This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
Guide to the Smithsonian Archives, 1996
Smithsonian Directory, 1969-1972
Cooper-Hewitt Museum Library http://www.si.edu/ndm/coll/library.htm
Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewittt, Smithsonian Design Library, https://library.si.edu/libraries/cooper-hewitt, accessed January 13, 2023
LinkedIn, Jennifer Cohlman Bracchi, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-cohlman-bracchi-171bb1120, accessed January 13, 2023
LinkedIn, Nilda Lopez, https://www.linkedin.com/in/nildalopez, accessed January 13, 2023
Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Library, About the Collections, https://library.si.edu/libraries/cooper-hewitt/collections, accessed May 26, 2023
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Smithsonian History, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, https://siarchives.si.edu/history/cooper-hewitt-national-design-museum, accessed June 1, 2023
Email, "Smithsonian Libraries and Archives Executive Leadership Team Updates," September 23, 2022.
The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the successor to the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, was founded in 1897 by Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt, granddaughters of the industrialist and inventor Peter Cooper. The Hewitt sisters intended the Museum and its Library to serve as a teaching resource for design students attending The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the tuition-free institution founded by their grandfather in 1857. The Museum collections and Library remained at the Cooper Union in lower Manhattan until 1967 when they were transferred to the care of the Smithsonian Institution. When it became a part of the Smithsonian the museum was renamed the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design and then in 1969 was renamed the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design. In 1976, the Museum and Library moved uptown to the landmark Andrew Carnegie Mansion on New York City's historic Museum Mile. In 1994 the museum was renamed the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum and then in 2014 changed its name to the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. The library was part of Smithsonian Institution Libraries and then later part of Smithsonian Libraries. Initially the library was referred to as a branch and sometime in or around 2000 the branch library was referred to as a library. In 2020, after the merger of the Smithsonian Libraries and the Smithsonian Institution Archives, it became part of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. In 2022, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives renamed their libraries as library research centers.
At one point known as the Doris and Henry Dreyfus Memorial Study Center, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Library Research Center is a major resource in the United States for books, trade catalogs, serials, pictures, and archival material covering design and decorative art from the Renaissance to the present. The Museum and the Library explore the theory, history, process, material, pattern, use, and social aspects of designed objects (ranging from stained glass to computers) as well as the design of gardens, buildings, interiors, theater sets, and cities. The Library also features more than 15,000 Rare and Restricted Use treasures including several 16th century lace patterns guides, rare 18th century brass and furniture trade catalogs, approximately 2,000 pop-up books, and historic home decorating periodicals.
Since the Museum became a part of the Smithsonian Institution, it's staff has included Edith Adams, 1970-1972; Robert C. Kauffman, 1972-1982; Ann K. Martinez, 1983-1989; Stephen Van Dyk, 1990-2019; Jennifer Cohlman Bracchi, 2003- ; and Nilda Lopez, 2017- .
Repository Loc.:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520
