The Aline and Eero Saarinen papers measure approximately 14.2 linear feet and date from 1906 to 1977. The bulk of the collection consists of Aline Saarinen's papers which document her relationship with her husband Eero Saarinen and other aspects of their personal lives, as well as Aline's work as an art and architectural critic, author, and television correspondent. Papers include research files for published and planned books (in which can be found scattered original letters of Stanford White, John Quinn and Edward Root) and other projects, NBC correspondent files, writings, committee files, correspondence, photographs, printed material, and miscellaneous personal papers.
Scope and Content Note:
The Aline and Eero Saarinen papers measure approximately 14.2 linear feet and date from 1906 to 1977. The bulk of the collection consists of Aline Saarinen's papers which document her relationship with her husband Eero Saarinen and other aspects of their personal lives, as well as Aline's work as an art and architectural critic, author, and television correspondent. Papers include research files for published and planned books (in which can be found scattered original letters of Stanford White, John Quinn and Edward Root) and other projects, NBC correspondent files, writings, committee files, correspondence, photographs, printed material, and miscellaneous personal papers.
The portion of the collection relating to personal aspects of Aline and Eero Saarinen's lives consists of: Aline Saarinen's diary, guest book, notebooks, personal writings, biographical material, awards and honorary degrees; scattered papers of Eero Saarinen, including biographical material, drawings of furniture designs, various sketches and drawings, and some project timelines and notes; correspondence between Aline and Eero Saarinen (the bulk of which dates from the year they met and married), as well as general and family correspondence received by Aline Saarinen and some miscellaneous and personal correspondence of Eero Saarinen; printed material, mostly clippings, documenting aspects of the life, work, and achievements of both Aline and Eero Saarinen; and photographs, including ones of Aline Saarinen, Eero Saarinen, Aline and Eero Saarinen together, and family members, as well as ones from various trips and of various residences, and various slides.
The bulk of the collection consists of material, including research and writing files, NBC correspondent files, and committee files, stemming from Aline Saarinen's various professional activities. Writings include manuscripts, typescripts, notes, notecards, and clippings of Aline Saarinen's various articles, lectures and speeches on art and architecture, scripts for television, creative and college writing. Research files include material for Saarinen's published book on art collectors, The Proud Possessors, and her planned, but never completed, biography of the architect, Stanford White. Research material for The Proud Possessors includes files of notes, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs and printed material on art collectors, and related material such as scrapbooks of correspondence and clippings in response to the book. Files also include scattered original material, such as correspondence and photographs, belonging to the collectors, John Quinn and Edward Root. Research material on Stanford White includes correspondence, notebooks, writings, printed material, photographs, and copies of architectural drawings. Also found is scattered original material belonging to Bessie White, Stanford White, and the firm of McKim, Mead and White. NBC material consists of files, including correspondence, printed material, notes, scripts, motion picture films and video transfers, and photographs, kept by Aline Saarinen while working as a television correspondent. Also found are miscellaneous research files on artists that may relate to television or other projects and files stemming from her involvement in various arts-related and other committees.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into two series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Aline and Eero Saarinen Personal Papers, 1928-1977 (Boxes 1-4, 15, OV 16; 3.7 linear feet)
Series 2: Aline Saarinen Professional Papers, 1906-1969 (Boxes 4-15, OV 16, FC 17-18; 10 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Aline Bernstein Saarinen was born on March 25, 1914 in New York City. She attended Vassar College, where she took art courses and became interested in journalism, and graduated with a B.A. in 1935. She went on to receive her M.A. in the history of architecture from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in 1941. She married Joseph H. Louchheim in 1935, and they had two sons, Donald and Harry (or Hal). They divorced in 1951.
Aline joined the staff of Art News Magazine in 1944 and served as managing editor from 1946 to 1948. She edited and provided commentary for the book, 5000 Years of Art in Western Civilization, which was published in 1946. She served as associate art editor and critic at The New York Times from 1948 to 1953 and then as associate art critic from 1954 to 1959. She received awards for her newspaper work, including the International Award for Best Foreign Criticism at the Venice Biennale in 1951, the Frank Jewett Mather Award for best newspaper art criticism in 1953, and the American Federation of Arts Award for best newspaper criticism in 1956.
In 1953, Aline interviewed the architect Eero Saarinen for an article. Eero was born in 1910 in Kirkkonummi, Finland, and received his B.F.A. in Architecture from Yale University in 1934. He began work as an architect in his father Eliel Saarinen's firm and went on to start his own firm, Eero Saarinen and Associates. Among his best-known works are the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, the Trans World Air Lines Terminal Building at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, and Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.
Aline and Eero became romantically involved shortly after they met and were married in December 1953. The following year, they had a son, Eames (named after Eero's friend, the designer and architect Charles Eames). After their marriage, Aline relocated to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where she continued to work as associate art critic for The New York Times and where she served as Director of Information Service in the office of Eero Saarinen and Associates (from 1954 to 1963).
In 1957, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship to work on a book about major American art collectors, The Proud Possessors, which was published by Random House in 1958. Thereafter, she began work on a biography of the architect, Stanford White, also for Random House; this work continued for several years, but the book was never completed. Over the years, she wrote numerous freelance articles on art, architecture, socio-cultural history, travel, and theater for magazines such as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, Saturday Review of Literature, Reader's Digest, and Cosmopolitan.
After Eero's sudden death in 1961, Aline edited the book, Eero Saarinen on His Work (1962). She then embarked upon a new career in television, appearing on shows such as "Today" and "Sunday" where she reported on manners, morals, culture, and the arts, and eventually becoming, in 1964, an NBC News correspondent for such shows as "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" and "The Frank McGee Report" in addition to the shows on which she was already appearing. In 1971, she was appointed chief of the NBC News Paris Bureau, becoming the first woman to hold such a position in television.
In the 1960s, Aline served on various arts-related committees, including the Design Advisory Committee of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Fine Arts Commission, and the New York State Council of the Arts. She received honorary degrees from the University of Michigan in 1964 and Russell Sage College in 1967.
Aline Saarinen died from a brain tumor on July 13, 1972.
This biographical notes draws from the one on Aline Bernstein Saarinen by Seymour Brody in Jewish Heroes and Heroines of America: 150 True Stories of American Jewish Heroism, and from the one on Eero Saarinen in the Guide to the Eero Saarinen Collection at Yale University Library.
Related Material:
Also found in the Archives are: the Museum of Modern Art exhibition correspondence concerning Eero Saarinen, 1958-1959; the Lily Swann Saarinen papers, 1924-1974; an oral history interview with Lily Swann Saarinen, 1979-1981; and an oral history interview on Aline Saarinen with Charles Alan, 1973 February 17.
Other related material includes: Eero Saarinen Collection, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
Separated Material:
Two exhibition catalogs and various clippings that were donated as part of the collection were transferred to the Smithsonian American Art Museum Library in 1981.
Provenance:
The Aline and Eero Saarinen papers were donated in 1973 by Charles Alan, Aline Saarinen's brother and executor of her estate, and microfilmed. In 1966 five photographs of Eliel Saarinen's home in Helsinki, Finland were donated by Florence Davis and were subsequently integrated into the collection. The NBC material was donated in 1974 by NBC Studios via Charles Alan. Additional material, which had originally been donated to the Parrish Museum by Aline Saarinen, was donated to the Archives in 1991 by the Museum.
Restrictions:
The collection has been digitized and is available online via AAA's website. Use of material not digitized requires an appointment.
Rights:
NBC TV scripts or film prepared for television: Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from NBC Studios. Contact Reference Services for more information.
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.
American Institute of Architects Philadelphia Chapter minute books
Creator:
American Institute of Architects. Philadelphia Chapter Search this
Extent:
3 Microfilm reels (2 linear feet on 3 microfilm reels)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Microfilm reels
Date:
1869-1943
Scope and Contents:
The microfilmed American Institute of Architects Philadelphia Chapter minute books list officers and members; include guidelines on issues such as wages; and give descriptions of the organization's role in the city planning and restoration.
Biographical / Historical:
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. AIA functions as a national organization with state and local chapters. Organized in 1869, the Philadelphia chapter is the second oldest in the country after New York City.
Related Materials:
American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter papers also at Syracuse University.
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia holds the American Institute of Architects Philadelphia Chapter records, 1840-1956.
Provenance:
All the records of the AIA Philadelphia Chapter are on deposit at the Philadelphia Athenaeum, but only the minute books were microfilmed, in 1988, as part of AAA's Philadelphia Arts Documentation Project.
Restrictions:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Occupation:
Architects -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
9.3 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 4 reels))
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Date:
1901-1949
Scope and Contents:
Biographical materials, correspondence, notebooks, diaries, writings, sketches and drawings, photographs, and printed material.
REEL 983: Four notebooks, 1910-1935, containing descriptions of stained glass windows in Europe; biographical information; a typescript of an article on Connick, "The Education of an Artist in Brother Sun's Workshop"; and three photographs, one of Connick's Boston studio, one of his home in Newtonville, Mass, and one of a Christmas card design, 1930.
REEL 2802: Biographical sketch; photographs, including five of Connick at work, four of others at work at his studio, and one of a bust of Connick sculpted by Frederick Allen in front of one of his windows; and a reprint of Connick's article "Stained Glass Windows: The Craft."
REELS 3947-3948: Correspondence, undated and 1918-1946; a transcript of an interview with Connick by V. S. Bright, May 10, 1945; writings by Connick on foreign stained glass, undated; 2 sets of lecture notes; an "In Memorium Booklet" for Connick; writings by others, three sketchbooks and loose sketches by Connick; clippings, 1916- 1949; programs and brochures relating to Connick, 1923-1940; printed material, 1901-1945; photographs of Connick, undated and 1902; and photographs of works of art.
UNMICROFILMED: Biographical material containing notes about the Connick family written by the Coombs relatives; address books; a daily diary with notes by Connick, passports and visas; correspondence, 1908-1945, primarily between Charles and his wife Mabel while Connick traveled throughout the United States working on stained glass projects in churches, and in which he discusses his book "Adventures in Light and Color," correspondence with his publisher about his book; letters of condolence, 1945-1946, to Mabel; 11 sketchbooks with sketches done in watercolor, colored pencil, and pencil (the sketchbooks are called "Telephone sketchbooks," done while on the telephone); Christmas cards designed by Connick; photographs of Connick, Connick with Mabel, and family, and friends, travel photos from trips to Europe; and printed material.
Correspondents include: Robert Peters Aldrich, Frank Buxton, Paul Child, Ralph Adams Cram, Peter Dyer, Malvina Hoffman, Paul Kimball, Bill and Vaugh Redfern Mason (Connick's nephews), Joseph Reynolds, Jr., Elizabeth Madox Roberts, Winfield Scott, Harlow Shapley, Orin Skinner, Gilbert Symons, John Weber, and Stark Young.
Biographical / Historical:
Stained glass artist; Boston, Mass. Opened Charles J. Connick Studios, Boston, Mass. in 1913. Revived techniques and designs of English and French designers of the Middle Ages. He worked primarily in ecclesiastical designs. He married Mabel Robinson Coombs in 1920. After his death in 1945, the firm was headed by Orin Skinner, and renamed Charles J. Connick Associates.
Related Materials:
Charles J. Connick Studios (later Associates) records located at: Boston Public Library.
Provenance:
Material on reel 983 was lent for microfilming August 1975 by Evelyn Coombs Pennegar, sister of Mabel Coombs Connick, wife of Charles Connick. In February 1977 she donated additional papers which were filmed on reels 3947-3948. The 12 items on reel 2802 were donated by Connick's successor at Charles J. Connick Associates, Orin E. Skinner. The unmicrofilmed material was donated by Richard B. Coombs, nephew of Mabel, August - December 1985.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Microfilmed materials must be consulted on microfilm. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Occupation:
Stained glass artists -- Massachusetts -- Boston Search this
Personal and professional papers consisting of biographical material, correspondence, subject files, writings, architectural designs, and printed material.
Biographical / Historical:
Architect; Austin, Tx. Died Dec. 16, 1993. Received his Architecture degree in 1947 from the University of Michigan; and in 1957 he received his Ph.D. in Architectural history from Princeton University. Taught at UC Berkeley, Yale, and UCLA. He has partnerhips in several architectural firms: MLTW (Moore, Lyndon, Turnball, Whitaker); Urban Innovations Group; Moore, Grover, Harper; and Moore, Ruble, Yudell. Major projects include the Sea Ranch Residential Resort (1964-1965) and Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans (1975-1978).
Provenance:
Donated 1985 and 1990 by Charles Willard Moore.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
