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Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers

Creator:
Jessen, Gene Nora  Search this
Extent:
8 Cubic feet (22 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1950s-2010s
Summary:
This collection consists of 8 cubic feet of archival material documenting the life of Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen from 1950s to the 2010s. She had a successful career as a flight instructor, Beech Aircraft sales demonstration pilot, Beech Aircraft dealership owner, flight school chief pilot, commercial pilot, Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) Safety Counselor, aviation insurance agent/broker, advisor to the FAA, president of the Ninety-Nines, Inc. (1988-1990), and published aviation author. Jessen also participated in the Women in Space Program, evaluating women's potential as possible astronauts at the Lovelace Medical Center in 1961.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of approximately 8 cubic feet of archival material documenting the aviation career of Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen, including her involvement with the Ninety-Nines, her career with Beechcraft Aviation, and her writings on aviation; there is also a small amount of material related to her week-long testing with the Women in Space Program. The following types of materials are included: correspondence, photographs, pilot logs, scrapbooks, photo albums, programs, brochures, maps, magazine articles, manuals, handbooks, VHS tapes, and audiotapes.
Arrangement:
When the National Air and Space Museums Archives received the Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Collection, it was arranged alphabetically by folder name. All original folder titles have been retained. PII has been manually redacted. Any additional contextual information that was added by the processing archivist appears in brackets.
Biographical / Historical:
Gene Nora (pronounced Janora) Stumbough Jessen was born on January 10, 1937, in Springfield, Illinois. While growing up, Jessen became interested in aviation after learning about the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) who served their country during World War II. She began flying while in her junior year of high school in the Civil Air Patrol and earned her private pilot license in 1956. She then attended the University of Oklahoma (OU), where she was a member of their flight team and entered her first National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) competition. While taking classes in 1959, Jessen became the first woman to work as a flight instructor for the school, which allowed her to also pay for college. During her time at OU, she earned seven collegiate-level flying trophies and remained on staff for six years after completing her English degree.

In 1961 Jessen quit her job as a flight instructor when she was selected as one of the women to participate in the Women in Space Program (1960-1962), also known as the Mercury 13 or Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs), at the Lovelace Medical Center in New Mexico. She was twenty-four years old. Dr. William Randall "Randy" Lovelace, who designed and carried out the rigorous testing for the thirty-two male Project Mercury candidates, and US Air Force Brigadier General Donald Flickinger, were curious to see how women would fare against their all-male peers. Unable to interest the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the undertaking, they conducted the experiment in secret independently. For Phase 1, this group of women underwent the same rigorous physical testing regimen used for NASA's Mercury astronauts. All participants passed. Armed with these results, Lovelace and Flickinger lobbied both Congress and the White House to consider including women in the Astronaut Corps, neither of which were keen on the idea; On a draft response letter, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson wrote "Let's stop this now!" Before the other parts of the test could begin, the Lovelace Program was cancelled.

Jessen moved to Wichita, Kansas, and accepted a job at Beech Aircraft in 1962. There, Jessen piloted planes for demonstration purposes for the company. On July 20, 1962, she embarked on a 90-day, 40,000 mile cross-country flight with fellow pilots Joyce Case and Mike Gordon. They were known as "The Three Musketeers", named after the Beech Musketeers the trio flew in formation across the United States. She and Case were the only female pilots flying for any aircraft manufacturer at that time. Soon, Jessen became rated to fly the entire line of Beech aircraft. In her spare time, she volunteered with the Wichita Wing Scouts from 1963-1967.

In Kansas, she also met and married Leland Robert "Bob" Jessen (1925-2020), a B-29 pilot during World War II, on June 12, 1964, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1967, they moved to Boise, Idaho, where they established their own Beech dealership and, later, an aviation insurance business and Boise Air Service, a full-service, fixed base operation on the Boise Airport.

Jessen was also an avid writer. She was the aviation columnist for The Northwest Flyer, and The Idaho Statesman. Jessen also wrote several books on the history of women in aviation, including Sky Girls, a chronicle of the 1929 Powder Puff Derby.

Additionally, Jessen was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve on the Federal Aviation Agency's (FAA) Women in Aviation Advisory Board for five years. Between 1988 and 1990, Jessen was President of the Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots. She was also a Wing Scout Leader, treasurer of the Idaho Pilot's Association, an Accident Prevention Counselor for the FAA, and the Boise Airport Commissioner. She was recently inducted into the International Women in Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. Jessen holds over 4,000 hours of flying experience and earned ratings as a commercial pilot, single and multi-engine land, single-engine sea, instrument rating and a Gold Seal flight instructor.

HONORS:

Honorary PhD, University of Wisconsin

Idaho Aviation Hall of Fame

Pathfinder Award Wall of Fame, Seattle Museum of Flight

Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award

Ninety-Nines Amelia Earhart Award

Achievement Award, International Northwest Aviation Council

Evanston Township High School Distinguished Alumni Award

Adler Planetarium Women in Space Service Award

Mercury 13 NASA Award, International Human Space Flight Day

Women with Wings Award, International Air and Space Museum

Next Generation Indie Book Award, 2010

YMCA Pioneers of the Future Award

FAA Women's Advisory Committee on Aviation

Boise Airport Commissioner
Provenance:
Gene Nora Jessen, Gift, 2023, NASM.2023.0052
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Topic:
Aeronautics  Search this
Aeronautics -- Flights  Search this
Astronautics  Search this
Beech Aircraft Family  Search this
Women in aeronautics  Search this
Citation:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers, NASM.2023.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NASM.2023.0052
See more items in:
Gene Nora Stumbough Jessen Papers
Archival Repository:
National Air and Space Museum Archives
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg2b905f10b-05ae-4366-94c0-809cf299d0bc
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nasm-2023-0052
Online Media:

Installing "Random Access" - Nam June Paik: Global Visionary - Time-lapse

Creator:
Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this
Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2012-12-11T14:21:02.000Z
YouTube Category:
Film & Animation  Search this
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
See more by:
americanartmuseum
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
YouTube Channel:
americanartmuseum
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_PVGl6DoOIVc

Installing Nam June Paik: Global Visionary - "Random Access" / Time-Lapse

Creator:
Smithsonian American Art Museum  Search this
Type:
YouTube Videos
Uploaded:
2012-12-03T14:28:39.000Z
YouTube Category:
Film & Animation  Search this
Topic:
Art, American  Search this
See more by:
americanartmuseum
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
YouTube Channel:
americanartmuseum
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:yt_TWDyH7UgcBY

Shirley Leonard Papers

Creator:
Jones, Shirley May, 1922-2004  Search this
Leonard, Shirley, 1922-2004  Search this
Donor:
Connick, Kathleen D.  Search this
Extent:
4 Cubic feet (16 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Motion pictures (visual works)
Audiotapes
Photographs
Correspondence
Scrapbooks
Sheet music
Date:
1931-1998
bulk 1938-1957
Summary:
Papers documenting the life and career of Shirley May Jones, stage name Shirley Leonard, an exotic dancer from Cincinnati, Ohio. The papers, photographs, and clippings document her childhood, early life, and professional career.
Scope and Contents:
Papers documenting the life and career of exotic dancer Shirley May Jones, stage name Shirley Leonard, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Leonard performed primarily throughout the Midwest but also worked in Florida, California, and Louisiana. The collection includes family, performance, venue, and publicity photographs, photographs of other entertainers (some inscribed), correspondence, clippings, a childhood scrapbook, sheet music, recorded music, printed materials, home movies, and financial and business records such as contracts and wage slips.
Arrangement:
The papers are divided into five series.

Series 1: Personal Papers

Series 2: Business, Financial, and Legal Records

Series 3: Performance Materials

Series 4: Photographs

Series 5: Audiovisual Materials
Biographical / Historical:
Exotic dancer, active during the 1940s and 1950s.
Separated Materials:
The Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds artifacts related to this collection including some of Jones' costumes and accessories.
Provenance:
Purchased by the National Museum of American History from Cowan's Historic Americana Auction in 2005. Addendum donated to the Archives Center in 2006 by Kathleen D. Connick, a relative of Shirley May Jones.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow. Researchers must use photocopies of scrapbooks due to the fragility of the originals, unless special access is approved.

Technical Access: Viewing film and listening to audio disc recordings is only possible by special arrangement, please inquire.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Burlesque shows -- 1920-1970  Search this
Burlesque (Theater) -- 1920-1970  Search this
Striptease -- 1920-1970  Search this
Stripteasers -- 1920-1970  Search this
Genre/Form:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Audiotapes
Photographs -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Sheet music
Citation:
The Shirley Leonard Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0919
See more items in:
Shirley Leonard Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep802417644-dd41-44c9-84c3-64abbff4668b
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0919
Online Media:

William Russo Music and Personal Papers

Creator:
Strayhorn, Billy (William Thomas), 1915-1967  Search this
Russo, William, 1928-2003  Search this
Photographer:
Claxton, William  Search this
Leonard, Herman, 1923-2010  Search this
Composer:
Kenton, Stan  Search this
Musician:
Mulligan, Gerry  Search this
Names:
Chicago Jazz Ensemble  Search this
Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this
Extent:
87 Cubic feet (188 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Motion pictures (visual works)
Music
Audiotapes
Business records
Photographs
Correspondence
Librettos
Awards
Posters
Programs
Scrapbooks
Scores
Lecture notes
Date:
1920-2002
Summary:
Papers and audiovisual materials documenting Russo's career in music.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes Russo's original and published music scores, parts and arrangements; audiovisual materials including recordings of broadcasts of Russo's radio show, performances of Russo's compositions, including performances by Duke Ellington, and film and video recordings of Russo's productions in theater and opera; and personal papers such as correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, publicity files, contracts, etc. Among the most significant items in the collection are experimental jazz arrangements for Stan Kenton in the late 1940s-early 1950s, undated arrangements for Gerry Mulligan, Russo's original arrangement of Duke Ellington's Sacred Concert, scores to his first and second symphonies, and scores and libretti to several early rock operas. The photographs include images of persons such as Ellington, Kenton, and Billy Strayhorn, and photographs by jazz photographers Herman Leonard and William Claxton. 2007 addendum includes correspondence, mostly between Russo and his family; eighteen diaries for 1946-1967 (not all years are present) with sparse entries, some in Italian; and additional music manuscripts, parts, scores and libretti.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into nine series.

Series 1: William Russo's Music

Series 2: Teaching Notes

Series 3: Correspondence

Series 4: Publicity, Programs, and Reviews

Series 5: Posters and Artwork

Series 6: Photographs

Series 7: Books and Lecture Notebooks

Series 8: Memorabilia

Series 9: Audiovisual Materials
Biographical / Historical:
William Russo, renowned American jazz composer, arranger, and founder of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, had a music career that spanned five decades and included performance, conducting and composition. During his career he worked with such diverse talents as Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Leonard Bernstein, Cannonball Adderly, Yehuidi Menuhin, Dizzy Gillespie, Seiji Ozawa, and Billie Holiday. Although critics acknowledged Russo mainly for his pioneering contributions to the big-band jazz canon, his talents extended to a far wider range of musical styles, creating groundbreaking jazz scores, rock operas, classical works, film scores, and educational textbooks on jazz orchestration and arrangement. In all, he composed over 200 pieces for jazz orchestra with more than 25 recordings of his work. In 1990, Russo received a Lifetime Achievement award from NARAS, the organization that presents the Grammy Awards.

As a young trombonist, Russo studied with Lennie Tristano, the pianist and theorist who became a leader in the progressive jazz movement. During the late 1940s, Russo led the revolutionary Experiment in Jazz band. At age 21, he became one of the chief composers/arrangers for the Stan Kenton Orchestra, one of the most innovative and influential jazz orchestras of the postwar era. In his four years with Kenton, Russo penned such classic Kenton works as "23° North – 82° West," and "Frank Speaking."

Russo made several major jazz recordings under his own name before his classical "Symphony No. 2 in C (TITANS)" received a Koussevitsky award in 1959; it was performed by the New York Philharmonic that same year under Leonard Bernstein, who had commissioned the work. This award marked Russo's "official" entry into the world of classical music. Russo continued to write major symphonic works throughout his career, including his 1992 grand opera, "Dubrovsky."

After his tenure with Kenton, in the early 1950s, Russo led his own successful bands, The Russo Orchestra in New York, and the London Jazz Orchestra, before returning to Chicago to form the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in 1065. With the Ensemble, he presented Duke Ellington's "First Concert of Sacred Music" in 1967. This was one of the rare times when Ellington allowed one of his compositions to be arranged and performed by a jazz orchestra other than his own, and was a reflection of Ellington's respect for Russo. Shortly after this performance, Russo composed a rock cantata, "The Civil War," that led him into the field of rock opera. After concentrating on classical music again in the 1970s, in the late 1980s, Russo began to re-explore the history of jazz through his revived Chicago Jazz Ensemble. In 1995, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble made history with the first-ever complete live performance of Gil Evans' and Miles Davis' "Sketches of Spain" in its original form. Recent Russo works that premiered in Chicago included "Chicago Suite No. 1," and "Chicago Suite No. 2," a recording that was published posthumously in the spring of 2003.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

William Russo Transcription and Arrangement of Duke Ellington's First Concert of Sacred Music, 1967-1968 (AC0406)
Provenance:
Bequeathed to the Smithsonian by William Russo. Papers collected after Russo's death in 2003. The 2007 addendum sent by Russo's sister and daughter were also part of the bequest.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but an oil painting is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Occupation:
Composers -- 20th century  Search this
Topic:
Opera  Search this
Jazz musicians -- United States  Search this
Jazz  Search this
Music -- 20th century  Search this
Genre/Form:
Motion pictures (visual works)
Music -- Manuscripts
Audiotapes
Business records -- 20th century
Photographs -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Librettos
Awards
Posters -- 20th century
Programs
Scrapbooks
Scores
Lecture notes
Citation:
William Russo Music and Personal Papers, 1920s-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0845
See more items in:
William Russo Music and Personal Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep888a8d92a-3927-49c1-ace4-466bb766a9d6
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0845
Online Media:

Duke Ellington Collection

Creator:
Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this
Names:
Duke Ellington Orchestra  Search this
Washingtonians, The.  Search this
Ellington, Mercer Kennedy, 1919-1996 (musician)  Search this
Strayhorn, Billy (William Thomas), 1915-1967  Search this
Collector:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Musical History  Search this
Extent:
400 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Phonograph records
Papers
Photographic prints
Posters
Sound recordings
Scrapbooks
Music
Clippings
Awards
Audiotapes
Place:
New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century
Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- 20th century
Washington (D.C.) -- 20th century
Date:
1903 - 1989
Summary:
The collection documents Duke Ellington's career primarily through orchestrations (scores and parts), music manuscripts, lead sheets, transcriptions, and sheet music. It also includes concert posters, concert programs, television, radio, motion picture and musical theater scripts, business records, correspondence, awards, as well as audiotapes, audiodiscs, photographs, tour itineraries, newspaper clippings, magazines, caricatures, paintings, and scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
Dating approximately from the time Duke Ellington permanently moved to New York City in 1923 to the time the material was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1988, the bulk of the material in the Duke Ellington Collection is dated from 1934-1974 and comprises sound recordings, original music manuscripts and published sheet music, hand-written notes, correspondence, business records, photographs, scrapbooks, news clippings, concert programs, posters, pamphlets, books and other ephemera. These materials document Ellington's contributions as composer, musician, orchestra leader, and an ambassador of American music and culture abroad. In addition, the materials paint a picture of the life of a big band maintained for fifty years and open a unique window through which to view an evolving American society.

The approximate four hundred cubic feet of archival materials have been processed and organized into sixteen series arranged by type of material. Several of the series have been divided into subseries allowing additional organization to describe the content of the material. For example, Series 6, Sound Recordings, is divided into four subseries: Radio and Television Interviews, Concert Performances, Studio Dates and Non-Ellington Recordings. Each series has its own scope and content note describing the material and arrangement (for example; Series 10, Magazines and Newspaper Articles, is organized into two groups, foreign and domestic, and arranged chronologically within each group). A container list provides folder titles and box numbers.

The bulk of the material is located in Series 1, Music Manuscripts, and consists of compositions and arrangements by Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and other composers. Series 6, Sound Recordings also provides a record of the performance of many of these compositions. The materials in Series 2, Performances and Programs, Series 3, Business Records, Series 8, Scrapbooks, Series 9, Newspaper Clippings, Series 11, Publicity and Series 12, Posters provide documentation of specific performances by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Ellington was a spontaneous and prolific composer as evidenced by music, lyrical thoughts, and themes for extended works and plays captured on letterhead stationery in Series 3, Business Records, in the margin notes of individual books and pamphlets in Series 14, Religious Materials and Series 15, Books, and in the hand-written notes in Series 5, Personal Correspondence and Notes.

During its fifty-year lifespan, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra were billed under various names including The Washingtonians, The Harlem Footwarmers and The Jungle Band. The soloists were informally called "the band", and Series 3 includes salary statements, IOU's, receipts and ephemera relating to individual band members. Series 1, Music Manuscripts contains the soloists' parts and includes "band books" of several soloists (for example; Harry Carney and Johnny Hodges) and numerous music manuscripts of Billy Strayhorn. The changing role of Strayhorn from arranger hired in 1938 to Ellington's main collaborator and composer of many well-known titles for Duke Ellington and His Orchestra including "Take The A' Train" and "Satin Doll" can be traced in these music manuscripts. Series 7, Photographs and Series 2, Performances and Programs contain many images of the band members and Strayhorn. This Collection also documents the business history of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Series 3, Business Records contains correspondence on letterhead stationery and Series 11, Publicity contains promotional material from the various booking agencies, professional companies, and public relations firms that managed the Orchestra.

The materials in the Duke Ellington Collection provide insight into public and institutional attitudes towards African Americans in mid-twentieth-century America. The business records in Series 3 beginning in 1938 and published sheet music in Series 1 depict Duke Ellington's progression from an African-American musician who needed "legitimization" by a white publisher, Irving Mills, to a businessmen who established his own companies including Tempo Music and Duke Ellington, Incorporated to control his copyright and financial affairs. Programs from the segregated Cotton Club in Series 2, Performances And Programs and contracts with no-segregation clauses in Series 3: Business Records further illustrate racial policies and practices in this time period. The public shift in perception of Duke Ellington from a leader of an exotic "Jungle Band" in the 1930s to a recipient of the Congressional Medal Of Freedom in 1970 is evidenced in Series 2, Performances And Programs, Series 12, Posters, Series 7, Photographs and Series 13, Awards. Reviews and articles reflecting Ellington's evolving status are also documented in Series 8, Newspaper Clippings, Series 9, Scrapbooks, Series 10, Newspaper and Magazine Articles.

The materials in the Duke Ellington Collection reflect rapid technological changes in American society from 1923-1982. Sound recordings in Series 6 range from 78 phonograph records of three minutes duration manufactured for play on Victrolas in monaural sound to long-playing (LP) phonograph records produced for stereo record players. Television scripts in Series 4, programs in Series 2 and music manuscripts (for example, Drum Is A Woman) in Series 1 demonstrate how the development of television as a means of mass communication spread the Orchestra's sound to a wider audience. The availability of commercial air travel enabled the Ellington Orchestra to extend their international performances from Europe to other continents including tours to Asia, Africa, South America and Australia and archival material from these tours is included in every series.

Series 4, Scripts and Transcripts and Series 6, Audio Recordings contain scripts and radio performances promoting the sale of United States War bonds during World War II, and Series 7, Photographs includes many images of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra's performances for military personnel revealing the impact of historic events on Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Series 2: Programs and Performances, Series 9, Newspaper clippings and Series 8, Scrapbooks document the 1963 Far East tour aborted as a result of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

The Duke Ellington Collection contains works by numerous twentieth-century music, literature, and art luminaries. Series 1, Music Manuscripts contains original music manuscripts of William Grant Still, Eubie Blake, Mary Lou Williams, and others. Series 4, Scripts and Transcripts contains a play by Langston Hughes, and Series 12, Posters contains many original artworks.
Arrangement:
Series 1: Music Manuscripts, circa 1930-1981, undated

Series 2: Performances and Programs, 1933-1973, undated

Series 3: Business Records, 1938-1988

Series 4: Scripts and Transcripts, 1937-1970

Series 5: Personal Correspondence and Notes, 1941-1974, undated

Series 6: Sound Recordings, 1927-1974

Series 7: Photographs, 1924-1972, undated

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1931-1973

Series 9: Newspaper Clippings, 1939-1973, undated

Series 10: Magazine Articles and Newspaper Clippings, 1940-1974

Series 11: Publicity, 1935-1988

Series 12: Posters and Oversize Graphics, 1933-1989, undated

Series 13: Awards, 1939-1982

Series 14: Religious Material, 1928-1974

Series 15: Books, 1903-1980

Series 16: Miscellaneous, 1940-1974
Biographical / Historical:
A native of Washington, DC, Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899. Edward was raised in a middle-class home in the Northwest section of Washington described by his sister Ruth--younger by sixteen years--as a "house full of love." Ellington himself wrote that his father J.E. (James Edward) raised his family "as though he were a millionaire" but Edward was especially devoted to his mother, Daisy Kennedy Ellington. In 1969, thirty-four years after his mother's death, Ellington accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom with these words, "There is nowhere else I would rather be tonight but in my mother's arms." Both his parents played the piano and Ellington began piano lessons at the age of seven, but like many boys he was easily distracted by baseball.

In his early teens, Ellington sneaked into Washington clubs and performance halls where he was exposed to ragtime musicians, including James P. Johnson, and where he met people from all walks of life. He returned in earnest to his piano studies, and at age fourteen wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag" also known as "Poodle Dog Rag." Ellington was earning income from playing music at seventeen years of age, and around this time he earned the sobriquet "Duke" for his sartorial splendor and regal air. On July 2, 1918, he married a high school sweetheart, Edna Thompson; their only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, was born on March 11, 1919. Duke Ellington spent the first twenty-four years of his life in Washington's culturally thriving Negro community. In this vibrant atmosphere he was inspired to be a composer and learned to take pride in his African-American heritage.

Ellington moved to New York City in 1923 to join and eventually lead a small group of transplanted Washington musicians called "The Washingtonians," which included future Ellington band members, Sonny Greer, Otto Hardwicke and "Bubber" Miley. Between 1923 and 1927, the group played at the Club Kentucky on Broadway and the ensemble increased from a quintet to a ten-piece orchestra. With stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith as his unofficial guide, Ellington soon became part of New York's music scene; Smith proved to be a long-lasting influence on Duke's composing and arranging direction. At the Club Kentucky, Ellington came under the tutelage of another legendary stride pianist, "Fats" Waller. Waller, a protege of Johnson and Smith, played solos during the band's breaks and also tutored Ellington who began to show progress in his compositions. In November 1924, Duke made his publishing and recording debut with "Choo Choo (I Got To Hurry Home)" released on the Blu-Disc label. In 1925, he contributed two songs to Chocolate Kiddies, an all-black revue which introduced European audiences to black American styles and performers. By this time Ellington's family, Edna and Mercer, had joined him in New York City. The couple separated in the late 1920's, but they never divorced or reconciled.

Ellington's achievements as a composer and bandleader began to attract national attention while he worked at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, from 1927 to 1932. The orchestra developed a distinctive sound that displayed the non-traditional voicings of Ellington's arrangements and featured the unique talents of the individual soloists. Ellington integrated his soloists' exotic-sounding trombone growls and wah-wahs, their high-squealed trumpets, their sultry saxophone blues licks and Harlem's street rhythms into his arrangements. In the promotional material of the Cotton Club, the band was often billed as "Duke Ellington and His Jungle Band." With the success of compositions like "Mood Indigo," and an increasing number of recordings and national radio broadcasts from the Cotton Club, the band's reputation soared.

The ten years from 1932 to 1942 are considered by some major critics to represent the "golden age" for the Ellington Orchestra, but it represents just one of their creative peaks. These years did bring an influx of extraordinary new talent to the band including Jimmy Blanton on double bass, Ben Webster on tenor saxophone, and Ray Nance on trumpet, violin and vocals. During this ten year span Ellington composed several of his best known short works, including "Concerto For Cootie," "Ko-Ko," "Cotton Tail," "In A Sentimental Mood," and Jump For Joy, his first full-length musical stage revue.

Most notably, 1938 marked the arrival of Billy Strayhorn. While a teenager in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Strayhorn had already written "Lush Life," "Something To Live For" and a musical, Fantastic Rhythm. Ellington was initially impressed with Strayhorn's lyrics but realized long before Billy's composition "Take the A' Train" became the band's theme song in 1942 that Strayhorn's talents were not limited to penning clever lyrics. By 1942, "Swee' Pea" had become arranger, composer, second pianist, collaborator, and as Duke described him, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine." Many Ellington/Strayhorn songs have entered the jazz canon, and their extended works are still being discovered and studied today. Strayhorn remained with the Ellington Organization until his death on May 30, 1967.

Ellington had often hinted of a work in progress depicting the struggle of blacks in America. The original script, Boola, debuted in Carnegie Hall in November of 1943, retitled Black, Brown and Beige. The performance met with mixed reviews, and although Ellington often returned to Carnegie Hall the piece was never recorded in a studio, and after 1944 was never performed in entirety again by the Ellington Orchestra. Nonetheless, it is now considered a milestone in jazz composition.

After World War II the mood and musical tastes of the country shifted and hard times befell big bands, but Ellington kept his band together. The band was not always financially self-sufficient and during the lean times Ellington used his songwriting royalties to meet the soloists' salaries. One could assign to Ellington the altruistic motive of loyalty to his sidemen, but another motivation may have been his compositional style which was rooted in hearing his music in the formative stage come alive in rehearsal. "The band was his instrument," Billy Strayhorn said, and no Ellington composition was complete until he heard the orchestra play it. Then he could fine tune his compositions, omit and augment passages, or weave a soloist's contribution into the structure of the tune.

In 1956, the American public rediscovered Duke and the band at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island. The searing performances of tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves on "Diminuendo and Crescendo In Blue," his premiere soloist, alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges on "Jeep's Blues", and the crowd's ecstatic reaction have become jazz legend. Later that year Duke landed on the cover of Time magazine. Although Ellington had previously written music for film and television (including the short film, Black and Tan Fantasy in 1929) it wasn't until 1959 that Otto Preminger asked him to score music for his mainstream film, Anatomy of a Murder, starring Jimmy Stewart. Paris Blues in 1961, featuring box-office stars Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier in roles as American jazz musicians in Paris, followed.

Ellington's first performance overseas was in England in 1933, but the 1960s brought extensive overseas tours including diplomatic tours sponsored by the State Department. Ellington and Strayhorn composed exquisite extended works reflecting the sights and sounds of their travels, including the Far East Suite, 1966. They wrote homages to their classical influences; in 1963, they adapted Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite and celebrated Shakespeare's works with the suite Such Sweet Thunder in 1957. With Ella Fitzgerald, they continued the Norman Granz Songbook Series. Ellington also began to flex his considerable pianist skills and recorded albums with John Coltrane (1963), Coleman Hawkins (1963), Frank Sinatra, and Money Jungle (1963) with Charles Mingus and Max Roach. The First Sacred Concert debuted in San Francisco's Grace Cathedral in 1965. In his final years, Ellington's thoughts turned to spiritual themes and he added a Second (1968) and Third (1973) Concert of Sacred Music to his compositions.

In his lifetime, Duke received numerous awards and honors including the highest honor bestowed on an American civilian, the Congressional Medal Of Freedom. In 1965, Ellington was recommended for a Pulitzer Prize to honor his forty years of contribution to music but the recommendation was rejected by the board. Most likely he was disappointed, but his response at the age of sixty-six was, "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young."

Ellington never rested on his laurels or stopped composing. Whenever he was asked to name his favorite compositions his characteristic reply was "the next five coming up," but to please his loyal fans Ellington always featured some of his standards in every performance. Even on his deathbed, he was composing the opera buffo called Queenie Pie.

Duke Ellington died on May 24, 1974 at seventy-five years of age. His funeral was held in New York's Cathedral of St. John The Divine; he was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. His long-time companion Beatrice "Evie" Ellis was buried beside him after her death in 1976. He was survived by his only child, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, who not only took up the baton to lead the Duke Ellington Orchestra but assumed the task of caring for his father's papers and his legacy to the nation. Mercer Ellington died in Copenhagan, Denmark on February 8, 1996, at the age of seventy-six. Ruth Ellington Boatwright died in New York on March 6, 2004, at the age of eighty-eight. Both Mercer and Ruth were responsible for shepherding the documents and artifacts that celebrate Duke Ellington's genius and creative life to their current home in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

William H. Quealy Collection of Duke Ellington Recordings (AC0296)

Rutgers University Collection of Radio Interviews about Duke Ellington (AC0328)

Duke Ellington Oral History Project (AC0368)

Duke Ellington Collection of Ephemera and realated Audiovisual Materials (AC0386)

Annual International Conference of the Duke Ellington Study Group Proceedings (AC0385)

Robert Udkoff Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0388)

Frank Driggs Collection of Duke Ellington Photographic Prints (AC0389)

New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society Collection (AC390)

Earl Okin Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0391)

William Russo Transcription and Arrangement of Duke Ellington's First Concert of Sacred Music (AC0406)

Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0415)

Music manuscripts in the Ruth Ellington Collection complement the music manuscripts found in the Duke Ellington Collection.

Carter Harman Collection of Interviews with Duke Ellington (AC0422)

Betty McGettigan Collection of Duke Ellington Memorabilia (AC0494)

Dr. Theodore Shell Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera (AC0502)

Edward and Gaye Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0704)

Andrew Homzy Collection of Duke Ellington Stock Music Arrangements (AC0740)

John Gensel Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC0763)

Al Celley Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (AC1240)

Materials at Other Organizations

Institute of Jazz Studies
Separated Materials:
Artifacts related to this collection are in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) and include trophies, plaques, and medals. See accessions: 1989.0369; 1991.0808; 1993.0032; and 1999.0148.

"
Provenance:
The collection was purchased through an appropriation of Congress in 1988.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the original and master audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Copyright restrictions. Consult the Archives Center at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.

Paul Ellington, executor, is represented by:

Richard J.J. Scarola, Scarola Ellis LLP, 888 Seventh Avenue, 45th Floor, New York, New York 10106. Telephone (212) 757-0007 x 235; Fax (212) 757-0469; email: rjjs@selaw.com; www.selaw.com; www.ourlawfirm.com.
Occupation:
Composers -- 20th century  Search this
Topic:
Big bands  Search this
Pianists  Search this
Bandsmen -- 20th century  Search this
Jazz -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Musicians -- 20th century  Search this
Music -- Performance  Search this
African American entertainers -- 20th century  Search this
African Americans -- History  Search this
Popular music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
African American musicians  Search this
Genre/Form:
Phonograph records
Papers
Photographic prints
Posters
Sound recordings
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Music -- Manuscripts
Clippings
Awards
Audiotapes
Citation:
Duke Ellington Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0301
See more items in:
Duke Ellington Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep850a376a1-6b6d-48bc-9076-cffef76fea2c
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0301
Online Media:

Billings-Merriam Family Vaudeville Scrapbooks

Creator:
Plunkett, Billy, Mrs.  Search this
Merriam, Eva Billings  Search this
Merriam, Billy  Search this
Christiani, Norman, Mrs.  Search this
Billings, Gay  Search this
Billings, Essa  Search this
Names:
Doutrick's Theatrical Exchange.  Search this
Stubblefield Trio.  Search this
Extent:
2 Cubic feet (6 oversized folders, 1 folder)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Fliers (printed matter)
Business cards
Scrapbooks
Programs
Date:
1897 - 1902
Summary:
The collection documents four scrapbooks containing photographs, programs, flyers, business cards, periodical illustrations, and letterheads of vaudeville and medicine shows from 1897-1902. Also included are two audiotapes containing comments by the donors about the scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
The four scrapbooks which make up the Billings Merriam Family Vaudeville collection cover the period from about 1890 to 1913. They were actually kept by the parents and grandparents of Billie Plunkett who contributed them to the Smithsonian in 1982.

The four scrapbooks each contain personal photographs, programs of minor plays and comedies, flyers for specialty acts, business cards, magazine photos, and letterheads advertising acts.

Presumably, as a way of advertising, each performer or act would have printed on letterhead a picture of themselves and occasionally a picture of them in performance, the name of the act, a description of what the act included, and sometimes a listing of references and places where they had performed.

The letterheads and flyers advertised persons who were aerialists, contortionists, comedians, did wire walking, had a dog and pony show, magicians, pantomimists, trick cyclists, dancers, jugglers, singers, impersonators, gun manipulators, hypnotists, mental telepathists, blackface comedians, and living statues.

Several agents and booking agencies used letterheads in the same way. Medicine shows were also advertised on the letterheads some naming the products they were hustling and the diseases that could be cured.

The items have been pasted in scrapbooks a couple of which were old hotel ledgers in which pages have been pasted together. The paper is deteriorating. Very few items have dates or locations.

There are also two audio tapes. One contains comments by two half sisters: Norma Christiani and Billie Plunckett on the scrapbooks in this collection. The other consists of reminiscences by Norma Christiani of her life in the vaudeville shows mentioned above (bad audio quality).
Biographical / Historical:
Gay and Essa Billings, the first generation represented in these scrapbooks, were managers of vaudeville acts. They also sold medicine occasionally which was called "Knox All Remedies". Gay was also a comedian. Essa was known for her "serpentine dance and poses plastique". Their daughters, Eva and Ethel, did singing and dancing soubrettes (i.e. were saucy, coquettish actresses and/or singers in comedies or comic operas).

Billy Merriam, married to Eva, was a trapeze artist and juggler. He also formed acts. Presumably, the collection of letterheads is a result of correspondence in which acts were secured and bookings were made.

From Billie Plunkett, a granddaughter, we learn that the Billings had Gay's Electric Company and Gay's One Horse Circus. Daughter, Ethel, married Fred A. Stock and together they had a medicine show and sold something called "NU Tone".

One of the letter heads of Gay Billings advertised startling novelties funny comedians and songs which opened September 29, 1904 and closed January 27, 1905. Another letter head advertised "The Three B's Esa Billings serpentine dance and poses plastic; Gay Billings picture operator and song illustrator; and Eva Billings song and dance artist and soubret and gave their permanent address as Bellevue, Iowa.

In December 1904, Gay's Electric Company presented Essa Billings and Billie Merriam. In January 26, 1912, Gay Billings presented Clark's Dog and Pony Circus. At an undated time, it was the Billings Trio Novelty Sketch Artists with Gay All Round Comedian; Ethel Singing and Dancing Soubrette and Essa versatile Performer.

In 1906 there is a newspaper write up of Gay's Players and Billy and Eva Meriam. In a small article it was said that the act was good, the customers got their money's worth, that it was a clever team on the vaudeville circuit and described Eva as being a ring contortionist and Billy as an acrobat and trapeze artist.

The Merriams were known as the "Flying Merriams" and also the "Merriam Merry Makers" with 7 people in the company. Another flyer advertised that Billy Merriam was the owner of the show and Gay Billings the Manager. Included was Gay, Essa and Ethel as singers, dancers and sketch artists; Billie and Emma as trapeze artists, jugglers and contortionist. Two reels of moving pictures were also presented.

Another flyer (undated) speaks of "Merriams Tent Show" with 12 people in the act. Another flyer referred to himself as "Juvenile Adonis of the flying rings and trapeze and marvelous upside down act...Walk the ceiling head down, without the protection of a net." Another flyer said that Billy and Eva Merriam had spent two years with the Ringling Brothers, and had worked 10 years in Iowa.

Evidently moving pictures were often shown at these shows, usually with two reels. The companies had their own electric light plant and picture machine.

One letter head read: "The Merriams: Billy Eva Zoe Novelty Aerial Artists: and continued: "Not Best, But Two of the Good Ones." The act was a comedy acrobatic and contortion act on a vaudeville program which alos included motion pictures. Generally the titles of the motion pictures were given but no other information was. One time Billy fell and injured himself when chairs and tables collapsed. Another time in Phoenix, the threatre burned and they lost their trunks and new rigging. Once in Seattle there was fire but not loss of their belongings. In Iowa the State prohibited fight films to be shown. "The general public does not believe in instilling in the minds of the youth the instincts of pugilism", a newspaper article stated.

Eva and Billy Merriam had their own vaudeville show which eventually turned into a medicine show. Eva dressed as an Indian Princess and called herself Princess Iola (which was her middle name). During the winter months they played in halls and threatres and in the summer they used a large platform stage with a "runway" on outdoor lots. Billy and his daughter, Billie, did aerial numbers and Billy did juggling acts, escape acts, black face numbers and song and dance. The show included hired acts. Lots of Princess Iola's remedies was sold. Then Eva tried selling cosmetics and the show's name was changed to "Vanity Fair Company". The product was packaged in their hotel rooms.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Mrs. Billie Plunkett and Mrs. Norman Christiani to Richard W. Flint, Division of Performing Arts (now the Division of Culture and the Arts) in August, 1982.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Entertainment  Search this
Vaudeville  Search this
Genre/Form:
Fliers (printed matter)
Business cards
Scrapbooks -- 1890-1930
Programs
Citation:
Billings-Merriam Family Vaudeville Scrapbooks, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0079
See more items in:
Billings-Merriam Family Vaudeville Scrapbooks
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8ff20d805-0f68-486d-a60e-ec615f1e6a68
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0079
Online Media:

Parke, Davis Research Laboratory Records.

Author:
Parke, Davis Company  Search this
Collector:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Medical Sciences  Search this
Names:
Pfizer Inc.  Search this
Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis  Search this
Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis. Pharmaceutical Research Division  Search this
Davis, George S.  Search this
Duffield, Samuel P., Dr. (physician, pharmacist)  Search this
Parke, Hervey Coke , 1827-1899  Search this
Extent:
365 Cubic feet (510 boxes, 43 map folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Annual reports
Blueprints
Brochures
Catalogs
Correspondence
Employee records
Formulae, chemical
Lantern slides
Newsletters
Newspaper clippings
Notebooks
Price lists
16mm films
Sound recordings
Tracings
Trade literature
Date:
1866-1992
Summary:
The collection documents Parke, Davis and Company, one of the largest and oldest pharmaceutical firms in America.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents Parke, Davis and Company, one of America's oldest and largest drug makers. Parke, Davis had the first research laboratory in the American pharmaceutical industry. The company played a major role in the development of some of the principle new drugs of the twentieth century and pioneered the field of drug standardization. They were one of the first American firms to produce antitoxins, hormones, and other biologicals. They introduced new and important drugs such as adrenalin, dilantin, chlorenpleniol, and other antibiotics. They also did important research on vitamins, disinfectants, and pencillin.

The collection contains complete documentaion of all the research activities done, including research laboratory notes, correspondence, and published papers. The collection also contains corporate, financial, advertising and sales materials, photographs, and audiovisual materials. The collection is important for those researchers interested in the history of public health, the history of biologicals, pharmaceutical manufacturing and business history.
Arrangement:
Collection is divided into 13 series.

Series 1: Corporate Materials, 1887-1951

Series 2: Financial Materials, 1880-1970

Series 3: Employee/Personnel Materials, 1900-1989

Series 4: Advertising/Sales Materials, 1868-1980

Series 5: Photographs, 1866-1992

Series 6: Notebooks, 1908-1968

Series 7: Control Department Records, 1884-1931

Series 8: Formulas, 1882-1967

Series 9: Equipment Data Files, 1922-1978

Series 10: Publications, 1968-1988

Series 11: Research Materials, 1920-1978

Series 12: Drawings, 1911-1971

Series 13: Addenda, 1867-1970

Series 14: Audio Materials, 1956-1957
Historical:
Parke, Davis and Company traces it's origins to Samuel Pearce Duffield (1833-1916), a physician and pharmacist. Duffield was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and his family moved to Detroit when he was an infant. Duffield graduated from the University of Michigan in 1854 and he attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, latter leaving for Germany where he studied chemistry and sought treatment for his eyesight. He subsequently earned a Doctor of Philosophy from Ludwig University at Giessen in Germany. Duffield returned to Detroit in 1858 and established a retail drugstore with a strong interest in manufacturing pharmaceuticals. Duffield sought financial partners for his retail and manufacturing venture with A.L. Patrick and Francis C. Conant. Both men retracted their investments and Duffield met Hervey Coke Parke (1927-1899), a native of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Duffield and Parke formed a formal partnership in 1866. George S. Davis, a third partner and traveling salesman previously with Farrand, Sheley and Company, was added 1867. Augustus F. Jennings joined the company as a partner to head manufacturing. The company became known as Duffield, Parke, Davis, & Jennings Company. Duffield withdrew in 1869 and the name Parke, Davis & Company was adopted in 1871. The company incorporated in 1875 and began planning world-wide scientific expeditions to discover new vegetable drugs such as Guarana, Bearsfoot, Eucalyptus Globulus, and Coca. The company first showed a profit in 1876, and the first dividend paid to shareholders in 1878 and dividends paid until mid-1960s. Research was a major activity of the company.

In 1907, Parke, Davis and Company bought 340 acres in northeast Avon Township, Michigan, and called it Parkedale Farm. The farm was dedicated on October 8, 1908, and included sterilization rooms and a vaccine propagating building. By 1909 the farm included 200 horses, 25 to 50 cattle, 150 sheep, and employed 20 men. The horses produced the antitoxin for diphtheria and tetanus, the cattle produced a vaccine for smallpox preventatives, and the sheep made serum. Only the healthiest animals were used and all were well cared for. Exotic plants were also grown on the site and used for drugs. Parke-Davis' chief products were antitoxins and vaccines as well as farm crops for feeding the animals. The farm continued to produce vaccines for diphtheria, scarlet fever, tetanus, smallpox, anthrax, and in the 1950s, the Salk polio vaccine.

Due to a weakening financial position, the company became susceptible to take-over, and was purchased by Warner-Lambert in 1970. Warner Lambert, was then acquired by Pfizer in 2000. In 2007, Pfizer closed its research facilities in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Source

Rochester Hills Museum at Voon Hoosen Farm (last accessed on September 29, 2021 https://www.rochesterhills.org/Museum/LocalHistory/ParkeDavisFarm.pdf)

Parke, Davis and Company. Parke-Davis At 100...progress in the past...promise for the future. Detroit, Michigan, 1966.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Alka-Seltzer Documentation and Oral History Project (NMAH.AC.0184)

N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records (NMAH.AC.0059)

Cover Girl Advertising Oral History Documentation Project (NMAH.AC.0374)

Garfield and Company Records (NMAH.AC.0820)

Albert W. Hampson Commercial Artwork Collection (NMAH.AC.0561)

Ivory Soap Advertising Collection (NMAH.AC.0791)

Kiehl's Pharmacy Records (NMAH.AC.0819)

Alan and Elaine Levitt Advertisement Collection (NMAH.AC.0303)

Medical Sciences Film Collection (NMAH.AC.0222)

Norwich Eaton Pharmaceutical, Inc. Collection (NMAH.AC.0395)

Procter & Gamble Company Product Packaging Collection (NMAH.AC.0836)

Sterling Drug Company Records (NMAH.AC.772)

Syntex Collection of Pharmaceutical Advertising (NMAH.AC.0821)

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Medicine (NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Medicine)

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patent Medicines (NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.PatentMedicines)

Materials at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries

Smithsonian Libraries Trade Literature Collection

Trade catalogs related to Parke, Davis & Co.; Warner-Lambert; Pfizer Pharmaceuticals; and Pfizer, Inc.

Materials at Other Organizations

Detroit Public Library, Special Collections

Parke, Davis & Company records, 1892-1959

Scrapbook of clippings, 1929-44; Excursions & Announcements, 1892-1902; and company newsletters.

University of California San Francisco

Drug Industry Documents was created by the University of California San Francisco Library in collaboration with faculty members C. Seth Landefeld, MD and Michael Steinman, MD. Originally established to house documents from an off-label marketing lawsuit against Parke-Davis (United States of America ex rel. David Franklin vs. Parke-Davis), the archive has grown to include documents from additional sources illustrating how the pharmaceutical industry, academic journals and institutions, continuing medical education organizations and regulatory/funding agencies operate in ways that are detrimental to public health.
Separated Materials:
Division of Medicine and Science, National Museum of American History

The division holds objects related to Parke, Davis that primarily include containers (boxes and glass bottles) that held phamrmaceuticals, biologicals (vaccines), crude drugs, and herb packages. See accessions: 1978.0882; 1982.0043; 1982.0043; 1984.0351; 1985.0475; 1988.3152; 1991.0415; 1992.3127; 2001.3066; 2012.0165; and 2018.5001.
Provenance:
The initial collection of approximately 185 cubic feet was donated by the Warner-Lambert Company, through Jerry A. Weisbach, Vice-President and President of the Pharmaceutical Research Division, on February 3, 1982.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
advertising  Search this
Antibiotics  Search this
Architectural Blueprints  Search this
Biologicals  Search this
Chemistry  Search this
Diseases  Search this
Drugs -- 1900-1950  Search this
Drug factories  Search this
Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919  Search this
Laboratories  Search this
Medical scientists -- 1900-1950  Search this
Patents  Search this
Pharmaceutical industry -- 1900-1950  Search this
Pharmacology -- 1900-1950  Search this
Photographs  Search this
Vaccines  Search this
Genre/Form:
Annual reports -- 20th century
Blueprints -- 20th century
Brochures -- 20th century
Catalogs
Correspondence -- 19th-20th century
Employee records
Formulae, chemical
Lantern slides -- 1900-1950
Newsletters -- 20th century
Newspaper clippings
Notebooks -- 1900-1950
Price lists
16mm films
Sound recordings -- Audiotapes -- Open reel
Tracings
Trade literature
Citation:
Parke, Davis Research Laboratory Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0001
See more items in:
Parke, Davis Research Laboratory Records.
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8869c518d-5cbd-42cf-b508-e688de3bf14d
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0001
Online Media:

Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material

Creator:
Rosenak, Chuck  Search this
Names:
Rosenak, Jan  Search this
Extent:
17.6 Linear feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Photographs
Interviews
Slides (photographs)
Date:
circa 1938-2008
Summary:
The Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material dates from circa 1938-2008 and measures 17.6 linear feet. The collection contains research files for four books by the Rosenaks and includes letters, writings, notes, printed matter, tape-recorded interviews with artists, and photographic material.
Scope and Content Note:
The Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material dates from circa 1938-2008 and measures 17.6 linear feet. The collection contains correspondence, writings, notes, printed matter, tape-recorded interviews of artists, and photographs and slides of artists and artwork. The records document the Rosenak's research and collecting trips in the United States, often to isolated locales, in pursuit of new art and insights for their writing projects. The collection relates primarily to their research for Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists, The People Speak: Navajo Folk Art, Contemporary American Folk Art: A Collector's Guide, The Saint Makers: Contemporary Santeras y Santeros, and are an important source of information on twentieth-century folk art.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 5 series:

Missing Title

Series 1: Research Files, circa 1938-1999 (Boxes 1-9, 19; 9.2 linear ft.)

Series 2: Loans to Exhibitions, circa 1991-1997, undated (Box 10; 0.4 linear ft.)

Series 3: Miscellaneous Files, circa 1969-2003 (Boxes 10-12; 2.0 linear ft.)

Series 4: Interviews of Artists, circa 1990s (Box 12-13; 1.5 linear ft.)

Series 5: Photographs and Slides, circa 1990s (Boxes 13-18; 4.5 linear ft.)
Biographical Note:
Chuck and Jan Rosenak are widely regarded as authorities in the field of American folk art. They amassed one of the finest collections of contemporary folk art in the United States and authored four books: Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists (New York: Abbeville, 1990), The People Speak: Navajo Folk Art (Flagstaff, Arizona: Northland Publishing, 1994), Contemporary American Folk Art: A Collector's Guide (New York: Abbeville, 1996), and The Saint Makers: Contemporary Santeras y Santeros (Flagstaff, Arizona: Northland Publishing, 1998).
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Chuck and Jan Rosenak, 1998-1999.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. research facility.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Folk artists -- United States  Search this
Topic:
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Navajo Indians -- Art  Search this
Folk art  Search this
Navajo Indians -- Social life and customs  Search this
Artists -- New Mexico -- Interviews  Search this
Santeros  Search this
Genre/Form:
Audiotapes
Photographs
Interviews
Slides (photographs)
Citation:
Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material, circa 1938-2008. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
AAA.rosechuc
See more items in:
Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Art
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw9eebe4f0f-a4bf-441f-91a1-f8182d84d06e
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aaa-rosechuc
Online Media:

Anne Judd Kennedy Collection

Creator:
Kennedy, Anne Judd  Search this
Stewart, Rex (William), Jr., 1907-1967 (cornetist)  Search this
Extent:
4 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Manuscripts
Interviews
Audiotapes
Articles
Correspondence
Date:
1958-1967
bulk 1965-1967
Scope and Contents note:
Twenty audiotapes of interviews Kennedy conducted with Rex Stewart, in addition to documentary material such as correspondence and clippings.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into seven series.

Series 1: Correspondence

Series 2: Newspaper articles

Series 3: Magazine articles

Series 4: Manuscripts

Series 5: Miscellaneous documents

Series 6: Interviews of Rex Stewart

Series 7: Miscellaneous
Biographical/Historical note:
Kennedy, a free-lance writer, became a close friend to Rex Stewart, and conducted taped interviews with him late in his life, when he was writing his autobiography.
Provenance:
Collection purchased from Anne Judd Kennedy.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the master (preservation ) tapes are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark.Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Music -- 20th century  Search this
Jazz  Search this
Musicians -- 20th century  Search this
Genre/Form:
Manuscripts
Interviews -- 1950-2000
Audiotapes
Articles -- 1950-2000
Correspondence -- 1950-2000
Citation:
Anne Judd Kennedy Collection, 1958-1967, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0506
See more items in:
Anne Judd Kennedy Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep85521981a-b31b-4d34-8fe3-f4d83483e3c8
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0506

Wade in the Water Radio Series Collection

Creator:
Smithsonian Institution  Search this
National Public Radio  Search this
National Public Radio  Search this
Reagon, Bernice Johnson, 1942-  Search this
Extent:
27 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Audiotapes
Date:
1994
Scope and Contents:
Original performance and interview audio recordings, audio outtake materials, program masters, and finished program tapes from the Smithsonian Institution/National Public Radio series WADE IN THE WATER. Collection documents the influence of religion on various African American sacred and secular music styles, including gospel, spirituals, classical, popular, and jazz.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into one series.
Provenance:
Made at the national Museum of American History, 1992.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Unrestricted research use of reference audio cassettes only. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Reproduction fees for commercial use. Copyright restrictions. Contact repository for information.
Topic:
Jazz  Search this
Gospel music  Search this
Radio programs, Musical  Search this
African Americans -- Music  Search this
Music -- Religious aspects  Search this
Church music  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews
Audiotapes
Citation:
Wade in the Water Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0516
See more items in:
Wade in the Water Radio Series Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep898a51e58-9a32-42d9-ac71-198262e9cd18
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0516

Nike Advertising Oral History and Documentation Collection

Interviewer:
Center for Advertising History, Archives Center  Search this
Ellsworth, Scott, Dr.  Search this
Creator:
Nike, Inc.  Search this
Names:
Adidas  Search this
Asics  Search this
Nike, Inc.  Search this
Wieden & Kennedy  Search this
Interviewee:
Onitsuka  Search this
Bedbury, Scott  Search this
Bowerman, William  Search this
Brown, John A.  Search this
Champ, Janet  Search this
Clarke, Tom  Search this
Clow, Lee  Search this
Conlon, Jerry  Search this
Davenport, Bill  Search this
Dolan, Liz  Search this
Donohue, Richard  Search this
Farris, Nelson  Search this
Hale, Cindy  Search this
Hoffman, Susan  Search this
Jackson, Bo  Search this
Jaqua, John  Search this
Johnson, Jeff  Search this
Kitami, Shoji  Search this
Knight, Phillip  Search this
McConnell, Pam  Search this
Moore, Charlotte  Search this
Moore, Kenny  Search this
Moore, Peter  Search this
Onitsuka, Kimachiro  Search this
Parker, Mark  Search this
Riswold, Jim  Search this
Robinson, Charles  Search this
Sakaguchi, Tokio  Search this
Stobie, Patsy Mest  Search this
Strasser, Robert (marketing executive)  Search this
Thomashow, Mark  Search this
Wieden, Dan  Search this
Extent:
12 Cubic feet (25 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Oral history
Videotapes
Tear sheets
Clippings
Audiotapes
Fliers (printed matter)
Advertising fliers
Commercials
Interviews
Place:
Beaverton (Or.)
Portland (Oregon)
Date:
1958 - 1992
Summary:
The Nike Advertising Oral History and Documentation Collection is the result of a two-year study of advertising of Nike athletic shoes. The effort was supported in part by a grant from Nike, Inc. Thirty-one oral history interviews were conducted with advertising, marketing and product development executives at Asics, Nike, John Brown & Co., Chiat/Day/Mojo and Wieden & Kennedy. A variety of related materials were gathered by the Center for Advertising History staff. The objective of the project was to create a collection that documents, in print and electronic media, the history and development of the company and its advertising campaigns.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of thirty-one oral history interviews conducted by historian Scott Ellsworth with advertising, marketing and product development executives at Asics, Nike, John Brown & Co., Chiat/Day/Mojo and Wieden & Kennedy and related materials collected by the Center for Advertising History staff. There are audiocassettes (original and reference), 1/4" open reel audiotape (master), 3/4" videotapes, and VHS videotapes.
Arrangement:
The collection is rganized into seven series.

Series 1, Research Files, 1979-1992

Subseries 1.1, Materials Compiled by the Center for Advertising History, 1979-1992

Subseries 1.2, Material Compiled by Nike, 1982-1992

Series 2, Interviewee Files, 1990-1992

Series 3, Oral History Interviews, 1990-1992

Subseries 3.1, Original Audiotapes (audio cassette), 1990-1992

Subseries 3.2, Researcher copies (audio cassette), 1990-1992

Subseries 3.3, Preservation masters (1/4 inch audiotape), 1990-1992

Series 4, Television Commercials, 1977-1990 and undated

Subseries 4.1, Master Copies, 1977-1990 and undated

Subseries 4.2, Researcher copies, 1977-1990 and undated

Series 5, Print Advertisements, 1985-1993

Subseries 5.1, Ad Slicks, 1985-1993

Subseries 5.2, Slides, 1989 and undated

Series 6, Trade Catalogues and Photographs, 1958-1982

Series 7, Administrative Files, 1982-1990
Biographical / Historical:
The Nike Advertising Oral History and Documentation Collection is the result of a two-year study of advertising of Nike athletic shoes. The effort was supported in part by a grant from Nike, Inc. Thirty-one oral history interviews were conducted with advertising, marketing and product development executives at Asics, Nike, John Brown & Co., Chiat/Day/Mojo and Wieden & Kennedy. A variety of related materials were gathered by the Center for Advertising History staff. The objective of the project was to create a collection that documents, in print and electronic media, the history and development of the company and its advertising campaigns.

The consistently high quality of this advertising, its award-winning artistic and creative innovations, and its contribution to the fitness movement in America combine to make this a significant chapter in the history of contemporary American advertising.

One aim of the project was to record the process of decision-making in the creation of successful ad campaigns, a process not often documented in the surviving records. Topics addressed in the oral history interviews include the origins of Nike and Nike advertising, the relationship between corporate culture and advertising, the place of advertising in overall marketing strategy, the development of brand image and identity, the nature of the creative process in producing effective advertising images, the use of athletes as endorsers, and Nikes's impact on the popular culture. Well-known campaigns are examined in depth, including Nikes's, use of the Beatles tune "Revolution", the "I Love L.A Spots" produced in conjunction with the 1984 Olympics, the controversial billboards campaign, the award-winning "Bo Knows" spots, and a series of commercials directed by African-American filmmaker Spike Lee. The collection is also a rich source of visual imagery for researchers interested in the portrayal of athletes, women and African-Americans.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

Alka-Seltzer Documentation and Oral History Collection, 1953-1986 (AC0184)

N. W. Ayer Advertising Agency Records, 1849-1851, 1869-1996 (AC0059)

Campbell Soup Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project, 1904-1989 (AC0367)

Cover Girl Make-Up Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project, 1959-1990 (AC04374)

Federal Express Oral History and Documentation Project Collection, 1972-1987 (AC0306)

Caroline R. Jones Collection, circa 1942-1996 (AC0552)

Marlboro Oral History and Documentation Project, circa 1926-1986 (AC0198)

Pepsi Generation Oral History and Documentation Collection, 1938-1986 (AC0092)

Rob and Julie Strasser Collection, 1970-1990 (AC0525)
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Nike, Inc. in 1991 and 1992.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the master (preservation) tapes are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Women in the advertising industry  Search this
Sports for women  Search this
Sports  Search this
Women in advertising  Search this
Television advertising  Search this
Signs and signboards -- 1970-2000  Search this
Slogans  Search this
Marketing  Search this
Music in advertising  Search this
Commercial art  Search this
Endorsements in advertising  Search this
Broadcast advertising  Search this
Business -- History  Search this
Basketball  Search this
advertising -- History  Search this
Track and field  Search this
Copy writers  Search this
Athletes  Search this
Shoes -- 1970-2000  Search this
Motion picture producers and directors  Search this
African American athletes  Search this
Running -- 1970-2000  Search this
Running shoes -- 1970-2000  Search this
Athletic shoes -- 1970-2000  Search this
Shoe industry -- 1970-2000  Search this
Genre/Form:
Oral history
Videotapes
Tear sheets
Clippings
Audiotapes
Fliers (printed matter)
Advertising fliers
Commercials
Interviews -- 1970-1990
Citation:
Nike Advertising Oral History and Documentation Collection, 1958-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0448
See more items in:
Nike Advertising Oral History and Documentation Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep82f2adbe0-ae8f-4849-bac5-19e0e1848c55
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0448
Online Media:

Kraft Television Theatre Oral History Project

Creator:
Blocki, Jim  Search this
Cook, Fielder  Search this
Durante, Al  Search this
Green, Chester  Search this
Courtice, Richard  Search this
Dougherty, Marion  Search this
Holland, Dorothy  Search this
Holland, Fran  Search this
Herlihy, Ed  Search this
Hill, George Roy  Search this
Myers, Farlan  Search this
Jeffrey, Tad  Search this
Kraft General Foods, Inc.  Search this
Pratt, Lee  Search this
Powell, Bob  Search this
Wiener, Tom  Search this
Names:
National Broadcasting Company  Search this
Thompson, J. Walter (advertising agency).  Search this
Extent:
4.3 Cubic feet (5 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Commercials
Interviews
Audiotapes
Audiovisual materials
Date:
1947-1992
Summary:
Oral history interviews with fourteen former Kraft and J. Walter Thompson executives chart the evolution of Kraft's approach to television, from its pioneering efforts in the medium's infancy to the search to maintain identity in an increasingly competitive and fragmented media landscape. Casting, directing, and production of the live dramas and the commercials are discussed at length. Kraft's philosophy of advertising, its relationship with J. Walter Thompson advertising agency and NBC, and consumer outreach are also featured.
Scope and Contents:
Oral history interviews with fourteen former Kraft and J. Walter Thompson executives chart the evolution of Kraft's approach to television, from its pioneering efforts in the medium's infancy to the search to maintain identity in an increasingly competitive and fragmented media landscape. Casting, directing, and production of the live dramas and the commercials are discussed at length. Kraft's philosophy of advertising, its relationship with J. Walter Thompson advertising agency and NBC, and consumer outreach are also featured.

Series 1, Research Files, 1947-1992 contains newspaper and magazine clippings, reports and scholarly articles about the history and development of Kraft, Kraft Radio Music Hall, and Kraft Television Theatre. Folders are arranged alphabetically by subject.

Series 2, Interviewee Files, 1992 contains the abstracts of the oral history interviews and additional information about the interviewee, such as resumes, publications and correspondence, when available. The files are arranged alphabetically by interviewees' last name. Each abstract begins with a brief biographical statement about the interviewee, and a note about the scope and content of the interview. The abstracts correspond to a timed message on track two of the research copy of each audiocassette tape. At the end of each abstract is an index to proper names (people, trade names, KTT episodes, etc.) and to some general themes addresses during the interview. A master index, located in the last folder of this series, combines these individual indices into a comprehensive listing. Complete transciprts are also available for most interviews.

Series 3, Oral History Interviews, 1992 is subdivided into three subseries, representing each of three audio formats: original masters, research copies, and reel-to reel preservation copes. The interviews are arranged alphabetically.

Series 4, Television Commercials, circa 1950 feature comemrcials for a variety of Kraft products. They aired on Kraft Television Theatre between 1947 and 1958.

Series 5, Administrative Files, circa 1950 - 1992 are files created by the Center for Advertising History. Included in this series are bibliographies , briefing books, project proposals and budget, files on project consultants, deeds of conveyance, publicity, and Center publications prepared for the project.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into five series.

Series 1: Research Files, 1947-1992

Series 2: Interviewee Files, 1992

Series 3: Oral History Interviews, 1992

Subseries 3.1: Original Audio Tapes

Subseries 3.2: Researcher Copies

Subseries 3.3: Preservation Masters

Series 4, Television Commercials, circa 1950

Subseries 4.1: Master Copies

Subsieries 4.2: Researcher Copies

Series 5: Administrative Files, circa 1950 - 1992
Biographical / Historical:
The Kraft Television Theatre Oral History Project is the result of a year-long study undertaken by the former Center for Advertising History. The objective of the project was to create a collection of oral history interviews that documentated the history and development of Kraft Television Theater, especially the relationship between advertising and the origins of commercial sponsorship in the early days of television programming.

Oral history interviews with fourteen former Kraft and J Walter Thompson executives were conducted in 1992 by Tom Wiener, a free-lance writer and oral historian under contract to the former Center for Advertising History. Included were Ed Herlihy, the voice of many of Kraft's memorable commercials; James Blocki, Richard Courtice, Chester Green, and Robert Powell, the architects of Kraft's advertising and marketing strategies in the television era; directors George Roy Hill and Fielder Cook, who launched their successful careers at Kraft Television Theatre; Marion Dougherty, one of Hollywood's leading casting directors who also got her start on KTT; and Dorothy Holland, a veteran of Kraft's Consumer Affairs Department and the company's first female Vice President.

The oral history interviews chart the evolution of Kraft's approach to television, from its pioneering efforts in the mediums infancy to the search to maintain identity in an increasing competitive and fragmented media landscape. Casting, directing and production of the live dramas and the commercials are discussed at length. Kraft's philosophy of advertising, its relationship with J Walter Thompson advertising agency and NBC, and consumer outreach are also featured.

On May 7, 1947, at 7:30 p.m. in New York City, advertising made a first significant step into the television era with the debut of Kraft Television Theatre. The program, which became the first regularly scheduled dramatic series on network TV presented weekly live adaptations of plays featuring performers familiar to New York theater goers. Included in each week's installment were commercials for Kraft Cheese Company products.

Kraft's foray into a new advertising medium grew out of the company's progressive advertising policies and its long running association with its primary advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson. Kraft was founded by James Lewis Kraft, a Canadian-born entrepreneur who in 1903 began buying cheese from Chicago wholesalers and peddling it from a horse-drawn wagon. Through acquisitions of other companies and their established brands, as well as development of new products, Kraft's company steadily grew into a leader in the cheese and dairy products business.

As early as 1911, Kraft began advertising on Chicago elevated trains and billboards. In 1919, Kraft inaugurated a 70-year tradition of advertising in such national magazines as Ladies Home Journal and Good Housekeeping. Fourteen years later, looking for a vehicle to promote its newest product, Miracle Whip Salad Dressing, Kraft entered the electronic era with The Kraft Program, hosted by popular bandleader Paul Whiteman on the NBC Radio Network.

Soon renamed The Kraft Music Hall, the show also acquired a new host, crooner Bing Crosby. Crosby's relaxed style was mirrored in the Music Hall's commercials. As written by J. Walter Thompson staffers, they possessed a relaxed, conversational tone, extolling the practical uses of Miracle Whip, Velveeta and other Kraft products.

The Music Hall continued on the air until 1949, but by that time, Kraft Television Theatre was into its third season, well established as the leading dramatic series on the air. Kraft Television Theatre provided a unique laboratory for both its sponsor and Thompson. As with the Music Hall, Thompson actually produced the program: its staffers adapted the dramas, directed them, and hired the casts. NBC provided only technical facilities and crew. Each week, in effect, was opening night for a play that was performed live in front of bulky cameras, under hot lights. Working with modest budgets, producer-directors Stanley Quinn, Maury Holland, and Harry Herrmann took an important first step toward exploiting the potential of television to inform and entertain.

For its part, Kraft drew on the tradition established in its radio ads. From the start, Kraft acted as if it were a guest in the viewer's home, which led to a remarkably effective means of presenting its products. No human face was ever seen, only a pair of hands demonstrating the uses of the product, as a reassuring voice explained the virtues of Cheez Whiz, Draft Cheddar, or any number of products from Draft's expanding line.

In 1958, after eleven years and over 600 programs, Kraft Television Theatre left the air. The show's ratings had slipped under increased competition from mystery and adventure shows filmed in Hollywood as well as quiz shows. Kraft's single sponsorship didn't end with the demise of the Television Theatre. It revived the Music Hall, quite successfully, with Perry Como, whose relaxed personality was a throwback to Bing Crosby. In later years, Kraft chose to be sole sponsor of several specials a year, including the Country Music Association Awards show. Although these programs were pre-recorded, Kraft continued to produce its commercials live through the 1960's, with those same hands and that same soothing voice. Kraft's place in both television and advertising history is secure. Kraft Television Theatre launched a decade of live televised drama that is still regarded as the cornerstone of TV's Golden Age. And the Kraft "hands" commercials are a reminder of the effectiveness of a low-key, low-tech approach to promoting products as humble as Velveeta and Miracle Whip.

As part of a program to document and study modern advertising, the former Center for Advertising History selected Kraft Television Theatre as the last in a series of case studies of significant American advertising campaigns.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center

N W Ayer Advertising Collection (AC0059)

Materials at Other Organizations

J. Walter Thompson Archives, Duke University

Kraft General Foods Archives, Glenview, Illinois

The Kraft General Foods Archives was established as an internal information resource for the comanpy. ARchives staff will assist outside researchers whenever time and resources permit by answering questions over the phone or through the mails. Requests for direct access to archival collections will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Source materials documenting Kraft's television advertising efforts include: film and videotape copies of Kraft Television Theatre, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Kraft Mystery Theatre, Kraft Music Hall, and other Kraft-sponsored shows. Videotape copies of these shows can be accessed through the Musuem of Broadcast Communication in Chicago, and through the NBC collection at the Library of Congress. Materials also include film and videotape copies of Kraft commercials, early 1950s-present; publications and magazine/newspaper articles about the various shows; company publications featuring articles about the various shows; NBC listings of production details about the shows (dates, producers, actors/actresses, etc.) Any requests for copies of pages from this listing must be cleared through NBC; photos of scenes from the shows as well as still photos of the actors/actresses who appeared in them; print ads supporting Kraft's televiison advertising efforts; casting lists for Kraft Television Theatre (incomplete); and musical scores for Kraft Television Theatre (incomplete).
Provenance:
Collection donated by Kraft General Foods, Inc., on April 16, 1993. Oral histories created by the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution in 1992.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but master tapes are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Copyright restrictions. Contact the Archives Center.
Topic:
Copy writers  Search this
Product demonstrations  Search this
advertising -- Food  Search this
Broadcast advertising  Search this
Television producers and directors  Search this
Actors in the advertising industry  Search this
Television advertising  Search this
Genre/Form:
Commercials
Interviews
Audiotapes
Audiovisual materials
Citation:
Kraft Television Theatre Oral History Project, 1947-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0464
See more items in:
Kraft Television Theatre Oral History Project
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8c222bb76-c476-4f1f-a77f-0e08a9ac1eaf
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0464
Online Media:

Sid Bernstein Oral History Collection

Creator:
Flaherty, Stacy A.  Search this
Crain Communications.  Search this
Bernstein, Sid  Search this
Names:
Advertising Age (magazine)  Search this
Crain, Gertrude  Search this
Crain, Rance  Search this
Extent:
3 Cubic feet (7 boxes )
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiotapes
Audio cassettes
Oral history
Interviews
Date:
1989-1991.
Summary:
Oral histories conducted by Sid Bernstein was a noted advertising critic and columnist for Ad Age Magazine.
Scope and Contents note:
Audiotapes, Series 1: Interviews with Bernstein and others, conducted by Stacy A. Flaherty, coodinator and historian of the Center for Advertising History (an Archives Center program). Subseries 1.1 Audiocassette masters; Subseries 1.2: Reel-to-reel masters; Subseries 1.3: Audiocassettes for researcher use (2 copies).
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into five series

Series 1: Oral history interviews (audiotapes)

Series 2: Interviewee files

Series 3: Bernstein article

Series 4: Bernstein on advertising

Series 5: Adminstrative
Biographical/Historical note:
Sid Bernstein was a noted advertising critic and columnist for Ad Age Magazine, a prominent trade publication for the advertising industry. This oral history project was supported by a grant from Crain Communications, Inc., New York.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Sid Bernstein of Crain Communications.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but audiovisual boxes3 and 4 are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
advertising  Search this
Genre/Form:
Audiotapes -- 1980-1990
Audio cassettes -- 1980-1990
Audiotapes -- Open reel
Oral history -- 1980-1990
Interviews -- 1980-1990
Citation:
Sid Bernstein Oral History Collection, 1989-1991, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0434
See more items in:
Sid Bernstein Oral History Collection
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep88dc9d576-ec61-452a-a8dc-20350e5046ab
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0434

Audiotape dubbing [for Paul Oliver]

Collection Collector:
McCormick, Mack  Search this
Container:
Box 81, Folder 6
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
undated
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access to original materials in boxes 76-80 is prohibited. Researchers must use digital copies.

Additional materials have been removed from public access pending investigation under the Smithsonian Institution's Ethical Returns and Shared Stewardship Policy.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Robert "Mack" McCormick Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
See more items in:
Robert "Mack" McCormick Collection
Robert "Mack" McCormick Collection / Series 6: Texas Blues Research / 6.1: Texas Blues Research
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8a14cf8b7-c5d2-4c6f-b516-e5997674a7f7
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-1485-ref1754

Cover Girl Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project

Creator:
Bunting, George L., Jr.  Search this
Brinkley, Christie  Search this
Ellsworth, Scott, Dr.  Search this
Colonel, Sheri  Search this
Giordano, Lynn  Search this
Ford, Eileen  Search this
Hall, L. C. "Bates"  Search this
Grathwohl, Geraldine  Search this
Huebner, Dick  Search this
Harrison, Fran  Search this
Lindsay, Robert  Search this
Hunt, William D.  Search this
McIver, Karen  Search this
MacDougall, Malcolm  Search this
Noble, Stan  Search this
Nash, Helen  Search this
Noxell Corporation.  Search this
Bergin, John  Search this
O'Neill, Jennifer  Search this
Oelbaum, Carol  Search this
Pelligrino, Nick  Search this
Poris, George  Search this
Roberts, F. Stone  Search this
Tiegs, Cheryl  Search this
Troup, Peter  Search this
Weithas, Art  Search this
Witt, Norbert  Search this
Names:
Noxzema Chemical Company  Search this
Extent:
15.5 Cubic feet (30 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Interviews
Business records
Audiotapes
Bumper stickers
Annual reports
Oral history
Black-and-white photographic prints
Press releases
Scrapbooks
Television scripts
Videotapes
Tear sheets
Place:
Hunt Valley (Maryland)
Baltimore (Md.)
Maryland
Date:
1959-1990
Summary:
The Cover Girl Make-Up Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project, 1923-1991, is the result of a year-long study in 1990, which examined the advertising created for Noxell Corporation's Cover Girl make-up products from 1959 to 1990. The objective of the project was to document, in print and electronic media, the history of Cover Girl make-up advertising since its inception in 1959.
Scope and Contents:
Twenty-two oral history interviews (conducted by Dr. Scott Ellsworth for the Archives Center) and a variety of print and television advertisements, photographs, scrapbooks, personal papers, business records and related materials were gathered by the Center for Advertising History staff. The objective was to create a collection that provides documentation, in print and electronic media, of the history and development of advertising for Cover Girl make-up since its inception in 1959.

Collection also includes earlier material related to other Noxell products, including Noxzema, with no direct connection to the Cover Girl campaign.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series.

Series 1: Research Files

Series 2: Interviewee Files

Series 3: Oral History Interviews

Series 4: Television Advertising Materials

Series 5: Print Advertising Materials

Series 6: Company Publications and Promotional Literature

Series 7: Photographs

Series 8: Scrapbooks
Biographical / Historical:
George Avery Bunting founded the Noxzema Chemical Company in Baltimore, Maryland in 1917. In the 1890s, he left behind a teaching job on Maryland's Eastern shore to move to Baltimore, where he hoped to pursue a career as a pharmacist. He landed a job as errand boy and soda jerk at a local drugstore, where he worked while attending classes at the University Of Maryland College of Pharmacy. Valedictorian of the Class of 1899, Bunting was promoted to manager of the drugstore, which he purchased. Bunting began to experiment with the formulation of medicated pastes and compounds, which he marketed to his customers. In 1909, he began refining a medicated vanishing cream, which he introduced in 1914. "Dr. Bunting's Sunburn Remedy," an aromatic skin cream containing clove oil, eucalyptus oil, lime water, menthol and camphor, was mixed by hand at his pharmacy. Marketed locally as a greaseless, medicated cream for the treatment of a variety of skin conditions, including sunburn, eczema, and acne, the product was renamed "Noxzema" for its reputed ability to "knock eczema." By 1917, the Noxzema Chemical Company was formed. During the 1920s, distribution of the product was expanded to include New York, Chicago, and the Midwest and, by 1926, the first Noxzema manufactory was built in northwest Baltimore to accommodate the demand for nearly a million jars a year.

Having achieved a national market by 1938, Noxzema Chemical Company executives pursued product diversification as a means to maintain the corporate growth of the early years. In the 1930s and 1940s, line extensions included shaving cream, suntan lotion and cold cream, all with the distinctive "medicated" Noxzema aroma.

In the late 1950s, Bill Hunt, director of product development at Noxzema, suggested a line extension into medicated make-up. Creatives at Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell & Bayles, Incorporated (SSC&B), Noxzema's advertising agency since 1946, suggested that the advertising for the new product focus on beauty and glamour with some reference to the medicated claims made for other Noxzema products. In contrast to other cosmetics, which were sold at specialized department store counters, Noxzema's medicated make-up would be marketed alongside other Noxzema products in grocery stores and other mass distribution outlets. After experimenting with names that suggested both glamour and the medicated claims (including Thera-Blem and Blema-Glow), Bill Grathwohl, Noxell's advertising director, selected Carolyn Oelbaum's "Cover Girl," which conveyed the product's usefulness as a blemish cover-up, while invoking the glamorous image of fashion models. These three elements of the advertising, wholesome glamour, mass marketing, and medicated make-up, remain central to Cover Girl advertising nearly a half-century later.

Beginning with the national launch in 1961, American and international fashion models were featured in the ads. The target audience was identified as women between eighteen and fifty-four and, initially, the "glamour" ads were targeted at women's magazines, while the "medicated" claims were reserved for teen magazines. Television ads featured both elements. Cover Girl advertising always featured beautiful women -- especially Caucasian women, but the Cover Girl image has evolved over time to conform to changing notions of beauty. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the Cover Girl was refined and aloof, a fashion conscious sophisticate. By the 1970s, a new social emphasis on looking and dressing "naturally" and the introduction of the "Clean Make-up" campaign created a new advertising focus on the wholesome glamour of the "girl next door," a blue-eyed, blonde all-American image. In the 1980s, the Cover Girl look was updated to include African-American, Hispanic and working women.

In January 1970, SSC&B bought 49% of the Lintas Worldwide advertising network. After SSC&B was acquired by the Interpublic Group of Companies in 1979, the entire Lintas operation was consolidated under the name SSC&B/Lintas in 1981. With the Procter & Gamble buy-out of the Noxell Corporation in September 1989, the cosmetics account was moved to long-time P&G agency Grey Advertising, in order to circumvent a possible conflict of interest between P&G competitor Unilever, another Lintas account. In 1989 SSC&B/Lintas, Cover Girl's agency since its launch in 1961, lost the account it helped to create and define, but the brand continues to dominate mass-marketed cosmetics.

This project is the result of a year-long study of advertising created for the Noxell Corporation's Cover Girl make-up products, 1959-1990. The effort was supported in part by a grant from the Noxell Corporation. The target audience was identified as women 18-54, and initially, the "glamour" ads were targeted at women's magazines, while the "medicated" claims were reserved for teen magazines. Television ads featured both elements. Cover Girl advertising has always featured beautiful women (especially Caucasian women), but the Cover Girl image evolved over time to conform with changing notions of beauty. In the late 1950s-1960s, the Cover Girl was refined and aloof, a fashion conscious sophisticate. By the 1970s, a new social emphasis on looking and dressing "naturally" and the introduction of the "Clean Make-up" campaign created a new advertising focus on the wholesome glamour of the "girl next door," a blue-eyed, blonde all-American image. Through the 1980s, the Cover Girl look was updated to include African-American and Hispanic models and images of women at work.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)

N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records (AC0059)
Separated Materials:
"The Division of Home and Community Life, Costume Collection (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds eighty-six cosmetic items and one computer that were also donated by the Noxell Corporation in 1990 in conjunction with the oral history project. These artifacts include lipstick, manicure sets, brushes, make-up, eye shadow, blush, powder puffs, eyelash curler, nail polish, and mascara. See accession number 1990.0193.

"
Provenance:
Most of the materials in the collection were donated to the Center for Advertising History by the Noxell Corporation, 1990. All storyboards and videoscripts, and a large collection of business records and proofsheets were donated by George Poris in June 1990. All mechanicals were donated by Art Weithas in June 1990. (These contributions are noted in the finding aid).
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but a portion of the collection is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Topic:
Women in advertising  Search this
advertising -- 1930-1940 -- California  Search this
Cosmetics -- advertising  Search this
Endorsements in advertising  Search this
Beauty culture  Search this
advertising -- 1950-2000  Search this
African American women -- Beauty culture  Search this
Modelling -- 1950-1990  Search this
Sex role in advertising  Search this
Radio advertising  Search this
Television advertising  Search this
Genre/Form:
Interviews -- 1950-2000
Business records -- 20th century
Audiotapes
Bumper stickers
Annual reports
Oral history -- 1990-2000
Black-and-white photographic prints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000
Press releases
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Television scripts
Videotapes
Tear sheets
Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0374
See more items in:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89b09e4c7-64e7-4074-b65e-0d097966d1e3
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0374
Online Media:

Oral History Tapes

Collection Creator:
Smithsonian Institution  Search this
Greenlee, Marcia (oral historian)  Search this
Willard, Patricia  Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1989 - 1993
Scope and Contents:
Original interviews recorded on audio cassette. Masters created on open reel audiotape. Reference copies are on audio cassette.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the master tapes are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and commercial use restrictions. Contact Archives Center staff for information.
Collection Citation:
Duke Ellington Oral History Project, 1989-1993, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0368, Series 1
See more items in:
Duke Ellington Oral History Project
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep803de388f-fc2f-49e9-ab3b-fdca30f941af
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-nmah-ac-0368-ref10

Serge A. Scherbatskoy Papers

Creator:
Scherbatskoy, Serge A., 1908-2002  Search this
Names:
Neufeld, Jacob, 1906-2000  Search this
Extent:
17 Cubic feet (39 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Contracts
Agreements
Notebooks
Correspondence
Diazo prints
Laboratory notebooks
Patent applications
Reports
Date:
1925-2002
Summary:
Collection documents the professional career and business interests of inventor Serge A. Scherbatskoy, who specialized in petroleum geophysics. Papers include laboratory notebooks, license agreements, correspondence, blue line prints, patent litigation files, newspaper clippings, reference files, patents, promotional literature, and audio-visual materials.
Scope and Contents:
The Scherbatskoy papers provide insight into the relationship between inventors and the United States oil industry between the 1930s and 1990s, the evolution of the history of applied geophysics, and the development of technological innovation in oil prospecting, specifically applied and geophysics. One of the strengths of the collection is the patents Scherbatskoy pursued, renewed, or impeded. As sole proprietor of his own company, Geophysical Measurements Corp., Scherbatskoy meticulously constructed an international patenting program which made him a successful player among the giants of the oil industry. Another highlight of the collection is Scherbatskoy's fifteen laboratory notebooks that include his well logging work notes and drawings. Legal files illustrating litigation over the infringement of Scherbatskoy's patents are also found in the collection. The papers demonstrate how the oil prospecting industry worked from scientific, commercial and legal perspectives. The bulk of the papers are arranged chronologically to reflect the timeline of Scherbatskoy's career. Due to the limited number of personal materials, Scherbatskoy's personal papers are placed at the end of the series list.

Series 1, World War II Work, 1935-2002, is divided into three subseries and includes information on Scherbatskoy's relationship with physicists Bruno Pontecorvo (1913-1993) and Jacob Neufeld (1906-2000). Neufeld and Scherbatskoy worked on the application of nuclear physics to geophysical prospecting. Neufeld would later join the staff of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Materials include a file about Pontecorvo, Neufeld's laboratory notebook, and some correspondence between Neufeld and Scherbatskoy. This series also includes materials on Scherbatskoy's well logging projects during and after World War II.

Series 2, Invention Laboratory Journals and Drawings, 1958-1992, is further divided into two subseries and includes fifteen laboratory journals and a folder of drawings related to Scherbatskoy's well logging work. The journals are arranged numerically by journal number. In some instances, journal numbers repeat. Journals are paginated and include drawings, tipped-in graphs and charts, and notes relating to Scherbatskoy's well logging work. Some of the notebooks include pages signed by a witness, which Scherbatskoy could use as evidence to prove his ownership of a particular well logging invention idea.

Series 3, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), 1946, 1948, is comprised of one folder with a license agreement between Scherbatskoy and Radio Corporation of America for magnetic recording systems.

Series 4, Canadian Geophysical Measurements Corporation (GMC), 1957-2002, is divided into three subseries and provides information on Scherbatskoy's company Canadian Geophysical Measurements Corporation. Materials include license agreements, correspondence, and Canadian Geophysical Measurements vs. Computalog Gearhart, Ltd litigation files.

Series 5, ARPS Corporation (Jan J. Arps), 1960-1995, includes information on Arps Corporation, organized by Scherbatskoy, Jacob Neufeld, and Jan J. Arps in Dallas, TX to develop and practice measurement while drilling. The Arps Corporation materials are comprised of administrative and financial records, business correspondence, contracts of consultation, patents, license agreements, and Scherbatskoy's stock information.

Series 6, Gearhart-Owen Industries (GOI) (Gearhart Industries, Inc., (GII)), 1961-1996, is divided into seven subseries and consists of records generated during Scherbatskoy's measurement while drilling (MWD™) work with Gearhart-Owen Industries, Inc. One of the largest series in the collection, the Gearhart-Owen materials include license agreements, correspondence, litigation files, measurement while drilling reports and blue line prints of measurement while drilling equipment, signal extraction measurement while drilling study reports, reference materials, and United States, United Kingdom, and Canadian patent assignments between Scherbatskoy, Gearhart-Owen, and the Scherbatskoy Family Trust. Included in the litigation subseries is the Scherbatskoy Family Trust vs. Gearhart Industries, Inc., case. The Scherbatskoy Family Trust in 1975 sued for royalty payments due Scherbatskoy under the Scherbatskoy Gearhart-Owen Agreement on nuclear well logging technology and measurement while drilling. The case was settled in the late 1980s, and Gearhart Industries, Inc., paid royalties to the Scherbatskoy Family Trust. Gearhart materials are also present in Series 7, 8 and 9.

Series 7, Halliburton Company, 1978-1999, is divided into four subseries and includes license agreements, lawsuits and patent infringements, patents, and company acquisitions. This series documents Scherbatskoy's relationship with the Halliburton Company pre-and post-Halliburton's acquisition of Gearhart Industries in the 1980s. Halliburton materials are also in Series 8 and 10.

Series 8, Other Professional Work, 1964-1999, is divided into twelve subseries: McCullough Tool Company, Exploration Logging, Inc., Eastman Whipstock, Schlumberger, Ltd., Sperry-Sun Well Surveying Company, Christensen, Inc., Gunn and Kuffner (attorneys), NL Industries, Inc., Baker Oil Tools, Inc., AMF Scientific Drilling International, Inc., Geolink (UK) Ltd., Technolink (Cyprus), Ltd., and Computalog Gearhart, Ltd. In addition to providing information on oil prospecting companies that Scherbatskoy consulted with during his career, materials also include correspondence between Scherbatskoy and attorneys Gunn and Kuffner relating to Scherbatskoy's well logging patent rights.

Series 9, Well Logging Research Materials, 1937-2002, includes correspondence, papers, reports, promotional literature, and general research files relating to Scherbatskoy's well logging research.

Series 10, Licensing Agreements, 1961-1989, contains four folders documenting the nuclear well logging agreement between oil prospecting companies such as Gearhart Owen, Halliburton, Geophysical Measurements, Inc., and Welex Jet Services. Both Marvin Gearhart and Harold Owen of Gearhart-Owen had been employees of Welex before founding Gearhart-Owen Industries.

Series 11, Patents, 1937-1998, includes copies of patents issued to, among others, Scherbatskoy, Robert E. Fearon (inventor), James Upchurch (inventor), John Westlake (inventor), Mobil Oil Corp and Exxon. Materials also include patent applications, patent protests, patent annuities, and correspondence with the United States Patent Trademark Organization and the German Trademark Office.

Series 12, Personal Materials, 1925-1983, includes materials on Scherbatskoy's immigration to the United States, school diplomas, and memorial book. Visual materials include original photographs, and color copies of original photographs of Scherbatskoy as an adult, his family, and his inventions. Also included is a 1944 submarine training 16mm reel-to-reel film and an audio cassette tape of Scherbatskoy discussing his World War II work with his daughter Mary Scherbatskoy.
Arrangement:
Collection arranged into twelve series.

Series 1, World War II Work, 1935-2002

Subseries 1, Relationship with Bruno Pontecorvo, 1940-2002

Subseries 2, Relationship with Jacob Neufeld, 1935-1954

Subseries 3, Scherbatskoy Well Logging Project, 1940-1951

Series 2, Invention Journals and Drawings, 1958-1992

Subseries 1, Lab Journals, 1963-1992

Subseries 2, Scherbatskoy Invention Drawings, 1958, 1966

Series 3, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), 1946, 1948

Series 4, Canadian Geophysical Measurements Corporation (GMC), 1957-2002

Subseries 1, License Agreements, 1957-2002

Subseries 2, Correspondence, 1967-2002

Subseries 3, Canadian Geophysical Measurements vs. Computalog Gearhart, Ltd., 1986-1996

Series 5, ARPS Corporation (Jan J. Arps), 1960-1995

Series 6, Gearhart-Owen Industries, Inc., (GOI), (Gearhart Industries Inc., (GII), 1961-1996

Subseries 1, License Agreements, 1961-1996

Subseries 2, Correspondence, 1974-1988

Subseries 3, Scherbatskoy Family Trust (SFT) vs. Gearhart Industries, Inc., 1975-1988

Subseries 4, Measurement While Drilling (MWD) Development Reports and Blue Line Prints, 1973-1984

Subseries 5, Gearhart-Owen Signal Extraction (MWD) Study, 1979-1981

Subseries 6, Reference Materials, 1977-1990

Subseries 7, Patent Assignments, 1961-1987

Series 7, Halliburton Company, 1978-1999

Subseries 1, License Agreements, 1979-1999

Subseries 2, Lawsuits and Patent Infringements, 1989-1996

Subseries 3, Patents, 1978-1997, undated

Subseries 4, Halliburton Acquisitions, 1988-1999

Series 8, Other Professional Work, 1964-1999

Subseries 1, McCullough Tool Company, 1964-1996

Subseries 2, Exploration Logging, Inc., 1966-1998

Subseries 3, Eastman Whipstock, (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftungz-(GmbH)), 1978-1995

Subseries 4, Schlumberger, Ltd., 1967-1999

Subseries 5, Sperry-Sun Well Surveying Company, 1971-1996

Subseries 6, Christensen Diamond Products, Inc., 1977-1988

Subseries 7, Gunn and Kuffner (Attorneys), 1977-1999

Subseries 8, NL Industries, Inc., 1978-1994

Subseries 9, Baker Oil Tools, Inc., 1980-1999

Subseries 10, AMF Scientific Drilling International, Inc., 1984-1987

Subseries 11, Geolink (UK), Ltd., /Technolink (Cyprus) Ltd., 1985-2002

Subseries 12, Computalog Gearhart, Ltd., 1990-2002

Series 9, Well Logging Research Materials, 1937-2002

Subseries 1, Correspondence, 1967-2002

Subseries 2, Papers and Reports, 1960-1990

Subseries 3, Promotional Literature, 1978, undated

Subseries 4, General, 1937-1996

Series 10, Licensing Agreements, 1961-1989

Series 11, Patents, 1937-1998

Subseries 1, Well Logging Patents, 1937-1998

Subseries 2, John E. Westlake (Inventor) Patents, 1972-1996

Subseries 3, James M. Upchurch (Inventor) Patents, 1990-1998

Subseries 4, Other, 1943-1997

Series 12, Personal Materials, 1925-1983

Subseries 1, Personal Papers, 1925-1966

Subseries 2, Photographs, circa 1950s, undated

Subseries 3, Audio Visual Materials, 1944, 1983
Biographical / Historical:
Serge Alexander Scherbatskoy (1908-2002), a petroleum geophysical engineer, held more than 200 patents worldwide in petroleum exploration. Scherbatskoy was born July 18, 1908, in Buyuk Dere, Turkey, a suburb of Constantinople where his father, Alexander Ippolitovich Scherbatskoy, was Third Secretary to the Russian Embassy. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Alexander Ippolitovich planned to accept a post in the Kerensky government. When that fell, he joined the League of Nations offices in Berlin. Later, he moved the family to Paris where he was employed by Yokohama Specie Bank. Young Serge completed his education at the Sorbonne, earning a degree in physics in 1926.

In 1929, only months before the stock market crash, Scherbatskoy immigrated to the United States. He worked for Bell Labs in New York City from 1929 to 1932. While there, Scherbatskoy worked on the Type C Carrier telephone system, assisted in the Reproduction of Music in Auditory Perspective (the first Hi Fi) and invented an automatic volume control using copper oxide semiconductors, for which the patent was denied. About this time, he met Mary Ellen Dunham; they married in 1938 and had four children: Mary, Serge, Timothy, and Jonathan.

After being laid off from Bell Labs in 1932, Scherbatskoy held a number of odd jobs. He organized the "Bureau of Radio Engineering" to repair radios house-to-house. In 1933, he went to the University of Pennsylvania under a grant from the Works Progress Administration (later Work Projects Administration; WPA) and assisted with developing a "sound prism" (i.e., spectrometer). He worked for PHILCO Radio and Television Corporation from 1933 to 1934 where he developed a "sweeping frequency" oscillator for testing radios. About 1936, Scherbatskoy headed west to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and joined Seismograph Services Corporation. While at Seismograph, he developed the "Expander" and the "Automatic Signal Control" for use in seismographic exploration.

Scherbatskoy left Seismograph Corp. and, with Bill Green and Jerry Westby, started Well Surveys Incorporated in 1937 to develop his idea of nuclear logging of cased wells. In nuclear logging, logs are obtained by using radiation sources in the logging tool. Well Surveys was one of the first American companies that applied nuclear physics to oil prospecting. Standard Oil of New York financed the project, but various parties could not agree and they dissolved the Well Surveys Incorporated.

According to an audiotaped interview conducted by Scherbatskoy's daughter Mary, during World War II Serge Scherbatskoy worked for the U.S. Navy as an independent prime contractor to develop the lethal probability integrator (aircraft gunner training simulator) and other projects. Scherbatskoy also was involved tangentially with the Manhattan Project. As part of the Project, Scherbatskoy was recruited by Gilbert LaBine (1890-1977), a Canadian prospector who discovered radium and uranium deposits at Port Radium, Northwest Territories in 1930. Known as the father of Canada's uranium industry, LaBine was president of Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited from its start in the late 1920s to 1947. Scherbatskoy developed a portable radiation detector and headed a team pioneering this form of uranium exploration near Great Bear Lake, Canada, during 1944, locating deposits used in atomic weapons production.

In 1948, Scherbatskoy formed Geophysical Measurements Corporation (GMC) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During this time, Scherbatskoy worked on the development of well logging technology. "Well logging is the process of exploring systematically the entire length of a drill hole by means of an instrument capable of measuring physical factors associated with the rocks traversed and producing a graph."1 In December 1960, Scherbatskoy, Jan J. Arps (physicist), and Jacob Neufeld (physicist) joined together with Reinholdt & Gardner (a brokerage firm) to form a limited partnership named Arps Corp. to assign, sell and license patents. The purpose was to lease to the oil industry, equipment utilizing the patented Arps process for continuous telemetering to the earth's surface of measurements made at the bottom of a borehole while drilling.

In 1964, GMC conducted a stock swap with McCullough Tool which then went bankrupt in 1968. During the 1970s, Scherbatskoy's activities included consulting with Jacob Neufeld of Oak Ridge National Laboratories. In 1973 he began a relationship with Marvin Gearhart of Gearhart-Owen Industries of Dallas, Texas. Gearhart-Owen was an instrument and oil services firm originally founded by Marvin Gearhart and Harold Owen in 1955. In 1980, Marvin Gearhart changed the name from Gearhart -Owen to Gearhart Industries, Inc., "The GO Company." Scherbatskoy was named Director of Special Projects and continued his own patent program which developed "Measurement While Drilling" and directional drilling patents.

"Measurement While Drilling" (MWD) refers to measurements acquired down hole while drilling that specifically describe directional surveying and drilling-related measurements. "Logging While Drilling" (LWD) refers to petrophysical measurements, similar to open hole wireline logs, acquired while drilling. Wireline logs are a cabling technology used by operators of oil and gas wells to lower equipment into the well. Directional drilling is the science of drilling non-vertical wells. These systems—MWD and LWD—are based on mud telemetry which is the transmission of encoded data through a drilling rig's drilling mud system using rapid fluctuations in the pressure of a closed loop circulating system.

When Gearhart-Owen went bankrupt in 1986, it was acquired by Halliburton. Scherbatskoy worked at Gearhart-Owen until 1988, when he opened his own office in Fort Worth developing Measurement While Drilling patents. Scherbatskoy died on November 25, 2002 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Source

Oil and Gas Journal, February 22, 1940, p. 62.
Related Materials:
The Scherbatskoy Papers complement the Philip Bishop Collection documenting petroleum prospecting and extraction in the Museum's Modern Physics Collection and the American Petroleum Institute (API) Photograph and Film Collection (AC0711) in the Archives Center. The API Collection documents all aspects of the production of oil, including exploration, drilling, cracking, refineries, pipelines, tankers, storage tanks, service stations, and the numerous products other than gasoline produced by the petroleum industry.

The Division of Science, Medicine and Society (now Division of Medicine and Science) holds three prototypes related to this collection. See accession 2007.0212.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Serge A. Scherbatskoy's daughter, Mary Scherbatskoy, and three sons, Serge Scherbatskoy, Jr., Timothy Scherbatskoy, and Jonathan Scherbatskoy, on 2007
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Seismology  Search this
Physicists  Search this
Seismic prospecting  Search this
Physics  Search this
Petroleum -- Prospecting  Search this
Petroleum industry  Search this
Patents  Search this
Licenses  Search this
Inventors  Search this
Inventions  Search this
Geophysics  Search this
Genre/Form:
Contracts
Agreements
Notebooks
Correspondence
Diazo prints
Laboratory notebooks
Patent applications
Reports
Citation:
Serge Scherbatskoy Papers, 1925-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0936
See more items in:
Serge A. Scherbatskoy Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep89b764f08-a2f7-4c09-8931-30a6ce15499f
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0936
Online Media:

Administrative Records, 1835-2020

Creator:
Smithsonian Institution Office of the Secretary  Search this
Uniform title:
Smithsonian Directives (Administrative issuances)  Search this
Subject:
Langley, S. P (Samuel Pierpont) 1834-1906  Search this
Henry, Joseph 1797-1878  Search this
Abbot, C. G (Charles Greeley) 1872-1973  Search this
Adams, Robert McC (Robert McCormick) 1926-2018  Search this
Carmichael, Leonard 1898-1973  Search this
Heyman, Ira Michael 1930-2011  Search this
Walcott, Charles D (Charles Doolittle) 1850-1927  Search this
Wetmore, Alexander 1886-1978  Search this
Baird, Spencer Fullerton 1823-1887  Search this
Ripley, S. Dillon (Sidney Dillon) 1913-2001  Search this
Small, Lawrence M  Search this
Clough, G. Wayne  Search this
Samper, Cristián  Search this
Horvath, Albert G  Search this
Skorton, David J  Search this
Bunch, Lonnie G  Search this
Smithsonian Institution Administration  Search this
Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents  Search this
Smithsonian Institution  Search this
United States Congress  Search this
Physical description:
846.85 cu. ft. processed holdings
544.48 cu. ft. unprocessed holdings
Type:
Ephemera
Floor plans
Clippings
Black-and-white photographs
Brochures
Color photographs
Manuscripts
Pamphlets
Sketches
Video recordings
Compact discs
Drawings
Videotapes
Illustrations
Color negatives
Color transparencies
Audiotapes
Floppy disks
Electronic records
Electronic mail
Books
Architectural drawings
Digital versatile discs
Digital images
Newspapers
Date:
1835
1835-2020
Topic:
Museums--Administration  Search this
Budget  Search this
Personnel management  Search this
Smithsonian buildings  Search this
Museum buildings  Search this
Museum exhibits  Search this
Museums--Collection management  Search this
Information technology  Search this
Committees  Search this
Gifts  Search this
Congresses and conventions  Search this
Strategic planning  Search this
Museums--Public relations  Search this
Museum finance  Search this
Museum publications  Search this
Real property  Search this
Estates (Law)  Search this
Contracts  Search this
Product management  Search this
Speeches, addresses, etc  Search this
Fund raising  Search this
Trusts and trustees  Search this
Research grants  Search this
Museums--Employees  Search this
Research  Search this
Awards  Search this
Tours  Search this
Corporate sponsorship  Search this
Special events  Search this
Wills  Search this
Local number:
SIA RS00771
Restrictions & Rights:
Materials less than 15 years old Restricted. Contact reference staff for details
See more items in:
Administrative Records 1835-2020 [Smithsonian Institution Office of the Secretary]
Data Source:
Smithsonian Institution Archives
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_arc_220180

Moses and Frances Asch Collection

Creator:
Asch, Moses  Search this
Distler, Marian, 1919-1964  Search this
Folkways Records  Search this
Names:
Courlander, Harold, 1908-1996  Search this
Guthrie, Woody, 1912-1967  Search this
Jenkins, Ella  Search this
Leadbelly, 1885-1949  Search this
Ramsey, Frederic, 1915-1995  Search this
Seeger, Pete, 1919-2014  Search this
Extent:
841 Cubic feet
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Business records
Correspondence
Phonograph records
Photographic prints
Audiotapes
Date:
1926-1986
bulk 1948-1986
Summary:
This collection, which dates from 1926-1986, documents the output of Moses Asch through the various record labels he founded and co-founded, and includes some of his personal papers. The Asch collection includes published recordings, master tapes, outtakes, business records, correspondence, photographs, and film.
Scope and Contents:
The Moses and Frances Asch Collection measures 841 cubic feet and dates from 1926-1987, with some contemporary, relevant correspondence, clippings, and ephemera added after 1987.

Most of the collection consists of audio recordings (commercial 78 rpm and long-playing records, open reel tapes, acetate discs, and test pressings), correspondence with recording artists and producers, artwork, photographs, ephemera, clippings, record production materials, writings, and business papers relating to Folkways Records. Materials relating to Folkways Records can be found primarily in the Correspondence, Folkways Production, Business Records, Photographs, Artwork, Sound Recordings, and Film series.

The collection also contains some biographical materials and personal correspondence, including materials related to Asch's first business, Radio Laboratories, located in the Biographical Materials series. Correspondence, ephemera, photographs, record production materials, business papers, and recordings relating to Asch's record labels before Folkways Records (Asch Recordings, Disc Company of America, Cub Records) are located in the Early Label Materials series as well as the Audio Recordings and Photographs series.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged in 10 series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1942-1987

Series 2: Folkways Production, 1946-1987

Series 3: Business Records, 1940-1987

Series 4: Woody Guthrie papers, 1927-1985

Series 5: Early Label Materials, 1940-1949

Series 6: Biographical Materials, 1926-1987

Series 7: Photographs

Series 8: Artwork

Series 9: Audio Recordings

Series 10: Film

At this time, the collection is partially processed. Please contact rinzlerarchives@si.edu for more information.
Biographical/Historical note:
The son of Yiddish writer Sholem Asch, Moses Asch was born in Poland in 1905. His childhood was spent in Poland, France, Germany, and New York. While young, Asch developed an interest in radio electronics, which ultimately lead him to his life's work, recording the music and sounds of the world. He established several record labels in succession, sometimes partnering with other record companies. Two of his fist record companies, Asch Recordings and DISC Co. of America, went bankrupt. They were followed by his best-known label, Folkways Records, which was founded in 1948 with Marian Distler (1919-1964). He was still working on Folkways recordings when he died in 1986.

Folkways Records sought to document the entire world of sound. The 2,168 titles Asch released on Folkways include traditional and contemporary music from around the world, spoken word in many languages, and documentary recordings of individuals, communities, and current events. Asch's business practices revolved around the commitment to keep every recording issued by Folkways in print, despite low sales. Asch stayed afloat by cutting costs where he could (such as color printing) and offering a high-quality product, meticulously recorded and accompanied by extensive liner notes. In doing this, he could charge a slightly higher price than other commercial outfits. Despite a tenuous relationship with financial solvency, Folkways grew to be not only one of the most important independent record companies in the United States in the 20th century, but also one of the largest and most influential record companies in the world.

Moses Asch's record labels featured famous and lesser known American writers, poets, documentarians, ethnographers, and grass roots musicians on commercial recordings. American folk icon Woody Guthrie recorded on the Asch, Disc, and Folkways labels, and the Asch Collection includes some of his correspondence, lyrics, drawings, and writings. The collection also includes correspondence with other notable musicians and artists such as John Cage, Langston Hughes, Margaret Walker, Huddie "Lead Belly" Ledbetter, Pete Seeger, Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl, Alan Lomax, Henry Cowell, and Kenneth Patchen. Also in the collection are ethnographic field notes and photographs by as well as correspondence with Béla Barók, Sidney Robertson Cowell, Harold Courlander, Helen Creighton, Laura Boulton, and Samuel Charters. Asch hired various prominent artists and graphic designers including David Stone Martin, Ben Shahn, John Carlis, and Ronald Clyne to create album cover art for his recordings. Much of the original art and designs for these covers can be found in the Asch Collection.

Asch's output of recordings on various labels, including published recordings, open reel master tapes, outtakes, and acetate disks, in addition to his business papers, correspondence, photographs, and other files were acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987. The collection came to the Smithsonian with the understanding that all 2168 titles under the Folkways label would be kept available in perpetuity.
Shared Stewardship of Collections:
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage acknowledges and respects the right of artists, performers, Folklife Festival participants, community-based scholars, and knowledge-keepers to collaboratively steward representations of themselves and their intangible cultural heritage in media produced, curated, and distributed by the Center. Making this collection accessible to the public is an ongoing process grounded in the Center's commitment to connecting living people and cultures to the materials this collection represents. To view the Center's full shared stewardship policy, which defines our protocols for addressing collections-related inquiries and concerns, please visit https://doi.org/10.25573/data.21771155.
Provenance:
Ralph Rinzler arranged the Smithsonian's acquisition of the Moses and Frances Asch Collection in 1987, beginning with Asch before his death in 1986 and continuing with extensive discussions between Rinzler and the Asch family. Since its acquisition, archivist Jeff Place and others have added contemporary, relevant correspondence with Folkways artists and related individuals.
Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Topic:
Folk music  Search this
Folk dance music  Search this
Electronic music  Search this
Oral interpretation of poetry  Search this
Oral interpretation of fiction  Search this
Music -- 20th century  Search this
Music -- 19th century  Search this
Music -- 18th century  Search this
Jazz  Search this
Folk music -- United States  Search this
World music  Search this
Sounds  Search this
Vocal music  Search this
Popular music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this
Genre/Form:
Business records
Correspondence
Phonograph records
Photographic prints
Audiotapes
Citation:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Identifier:
CFCH.ASCH
See more items in:
Moses and Frances Asch Collection
Archival Repository:
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/bk533b8a927-559a-44ac-98d2-f32d871058b4
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-cfch-asch
Online Media:

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