Overview
Costume and set designs, production notes, and other material created by American theater designer Joe Gerson.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1952-1970
Creator
- Gerson, Joe, 1927-2005 (Person)
Condition Description
Most items are in good condition, but some are fragile. Two of three scrapbooks are composed of decaying acidic paper, and several items are adhered to each other. Use caution when handling.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
A portion of this collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. Retrieval requires advance notice. Readers should check with Houghton Public Services staff to determine what material is offsite and retrieval policies and times.
This collection contains fragile materials that require special care in handling. Please request assistance as needed with brittle pages or materials stuck together.
Extent
2.75 linear feet (8 boxes)Collection includes set designs, costume designs, production notes, and related materials created by designer Joe Gerson for numerous productions at New York and regional theaters, including the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, New York. Also included are three scrapbooks, two of which document Gerson's career and one which contains ephemera.
Biographical / Historical
Gerson, born in 1927, was an American set, costume, and lighting designer for theaters in the Mid-Atlantic region, especially those in Pennsylvania and New York. Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Gerson began his theater design career as an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University, where he majored in art and was an active member of the Penn State Players. He later went on to design for numerous professional and regional productions. He frequently worked with the Millville Playhouse in Millville, Pennsylvania, as well as with the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, New York.
Other theaters he worked with include the Dramatic Arts Center (Ann Arbor, MI), Bliss Repertory Theater (Richmond, VA), Arena Theater (Rochester, NY), Larchmont Touring Players, Inc., McLean Summer Theater, Mountain Theater (Braddock Heights, MD), Cape Cod Melody Tent (Hyannis, MA), and the Colonie Musical Theatre (Latham, NY).
(Source: This biographical information gathered from a variety of sources by the archivist.)
Arrangement
Collection arranged as received from donor.
Physical Location
Harvard Depository
Immediate Source of Acquisition
2023MT-18. Gift of Boo-Hooray, 2022 November 8.
Processing Information
This collection has been processed to a basic level with minimal rehousing, organization, and preservation. (Rebecca Kelly-Bowditch, 2022 November)
Creator
- Gerson, Joe, 1927-2005 (Person)
- Title
- Gerson, Joe. Joe Gerson papers, circa 1952-1970 (MS Thr 2238) : Guide.
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Houghton Library, Harvard University.
- Date
- 2022 November 14
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- hou03512
Repository Details
Part of the Houghton Library Repository
Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.
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