Mildred Spiegel Zucker collection of Leonard Bernstein correspondence and related materials, 1936-1991

Scope and Content Note

The collection includes postcards, letters, telegrams and cards that Leonard Bernstein sent his childhood friend, Mildred Spiegel, later Mildred Spiegel Zucker. The correspondence dates from Bernstein’s time as a counselor at Camp Onata, as a student at the Curtis Institute of Music, and during the beginning of his career in New York. He discusses his family, friends, teachers and mentors, as well as his feelings about music and his future in it. The collection also includes some correspondence with mutual friends, Bernstein biographers, and Bernstein’s business associates. In addition, there is a biographical essay and notes about Zucker’s relationship with Bernstein.