- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"76.5 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"79 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Vim 1976-002", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21776", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1933-1981", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1933/1981"}
- date_inclusive_start
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1933
- date_inclusive_end
-
1981
- keydate
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1933
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"George Jenkins papers and designs"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</span> <span class=\"subarea\">Billy Rose Theatre Division</span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"George Jenkins was a set designer, lighting designer and architect. He designed for both theater and film. His most famous theatrical designs are <span class=\"title\">Sly Fox</span> (1976), <span class=\"title\">Wait Until Dark</span> (1966), <span class=\"title\">13 Daughters</span> (1961), <span class=\"title\">The Miracle Worker</span> (1959), <span class=\"title\">The Happiest Millionaire</span> (1956-1957), <span class=\"title\">Too Late the Phalarope</span> (1956), <span class=\"title\">The Desk Set</span> (1955-1956), and <span class=\"title\">Two for the Seesaw</span> (1954). The collection is primarily designs and production materials."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>George Jenkins Papers and Designs, *T-VIM 1976-022. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Jenkins, George, 1908-2007", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>George Clarke Jenkins was a set designer, lighting designer and architect known for his realism and attention to detail. He was born on November 19, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. Though originally trained as an architect, in the 1930s Jenkins began designing (and constructing) sets for summer stock and small independent theater troupes. In 1938 <span class=\"persname\">Jo Mielziner</span> hired him as an assistant. Jenkins worked for him for three years - drafting and model-making, supervising the construction and painting of sets, and buying props. 1943 saw Jenkins’s independent Broadway debut as a set and lighting designer with <span class=\"title\">Early to Bed</span> at the Broadhurst Theatre. The next year his designs for <span class=\"title\">I Remember Mama</span> caught the attention of Samuel Goldwyn, who lured Jenkins to Hollywood to design for Goldwyn/RKO. His first motion picture design was for <span class=\"title\">The Best Years of Our Lives</span>, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. For many years Jenkins continued designing for Broadway as well as Hollywood, equally at ease with stage and screen.</p> <p>In the 1950s Jenkins added another medium to his design roster – that of television. He worked as a color specialist at both NBC and CBS, and in 1955 married <span class=\"persname\">Phyllis Adams</span>, a pioneering television producer at NBC. Jenkins worked steadily through the 1950s on productions including <span class=\"title\">The Desk Set</span> (1954), <span class=\"title\">The Happiest Millionaire</span> (1957) and <span class=\"title\">Too Late the Phalarope</span> (1956). (The sets for the latter two were both nominated for Tony awards.) In 1959 he designed the sets for the stage version of <span class=\"title\">The Miracle Worker</span>, and in 1962 he designed the sets for the film version. (His sets were meant to closely resemble the actual home of Helen Keller in Georgia.) Jenkins also designed the sets for <span class=\"title\">Wait Until Dark</span> (1966) on Broadway and then on film.</p> <p>During the 1950s and 1960s Jenkins also worked as an architect, often bringing together all of his areas of expertise by designing actual theater buildings for clients like the University of Pennsylvania. In the early 1970s Jenkins moved to California to focus more exclusively on film work. His final two Broadway productions were <span class=\"title\">Night Watch</span> (1972) and <span class=\"title\">Sly Fox</span> (1976). <span class=\"title\">Sly Fox</span> was notable for its use of turntable sets, an ingenious solution that earned Jenkins a Tony nomination.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>This collection primarily documents Jenkins career as a set designer for the theater. It is rich in creative designs and technical drawings, often including everything from rough preliminary sketches to the most detailed plans. There are also production materials, programs, scripts, and scrapbooks. <span class=\"title\">Annie Get Your Gun</span> (1957-1958) and <span class=\"title\">The Miracle Worker</span> (1959-1963) are especially well represented throughout the collection. For example, in the case of <span class=\"title\">The Miracle Worker</span> (1959-1963), the collection has multiple drafts of the script, production materials, several programs, and designs and elevations for the Broadway sets as well as the touring companies. The only papers not directly related to productions are some assorted professional papers and correspondence, photographs of Jenkins, and architectural designs (of theaters). There is very little of a personal nature, and Jenkins’s papers related to his career as a motion picture and television set designer were donated to the library at UCLA.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The George Jenkins papers and designs are arranged in eight series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21776#c463148'>Series I: Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1933-1969; undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series is composed of letters not directly related to a specific production. Jenkins’s responses are filed with the other correspondents name whenever possible. Notable correspondents include the costume designer <span class=\"persname\">Dorothy Jeakins</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Jo Mielziner</span>.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21776#c463180'>Series II: Professional Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>ca. 1933-1976; undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The Professional Papers series consists of items not directly related to specific productions. This includes professional biographies, a portion of a daily calendar, clippings about Jenkins that aren’t design related, general material sources, financial documents, organizations/councils to which Jenkins belonged, Philadelphia Art Alliance Awards he received, and professional photograph.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21776#c463201'>Series III: Scripts</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1950-1971; undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Considering the sheer number of theater productions Jenkins designed, the collection contains few scripts. Of special interest are the multiple drafts of <span class=\"title\">The Miracle Worker</span> (1959), one of which includes the author’s notes.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21776#c463214'>Series IV: Production Materials</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1933-1972; undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>11 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Production Materials are organized by production name and include items such as correspondence and notes directly related to production, photographs, receipts and cost estimates, clippings, color samples in the form of fabric and/or paint, research, rough sketches, and material sources. Both <span class=\"title\">The Miracle Worker</span>(1959-1963) and <span class=\"title\">Two for the Seesaw</span> (1954-1960) have several companies/productions and are particularly thorough, as are the materials for <span class=\"title\">Annie Get Your Gun</span> (1957) and <span class=\"title\">Around the World in 80 Days</span> (1963-1964).</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21776#c463412'>Series VI: Programs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1933-1972; undated</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21776#c463423'>Series VII: Scrapbooks</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1938-1945</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21776#c463426'>Series VIII: Designs and Plans</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1943-1972; undated</div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21776#c463624'>Series VIII: Architectural Designs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1956-1971; undated</div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I: Correspondence, 1933-1969; undated</li> <li>Series II: Professional Papers, 1933-1981; undated</li> <li>Series III: Scripts, 1950-1971; undated</li> <li>Series IV: Production Materials, 1933-1972; undated</li> <li>Series V: Programs, 1933-1972; undated</li> <li>Series VI: Scrapbooks, 1938-1945</li> <li>Series VII: Designs and Plans, 1943-1972; undated</li> <li>Series VIII: Architectural Designs, 1956-1971; undated</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The George Jenkins Papers and Designs were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 1976 by George Jenkins.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Arts Library Special Collections, University Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Jennifer L. Winters; Machine-readable finding aid created by Jennifer L. Winters.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
76.5 linear feet (79 boxes)
- date_start
-
1933
- date_end
-
1981