The wealth of information found on the Louise Brooks Society website stands as one of its significant achievements. Much of it, including the filmography (the most detailed ever assembled on the actress), annotated chronology, and extensive bibliographies are among its most valuable assets. Each is the product of thousands of hours of research, as well as considerable expense, as some of it involved subscriptions or travel to libraries and archives scattered across the United States, and even Europe. Each of these LBS assets are freely available to anyone who would like to learn more about the life and times of the actress.
The research conducted by Thomas Gladysz, the Director of the Louise Brooks Society, has also found its way into articles written by Gladysz along with the five books published by the LBS, as well as the two Louise Brooks’ films restored with the assistance of this website. The restoration of the surviving fragment of Now We’re in the Air, as well as The Street of Forgotten Men, would not have been achieved without each film’s original shooting scripts, which were obtained by the LBS and turned over to the team which did the restoration work. The LBS also supplied the restoration teams with images, advice and additional information in order to aid their efforts.
Ongoing research conducted by the LBS has also lead to a handful of discoveries of interest not just to fans of Louise Brooks, but also to those interested in silent film history. Among them are the undocumented exhibition history of Pandora’s Box in the United States, as well as previously unknown audio recording of Brooks’ radio appearances in the 1960s in which the actress discusses Hollywood and other film stars. The LBS has also uncovered a handful of rare or little known images of Louise Brooks, compiled a comprehensive record of both her childhood performances and ballroom dancing engagements, and documented the exhibition history of her films in more than 50 countries all around the world. These various accomplishments have been acknowledged on university and film history websites, and cited in a handful of scholarly and general interest books. In 2018, the Irish Times took note of this site’s scholarship, commenting “An online tribute site, the Louise Brooks Society, contains an extraordinary day-by-day chronology of her life.”
The research and the filmography, chronology, and bibliographies housed on the Louise Brooks Society website are the work of Thomas Gladysz, Director of the LBS. Each came about by pouring over periodical indexes and film reference works, picking through books and magazine, scrolling through microfilm in libraries both near and far, and scouring and sometimes subscribing to online databases and digital archives. As well, I’ve purchased a number of scarce publications (both books and periodicals), and even acquired a few roles of microfilm. (What I found on the microfilm surprised me, as it was information found no where else.) I have also visited more than three dozen libraries scattered across California (where I live) and elsewhere around the United States (so far, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Oregon and Washington D.C.). I have also spent time at the British Library and British Film Institute in London, and the Cinémathèque Francaise in Paris. All this was done in an attempt to document “all things Brooksie.” However, the LBS needs your help.
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One task I’ve taken on is to survey as much of the published material on the actress as I can, not only to gleam what facts there are to gleam, but to understand how the actress was perceived both then and now. The vast majority of examined material dates from the 1920s and 1930s.
The “search pattern” followed in pursuit of material began with the places most important to Brooks’ story — namely Kansas, New York City, Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, Chicago, and Rochester, New York. I have tracked Brooks’ numerous dance and stage appearances both prior to and following her film career, and gathered any and all relevant material. Additionally, I have surveyed key newspapers from the two-dozen largest American cities of the 1920s; hoping to represent the perspective of every state and region (including the then territories of Alaska and Hawaii), I also looked at newspapers from other key urban areas. Brooks’ fame crossed borders, and so did my research. As I was able, I search through what periodicals I could access from Canada and Latin America, Europe, Russia, Asia, Australia and parts of the Pacific Rim, and a few countries and former colonies in Africa. (Did you know that A Social Celebrity was shown in what is now Vietnam, or that Beggars of Life was once shown in Madagascar?)
Once based in San Francisco, the LBS had depended a great deal on it’s one-time “local library,” the San Francisco Public Library. Though not a research library, its has proved itself an excellent resource. I systematically went though the library’s film, history and reference sections, its various periodicals on microfilm, and it special collections. Each contained something. Just as importantly, through the SFPL I placed hundreds of inter-library loan requests. Happily, at least 98% of them were filled, thus enabling me the chance to conduct research all across country.
Some of my research would not have been possible without the help of others. Special thanks to the San Francisco Public Library – especially Ron Romano and the staff of the SFPL inter-library loan department. Through the ILL (inter-library Loan) program, I was able to borrow microfilm and in some cases bound copies of otherwise hard-to-obtain vintage magazines, books and even newspapers. I placed my first ILL request in 2001, and have been hooked on research ever since. The following institutions have been especially generous in loaning material: the Library of Congress, New York State Library, Kansas State Historical Society, Emory University, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (formerly the Illinois State Historical Library), and the National Library of Canada. Dozens of other university libraries, public libraries, and historical societies also loaned microfilm. My thanks to each of these institutions, especially the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.
Among the many other lending institutions were the State Library of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin Historical Society, Minnesota Historical Society, State Library of Louisiana, Indiana State Library, State Historical Society of Missouri, State Historical Society of Iowa, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, Nebraska State Historical Society, Eastern Kentucky University, and the University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, University of Kansas, and University of North Carolina.
I have, as opportunity has allowed, visited a number of libraries and archives around the country. Perhaps the most valuable source of material was the New York Public Library and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (at Lincoln Center), each of which I visited on a few occasions. Wow, they have a lot of great stuff, including the Denishawn pay ledgers, which contained a record of every time the teenage Louise Brooks signed her name in receipt of every time she was paid. I also visited the Museum of the City of New York, and the George Eastman House and Rochester Public Library in Rochester, New York. And, I’ve spent three days at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. That was a heady experience.
In Illinois, I visited the Chicago Public Library, as well as the impressive library at the University of Chicago. (Remember, Brooks lived for a short time in Chicago; she danced in the city as a member of Denishawn and later as a ballroom dancer, and, of course, her films were shown in Chicago, the second largest city in the United States.) In Ohio, I spent a couple of days at the Ohio Historical Society, Columbus Metropolitan Library, and Ohio State University tracking down Denishawn performances. And, in my native Michigan, I scoured the Library of Michigan (in Lansing), the special collections at Michigan State University (in East Lansing), the University of Michigan Library (in Ann Arbor), as well as the Detroit Public Library and suburban Royal Oak Public Library. Each held yet more “pieces to the puzzle.” My thanks to the helpful staff at each of these institutions, some of whom took time from their day to aid me in my research.
California is home to Hollywood, as well as to many excellent libraries and archives. In southern California, I made at least a half dozen trips to the Los Angeles Public Library and the extraordinary Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Each trip yielded dozens of citations, studio documents, archival records, and more. Dan Strehl, senior librarian at the Hollywood Branch Public Library, was helpful in my visit to that branch library. I also spent a day or two at the libraries at UCLA and the USC (University of Southern California — my thanks to the very helpful Ned Comstock). Each of these institutions also loaned microfilm and books on a number of occasions.
I made more than a dozen trips to the California State Library in Sacramento in order to explore its considerable collection of California newspapers on microfilm. I also visited the Sacramento Public Library and the library at the University of California, Davis. Elsewhere in northern California, I paid multiple visits to the area’s other university libraries — including, especially, those at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley — as well as those at San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, Sonoma State University, and California State University – East Bay. Each, too, held yet more pieces to the puzzle.
I have long been working on a book project titled Lulu by the Bay, an exploration in local film history. In the San Francisco Bay Area, I made a point to visit just about every public library which held any publication of interest. Local and regional publications often reveal surprising material. I visited the public libraries in Oakland, Berkeley and San Jose, as well as those in Petaluma, Palo Alto, Sausalito, Marin and elsewhere in the region. Other institutions at which I spent at least a little time include the now closed Performing Arts Library and Museum in San Francisco, as well as the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Thanks to Nancy Goldman, head of the PFA, who was gracious and helpful during my visits. Material found at each of these institutions made important contributions to the bibliographies.
Pictured below are some of the library and copy cards obtained in my still ongoing research.
When I haven’t been able to borrow material or visit a library or archive, I have turned to letters and emails in an attempt to track down elusive citations. My sincere thanks to more than a dozen out-of-state librarians, paid and volunteer proxy researchers, and genealogists who answered my correspondence and assisted with my research.
Your help is needed. More material can still be found. If you would like to contribute to this project and help find newspaper and magazine articles, please visit the LBS HELP WANTED page.