Aline Frankau Bernstein

Aline Bernstein was a pioneering female stage designer in New York. In 1926, when she became the first female member of the United Scenic Artists Union, she was sworn in as “Brother Bernstein." She designed sets and/or costumes for more than 100 plays, including many on Broadway, at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Theatre Guild. She won a 1950 Tony Award for her costume design for the opera Regina (based on Lillian Hellman's play The Little Foxes). She later taught and served as a consultant in theater programs at Yale University, Harvard University, and Vassar College.

In 1925, Aline began a passionate extramarital affair with the author Thomas Wolfe, who was about twenty years her junior. She encouraged him to write and supported him financially, particularly during the writing of his first novel, "Look Homeward, Angel," which is dedicated to Aline. His novel "The Web and the Rock" includes a fictionalized description of their relationship. When the relationship ended, Aline unsuccessfully attempted suicide.

Aline was also one of the co-founders of the Museum of Costume Art. whose holdings formed the initial nucleus of what is now the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A biography of Aline, titled Aline by Carole Klein, was published in 1979.