Judith Bregman Collection, 1966-1993
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Judith Bregman was a professor of Physics at Polytechnic Institute of New York from 1957 until her death in 1978. During her time at Poly, she developed an interest in the preparation of instructional films, and is perhaps most well-known for her film 'Symmetry', which was created in 1966 in cooperation with Alan Holden, Richard Davisson, and Philip Stapp. This collection is comprised of 16 mm films Bregman helped to create and mass-produced educational films she used for classroom instruction. Some personal information about Bregman and her work is also included in the collection.
Biographical / Historical
Judith Bregman was a professor of Physics at Polytechnic Institute of New York from 1957 until her death in 1978. A graduate of Bryn Mawr and Cornell University, Bregman specialized in the areas of physical chemistry, x-ray crystallography, electron diffraction, and light scattering. During her time at Poly, she developed an interest in the preparation of instructional films, and is perhaps most well-known for her film 'Symmetry', which was created in 1966 in cooperation with Alan Holden, Richard Davisson, and Philip Stapp. The film received much attention, and was even shown at the Museum of Modern Art. She also participated in the making of other films, such as 'Aspects of Symmetry'. She died of cancer on October 2, 1978 at the age of 57.
Source: The above information is from Bregman's obituary in Physics Today, which can be found at Phillips, M. (1978). Judith Bregman. Physics Today. 31(12), 71. doi: 10.1063/1.2994888
Arrangement
Series I - Series VII contain the personal papers of Judith Bregman, arranged by subject. Some of the correspondence, film distribution, and Bregman Film Account documents were maintained by physics professor Hellmut Juretschke after Bregman's death in 1978.
Series VIII contains 35 16mm films, arranged in their original order, as determined by Bregman, with miscellaneous audio/visual materials at the end.
Series IX contains 5 shipping containers in which some of the film reels were originally stored.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists largely of the 16mm films which comprised Bregman's personal "film library" in the Physics Department at NYU-Poly. Included are 35 films of varying length and content; the some in color and some with audio. A number of the films, the ones to be found in Subseries A, were created by or for Polytechnic with the help of Bregman herself; the most notable of these is Symmetry. The remainder are films used by Bregman for class instruction and cover topics such as crystallography, quantum mechanics, and light scattering.
The collection also contains five film reel shipping containers in which the films were originally stored. The films are also accompanied by correspondence, grant proposals and contracts, reviews and articles of the films, film stills from Symmetry, documents from the Bergman Film Library account, and biographical materials about Bregman.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Open for research without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish materials must be obtained from:
Poly Archives & Special Collections Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology 5 MetroTech Center Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: (718) 260-3943 Fax: (718) 260-3756 E-mail: archives@library.poly.edu
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Judith Bregman Collection; RG 013; box number; folder number or item identifier; Poly Archives at Bern Dibner Library of Science and Technology, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The film reels and containers were transferred to Bern Dibner Library of Technology & Science from the Physics Department in 1995 and stored in a glass and metal cabinet in the archives. Preliminary lists and finding aids were found in the cabinet when assessed in 2013.
About this Guide
Revisions to this Guide
Repository
Series I: Biographical materials
Biographical Materials, 1968-1978, inclusive
Series II: Correspondence, 1966-1991, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Hellmut Juretschke (then head of the physics department) received and responded to some correspondence after Judith Bregman's death, therefore some correspondence addressed to Bregman appears in Juretschke's folders of correspondence. Some death notices and Juretschke's speech at Bregman's memorial are also included in folder 2.
Bregman, Judith, 1967-1976, inclusive
Juretschke, Hellmut -- Bregman memorial and condolences, 1978, inclusive
Juretschke, Hellmut -- Inter-Office correspondence, 1978-1979, inclusive
Juretschke, Hellmut -- Bregman memorial film library, 1978-1991, inclusive; 1978, bulk
Juretschke, Hellmut -- Bregman film distribution, 1978, inclusive
Series III: Symmetry and Aspects of Symmetry
Proposal and grant -- National Science Foundation (NSF), 1965-1968, inclusive
Production and distribution contracts, 1966-1982, inclusive; 1966-1970, bulk
Articles and reviews, 1967-1970, inclusive
Newspaper and magazine clippings, 1967-1969, inclusive
Awards, 1968-1970, inclusive
Screening announcements, 1969-1970, inclusive
Symmetry accompanying booklet and brochures, 1967, inclusive
Responses from educators, 1971-1973, inclusive
Responses from students, 1971, inclusive
Film stills -- Negatives, undated
Film stills -- Negatives and 5"x7" test prints, undated
Flim stills -- Color photographs (2.75" x 3.5"), undated
Film stills -- Color photographs (8" x 10"), undated
Film stills -- Taped together, undated
Series IV: Other films
Bregman films: "A Computer Animated Film on the Quantum Mechanical Harmonic Oscillator," "The Packet of an Uncertain Gaussian," and "Swinging Quanta", 1972-1984, inclusive
Moire patterns, 1963-1967, inclusive
Physics teaching films -- Information and brochures, 1965-1986, inclusive
Series V: Bregman film distribution, 1972-1991, inclusive; 1980-1984, bulk
Correspondence -- 1981-1991, 1981-1991, inclusive
Correspondence -- 1978-1980, 1978-1980, inclusive
Correspondence -- 1971-1976, 1971-1976, inclusive
Inter-Office correspondence and receipts, 1970-1984, inclusive
Advertising, circa 1982
Series VI: Judith Bregman Film Account, 1977-1993, inclusive
Bregman Film Account -- 1992-1993, 1992-1993, inclusive
Bregman Film Account -- 1990-1991, 1990-1991, inclusive
Bregman Film Account -- 1987-1989, 1987-1989, inclusive
Bregman Film Account -- 1984-1986, 1984-1986, inclusive
Bregman Film Account -- 1980-1983, 1980-1983, inclusive
Bregman Film Account -- 1977-1979, 1977-1979, inclusive
Schwartz Memorial Library Fund, 1986-1991, inclusive
Series VII: Original film library lists
Film lists found in Bregman film cabinet, undated
Series VIII: Audio/Visual Materials, undated
Scope and Contents
Contains 35 16mm films. The first subseries contains films produced by Bregman through grant-funded projects while at Polytechnic, including "Symmetry." Additional subseries are comprised of films used by Bregman for class instruction, or which were otherwise part of her film library. All films are organized according to their original groupings as determined by Bregman.
Subseries A: Polytechnic Films, undated
Symmetry, Copy A, undated
Symmetry, Copy B, undated
Symmetry, Copy 3, 1973, inclusive
Symmetry, Copy 4, undated
Aspects of Symmetry, 1970
Conditions Governing Access
To view the digitized video, contact the Poly Archives.
Video
Aspects of Symmetry, from A & B rolls, 1970
Swinging Quanta, Copy 1, 1976, inclusive
Conditions Governing Access
To view the digitized video, contact the Poly Archives.
Video
Swinging Quanta, Copy 2, 1976, inclusive
The Packet of an Uncertain Gaussian, Copy 1, 1968
The Packet of an Uncertain Gaussian, Copy 2, 1968
Conditions Governing Access
To view the digitized video, contact the Poly Archives.
Video
Subseries B: General, 1968-1978, inclusive
Frames of Reference, undated
Powers of Ten, 1978, inclusive
Million to One, undated
Subseries C: One-Dimensional Scattering, undated
QP1: Barriers: Scattering in One Dimension, undated
QP2: Wells: Scattering in One Dimension, undated
QP3: Edge Effects: Scattering in One Dimension, undated
QP4: Momentum Space: Scattering in One Dimension, undated
QP5: Free Wave Packets, undated
QP6: Packet in a Perfect Crystal Wave Packets in Periodic Potentials, undated
QP7: Packet Incident on Crystal, undated
QP8: Scattering From Impurities: Wave Packets in Periodic Potentials, undated
QP10: Individual Events in One-Dimensional Scattering, undated
QP15: Particle in a Box, undated
Subseries D: Coupled Pendulums, undated
OS-5, OS-6, OS-7: Sand Pendulum I: Point Suspension, II: Saddle Suspension, III: Short Saddle Suspension, undated
OS-8, OS-9: Forad Damped Harmonic Oscillators, undated
OS-10: Ring of Coupled Pendulums: Normal Modes, undated
Subseries E: Quantum Mechanics, 1965-1978, inclusive
Scattering of Quantum Mechanical Wave Packets from Potential Well and Barrier, undated
Q. M. Scattering, 1965, inclusive
Quantum Mechanical Harmonic Oscillators Seq 4, undated
Subseries F: Solid State, undated
Experiments with the Bubble Model of a Metal Structure, undated
Subseries G: Crystallography, undated
Analyse et Synthese De Frourier, undated
HMX Alpha-Beta Stereo, undated
Subseries H: Miscellaneous Films, 1968-1978, inclusive
Hurricane Watch 1968, 1968, inclusive
Volta and Electricity, undated
Weather in Motion #20 (From ATS-I Synchronous Satellite), undated
"50"
Slide Presentation with Audio Cassette, 1984, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Consists of one "Moments of Discovery" book including Teacher's Guides and Scripts for units on the discovery of fission, and pulsars. Also included are two audio cassette tapes and 20 black and white slides, some exhibiting damage.
Series IX: Original shipping containers, 1974-1986, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Five film reel shipping containers constructed of carboard with reinforced metal corners, label slots, and cotton buckles.
