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Thérèse Bonney aboard the S.S. Siboney, en route to Portugal, 1941. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 49, item 19

Pioneering war correspondent and Cal grad Mabel Thérèse Bonney (1894-1978) was decorated with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d’Honneur by the French government, and the Order of the White Rose of Finland for her work during World War II. Her photographs were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, and Carnegie Hall during her lifetime. Her work on children displaced by war spurred the United Nations to create their international children’s emergency fund, UNICEF, in 1946, and inspired the Academy Award-winning film The Search in 1948. Yet in the canon of female war photographers that includes contemporaries such as Lee Miller, Margaret Bourke-White, and Toni Frissell, Bonney rarely receives mention. Bonney was a renaissance woman whose life deserves further study, and her collections at the Bancroft Library are ripe for discovery. Manuscript Archivist Marjorie Bryer has processed The Thérèse Bonney papers, and Pictorial Archivist Sara Ferguson has digitized over 2,500 previously inaccessible nitrate negatives from the Thérèse Bonney Photograph Collection.

ART CONNOISSEUR

While living in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, Bonney modeled for fashion designers like Sonia Delaunay and Madeleine Vionnet, and became friends with many of the most famous artists and writers of her day, including Raoul Dufy, Gertrude Stein, and George Bernard Shaw. In 1924 Bonney founded an international photo service that licensed images acquired in France for publication in the U.S. She was often dissatisfied with the images she distributed, and this inspired her to take up photography herself. Bonney wrote about, and took photographs of, many of the artists and writers in her life throughout the twenties, thirties, and forties.

Fernand Leger with his painting Three Women. — Fernand Leger with his painting Three Women, 1926. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 16. Leger, Fernand–POR 15

Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson looking at a musical score. — Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson looking at a musical score circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 16. Stein, Gertrude–POR 14

Portrait of Joan Miro with three paintings in his Paris studio. Circa 1930. — Portrait of Joan Miro with three paintings in his Paris studio circa 1930. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 16. Miro, Joan–POR 03

PHOTOJOURNALISM AND WAR RELIEF EFFORTS

Bonney photographed throughout Europe during World War II, focusing on the effects of war on the civilian population. Her photographs of children were particularly moving and resulted in her most famous work, the exhibit and book, Europe’s Children. Bonney was actively involved with relief efforts after the war, particularly in the Alsace region of France. She also founded a number of organizations dedicated to promoting friendship between citizens of France and the United States, and improving Franco-American political relations. One effort, the Chain d’Amite, encouraged French families to open their homes to American G.I.s; another, Project Patriotism, inspired airmen who were shot down in France to help the families that had rescued them. Project Patriotism eventually spread to other European countries, including the Netherlands. Marjorie’s father-in-law, Peter, was a teenager when Germany invaded the Netherlands during the war. He was sent to live with relatives in the Dutch countryside so he wouldn’t be conscripted. One of Peter’s most moving stories was about the American pilot his family hid when his plane crashed on the family farm. Bonney’s papers include many poignant letters from U.S. soldiers and, while processing the collection, Marjorie wondered what this airman from Brooklyn might have written about his experiences with his Dutch “family.”

Oropesa, Spain circa 1941. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 50, item 226

Children at the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) Children's Center, Aglasterhausen, Germany. — United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) Children’s Center, Aglasterhausen, Germany circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 6, NNEG box 92, item 6

The Croix Rouge, France circa 1941. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 56, item 1008

Badajoz, Spain circa 1941. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 50, item 168

Bonney gives a young girl a doll during relief efforts in Ammerschwihr, France. — Bonney assisting in relief efforts in Ammerschwihr, France circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 6, NNEG box 91, item 9727

Children at Easter dinner. — Children at Easter dinner circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 6, NNEG box 91, item 1212

LOVER OF CHEESE

Bonney’s many interests included food and cooking. She and her sister, Louise, wrote a guide to Paris restaurants and a cookbook, French cooking for American kitchens. Her papers include her research on cheese, which she referred to as “Project Fromage.” Series 7 of Bonney’s papers include meticulous notes on various cheeses from France and the Netherlands, “technical” correspondence about cheese, and materials related to tyrosemiophilia — the hobby of collecting cheese labels.

Wooden box containing some of Bonney's notecards on cheese. — Wooden box containing some of Bonney’s notecards on cheese. BANC MSS 83/111 z, Series 7, Carton 14

Cheese files in the manuscript collection. The blue folder contains “cheese correspondence.” BANC MSS 83/111 z, Series 7, Carton 14, Folder 5

Bonney was a tyrosemiophiliac, a collector of cheese labels. BANC MSS 83/111 z, Series 7, Carton 14, folders 15-16

Gathering milk for cheese making. Saint-Clément, France circa 1941. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 58, item 1213

French cheese circa 1942. — Cheese. France, circa 1942. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 55, item 913

French cheesemaker circa 1942. — A cheesemaker with her cheese. France, circa 1942. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 55, item 911

EVERYDAY PEOPLE AND LIFE DURING WARTIME

Bonney documented daily life during wartime across Europe. She recorded entire communities — their families, customs, and industries, their artists and politicians, their schools, and their churches. Her papers and photographs show not only the horrors of war but the hope and perseverance of those who lived through it.

Escoutoux, France circa 1942. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 56, item 952

Women working at Anchois Desclaux, an anchovy cannery in Collioure, France. — Sewing nets at Anchois Desclaux, an anchovy cannery in Collioure, France circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 6, NNEG box 95, item 77

Leica factory, Germany circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 6, NNEG box 93, item 32

Barrel maker in Cognac, France circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 6, NNEG box 93, item 127

Alsatian girls in traditional dresses. Ammerschwihr, France. — Alsatian girls in traditional dresses. Ammerschwihr, Alsace. France circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 6, NNEG box 87, item 648

Casino Estoril, Portugal circa 1942. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 49, item 50

Flower market Lisbon, Portugal circa 1942. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 3, NNEG box 49, item 36

Grape harvest in Ammerschwihr, France. — Grape harvest in Ammerschwihr, Alsace. France circa 1945. BANC PIC 1982.111 series 6, NNEG box 97, item 42

NOW AVAILABLE AT THE BANCROFT LIBRARY!

Newly digitized portions of the pictorial collection include Series 6: France, Germany 1944-1946. This series includes photographs of concentration camps Vaihingen, Buchenwald, and Dachau; Displaced Person camps; Neuschwanstein Castle; and Hermann Göring’s Collection of art looted by the Nazi’s. It also includes many images of the heavily bombarded town of Ammerschwihr in Alsace, France and war relief efforts there. Future digitization efforts will focus on Series 3, Carnegie Corporation Trip: Portugal, Spain, France 1941-1942. This series consists of images taken while on a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to document the effects of war on civilian populations. It includes images of military personnel, civilian industries, and Red Cross operations. Famous personalities pictured in this series include Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, Georges Roualt, Gertrude Stein, Philippe Petain, Raoul Dufy, and Aristide Maillol.

Bonney’s papers help contextualize her photographs. They include correspondence; personal materials; her writings (autobiographical and articles about others); and her files on World War II, Franco-American relations, art, fashion, photography, and cheese.

Both collections are open for research:

Finding Aid to the Thérèse Bonney Photograph Collection, circa 1850-circa 1955 (bulk 1930-1945)

Finding Aid to the Thérèse Bonney Papers

— Marjorie Bryer and Sara Ferguson

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Thérèse Bonney: Art Collector, Photojournalist, Francophile, Cheese Lover