Beatrice Bernfeld puppet play scripts and stories
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Creator
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Abstract
Puppet play scripts and story texts, in English with some examples of Yiddish, assembled by Beatrice Bernfeld (1906–1997), a New York City children's librarian who performed them using eight figures she constructed of papier-mâché (now held by the New-York Historical Society Museum). Most plays are adaptions of traditional European folk and fairy tales, while the stories are drawn from well-known writers like Washington Irving, Lewis Carroll, and the Yiddish language authors I. L. Peretz and Sholem Aleichem.
Biographical note
Beatrice Bernfeld (1906–1997)—apparently called "Aunt BeBe" by her family—was a New York-born librarian who began her career as early as 1925: the New York State census taken then lists her in that profession, age 18, living in the Brooklyn household of her parents, Philip and Jennie. By 1930, according to the U.S. federal census taken that year, Beatrice had moved to the Bronx with her parents, Austrian immigrants whose native language was Yiddish. The 1940 census shows her still living in the Bronx and working as a librarian. Family history states Beatrice was employed at the Hamilton Fish Park Branch of the New York Public Library, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. During her many years as a children's librarian, Beatrice performed a number of puppet shows with scripts drawn from traditional European folk and fairy tales, using eight puppets she constructed of cloth and papier-mâché, which are now held by the New-York Historical Society Museum.
[Some information in this note was supplied by the donors of the collection. The box which originally housed the collection was labeled "Aunt BeBe's scripts."]
Arrangement
The collection is organized alphabetically by genre:
Plays (folders 1-15)
Play synopses (folder 16)
Poems/lyrics (folder 17)
Stories (folders 18-28)
Miscellaneous materials (folders 29-34)
Items are filed alphabetically within each genre. Most are undated.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains the scripts for fifteen puppet show plays performed by Bronx-based children's librarian Beatrice Bernfeld (1906–1997) during the middle years of the 20th century, and possibly later. Some scripts are handwritten, some are typed, and five are mounted on stiff card with cord loops for hanging behind the puppet stage to prompt the actors. All the scripts are in English except for one, "Der Purim Ber" ("The Purim Bear"), which is in Yiddish. Most plots appear to be adaptions from traditional European folk and fairy tales, such as "Clever Gretel," after the Brothers Grimm, and "The Wonderful Pot," from a Danish source. One folder contains the texts of three poems or lyrics on the theme of Hanukkah. The miracle of Hanukkah is also the focus of "The dish of oil," a story in the collection which, along with ten others, Bernfeld must have read to children at the library. The other stories draw on more secular sources: again, from the Brothers Grimm, as well as from Lewis Carroll, Washington Irving, and the Yiddish language writers I. L. Peretz (1852–1915) and Sholem Aleichem (1859–1916) in English translation. One story, "Die Zwei Brider" ("The Two Brothers") is in Yiddish. Miscellaneous items round out the collection. Most seem unrelated to Bernfeld's puppet show and storytelling activities except for two: an invitation to the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Hamilton Fish Park Branch of the New York Public Library (the 1929 program lists a marionette theater performance; perhaps it inspired Bernfeld's later hand puppet shows?), and a photograph, presumably showing Bernfeld in later life, reading to a young boy (dated Thanksgiving, 1995).
Subjects
Genres
People
Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Beatrice Bernfeld Puppet Play Scripts and Stories, MS 3202, New-York Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of William A. and Paula Frosch, 2019. Beatrice Bernfeld was the aunt of William Frosch.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Archivist Joseph Ditta arranged and described this collection in July 2021.