Papers of Sonya Levien, 1908-1960.

ArchivalResource

Papers of Sonya Levien, 1908-1960.

The collection consists of screenplays, literary manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, awards and ephemera. The screenplays, while not consisting of Sonya Levien's total output of seventy films, does cover the entire span of her career. The correspondence does include some personal letters but is mainly business related, including letters relating to the Metropolitan magazine and Carl Hovey as editor and correspondent. There is also material in the collection related to Levien's early involvement with the Sufferage movement, both in America and England, as well as material recounting life in England and surviving the Blitz in World War II. Other correspondents represented in the collection include: Zoe Akins, John Lloyd Balderston, Alice Stone Blackwell, John Collier, Charles T. Copeland, Richard Harding Davis, Clarence Day, Havelock Ellis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Emma Goldman, Herman Hagedorn, Harold Marsh Harwood, Carl Hovey, Fannie Hurst, Fryniwyd Tennyson Jesse, Oscar Levant, William Ludwig, Mabel Dodge Luhan, The New Yorker, John O'Hara, E. Sylvia Pankhurst, Frances Perkins, John Reed, Will Rogers, Theodore Roosevelt, Dore Schary, Rose Pastor Stokes, Leopold Stokowski, Booth Tarkington, and Darryl Zanuck.

1,181 pieces.35 boxes.

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7969994

Related Entities

There are 33 Entities related to this resource.

Gershwin, Ira, 1896-1983

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60w94tm (person)

Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his brother George Gershwin to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 20th century. Born in Brooklyn, the oldest of four children. It was not until 1924 that Ira and George teamed up to write the music for what became their first Broadway hit Lady, Be Good. Some of their more famous works include "The Man I Love", "Fascinating Rhythm", "Someone to Watch Over Me", "I Got Rhythm" and "They Can't Take That A...

Gershwin, George, 1898-1937

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6204wfj (person)

George Gershwin was a composer and pianist; his best-known works are Rhapsody in Blue (1924), An American in Paris (1928), "I Got Rhythm" (1930), and the opera Porgy and Bess (1935), which included the hit "Summertime". Gershwin moved to Hollywood and composed numerous film scores. He died in 1937 of a malignant brain tumor....

Stokowski, Leopold, 1882-1977

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hz24b1 (person)

Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) was an American conductor, who led the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, American Youth Orchestra, New York City Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, and American Symphony Orchestra. His career began with studies at the Royal College of Music in 1896 when Stokowski was just 13. He performed as an organist and choral director for several years in England,...

Rogers, Will, 1879-1935

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tz462t (person)

The youngest of eight children, William Penn Adair Rogers was born on November 4, 1879 at Rogers Ranch in Oologah, Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma). His parents, Clement Vann Rogers and Mary Schrimsher, were partly of Cherokee descent. While growing up on the family ranch, Will worked with cattle and learned to ride and lasso from a young age. He grew so talented with a rope, in fact, that he was placed in the Guiness Book of World Records for throwing three lassos at once. One went ar...

Perkins, Frances, 1880-1965

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xm951b (person)

Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American sociologist and workers-rights advocate who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition. She and Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes were the only original members of the Rooseve...

Harwood, Harold Marsh, 1874-1959

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kh14dp (person)

Epithet: playwright British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000787.0x00016f ...

Luhan, Mabel Dodge, 1879-1962

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cc12zs (person)

Mabel Ganson was born on February 20, 1879 in Buffalo, New York. She was sent to the finest boarding schools in Buffalo and Manhattan. While living in Florence, Italy and later in Greenwich Village with her second husband, Edwin Dodge, she became known for her reputation for socializing and people gathering. After Mabel and Edwin Dodge divorced, she married artist Maurice Sterne in 1916. They moved to Santa Fe, and then Taos. Antonio Luhan became her fourth husband in 1923. It was in Taos that M...

Ellis, Havelock, 1859-1939

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z03c1n (person)

British essayist, editor physician and psychologist. He studied human sexual behavior and his research for Man and Women (1894) led to his major work, the seven volume, Studies in the Psychology of Sex (1897-1928). His last writings were the essays on literature and art reprinted in Views and Reviews (1932). From the description of Havelock Ellis papers, 1871-1939 (inclusive). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702166017 From the guide to the Havelock Ellis papers, 1871-1939, (M...

Blackwell, Alice Stone, 1857-1950

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zc88pm (person)

Daughter of suffrage leaders Lucy Stone and Henry Browne Blackwell, Alice Stone Blackwell joined her parents in writing and editing the Woman's Journal. For additional biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (1971). From the description of Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1885-1950 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232008749 Editor, The woman's journal and suffrage news. From the description of Letter, 1920 Apr...

O'Hara, John, 1905-1970

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63r17d0 (person)

John O'Hara was an American novelist and short story writer originally from Pottsville, Pa. In the 1950s and 1960s O'Hara was one of the most popular, prolific, and financially successful authors in the United States. A realist-naturalist writer, O'Hara emphasized complete objectivity in his books, writing frankly about the materialistic aspirations and sexual exploits of his characters. Five of his novels were adapted for films. From the description of John O'Hara letters to H.N. Sw...

Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fk35tp (person)

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born Sept. 24, 1896 in St. Paul Minnesota. He began writing while a student at Princeton University. He met his wife, Zelda, while serving in the US Army stationed in Alabama. His novel, This Side of Paradise, was published in 1920 and he became an instant success. He published he Great Gatsby in 1925. Fitzgerald died on December 21, 1940 of a heart attack at age 44 while living in Los Angeles and working for the film industry....

Balderston, John L. (John Lloyd), 1889-1954

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6668bx1 (person)

Journalist and playwright of Beverly Hills, Calif. From the description of John L. Balderston papers, 1915-1950. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 80158323 Playwright and screenwriter, John L. Balderston was born in Philadelphia, but lived for many years in England. He trained as a journalist, was a war correspondent during World War I and in the early 1920s worked as a journalist in London. As a playwright, Balderston often worked in collaboration and ...

Levant, Oscar

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bz6xzk (person)

Pianist, composer, and writer. From the description of Printed renewal option with typed details, between Oscar Levant and Anna Sosenko, signed by both : [New York?], 1945 Apr. 30. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270916053 ...

Akins, Zoë (1886-1958).

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w3835f (person)

Zoë Akins (1886-1958) was a dramatist, novelist, poet and screenwriter. Born in Missouri, Akins wrote plays for the better part of two decades before she moved to California in 1928 and worked as a screenwriter under contract to Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She won the Pulitzer prize for her play, The old maid (1936), which she adapted from the story by Edith Wharton. From the description of Papers of Zoë Akins, 1907-1951. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical ...

Copeland, Charles Townsend, 1860-1952

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b28n3v (person)

Copeland (1860-1952) graduated from Harvard in 1882 and taught rhetoric and oratory at Harvard. From the description of Papers of Charles Townsend Copeland, 1862-1960 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 76973011 Educator, editor, and author. From the description of Charles Townsend Copeland papers, 1898-1925. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 79449796 Copeland (A.B. 1882) became an assistant professor of English at Harvard University in 1...

Tarkington, Booth, 1869-1946

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qf8tn9 (person)

"These were written at periods when Mr. Tarkington and Susanah [his wife] were in Indianapolis and they wanted to have news from Kennebunkport, Maine. We had known him very shortly after we moved to Kennebunkport in about 1917, after the war. He was known as 'the gentleman from Indiana' and was a well known author at the time the first letter in this collection was written. . . . Mr. Tarkington had rented a house in Kennebunkport for many years but decided that he would like to design his own pl...

Hovey, Carl, 1875-....

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62z24vq (person)

Davis, Richard Harding, 1864-1916

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tq63cz (person)

Epithet: Mrs; of Add MS 37312 British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000213.0x0001da American author, editor and war correspondent. From the description of Richard Harding Davis Letters concerning South Africa and the Boer War [manuscript], 1899-1900. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 611582020 American newspaperman, war correspondent and novelist. From the description of Letter to Arthur...

Pankhurst, E. Sylvia (Estelle Sylvia), 1882-1960

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dn46bk (person)

Epithet: political activist, author, and artist British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000543.0x0003c7 British suffragist, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst. From the description of The Home front Manuscript, 1932. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232006778 Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst, suffragette and leading international socialist, was at the forefront of the social struggles at the beginning...

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60h488d (person)

Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president, served 1901-1909. From the description of DS, 1904 March 1. : Washington, D.C. Homestead Certificate. (Copley Press, J S Copley Library). WorldCat record id: 15210791 26th president of the United States, 1901-1909. From the description of Theodore Roosevelt letters, 1917, 1918. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 213408920 Roosevelt was then Governor of New York. Chapman was one of the founders of the New York St...

Collier, John, 1884-1968

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vh5zhz (person)

Collier was U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs from 1933 to 1945. From the description of John Collier papers, 1932-1936, [microform] (Santa Fe Public Library). WorldCat record id: 38520724 Zitkala is the Indian name for Gertrude Bonnin, 1876-1938. From the guide to the National Council of American Indians records, 1926-1938, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections) John Collier was born on May 4, 1884 in Atlanta, Georgia. He served as editor of the journal o...

Ludwig, William, 1912-1999.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bc4tqk (person)

Levien, Sonya, 1888?-1960

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t15vxz (person)

Sonya Levien was born in Russia, most likely around 1888, although her "official" birthdate is usually given as December 25, 1898. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was eight years old, settling on the East Side of New York City. She worked her way through New York University Law School and was admitted to the Bar in 1909. Temperamentally unsuited to the practice of the law, she secured a position on the Woman's Journal. She joined the staff of Metropolitan magazine and married ...

Fitzgerald, Zelda, 1900-1948

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mq5s8n (person)

Zelda Fitzgerald (b. July 24, 1900, Montgomery, AL–d. March 10, 1948, Asheville, NC) was an American socialite, novelist, painter and wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was dubbed by her husband as "the first American Flapper". She and Scott became emblems of the Jazz Age, for which they are still celebrated. The immediate success of Scott's first novel This Side of Paradise (1920) brought them into contact with high society, but their marriage was plagued by wild drinking, infidelity and b...

Schary, Dore

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62f7rn6 (person)

Dore Schary (1905-1980) was an American motion picture producer and playwright. From the description of Dore Schary collection of letters by Confederate soldiers, 1861-1864. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122456033 Motion picture writer and producer. From the description of Reminiscences of Dore Schary : oral history, 1958. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122512760 Motion picture producer an...

Hagedorn, Hermann, 1882-1964

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z89hv3 (person)

Hermann Hagedorn was born in New York City in 1882 and educated at Harvard University, the University of Berlin, and Columbia University. From 1909 to 1911 he was an instructor in English at Harvard. Hagedorn was a friend and biographer of Theodore Roosevelt and served as Secretary and Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association from 1919 to 1957. Hagedorn died in Santa Barbara, California in 1964. From the guide to the Hermann Hagedorn papers, 1898-1970, (Beinecke Rare Book and M...

Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x63kt6 (person)

Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was an anarchist, feminist, author, editor, and lecturer on politics, literature and the arts. She was born in Lithuania and died in Canada. Her lectures and publications attracted attention throughout the U.S. and Europe. She was associated with the anarchist journal Mother Earth from 1906 to 1917 and was imprisoned for publicly advocating birth control in 1916 and pacifism in 1917. In 1919 she was deported to Russia but had to leave because of her criticism of the Bols...

Reed, John, 1887-1920

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bv7xpb (person)

Reed (Harvard, A.B. 1910) was an American journalist and revolutionary. He joined the staff of The Masses in 1913, was a war correspondent in Mexico and Europe for Metropolitan Magazine, publicist for the Russian Revolution, and head of the Communist Labor Party. From the description of John Reed additional papers, 1909-1939. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612376944 From the guide to the John Reed additional papers, 1909-1939., (Houghton Library, Harvard College L...

Day, Clarence, 1874-1935

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6np2d27 (person)

Author and illustrator Clarence Day, best known for his book Life With Father, was born in New York City on November 18, 1874. He graduated from Yale College in 1896, then worked in his father's brokerage house and served briefly in the U. S. Navy. In 1898 he was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis. He traveled for some years in search of a cure, then settled in New York, where he became active in the alumni affairs of Yale College and launched his writing career. Day's essays, book reviews, shor...

Stokes, Rose Pastor, 1879-1933

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s18491 (person)

Rose Pastor Stokes was a Communist and an editor, lecturer, and author. From the description of Letter, 1914. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232007901 Social worker, reformer, and author. From the description of Playscripts of Rose Pastor Stokes, 1913-1915. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71068623 Rose Pastor Stokes was a factory worker from 1890-1902, and a journalist from 1903-1905. In 1917-1918, she opposed the entry of the United States int...

Jesse, F. Tennyson (Fryniwyd Tennyson), 1888-1958

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pz5m1g (person)

Hurst, Fannie

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sj1zpd (person)

American author, lecturer, and commentator. From the description of Papers, ca. 1910s-1965. (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (HRC); University of Texas at Austin). WorldCat record id: 122547416 American author; prominent in philanthropic and civic affairs. From the description of Papers, 1913-1968. (Washington University in St. Louis). WorldCat record id: 28419697 Hurst expressed her reformist views on the rights of women, homosexuals, and Europe...

Zanuck, Darryl Francis, 1902-1979

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pn99hf (person)

American location manager for Twentieth Century-Fox. From the description of Preservation photocopy of a telegram : Los Angeles, Calif., to John Steinbeck, 1949 Apr. 19. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 777685508 Epithet: of Twentieth-Century-Fox Film Corporation British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000564.0x0001ac Screenplay writer, author, and motion picture director. From the guide ...