Alexander Cohen Tamiment Playhouse Photographs
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Abstract
Most of the 25 images in this collection are photographs of performances at the Tamiment Playhouse; all were shot by Alexander Cohen. The Playhouse, located in Bushkill, Pennsylvania, was a prominent incubator of and a major creative outlet for theater, dance, film, and television in the mid-twentieth century. It nurtured many performers and writers who later became famous, such as Danny Kaye, Carol Burnett, Woody Allen, and Neil Simon. Much of the copious original material performed at Tamiment found its way to the professional stage, Broadway, and television. The Playhouse was part of Camp Tamiment, a summer resort for socialists and their families that opened in 1921.
Historical Note
The Tamiment Playhouse, located in Bushkill, Pennsylvania, was a prominent incubator of and a major creative outlet for theater, dance, film, and television in the mid-twentieth century, particularly for comedy. It nurtured many performers and writers who later became famous, such as Danny Kaye, Carol Burnett, Woody Allen, and Neil Simon. Much of the copious original material performed at Tamiment found its way to the professional stage, Broadway, and television. The Playhouse was part of Camp Tamiment, a summer resort for socialists and their families that opened in 1921. It began offering professional theatrical productions by the early 1930s, and closed after the season of 1960. Alexander Cohen, who shot the photographs in this collection, stayed with his family in a bungalow at Camp Tamiment's "Sandyville" bungalow colony in the summers.
Arrangement
The files are grouped into 1 series:
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Scope and Content Note
All but two of the 25 black and white photographs in this collection are production photographs of performances given at the Tamiment Playhouse. With the exception of the production (or production number) titled, "Molly Belle," none of these performances are identified, but most are dated by month and year, and many of the performers (a number of whom were, or later became well-known) are identified. All were shot by Alexander Cohen. They include: Anne Cohen Tishler (the photographer's daughter), Maxwell Brant, Pat Carroll, Jack Cassady, Gary Davis, Faye DeWitt, Vince Dodd, Judy Goldstein Finnamore, Lee Grant, Barbara Gold, Adrienne Gray, Vann Hamilton, Lavina Hoving, Lucas Hoving, Lucille Kallen, Jack Keith, Phil Leeds, Anita Leonard, Jack Lescoulie, Ed Michaels, Barbara Leventer Polss, Louis Nye, Kenneth Owen, Kato Patok, Billy Sands, Mrs. Billy Sands, Dick Shawn, Judy Baim Simon (Mrs. Neil Simon), Jimmy Starbuck, and George Tatar. The two non-production photographs are of Camp Tamiment director Ben Josephson and his family, and of Anne Cohen (later Tishler), her friend Barbara Leventer (later Polss) and Camp Tamiment photographer Lewis "Snappy" Goren on a photo postcard.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by Alexander "Alex" Cohen were transferred to New York University in 2000 by Anne Tishler. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from repository. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu.
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date; Collection name; Collection number; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Anne Cohen Tishler, the daughter of Alexander Cohen, sent a gift of black and white photographs of productions staged by the Tamiment Playhouse in a series of accessions starting in 1992. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 1950.236, NPA.1998.013, and NPA.2001.030.
