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Finding Aid of the Charles Boyer French Research Foundation Collection
1132  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content
  • Organization and Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms
  • Index
  • Related Material

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Charles Boyer French Research Foundation Collection,
    Date (inclusive): 1939-1950,
    Date (bulk): 1939-1946
    Collection number: 1132
    Creator: French Research Foundation of Los Angeles
    Extent: 72 boxes (35.5 linear ft.)
    Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
    Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
    Abstract: Charles Boyer and friends founded the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles, California, in the late 1930s to collect information on France and her people and their historical, artistic, and cultural background. Boyer hoped the Hollywood movie industry would use the research and library facilities of the Foundation to provide audiences with truer images of the French people than the existing stereotypes. The collection consists of newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and photographs assembled by the Foundation for the library. Materials mainly cover 1939-46, documenting occupied France, activities of the Free French movement, and the post-war diplomatic relations of France.
    Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
    Language: English.

    Administrative Information

    Restrictions on Access

    COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

    Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

    Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Charles Boyer French Research Foundation collection (Collection 1132). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 1470441 

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Charles Boyer, 1970.

    Biography

    Charles Boyer and friends founded the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles, California, in the late 1930s to collect information on France and her people and their historical, artistic, and cultural background; this information was to be disseminated to the American people either directly or through the media; Boyer hoped especially that the Hollywood movie industry would use the research and library facilities of the Foundation to provide audiences with truer images of the French people than the existing stereotypes.

    Scope and Content

    Collection consists of newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and photographs assembled by Boyer and the French Research Foundation of Los Angeles for the library. Materials mainly cover 1939-46, documenting occupied France, activities of the Free French movement, and the post-war diplomatic relations of France. Includes ephemera issued by the Free French organizations in London, New York, and Algiers.

    Expanded Scope and Content Note

    Charles Boyer, the internationally famous screen star, was vitally interested in the Free French Movement and was a moving force behind the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles. The avowed purpose of the Institute was to collect information concerning France and her people and their historical, artistic and cultural background. This knowledge was then to be disseminated to the people of the United States either directly or through motion pictures, radio and television. It was Mr. Boyer's particular hope that those involved in the movie industry in Hollywood would avail themselves of the research and library facilities of the Institute in order to afford the viewing audience a truer image of the French people than the stereotypes then in vogue.
    The bulk of the material contained in this section of the Institute's holdings are newspaper clippings, pamphlets and photographs. They concern themselves mainly with the time period 1939-1946. The collection is particularly strong on the topics of France under the Occupation, the activities of the Free French Movement and the Post-War diplomatic relations of France. Of special interest are the numerous pamphlets, newsletters and periodicals issued by the Free French organizations in London, New York and Algiers.

    Organization and Arrangement

    Arranged in the following series:
    • France before the war (Box 1).
    • France under the German occupation (Boxes 2-8).
    • Free French movement (Boxes 9-25).
    • France since the liberation (Boxes 26-32).
    • French foreign relations (Boxes 33-43).
    • Post-war Paris (Boxes 44-45).
    • Political events in post-war France (Boxes 46-49).
    • War-time newspapers, pamphlets, and tracts (Boxes 50-52).
    • Biographies of leading Frenchmen (Box 53).
    • Photo collection (Boxes 54-66).
    • Memorabilia from WWII (Box 67).
    • Clandestine publications circulated in Nazi-occupied France (Boxes 68-71).

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the repository's online public access catalog.

    Subjects

    French Research Foundation of Los Angeles--Archives.
    World War, 1939-1945--Propaganda--Research.
    France--History--German occupation, 1940-1945--Research.
    France--History, 1945- --Research.

    Other Index Terms Related to this Collection

    Boyer, Charles, 1899-1978.

    Index

    Casablanca Conference: Box 17
    Darlan, Francois, Admiral: Box 17
    De Gaulle, Charles, General: Boxes 5, 21, 22
    Giraud, Henri, General: Box 17
    Laval, Pierre: Boxes 6, 47, 52
    Maginot Line: Box 1
    Nazis: Boxes 2, 3, 4, 5, 51, 52
    Petain, Henri Philippe, Marshall: Boxes 6, 47, 52
    Photographs: Boxes 3, 5, 9-12, 22, 24, 25, 31, 45, 54-66
    Propaganda (Allied): Boxes 50
    Propaganda (Nazi): Boxes 3, 51, 52
    San Francisco Conference: Boxes 41
    Underground Movement in France: Boxes 7, 8, 23-25, 68-71
    Vichy Government: Boxes 6, 47

    Related Material

    Charles Boyer Papers (Collection 323)  . Available at the UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.