The Christensen Family Digital Archive consists of images and documents chronicling the life and career of Lew Christensen and his brothers, Willam and Harold. Materials in this digital archive were curated from two collections at the Museum of Performance + Design: the Christensen-Caccialanza Papers and the Henrietta McDowell Memorial Photography Collection. The majority of the materials comes from Christensen-Caccialanza Papers, focusing primarily on Lew Christensen and his wife Gisella Caccialanza. The digital archive also includes materials related to Lew's brothers, Harold Christensen and Willam Christensen and their spouses, Ruby Asquith and Mignon Lee [Willam's first wife] respectively. Additional information can be found in the inventory for the Christensen-Caccialanza Papers here.
All images are low-resolution JPEG files meant for research use only.
Cataloging, digitization, and access supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Art Works.
Additional resources consulted include:
Flatow, Sheryl. San Francisco Ballet 1933-1998. San Francisco: CA 1998.
Ross, Janice. San Francisco Ballet at Seventy-Five. San Francisco: CA 2008.
Sowell, Debra Hickenlooper. The Christensen Brothers: An American Dance Epic. Amsterdam: BV 1998.
Steinberg, Cobbett. San Francisco Ballet: The First Fifty Years. San Francisco: CA 1983.
For more information about MP+D, its holdings and activities visit www.mpdsf.org or contact us directly at info@mpdsf.org.
Lew Christensen and Gisella CaccialanzaPortrait of Lew Christensen and Gisella Caccialanza in costume
Lew Christensen, Willam Christensen, and Harold ChristensenPortrait of the three Christensen brothers in conversation. Willam is holding a score by Bizet.
Nancy Robinson, Robert Gladstein, and Sally Bailey in Christensen's Bach Concert, 1963Image of Nancy Robinson, Robert Gladstein, and Sally Bailey in Lew Christensen's Bach Concert, 1963