Finding Aid to the Henri Lenoir Papers, 1921-1994
Jack Doran
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
© 2012
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid to the Henri Lenoir Papers, 1921-1994
Collection number: BANC MSS 92/842 c
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
- Finding Aid Author(s):
- Jack Doran
- Date Completed:
-
August 2012
- Finding Aid Encoded By:
- GenX
© 2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Henri Lenoir papers
Date (inclusive): 1921-1994
Collection Number: BANC MSS 92/842 c
Creator:
Lenoir, Henri
Extent:
2 cartons, 1 box, 3 volumes, 2 oversize folders, 1 videocassette tape
4 linear feet
1 Digital Object (2 images)
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The Henri Lenoir papers consist of personal correspondence, business correspondence and materials related to the management
of Vesuvio Cafe and Lenoir's promotion and sale of art by the bohemian set he worked with in San Francisco. Also included
are biographical materials, geneological materials and materials related to the history of San Francisco, specifically North
Beach.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Information for Researchers
Access Information
Collection is open for research.
Conditions of Use
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html
.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Henri Lenoir Papers, BANC MSS 92/842 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Alternate Forms Available
Digital reproductions of selected items are available.
Removed or Separated Material
Photographs and drawings have been transferred to the Pictorial Collections of the Bancroft Library (BANC PIC 2004.158).
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
Lenoir, Henri--Archives
Beat generation.
North Beach (San Francisco, Calif.)-- Social life and customs.
Restaurants-- California-- San Francisco.
Restaurateurs-- California-- San Francisco.
Iron Pot (San Francisco, Calif.)
Vesuvio Cafe (San Francisco, Calif.)
Administrative Information
The Henri Lenoir Papers were given to the Bancroft Library by Bonnie McClintock in July, 2004. Additions were made in 2012.
No additions are expected.
Processing Information
Processed by Jack Doran in 2012.
Biography/Organization History
Henri Lenoir was born Silvio Velleman on March 17, 1904 in Zuoz, Switzerland. His father was Antoine Velleman , a headmaster
at a boys’ boarding school, and his mother, Ethel Ireland, was a homemaker. Silvio was sent to boarding school in England
at an early age, and upon his parents’ divorce, took his mother’s maiden name. In 1920, he was enrolled at King William’s
College on the Isle of Man, and was soon expelled. He then enrolled in the Ecole National d’Horticulture et de Viticulture
in Geneva, but left in 1921.
Lenoir held a number of jobs over the next several years, including a drummer in a dance band in the Chateaux d’Oex, a tour
guide in Italy, a claims adjuster in Paris and a ballroom dancer in Nice. He arrived in New York in the company of an American
woman on July 5, 1929, and lived there for just over a year before departing for Hollywood in 1930. Broke and threatened
with deportation for an expired work visa, he changed his name to Henri Lenoir and left for San Francisco.
Despite having no formal secondary art education, Lenoir had an eye for talented artists, and after holding another series
of jobs throughout the 1930s, he began hanging art work at the Iron Pot in 1941. He gained a reputation for boosting clientele
through the promotion and showing of art, and in 1949, Lenoir bought the Vesuvio Café. It quickly became a center of bohemian
activity, and was famously a favorite spot of Beat poets and artists. Lenoir owned and operated the Vesuvio for nearly two
decades until he sold it in 1968 amidst rising rent prices and a general decline of artistic activity in the area.
Lenoir continued to promote art throughout the rest of his life and was known to friends and tourists alike as the “King of
Bohemia.” He died on March 30, 1994.
Scope and Content Note
The Henri Lenoir papers consist of personal correspondence, business correspondence and materials related to the management
of Vesuvio Cafe and Lenoir's promotion and sale of art by the bohemian set he worked with in San Francisco. Also included
are biographical materials, geneological materials and materials related to the history of San Francisco, specifically North
Beach.
The collection has been divided into five series. Series 1 consists of personal correspondence, largely with artists Lenoir
knew, promoted or otherwise worked with. Correspondence with artists may also contain clippings, exhibition catalogs and
ephemera. Series 2 consists of Family Papers, and includes correspondence between Lenoir and his parents and brother, as
well as materials related to his immediate and extended family and geneological materials. Series 3, Business Papers, consists
of materials dealing with Lenoir's activities as an art promoter and consultant. The bulk of the series is made up of Lenoir's
management of the Vesuvio Cafe. Also included are artist files. Series 4, Personalia, includes detailed biographical information
on Lenoir and correspondence and ephemera related to the history of San Francisco, specifically North Beach. Also included
in this series is a video cassette tape entitled, "Memories of North Beach" (cataloged as Motion Picture 1301D). Series 5,
Clippings, includes writings from newspapers and other publications about Lenoir as a public figure and also his activities
as a bar owner and promoter. A friend to Herb Caen throughout his career and life in San Francisco, Lenoir was frequently
mentioned in Caen's
San Francisco Examiner and
San Francisco Chronicle columns. There is also an extensive collection of clippings of Vern Wiman's work as an illustrator for the
Examiner.
Volume 2, Oversize-Folder 1A
Series 1
Correspondence
1939-1994
Physical Description:
carton 1, folders 1-25, box 1, oversize folder 1
Arrangement
Arranged Alphabetically. Postcards filed separately at end of series.
Scope and Content Note
Consists of personal correspondence, largely with artists Lenoir knew, promoted or otherwise worked with. Correspondence
with artists may also contain clippings, exhibition catalogs and ephemera. Also includes vintage postcards sent to Lenoir
for his postcard collection or re-used by Lenoir as holiday cards.
carton 1, folder 1
Allbright, Thomas
1972-1985
carton 1, folder 6
Caen, Herb
1946, 1977-1991
carton 1, folder 7
Columnists (notes from)
1972-1991
carton 1, folder 10
Holiday Cards Received
1961-1991
carton 1, folder 12
Letters to the Editor
1972-1985
carton 1, folder 16
Postcards Received
1963-1991
carton 1, folder 17
Rezendes, Joyce
1975-1987
carton 1, folder 19
Schaeffer, Rudolph
1982-1987
carton 1, folder 20
Siegriest, Louis
1985-1989
carton 1, folder 21
Smith, Hassel L.
1976-1992
carton 1, folder 22
Surendorf, Charles
1975-1978
Series 2
Family papers
1928-1992
Physical Description:
carton 1, folders 26-31
Arrangement
Arranged Alphabetically
Scope and Content Note
Includes correspondence between Lenoir and his parents and brother, as well as materials related to his immediate and extended
family and geneological materials.
carton 1, folder 26
Correspondence- copies and transcripts
1929-1951
carton 1, folder 27
Ireland, Alleyne- Incoming
1928-1970
carton 1, folder 28
Ireland, Alleyne- Outgoing
1947-1971
carton 1, folder 29
Ireland, John
1934-1935, 1984-1985, undated
carton 1, folder 30
Swiss and American Citizenship
1934-1969
carton 1, folder 31
Velleman, Antoine
1929-1992
Series 3
Business Papers
1938-1992
Physical Description:
carton 1, folders 32-53; carton 2, folders 1-17; oversize folder 1
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Content Note
Consists of materials dealing with Lenoir's activities as an art promoter and consultant. The bulk of the series is made
up of Lenoir's management of the Vesuvio Cafe. Also included are artist files.
carton 1, folder 32
Bay Area Artists Group
circa 1947
carton 1, folder 34
Business Correspondence
1959-1992
carton 1, folder 35
Butterfield and Butterfield
1990-1991
carton 1, folder 39
Committee for Municipal Art/ San Francisco Art Commission
1946, 1957, 1979
carton 1, folder 41
Duena, Victor
1963, 1973-1976
carton 1, folder 43
Exhibition Catalogues
1940-1952
carton 1, folder 44
Fechheimer, David and Diana
1982, undated
carton 1, folder 45
Gibney, Luke
1952-1953, undated
carton 1, folders 46-47
Inventories- Art and Antiques
1973-1990
carton 1, folder 48
Inventories- Loaned Art
1978-1979, undated
carton 1, folder 49
Inventories- Post Cards
undated
carton 1, folder 51
Kuh, Fred
1984, 1987, undated
carton 1, folder 52
Lenoir- Copyrighted Postcards
1962-1968, undated
carton 2, folder 1
"Poets and Painters" (incomplete)
undated
carton 2, folder 2
Johnson, Sargent
1971-1978
carton 2, folder 3
Transamerica Exhibit
1980
carton 2, folder 4
Vesuvio- Agreement and Sale of Stock
1968
carton 2, folder 5
Vesuvio- Bartender Instructions and Cocktail Guide
undated
carton 2, folder 6
Vesuvio- Beatnik Kit
1958, 1965, 1984
carton 2, folder 7
Vesuvio- Employee Surveillance
1956-1977
carton 2, folder 8
Vesuvio- Financial Statements
1965
carton 2, folder 9
Vesuvio- Guest Book
1954-1967
carton 2, folder 10
Vesuvio Guest Book- Loose Pages
1950-1954
carton 2, folder 11
Vesuvio- Inventory and Distributors
1966, undated
carton 2, folder 12
Vesuvio- Lease Correspondence
1960-1965
carton 2, folder 13
Vesuvio- Name Contest
1950
carton 2, folder 14
Vesuvio- Placards
undated
oversize-folder 1A
Vesuvio- Placards
undated
carton 2, folder 15
Vesuvio and Lenoir Holiday Cards
1950-1967, 1979, 1983, 1985
carton 2, folder 17
Wiman, Vern
1977, undated
Series 4
Personalia
1921-1992
Physical Description:
carton 2, folders 18-41; oversize folder 1; volumes 2-3; motion picture 1301D
Arrangement
Arranged Alphabetically
Scope and Content Note
Includes detailed biographical information on Lenoir and correspondence and ephemera related to the history of San Francisco,
specifically North Beach. Also included in this series is a video cassette tape entitled, "Memories of North Beach" (cataloged
as Motion Picture 1301D).
carton 2, folder 20
Awards and Certificates
1980, undated
oversize-folder 1A
Awards and Certificates
1981, 1983
carton 2, folder 21
Bad Debts (Bob Jonson)
1972-1978
carton 2, folder 22
Books- signed and inscribed
1939, 1965, 1968
carton 2, folder 26
FBI and Frederick Bense
1952
carton 2, folder 28
Gross, Marge
1982, undated
volume 3
Guestbook- Saloonkeepers Party for Henri Lenoir
1980
carton 2, folders 29-30
Lenoir Biography
1986-1991
carton 2, folder 31
Lenoir Interview Transcript
1976
Motion-Picture 1301D
Memories of North Beach- Lenoir video
undated
carton 2, folder 32
Montgomery Street Block
1968-1984
volume 2
Personal References and Employment- scrapbook
1921-1968
volume 2, page 3
Vesuvio. BANC MSS 92/842 c
Additional Note
This material was selectively digitized from a larger resource or collection.
volume 2, page 68
Bruce Weiss, tending bar. BANC MSS 92/842 c
Additional Note
This material was selectively digitized from a larger resource or collection.
carton 2, folder 33
References
1947, 1980-1981, undated
carton 2, folder 34
Russian Hill Runt
1940-1942
carton 2, folder 36
Street Fairs (Upper Grant Avenue)
1980-1983
carton 2, folder 38
Tenancy (247 Columbus)
1970-1980
carton 2, folder 39
Translations by Lenoir
undated
carton 2, folder 40
Washington Square Bar and Grill
1979-1986
Series 5
Clippings
1940-1994
Physical Description:
carton 2, folders 42-45; volume 1; oversize folder 2
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Content Note
Includes writings from newspapers and other publications about Lenoir as a public figure and also his activities as a bar
owner and promoter. A friend to Herb Caen throughout his career and life in San Francisco, Lenoir was frequently mentioned
in Caen's
San Francisco Examiner and
San Francisco Chronicle columns. There is also an extensive collection of clippings of Vern Wiman's work as an illustrator for the
Examiner.
carton 2, folder 43
Izzy Gomez and Press Club Scoop
1940-1989
volume 1
Wieman, Vern- scrapbook
1943
