Hugo Ballin (1879-1956) was born in New York City. He began his Hollywood career creating motion picture sets for Samuel Goldwyn and later worked as a director and producer. He ultimately gave up his film career to focus on art and writing. The collection consists of original paintings and drawings by Ballin, correspondence, literary manuscripts, books, clippings, and photographs.
Preston Sturges (1898-1959) was a inventor, playwright and motion picture writer and director. He wrote the hit Broadway play, Strictly dishonorable (1929), and received a Academy Award for his screenplay, The great McGinty (1940). He lived in Europe for a period of time during the 1950s, and wrote and directed his last film in France in 1955. The collection consists of film scripts, production material, and correspondence related to Sturges' career.