Lee, Ellen K.

Ellen K. Lee, Orange County historian and Helena Modjeska authority, was born in 1918 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Lee studied English literature at Wellesley College, graduating in 1938. Seeking a warmer climate, she moved to Los Angeles in the late 1940s with her husband. In 1956, she moved to Newport Beach where she raised four sons and pursued scholarly interests including lecturing and writing about local history. Lee first learned of Helena Modjeska while completing a writing assignment for a UC Irvine professor in 1965. Intrigued by Modjeska, Lee eventually became a leading expert on the nineteenth-century Polish actress. When the canyon home where Modjeska had lived was acquired by Orange County in 1986, Lee played an instrumental role in the development of the historical site. She was a founding member of the non-profit Helena Modjeska Foundation, formed to support the Orange County Historical Park where the home was located, and would eventually serve as director of the organization. During the next two decades she played a prominent role in the foundation by offering historical research, acquiring archival photographs, creating interpretive exhibits, and producing a video about Modjeska and her home. Lee visited Poland twice for research purposes and travelled to a number of theaters in the United States, London, and Berlin where Modjeska performed. to support the Orange County Historical Park where the home was located, and would eventually serve as director of the organization. During the next two decades she played a prominent role in the foundation by offering historical research, acquiring archival photographs, creating interpretive exhibits, and producing a video about Modjeska and her home. Lee visited Poland twice for research purposes and travelled to a number of theaters in the United States, London, and Berlin where Modjeska performed.

From the description of Ellen K. Lee collection on Helena Modjeska and Orange County, 1874-2005. (University of California, Irvine). WorldCat record id: 646347756

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