Lester Donahue Performing Arts Collection
Collection 011
The Lester Donahue Performing Arts Collection
The Lester Donahue Performing Arts Collection (ca. 1871- ca. 1963) is part of the holdings of the Department of Archives and Special Collections in the Charles Von der Ahe Library at Loyola Marymount University. The collection is open to all researchers who are willing to comply with the rules of the Department of Archives and Special Collections.
The collection consist of hundreds of autographed editions of biographies and autobiographies of theater and film personalities from the 1880-90s to the 1950s; emphasis on artists of 1910-1930. Several boxes of playbills, programs, and clippings accompany this group.
The collection also contains a substantial amount of material pertaining to Madame Helena Modjeska, a 19th century actress who immigrated to the Orange County area in 1876. Modjeska materials include books, photographs, letters, playbills, scrapbooks, typescript biographies, and several artifacts belonging to the actress. See: Series One: Clippings, box 3, folder 171 Series Two: Programs, Box 5, folders 24, 42, and 43; box 6, folder 62; box 14ov, folder 8. Series Five: Portraits, Subseries B: Helena Modjeska Series Seven: Music Box 9ov, folders 1 and 2. Series Eight: Scrapbooks Series Nine: Artifacts, Box 12ov, folders 13-16.
The collection is divided into the following series and subseries:
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