Collection Guide
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Zakheim (Bernard) Collection
MSS.2014.15
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Collection is open for research. Confidential personal material has been restricted at the folder level.
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.
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.
Bernard Zakheim Collection, 1902-2010, MSS 2014-15. Archives and Special Collections, University of California, San Francisco.
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