Jerome and Irene B. Bayer Collection

Jerome (Jerry) Haas Bayer was born on December 8, 1897 in San Francisco, CA to Joseph Bayer and Augusta Schlesinger. His father was a physician, who had received his medical training in Vienna. His mother was born in Birmingham, England, whose parents owned a wine business in San Francisco.

Jerome Bayer received a law degree from UC Berkeley, where he also began performing in one-man theater shows. After graduation, Bayer practiced law in San Francisco for eleven years. In 1931, he went to Europe for two years and spent most of the time in Paris. After Hitler's rise to power in 1933, he returned to the US and spent the majority of his time writing, teaching and working in theater. During World War II, Bayer was the theater consultant for the United Service Organizations in Bremerton, WA, where he organized the Bremerton Theater Project. After the war, he returned to New York, where he concentrated on theater work, writing, and teaching. During the summers, he taught creative drama at Camp Robinson Crusoe. From 1953 to 1959, Bayer was the director of the drama department at the Jewish Community Center in Baltimore, MD. From 1959 to 1969, he held the same position at the JCC Detroit. In 1962, he became the cultural specialist at the Educational Alliance in New York. In this position, he lectured on a variety of topics and designed and organized many original programs. He spent much of his spare time writing. He held this position until 1991, and passed away on July 3, 1992.