Category Archives: popular culture

Mary O’Hara: “My Heart is in Wyoming”

Posted on January 9, 2018 by ahcadmin

Could successful screenwriter and socialite Mary O’Hara exchange her glitzy lifestyle for that of a Wyoming ranch wife? Her friends didn’t think so. But by 1930 Mary had hit her mid-forties and was fed up with her gilded life. She … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors and literature, Biography and profiles, Children's literature, Local history, motion picture history, popular culture, Uncategorized, Western history, women's history, writers and poets, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Brassy Barbara Stanwyck and Pre-Code Hollywood

Posted on December 17, 2017 by ahcadmin

In 1934, the Hays Code began to be strictly enforced in Hollywood to clean up alleged indecency in movies. All evil-doers had to meet their just rewards. What spurred the prudish policing? Hardboiled flicks like Baby Face. This 1933 film had … Continue reading →

Posted in Hollywood history, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, Politics, popular culture, Uncategorized, Women in Hollywood, women's history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Terror in the Theater – Fifties Fears

Posted on November 13, 2017 by ahcadmin

Science fiction films of the 1950s commonly expressed several themes: fear of technology leading to unintended consequences; invasion of the planet by aliens; and the effects of atomic radiation. Because science fiction movies were not constrained by reality, more imaginative … Continue reading →

Posted in Cold War, Fantasy, Horror, motion picture history, Politics, Pop Culture, popular culture, science fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Jean Howard, Photographer for the Glamorous Hollywood Set

Posted on November 1, 2017 by ahcadmin

Jean Howard parlayed her extraordinary beauty, ethereal glamour and light-hearted intelligence to become a Ziegfeld girl, a Hollywood starlet, a legendary hostess and the “house photographer” of the film colony. Her circle included Tyrone Power, Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Humphrey … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography and profiles, found in the archive, Hollywood history, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, Photography, popular culture, women's history | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Adeline M. Leitzbach Papers: Part II of a Two-Part Series

Posted on October 24, 2017 by ahcadmin

Adeline Leitzbach once mused: “[In] the old days in pictures… we used to go out on a lot with a couple of actors, a horse, a camera man and an author. We used to shoot scenes, and mould them into … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Authors and literature, Hollywood history, Interns' projects, motion picture history, newly cataloged collections, popular culture, radio history, Uncategorized, women's history, writers and poets | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Marilyn Monroe – “True Spirit and Soul”

Posted on August 5, 2016 by ahcadmin

“Jean took the best pictures of me I’ve ever had,” said Marilyn Monroe at one of Gloria Vanderbilt’s celebrity-studded party in the 1950s. Everyone turned to look at the photographer in question, Jean Howard. Former Ziegfeld girl and MGM contract … Continue reading →

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UW Graduate Student Finds Inspiration in Tim McCoy Papers

Posted on June 4, 2016 by ahcadmin

The American heritage Center serves as a research institution for researchers of all kinds. Any given week the reading room is filled with historians writing books to young students working on class projects. For international American Studies graduate student, Constantin … Continue reading →

Posted in archival studies, popular culture, Research and reference, Western Films, Western history | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Holy Retro, Batman! Unmasking the Legacy of Batman’s TV Premiere

Posted on January 13, 2016 by

Fifty years ago today, January 13, 1966, Batman and Robin faced off against the Riddler in the televised premiere of Batman on ABC. Continue reading →

Posted in Pop Culture, popular culture, television history | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Living the Reel Life: The Journey of Child Actor Dick Moore

Posted on October 5, 2015 by mmarcusse

Born John Richard Moore, Jr., “Dickie” made his silver screen debut at eleven months old when he portrayed the infant Francois Villon (fifteenth-century poet and scoundrel) in the silent film The Beloved Rogue (1927). Cast for his resemblance to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Journalism, motion picture history, Obituaries, popular culture, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jacques Kapralik and the Art of Film Promotion

Posted on April 25, 2014 by stowam

The American Heritage Center is fortunate to hold the papers and artwork of Jacques Kapralik. Kapralik was a commercial artist and caricaturist whose art was used in the promotion of motion pictures throughout Hollywood’s Golden Era of the 1930s-1950s. Born … Continue reading →

Posted in commercial art, Digital collections, Hollywood history, motion picture history, popular culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment