Series I. Family and personal material includes material relating to Ursula's family before she was born and while she was very young in Germany as well as material related to her children, husband, home, and studio. Included are letters to family; early school work; writings by Ursula regarding Nova Scotia where she lived with her husband, Jonathan Sternberg, just after her marriage; photographs of her family, friends, and home at 5 Chestnut Hill Avenue in Chestnut Hill; and writings about Ursula, including obituaries and memorials. This series also includes artwork that Ursula created expressly for her family—cards, marriage announcements, and birth announcements for her children, Peter and Tanya, and her grandchildren, Luca and Lara-Sophia (children of Tanya). Researchers interested in Ursula's personal life and family should consult Series III. Address books, calendars, diaries and visual diaries. Comparatively speaking, this series contains only surface level information whereas the diaries and visual diaries contain her opinions, thoughts, and observations. Material in this series is in German, French, Dutch, and English.

Series II. Correspondence contains letters from friends and colleagues and is largely personal. The correspondence, even if it began as professional, almost always evolved into friendship; and frequently, researchers will find drawings of the individuals with whom she corresponded in Series IV. Artwork; and mentioned in her diaries and visual diaries in Series III. As is common with friendly correspondence, last names are frequently not included on letters; and therefore, the correspondence is alphabetized by whatever names are known. This collection includes mail art, an artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the postal service; the bulk of which is from Pierre Goguilly and covers the years 1989 to 2000. The mail art is largely in French, and includes a few items from Ursula that may have been examples of the sort of mail art she sent.

Of interest may be the letters sent from Vincent Stuart, a writer and publisher in England, with whom Ursula had a romantic relationship from at least 1952 to 1954, but with whom she corresponded sporadically until she married in 1957. The relationship was tumultuous, however the letters are very revealing of Ursula's personality, her thirst for travel, her concerns for financial security, and need for independence. Stuart, who owned Vincent Stuart Publishers, Ltd. (55 Welbeck Street in London), was born in 1911 and wrote frequently of his work with Maurice Nicoll (1884-1953), a Scottish neurologist, psychiatrist, and esoteric teacher. Stuart served as publisher for Nicoll's "Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurjieff and Ouspensky."

Series III. Address books, calendars, diaries, and visual diaries is a valuable resource for understanding Ursula Sternberg, her relationships, her thoughts on art and the process of art, and her impressions of the world around her. The series is arranged in four subseries.

A. Address books includes beautifully decorated little volumes for different cities in which she lived and maintained relationships: Brussels, London, Paris, and New York.

B. Calendars date from 1944 to 1956, and then appear to have been replaced with the more comprehensive diaries and visual diaries. The little daily calendars document appointments and meetings with friends, and occasionally contain very brief diary-type entries. There are infrequent sketches throughout the daily calendar, and researchers may be able to follow her early career in London with Caprice, Peter Pan, etc. by her appointments. The daily calendar from 2000 largely documents Ursula's declining health as she battled cancer.

C. Diaries (not visual) were used from 1967 until about 1976, apparently as a primary form of diary; however, after 1976, there is overlap between both traditional diaries and Ursula's "visual diaries" which are filled with drawings in addition to diary entries. There is a rough gap of diaries in any form from about 1956 to 1967.

The diaries in C. Diaries (not visual), and those in D. Visual diaries, candidly discuss family, friends, food, her health, travel, books she is reading, her impressions of exhibits and other artists' work, and concerts she attended. Her criticisms of Americans and life in America are frequent. There is also discussion of her own work, progress she makes in projects, and experimentation of new artistic methods and mediums. Art mediums within the visual diaries include charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, stamps, and combinations of all. It seems that Ursula may have used the visual diaries as sketchbooks and then filled in text around the drawings; but sometimes the text and images are connected. There are numerous drawings of landscapes, scenes in parks and cafés, as well as portraits of both strangers and people she knew. There are occasionally drawings of nudes and musicians in the visual diaries, but those are more commonly found in Ursula's sketchbooks and loose paintings.

Across all the calendars and diaries, Ursula writes in a combination of English, French and German—usually shifting from English to French and/or German during travels, or seemingly, under stress. Her handwriting is generally easy to read, although her g's appear backwards. At the back of nearly every volume within this series are notes and lists.

Series IV. Artwork consists of A. Sketchbooks; B. Artwork (loose paintings and other objects); C. Books, projects, and commissioned works; and D. Photographs and photocopies of Ursula Sternberg's artwork.

A. Sketchbooks consists of hundreds of sketchbooks of all sizes, from tiny to enormous. Each sketchbook generally contains drawings of landscapes and cityscapes, portraits and figures, musicians, and nudes. Very few have any sort of date attached to them. The sketchbooks were arranged by the topic most prevalent within the sketchbook, with dated materials within each topic appearing first, followed by undated sketchbooks. It is important for researchers to know that in order to see all of any topic, it will be necessary to look through all of the sketchbooks. The large number of sketchbooks containing nudes may stem from Ursula hosting regular sessions, from 1975 to her death in 2000, with friends and colleagues in which they sketched models. Of particular interest in these sketchbooks are the frequent one-minute, five-minute, and longer sketches of the same pose.

B. Artwork (loose paintings and other objects) consist largely of loose paintings that were organized (prior to donation) into binders that were arranged topically. Although the pages were removed from the binders for preservation purposes, the names of the binders and the order within have been maintained. These broad topics include cards and posters, friends, Jonathan Sternberg, landscapes, miscellaneous, musicians, and people. While not including items sold or gifted (those are represented in D. Photographs and photocopies of Ursula Sternberg's artwork), this group of materials is a fairly comprehensive indication of Ursula's body of work. In addition to her works on paper, Ursula created art on boxes, fabric, lamp shades, leather, metal, and polystyrene (also known as shrinky dinks). A small number of examples of each of these is included within this group.

C. Books, projects, and commissioned works highlights the more commercial aspects of Ursula's artistic career. While she sold artwork (see D. Photographs and photocopies of Ursula Sternberg's artwork), it is often difficult to ascertain what was created for sale and what was created for her and/or family. Much of the material within this group appears to have been created expressly for a commercial audience. Several books are included in this series, including two artists' books; "A Tale," an erotic story told largely in pictures; "Growing Up in Nazi Occupied Holland and Belgium" (photocopies, only); and "This is the Tale of a Little Boy and an Art Gallery." Also included are cards developed for companies and cultural organizations; designs developed for ads for companies (especially for her father's company, Forma); and designs developed for programs and publicity for cultural organizations. There is also material related to the Print Club's 25 x 25 project, often relating to a theme, to which Ursula contributed art from 1992 to 1997.

D. Photographs and photocopies of Ursula Sternberg's artwork were arranged (prior to donation) into binders that were arranged topically. Although the pages were removed from the binders, the names of the binders and the order within have been maintained. There are many photographic prints, slides, and negatives of Ursula's artwork; but there are also binders specifically documenting artwork that was sold, and therefore not contained as originals within this collection. As such, this group may contain the most comprehensive record of Ursula's oeuvre.

Series V. Exhibits and expos includes brochures, fliers, ads, and posters for exhibits in which Ursula's work was featured. Prior to donation, several binders of material relating to Ursula's exhibitions were placed in binders in chronological order. The material was removed from the binders, but the order within was maintained. In addition to this material, there are a large number of posters, some of which were uniquely decorated by Ursula, either as options during development, or as original artwork serving as advertisement. Two guest books from exhibitions and showings are included with comments from visitors and there is also signage for private showings and open houses featuring Ursula's work. Many of the exhibitions were held in galleries in Europe; however there were a number in the United States, some in Philadelphia, and one at the University of Pennsylvania which featured her "visual diaries."

The final series, VI. Interviews, features interviews with Ursula on local radio and television and German television. Most of these interviews, on audio and video cassettes, seem to relate to shows or exhibits, particularly the Philadelphia Print Show; but there is also an account of her experiences escaping Nazi occupied Holland.

Access to original audio/visual materials and computer files is restricted. The Kislak Center will provide access to the information on these materials from duplicate master files. If the original does not already have a copy, it will be sent to an outside vendor for copying. Patrons are financially responsible for the cost. The turnaround time from request to delivery of digital items is about two weeks for up to five items and three to seven weeks for more than five items. Please contact Reprographic Services (reprogr@upenn.edu) for cost estimates and ordering. Once digital items are received, researchers will have access to the files on a dedicated computer in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. Researchers should be aware of specifics of copyright law and act accordingly.