Guide to the Collection of Bernard Zakheim MSS.2014.15
University of California, San Francisco Archives & Special Collections
530 Parnassus Ave
Room 524
San Francisco, CA 94143-0840
libraryarchives@ucsf.edu
Contributing Institution:
University of California, San Francisco Archives & Special Collections
Title: Bernard Zakheim collection
Creator:
Zakheim, Bernard Baruch
Creator:
Zakheim, Masha
Creator:
Wrightson, Phyllis
Creator:
Leake, Chauncey Depew
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2014.15
Physical Description:
7 Linear Feet
(6 boxes, 4 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1902-2010 (bulk 1935-1990)
Abstract: This collection contains material regarding the life and work of artist Bernard Zakheim. Much of the collection relates to
the creation and restoration of Zakheim's Toland Hall and Cole Hall murals at the University of California, San Francisco.
Included are writings, biographical material, audiovisual material, correspondence, works of art, and printed material created
by Zakheim and members of his family.
Language of Material: Material is predominantly in English. Some printed material and writings in Yiddish, Polish, and Spanish.
Biographical / Historical
Bernard Baruch Zakheim (circa 1898-1985) was a Polish-born artist who worked in San Francisco, California as a sculptor and
muralist. He fought in World War I and immigrated to San Francisco in 1920. He first worked as a master upholsterer and later
became a custom furniture manufacturer. Continuing the art studies he had begun in Poland, Zakheim visited Diego Rivera in
Mexico in 1930 and studied in France, Italy, and Hungary. During the Great Depression in the United States, Zakheim worked
on federally funded art projects in San Francisco through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). He completed murals for
the Jewish Community Center, the Alemany Health Center, and Coit Tower. In 1935, with the support of Chauncey Leake and Isabella
Perry, Zakheim and his assistant Phyllis Wrightson began work on two frescoes at UCSF. Originally located in Cole Hall and
Toland Hall, the murals depicted the history of medicine and major figures in UCSF's history. The university murals project,
which was partially funded by the WPA Federal Art Project and also sponsored by the university, was a collaborative effort
between Zakheim's team and UCSF faculty, including UCSF doctors George Lyman, Langley Porter, Salvatore P. Lucia, W. E. Carter,
and F. W Lynch. These murals were wallpapered over in the 1950s and eventually restored with the help of two of Zakheim's
children, Masha Zakheim and Nathan Zakheim. During World War II, many of Zakheim's family members were killed during the Nazi
Holocaust. This trauma influenced Zakheim's later work, including his Warsaw Ghetto Uprising project. Zakheim married Eda
Spiegelman in 1920 and Phyllis Wrightson in 1940. Two of Zakheim's children, Masha and Nathan Zakheim, helped preserve the
legacy of Zakheim's work through restoration efforts. Masha Zakheim (1931-2014) was an art historian who published work on
Bernard Zakheim, New Deal art, and Diego Rivera. Nathan Zakheim became an art conservator and helped manage his father's art
collection.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains material regarding the life and work of artist Bernard Zakheim. Much of the collection relates to
the creation and restoration of Zakheim's Toland Hall and Cole Hall murals at the University of California, San Francisco.
The collection includes biographical material, writings, works of art, and correspondence created by Zakheim, his daughter
Masha Zakheim, his assistant and second wife Phyllis Wrightson, and Chauncey Leake. The collection contains exhibit announcements
and clippings related to Zakheim's artworks as well as audiovisual material including photographs and video recordings. Audiovisual
subjects include portraits of Zakheim at work, New Deal art, WPA murals, Coit Tower, and "The Jewish Wedding" at the San Francisco
Jewish Community Center. Also included are recorded oral history interviews with Bernard Zakheim completed in the 1970s.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in five series: Series I. Personal and biographical material, 1902-2003, Series II. Correspondence,
1930-2007, Series III. Writings and works of art, 1936-1994, Series IV. Printed material, 1928-2005, Series V. Audiovisual
material, 1935-2010. Series V is divided into three subseries: 1. Photographs, 1935-1998, 2. Video recordings, 1970-2010,
3. Printing blocks, 1948-1972.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Confidential personal material has been restricted at the folder level.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright for some materials has not been assigned to the UCSF Library and Center for Knowledge Management. All requests for
permission to publish material must be submitted in writing to the UCSF Archivist. Permission for publication is given on
behalf of the Library and Center for Knowledge Management as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Custodial History
Portions of the collection were donated by Nathan Zakheim in 2014, including oral histories which he received from Robert
Sherins. Other portions of the collection were transferred from the Archives Classification Collection in 2014. Off Center
Video films were donated by Margot Smith in 2014.
Preferred Citation
Bernard Zakheim Collection, 1902-2010, MSS 2014-15. Archives and Special Collections, University of California, San Francisco.
Processing Information
Processing completed in 2015 by Kelsi Evans.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
University of California, San Francisco
Medicine and Art
Mural painting and decoration
Judaism and art
box 1
Personal and biographical material Series I
1902-2003
box 1, folder 1
Bernard Zakheim resumes and biographies
Conditions Governing Access
Resumes containing restricted personal information have been redacted and the originals restricted.
box 1, folder 2
Inventories of Bernard Zakheim's artworks
1972-2003
box 1, folder 3
Works Progress Administration forms
1935
box 1, folder 4
Warszawa book of photographs and postcard
1902
Language of Material: The book is in Polish and the postcard is in Yiddish.
box 1
Correspondence Series II
1930-2007
Scope and Contents
Contains correspondence and related material from Bernard Zakheim, Masha Zakheim, Chauncey Leake, Herb Caen, Robert Sproul,
Clark Kerr, the UCSF Alumni-Faculty Association, and others. It is predominantly professional in nature and concerns the work
of Bernard Zakheim. Some personal correspondence is also included.
box 1, folder 7
Correspondence
1970-2007 (bulk 1970-1987)
box 1, folder 8
Herb Caen correspondence and clippings
1964-1985
box 1, folder 9
University of California, Office of the President correspondence
1939-1962
box 1, folders 10-11
Correspondence regarding the restoration of Zakheim's UCSF murals
1962-1985
boxes 2-3, oversize box 1
Writings and works of art Series III
1936-1994
box 2, folder 1
Poetry written and translated by Bernard Zakheim
1955-1975
box 2, folder 2
"The Frescoes of Toland Hall"
1938
box 2, folders 3-4
"Toland Hall Frescoes of the University of California Medical School" by Phyllis Wrightson, forward by Bernard Zakheim
undated
box 2, folder 5
"Where Are the Artists: Diego Rivera," [by Bernard Zakheim]
1978
box 2, folder 6
"A Painter/Sculptor Creates with Words - The American Indians: The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel" by Bernard Zakheim
circa 1980
box 2, folder 7
Masha Zakheim Jewett writings
1977-1979
box 2, folders 8-10
"The Art of Medicine: The Zakheim Frescoes at UCSF" by Masha Zakheim
1991-1994
box 3, folder 1
Phyllis Wrightson sketchbook
circa 1936
box 3, folder 2
Donner Party subject file
box 3, folder 4
Louis Pasteur subject file
oversized-box 1
Bernard Zakheim sketches and watercolor paintings
1957
boxes 3-5
Printed material Series IV
1928-2005
Scope and Contents
Publications and clippings include articles by Bernard Zakheim, Masha Zakheim, Herb Caen, and Chauncey Leake. Several of the
publications include inscriptions by Phyllis Wrightson and Bernard Zakheim.
box 3, folders 9-10
Flyers, programs, and catalogs
1928-2005
box 4, folder 1
Magazines and journals
1937-1997
box 4, folder 2
University of California, San Francisco publications
1955-1982
box 4, folder 3
Printed material collected by Chauncey Leake
1939-1962
box 4, folder 4
California Art Research excerpts regarding Bernard Zakheim and university hospital murals, from Works Progress Administration Project 2874
1937
box 4, folder 5
California's Medical Story in Fresco, publication arranged by Chancey Leake with a forward by Bernard Zakheim and description by Phyllis Wrightson
1939
box 4, folder 6
Los Cuadros Murales de la Facultad de Medicina de San Francisco California by J.J. Izquierdo
1942
box 5, folder 1
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 188, no. 6
1964-05-11
box 5, folder 2
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 204, no. 6
1968-05-06
box 5, folder 3
"King Cole of California" by Frances Tomlinson Gardner, reprinted from
Annals of Medical History, vol. 11, no. 3
1940
box 5, folder 4
The Opportunity for Pictorial Art in Modern Medicine: An Example in San Francisco [by Chauncey Leake]
circa 1937
box 5, folder 5
Scattered Seeds: The Descendents of Rabbi Israel, vol. I, by George I. Sackheim
1986
box 5, folder 6
Scattered Seeds: The Descendents of Rabbi Israel, vol. II, by George I. Sackheim
1986
box 5, folder 7
Spectrum, vol. 12, no. 2
Summer 1964
box 6, oversize boxes 2-4
Audiovisual and graphic material Series V
1935-2010
box 6
Photographs Subseries 1
1935-1998
Scope and Contents
Includes prints, slides, negatives, and contact sheets.
box 6, folder 1
Portraits of Bernard Zakheim and others
1936-1975
box 6, folders 2-9
Toland Hall and Cole Hall murals
1936-1980
box 6, folder 10
Genius of Healing
1975-1978
box 6, folder 11
Warsaw Ghetto Memorial Monument and Bernard Zakheim portraits
1968
box 6, folder 12
Miscellaneous works of art and unidentified slides
1935-1998
oversized-box 2
Video recordings Subseries 2
1970-2010
Scope and Contents
Contains 2 videocassettes and 62 DVDs. Included are films created by Margot Smith of Off Center Video in 2009 and 2010. Films
narrated by Nathan Zakheim and Masha Zakheim. Subjects include New Deal art, WPA murals, Coit Tower, Beach Chalet, Rincon
Annex, and "The Jewish Wedding" at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center. Also included are oral history interviews with
Bernard Zakheim completed in the 1970s. Interviews cover his childhood, experiences as a prisoner-of-war in Germany, life
in Paris, study in Tuscany, family relationships, Federal Art Project, art commissions, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising project, Coit
Tower mural, and UCSF murals.
oversized-box 3-4
Printing blocks Subseries 3
1948-1972
Scope and Contents
Contains printing blocks depicting Bernard Zakheim's UCSF murals. One set of blocks used in the 1948 edition of
Medi-Cal and donated to the archives by Alvin V.S. Hambly. Another set is labeled Phi Beta Pi.
