Description
Donald Crabs was a UCLA professor who specialized in theater design. He studied scenery and lighting design, as well as set
design for television and film. Starting in 1965 he taught set and stage design in the UCLA Department of Theater Arts, now
the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, and continued to be involved as a professor emeritus until his death. This
collection is comprised of his papers, including research and reference materials, correspondence, notes, teaching materials,
slides and photographs, theater floor plans and architectural data, lighting placement charts, and data from Crabs' survey
of Californian theater facilities. Additional materials include notebooks with plans for lighting placement and staging and
fabric samples for acoustic design. The collection also includes materials related to his research trip to China and reference
materials on Chinese theater and performance, and the original survey data Crabs used to compile a database of California
theaters.
Background
Donald Crabs was a UCLA professor who specialized in theater and theater design. Crabs was born in 1926 in Puyallup, Washington.
He studied scenery and lighting design, receiving his B.A. degree from the University of Puget Sound in 1950 and his M.A.
from Northwestern University in 1951. He also completed graduate studies in television and film at the University of Michigan
and New York University in 1965 and 1960, respectively. Between 1951 and 1965 Crabs taught at Rutgers University. He moved
to Los Angeles to teach at UCLA in 1965.
Extent
24.4 Linear Feet
(53 boxes, 5 shoe boxes, 3 flat boxes, 1 oversize flat box)
Restrictions
Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library Special Collections. The library can grant
permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted
in writing to Library Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: The Regents of the University of California on
behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
Availability
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance
using the request button located on this page.