Kunst Teater - Warsaw Yiddish Art Theater); Yung-Teater, Warsaw; GOSET (Gossudarstvenny Evreiskii Teatr - State Jewish Theater), Moscow; Yiddish Art Theater, New York; Habimah, Moscow-Tel-Aviv. Materials on theater personalities are comprised of fragments of individual collections which were in the possession of YIVO in Vilna. There are extensive files on Herz Grossbard, David Herman, Ida Kaminska, Esther-Rachel Kaminska, Nahum Lipovski, Zygmunt Turkow, Yosef Vinogradov, Rudolf Zaslavsky.