Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts Library

ben Avram (Rachmael) Papers, 1950s-1960s

Rachmael ben Avram Papers, 1950s-1960s

Summary

Creators:
Ben Avram, Rachmael
Abstract:
Extent:
5 Boxes. 2 linear feet.
Language:
Preferred citation:

Rachmael ben Avram Papers. Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts Library

Background

Scope and content:

The obvious highlights of the collection are visual: the colored 35 mm. slides and the black-and white photos of Company of the Golden Hind productions, mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area, during the 1950's and perhaps the early 1960's [none of the material is dated]. There are some programs in this file and there are additional programs in the Company of the Golden Hind file in the theater companies file in the Theater Collection at PALM. Actually, the scope and significance of the work of Rachmael ben Avram and of the Company of the Golden Hind is only hinted at by the contents of this collection. Anyone wanting detailed and voluminous material for research purposes should also consult newspaper or other files or documentations of local theatrical activity during the time span indicated above.

Biographical / historical:

New York-born Rachmael ben Avram was educated at University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Tech, and Mills College. He studied drama in France via a Fulbright grant, and in 1959 he was one of the ten recipients in America to be awarded a Ford Foundation grant to theater directors so that he could travel and observe theater practices in Japan, Greece, Germany, France, and England. Mr. ben Avram founded the Company of the Golden Hind in Berkeley and San Francisco in 1951; he directed the Cathedral Civic Theater in San Francisco; he was general director of the Oakland National Repertory Theater; he produced his own weekly TV program ("On Stage"); and, among other similar activities he pursued, he was a lecturer in the Speech Department at U. C. Berkeley. Mr. ben Avram currently lives in Paris. The Company of the Golden Hind is no longer extant.

Acquisition information:
The Rachmael ben Avram Papers were donated to the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum on April 29, 1994 by Rachmael ben Avram.

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Theaters--California
Names:
Cathedral Civic Theater
Company of the Golden Hind
Oakland National Repertory Theater

Access and use

Restrictions:

Entire Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Reproduction of these materials can occur only if the copying falls within the provisions of the doctrine of fair use. Copyright varies by item.

Preferred citation:

Rachmael ben Avram Papers. Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts Library

Location of this collection:
2200 Jerrold Avenue
Suite T
San Francisco, CA 94124, US
Contact:
4157413531
info@mpdsf.org
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