Guide to the Greenfield Family Letters MSS.3358
Greenfield, robert
- Publication:
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
Mary Harmon Bryant Hall
May 2011
500 Hackberry Lane
Box 870266
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 35487-0266
205.348.0500
archives@ua.edu
- Creation:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2011-05-20T16:04-0500
- Language Usage:
English
- Description Rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Greenfield Family Letters
- Unit ID:
MSS.3358
- Repository:
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
- Quantity:
0.05 Linear feet (14 letters, 14 envelopes)
- Dates:
Bulk, 1943-1944
- Dates:
1943-1948
- Abstract:
Fourteen letters sent to Robert W. Greenfield and his family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Most of the letters were sent by his mother Ida, who worked as a costumer for several Hollywood films during the 1930s and 40s.
- Access Restrictions:
Conditions Governing Access note
none
- Acquisition Information:
Provenance
Gift of Wade Hall, 2006
- Preferred Citation:
Preferred Citation note
Greenfield Family Letters, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
- Processing Information:
Processing Information note
Processed by Kendal Spires, 2011
Biographical/Historical note
Robert W. Greenfield was born in Pennsylvania in 1907 to Maurice D. and Ida S. Greenfield. He was a lawyer who lived in Philadelphia and was married to Bunny; they had a daughter, Maxine. Maurice Greenfield was an optometrist who lived in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, while Ida worked as a costumer in the movie industry in Los Angeles on such films as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Night and Day. Maurice and Ida were likely divorced or separated. Ida and her family were Jewish.
Scope and Contents note
This collection contains fourteen letters sent to Robert (Bob) W. Greenfield. Two letters were sent from his wife Bunny in 1941; she and their daughter Maxine were visiting Bob's mother Ida in Los Angeles while Maxine recovered from an illness.
Nine letters were from Ida to Bob, Bunny, and Maxine. She kept them updated with latest news on family members in Los Angeles, her sometimes ill health, and her job as a costumer in Hollywood. Ida told of receiving Christmas presents from Olivia de Haviland and Alexis Smith, wrote a letter in Joan Leslie's dressing room, and dressed Alexis Smith for her wedding to Craig Stevens. She also wrote of working on the films The Horn Blows at Midnight and Hollywood Canteen. One of Ida's letters also talked of the hate spread by Nazi Germany against Jewish people and the "undercurrent" of negativity she felt even in the studio.
Three letters were from Bob's father Maurice D. Greenfield. He wrote of insurance and mortgage matters, a visit from Aunt Dora, and an upcoming visit by Bob, Bunny, and Maxine.
The collection also contains a newspaper clipping from Bunny's letters and a photograph from one of Maurice's letters.
Greenfield letters Box SC0065 Folder 3358.01