Collection Guide
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Sawyer (Preston) Film and Theater Collection
MS.404
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Preston Sawyer Film and Theater Collection
creator:
Sawyer, Preston, 1899-1968
Identifier/Call Number: MS.404
Physical Description:
8 Linear Feet
27 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1907-1959
Abstract: This collection contains photographs, lobby cards, correspondence, ephemera, and realia.
Container: 1-27
Collection is open for research.
Property rights for this collection reside with the University of California. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained
by the creators and their heirs. The publication or use of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use
for research or educational purposes requires written permission from the copyright owner. Responsibility for obtaining permissions,
and for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information on copyright or to order a reproduction, please visit
guides.library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/reproduction-publication.
Preston Sawyer Film and Theater Collection. MS 404. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California,
Santa Cruz.
The Sawyer family of Santa Cruz, California, were avid movie and theater aficionados. The materials in this collection were
gathered mainly by Preston Sawyer, and contributed to by Ariel and Gertrude Sawyer. Ariel Sawyer spent time working in Hollywood
from 1922-1925. He appeared in several minor rolls including a small (uncredited) part in
The Courtship of Miles Standish, 1923. Preston, an amateur photographer, spent time with actors and production crews when they filmed in Santa Cruz County.
He obtained work as an extra in a few films including,
Maid of Salem, 1937.
Preston Sawyer was employed as a proofreader and historian for the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper from 1935 to 1962, and collected
Santa Cruz and California memorabilia over his entire lifetime. Ariel Sawyer ran the Sawyer Tile Company in Santa Cruz circa
1926-1966.
Ariel Sawyer donated Preston’s memorabilia, which included the materials in this collection, to both the UCSC Library and
the Santa Cruz Public Library upon Preston’s death in 1968.
This collection contains photographs of actors, entertainers, performers, theater scenes and movie sets during production.
Photographs are often signed and dedicated to Preston or Ariel Sawyer. There is a substantial number of lobby cards, many
from the silent film era spanning 1916-1922. In addition, the collection contains a small amount of correspondence related
to Hollywood stars and movie production. Ephemera in the collection consists of brochures, playbills, press and promotional
materials; realia consists of autograph books and a scrapbook.
The collection is separated into four series: 1. Photographs 2. Lobby cards 3. Correspondence 4. Ephemera and Realia
MS 82 Preston Sawyer Collection; MS 427 Santa Cruz County Historic Photograph Collection, Series 10 - Entertainment: Film
in Santa Cruz.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Motion pictures -- Collectibles