The papers have been arranged by genre in the categories MOTION PICTURES, TELEVISION, THEATER, MISCELLANEOUS DESIGNS, and GENERAL and thereunder are arranged alphabetically by title.
The papers, 1938-1973, document her career as a costume designer for motion pictures, television and theater. In general the materials represent the work Jeakins did as chief costume designer for a production; collaborative efforts for which she received credit such as Samson and Delilah (1949), The Greatest Show on Earth (1951), My Cousin Rachel (1952), Niagara (1952), and The Ten Commandments (1954) are not represented. The documentation predominantly consists of notes and watercolor sketches, some of which have fabric swatches attached. The notes analyze the costuming needs for individual characters and specific scenes. However, in only a few instances do both notes and sketches exist for the same production. Also included are some photographs, wardrobe plots, estimated costs, and cast lists. The collection also includes a taped interview, 1968, on the role of the costume designer in the making of a motion picture.
The MOTION PICTURES series consists of notes and sketches. In some cases photographs and transparencies of the original sketches also are included. Green Mansions (1959), Hawaii (1966), The Molly Maguires (1968), and Oliver (1968) are the titles most heavily documented. The Music Man (1962), The Sound of Music (1965), and The Way We Were (1973) files contain extensive notes with swatches. Of special significance is the workbook from Joan of Arc (1948), a production for which Jeakins won an Academy Award. The workbook contains annotated sketches, photographs, clippings, and notes. Materials for Friendly Persuasion (1956), South Pacific (1957), or True Grit (1969) are not included in the collection; also absent is material for films produced after 1973 for which she designed costumes such as Young Frankenstein (1975), North Dallas Forty (1979), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), and On Golden Pond (1981).
TELEVISION work consists primarily of costume sketches for Mayerling, The Danny Kaye Show, and Playhouse 90's “Misalliance.” For Mayerling there is also a cast list, wardrobe plot, and estimated costume costs.
The THEATER series includes notes and/or costume sketches with fabric swatches for seven New York productions and four California productions. The most thoroughly documented productions include Annie Get Your Gun, Carousel, Othello, Showboat, and The World of Suzie Wong. The only material on her work with the American Shakespeare Festival consists of a review of the play All's Well That Ends Well and a copy of Jeakins' article “Comments on Costuming Shakespeare.”
MISCELLANEOUS DESIGNS consists of sketches with no supporting documentation or for which the titling information on the piece refers to an unknown production.
GENERAL PAPERS consists of congratulatory letters after she received her Academy Award in 1965 for The Night of the Iguana, reviews and articles that refer to her work, playbills, and miscellaneous material. The miscellany includes advertising material for exhibits of her sketches at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, a credits list, and notes on an interview with Jeakins. The letters in the correspondence file are all brief except for an undated letter from John Houseman that concerns his performance in King Lear.
