William J. Eisenlord photographs
name: label: Creator
content: Eisenlord, William J., 1926-1997
label: Names
content: City Lights Bookstore (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Photographs
label: Names
content: San Francisco Museum of Art
label: Names
content: Berman, Shirley
label: Names
content: Berman, Wallace, 1926-1976
label: Names
content: Broughton, James
label: Names
content: Castelli, Leo
label: Names
content: Castellón, Rolando
label: Names
content: DeRoux, Kenneth
label: Names
content: Ferlinghetti, Lawrence
label: Names
content: Green, Mark L., 1932-2004
label: Names
content: Herms, George, 1935-
label: Names
content: Hirschman, Jack, 1933-
label: Names
content: Larsen, Michael, 1941-
label: Names
content: LeBlanc, Peter, 1930-
label: Names
content: Linhares, Philip E.
label: Names
content: McClure, Michael
label: Names
content: Micheline, Jack, 1929-1998
label: Photographer
content: Nyberg, Ed
label: Names
content: Oldenburg, Claes, 1929- -- Photographs
label: Names
content: Pomada, Elizabeth
label: Names
content: Rexroth, Kenneth, 1905-1982
label: Names
content: Selz, Peter Howard, 1919-2019
label: Names
content: Stiles, Knute, 1923-2009
place: label: Place
content: San Francisco Calif. -- Photographs
topic: label: Topic
content: Poets -- Exhibitions -- Photographs
label: Topic
content: Beat generation
label: Topic
content: Photographers -- California -- San Francisco
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The William J. Eisenlord photographs were donated to the Archives of American Art in two installments, in 1976 and 1977, by William J. Eisenlord.
creator: label: Creator
content: Eisenlord, William J., 1926-1997
setName: label: See more items in
content: William J. Eisenlord photographs
abstract: label: Summary
content: The photographs of San Francisco photographer William J. Eisenlord measure 0.3 linear feet and date from 1953-1976. Photographs depict the City Lights Bookstore of San Francisco, California and the exhibition opening of "Poets of the Cities" at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1976. Also included are photographs of jazz and beat poetry performances taken by Ed Nyberg in 1957.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: William J. Eisenlord (1926-1997) worked as a photographer in San Francisco, California. He was an acquaintance of photographer, poet, and journalist Mark Green. Together with business partner Thayne Riggs, Eisenlord opened the Omnibus Gallery in Sacramento, California in 1980.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.3 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1953-1976
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.eisewill
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement note
content: The collection is arranged as 2 series:

Series 1: William J. Eisenlord Photographs, 1953-1976 (Box 1; 15 folders)

Series 2: Ed Nyberg Photographs, 1957 (Box 1; 1 folder)
processinfo: label: Processing Information note
content: The collection was microfilmed upon receipt on reel 3957. It was fully processed and described by Margaret J. Hughes in 2010 and digitized in 2011 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies note
content: The collection was digitized in 2011 and is available via the Archives of American Art's website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: The photographs of San Francisco photographer William J. Eisenlord measure 0.3 linear feet and date from 1953-1976. Photographs depict the City Lights Bookstore of San Francisco, California and the exhibition opening of "Poets of the Cities" at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1976. Also included are photographs of jazz and beat poetry performances taken by Ed Nyberg in 1957.

City Lights Bookstore was a popular meeting ground for many people associated with the Beat literary movement in San Francisco. The collection includes one exterior window photograph of the bookstore taken the year of its founding in 1953, and fifteen interior photographs of the store taken circa 1959. The interior shots include images of bookstore founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti, bookstore manager Shigeyoshi Murao, and various customers browsing the stacks.

The photographs taken at the "Poets of the Cities" exhibition opening on January 30, 1976 at the San Francisco Museum of Art include notable figures Jack Micheline, Claes Oldenburg, James Broughton, Phil Linhares, Mark and Sally Green, Michael Larsen, Elizabeth Pomada, Ken deRoux, Peter and Minette LeBlanc, Jack Hirschman, Rolando Castellon, Knute Stiles, Michael and Joanna McClure, Byron Meyer, Peter Selz, Leo Castelli, George Herms, and Shirley and Wallace Berman.

Also included are ten photographs taken in 1957 by Ed Nyberg at The Jazz Cellar, a popular San Francisco beat nightclub. Notable figures include Kenneth Rexroth, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Grover Sales Jr., Sonny Wayne, and Bill Weisjahn.