Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Related Material
Descriptive Summary
Title: Melvyn Helstein Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1801-1991 (bulk 1962-1984)
Collection number: A6
Collector:
University of California, Los Angeles. The Fowler Museum at UCLA
Extent: 12.5 linear feet (12 boxes) of
documents
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. The Fowler Museum at UCLA,
Kitnick-Alexander Library
Los Angeles, California 90095-1549
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Access to the archives collection is by appointment.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in
writing to the Registrar. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Fowler
Museum at UCLA 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 reader.
Digital Representations Available
Digital representations of selected materials and corresponding objects are available as
part of the Container List of the finding aid.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Melvyn Helstein Papers, The Fowler Museum at UCLA,
Kitnick-Alexander Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Biography
Melvyn B. Helstien was born in Denver, Colorado on the 2nd of February 1920. He received
his BA from the University of Washington in 1947 and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama
in 1948. In 1962, Dr. Helstien earned his Ph.D in theater at the University of Minnesota. He
taught at UCLA in the Department of Theater Arts from 1963-1986. He served as the department
Vice-chairman from 1971-1973 and again in 1981 until 1985. During his thirty-eight year
career, he directed, produced, designed or performed in dozens of UCLA theatrical
productions; lectured, and wrote with a focus on puppetry. In 1976, Dr. Helstien curated the
exhibit Asian Puppets: Wall of the World, as well as writing chapters in its accompanying
catalog for the Museum of Cultural History. He was a member of the board of directors for
the Union Internationale des Marionnettes (UNIMA-USA). Dr. Helstien died on March 6,
1990.
Scope and Content
The Melvyn B. Helstien papers consist of slides, diapositives, pen & ink illustrations,
correspondence, articles, newsletters, manuscripts, bibliographic materials, journals,
photographs, slides, index cards, and essays produced and collected by Dr. Melvyn Helstien.
The materials are from Afghanistan, Africa, Argentina, Armenia, Asia, Australia, Bali,
Belgium, Borneo, Burma, Cambodia, Canada, Ceylon, China, Cuba, the former Czechoslovakia,
Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Java, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Guinea, Norway, Pakistan,
Poland, Puerto Rico, Rumania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the
United States, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia. Dr. Helstien, professor of theater arts,
was a leading force in UCLA's Department of Theater from 1948 until his death in 1990. The
focus of the collection is on international puppetry with strengths in Southeast Asian
puppets and puppets from India.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
-
BIBLIOGRAPHIC MATERIALS - used for bibliographies and
reference lists
-
CONFERENCES - used for materials on national and
international puppetry conferences
-
CORRESPONDENCE
-
EVENTS
-
FESTIVALS
-
FOREIGN LANGUAGE MATERIALS - used for materials labeled
as such by Helvyn Helstien
-
IMAGES
-
INDIVIDUALS
-
INSTITUTIONS
-
MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTATION - used for materials labeled
as such by Melvyn Helstien
-
ORGANIZATIONS
-
PLAYS
-
PUBLISHED MATERIALS - used for materials such as
monographs, journals, and articles
-
THEATER TROUPE
-
THEATRICAL FORMS
-
UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS - used for typescripts, manuscripts
and student essays
These series are further organized into regions, countries, and states. For folders which
contain materials from a variety of areas, and for those without a specified location, the
subseries is
Puppetry.
THE DIGITAL IMAGES ARE ARRANGED IN THE FOLLOWING SERIES:
-
-PERFORMANCES - used for images of puppets during
dramatization
-
-PUPPETS - used for materials about puppets.
- For specific types of puppets, see:
-
Hand puppets - Puppets constructed with a hollow head and
arms attached to a costume fitting over the puppeteer's hand and activated by movements
of the fingers and thumb inserted in the head and arms [Webster's 3rd New International
Dictionary]
-
Marionettes - Puppets manipulated from above by strings
attached to their jointed limbs. [AAT]
-
Rod puppets - Puppets operated, usually from below, by a
main control rod with or without subsidiary rods
-
Shadow puppets - Elaborately painted, usually flat
leather, puppets originally developed in Java to cast shadows on white screens during
dramatizations.
-
String puppets - manipulated by strings or wires, or
occasionally by a rod, from above
-
-STAGES - used for scenes of stage or stage set
-
-THEATER - used for scenes of the theater building,
audience or exterior
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Helstien, Melvyn--Archives
University of California, Los Angeles. Dept. of Theater Arts--Faculty--Archival
resources
Puppet Theater
Puppets and Puppetry, Indian (East Indian)
Shadow Puppets, Indian (East Indian)
Related Material
Title: Melvyl Helstien Papers (Collection 258).
Available at the
Department of Special Collections, UCLA.