Search Results

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.

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 by appointment only. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at rinzlerarchives@si.edu or (202) 633-7322 for additional information.

Rights:

Copyright restrictions apply. Contact archives staff for additional 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

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-cfch-asch

Collection Creator:

Asch, Moses  Search this

Distler, Marian, 1919-1964  Search this

Folkways Records  Search this

Container:

Box Asch_02_020, Folder 25

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1973

Scope and Contents note:

Misc. publication notes, label copy, label proofs, cue sheets for audiotapes FW-ASCH-7RR-4236-4238, liner notes (draft), liner notes (final), contract copy

Collection Restrictions:

Access by appointment only. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at rinzlerarchives@si.edu or (202) 633-7322 for additional information.

Collection Rights:

Copyright restrictions apply. Contact archives staff for additional information.

Collection Citation:

Moses and Frances Asch Collection, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

CFCH.ASCH, File Asch_02_020_025

See more items in:

Moses and Frances Asch Collection

Moses and Frances Asch Collection / Series 2: Folkways Production / 2.1: Production Files

Archival Repository:

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-cfch-asch-ref6024

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

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

Creator:

Davis, Luther  Search this

Davis, Joan Bassie  Search this

Extent:

14 Cubic feet (40 boxes, 1 oversize folder)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Videotapes

Audiotapes

Awards

Programs

Screenplays

Scripts (documents)

Theater programs

Date:

1916-2007, undated

bulk 1936-2007

Summary:

Luther Davis (1916-2008) was an awarding winning writer, playwright and screenwriter. He won a Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award in 1954 for the musical Kismet. He was the playwright for Lady in a Cage, and Grand Hotel and many other productions.

Scope and Contents:

This collection contains scripts, screenplays, and teleplays written by Luther Davis for the stage, screen, and television with related documents. Also included are writings for publications, business papers, and personal papers and photographs.

Series 1, Articles and Fiction, 1936-1946, 2003. This series consists of articles and stories written for magazines, published and unpublished. This series is divided into two subseries:

Subseries 1, Articles and Non-Fiction, 1936-1946 and 2003. Articles published in magazines or other publications and unpublished manuscripts.

Subseries 2, Fiction, 1936-1940s and undated. Stories published in magazines and unpublished manuscripts.

Series 2, Works for Film, 1946-2003. This series consists of treatments, scripts and screenplays for films, produced and unproduced. This series is divided into two subseries:

Subseries 1, Screenplays, Produced, 1946-1972. Drafts and scripts for films produced and materials relating to their production such as advertising and reviews. Photographs for several films are also included and copies of novels used as sources.

Subseries 2, Screenplays, Unproduced, 1940s-2003. Drafts and scripts developed but unproduced and research materials for these projects.

Series 3, Works for the Theater, 1944-2007. This series consists of scripts for stage plays and musicals, produced and unproduced. This series is divided into two subseries:

Subseries 1, Theatrical Productions, 1944-2004. Scripts and other materials related to those productions. These include documents relating to adapting, financing, and promotion of the productions, as well as source materials, photographs, and reviews. Some materials relate to productions in foreign countries.

Subseries 2, Theatrical Works, Unproduced, 1937-2007. Scripts and partial scripts, ideas, outlines and research materials for these projects.

Series 4, Works for Television, 1956-1997. This series consists of scripts for television programs, produced and unproduced. This series is divided into two subseries:

Subseries 1, Television Productions, 1960-1971. Scripts and other materials related to these productions. Subseries 2, Works for Television, Unproduced, 1956-1997. Scripts and partial scripts, ideas, outlines and research materials.

Series 5, Business and Personal Records, 1916-2007. This series consists of two subseries:

Subseries 1, Business Records, 1941-2006. Correspondence, news clippings, awards, general casting research and story research materials.

Subseries 2, Personal Records, 1916-2007. Documents, scrapbook pages, military records, news clippings, photographs, correspondence, miscellaneous personal items.

Series 6, Works by Others, 1939-1979. This series consists of stories and scripts written by others.

Series 7, Audio-Visual Materials, 1976-1991, undated. This series consists of two subseries:

Subseries 1, Audio Materials, 1976-1991, undated. Audio cassettes for Timbuktu! and Grand Hotel stage productions. Radio interviews with Davis and others.

Subseries 2, Video Materials, 1979-1990, undated. Video cassettes for Timbuktu!, 1990 Tony Awards, and film Daughter of the Mind.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into seven series.

Series 1, Articles and Fiction, 1936-2003, undated

Subseries 1.1, Articles and Non-Fiction, 1936-2003

Subseries 1.2, Fiction, 1936-1940s, undated

Series 2, Works for Film, 1946-2003

Subseries 2.1, Screenplays, Produced, 1946-1972

Subseries 2.2, Screenplays, Unproduced, 1940s-2003

Series 3, Works for the Theater, 1944-2007

Subseries 3.1, Theatrical Productions, 1944-2004

Subseries 3.2, Theatrical Works, Unproduced, 1937-2007

Series 4, Works for Television, 1956-1997

Subseries 4.1, Television Productions, 1960-1971

Subseries 4.2, Works for Television, Unproduced, 1956-1997

Series 5, Business and Personal Records, 1916-2007

Subseries 5.1, Business Records, 1941-2006

Subseries 5.2, Personal Records, 1916-2007

Series 6, Works by Others, 1939-1979

Series 7, Audio-Visual Materials, 1976-1991, undated

Subseries 7.1, Audio Materials, 1976-1991, undated

Subseries 7.2, Video Materials, 1979-1990, undated

Biographical / Historical:

Luther Berryhill Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York on August 29, 1916. He attended Culver Military Academy, graduating in 1934. At Yale University he was a member of the Yale Literary Society and contributed stories and essays to the Yale Literary Magazine. While at Yale, he began writing plays and musicals and his work in these fields would define his long and successful career. Following his graduation he wrote articles on entertainment figures for Colliers and other publications until his enlistment as captain in the Army Air Corps. While serving, he wrote a breezy column for the service publication C.B.I. Roundup and covered aviation subjects for Air Force magazine for the duration of the war. He was promoted to the rank of major before his demobilization in 1945.

Returning to civilian life, Davis embarked upon a career as a writer for the stage, screen, and television that would continue for more than six decades. In the autumn of 1945, Davis's play Kiss Them for Me, adapted from a Frederic Wakeman novel, opened on Broadway and was adapted for film in 1955. In 1947 he wrote the screenplay for The Hucksters (also by Wakeman), starring Clark Gable. He worked as a screenwriter well into the 1980s.

Davis collaborated with Charles Lederer, Robert Wright, and George Forrest on the book and libretto for Kismet, an adaptation of Edward Knoblock's 1911 play. Kismet featured music based on the works of Alexander Borodin and won the Tony award for Best Musical in 1954. It was made into a film directed by Vincente Minnelli in 1955. In 1978, Davis produced a further adaptation titled Timbuktu! that was notable for its use of African themes and locales. Its cast included Eartha Kitt and Melba Moore, and it was choreographed by Geoffrey Holder. Timbuktu! was nominated for six Tonys, including one for Davis's script.

In 1956, Davis and partners Wright and Forrest purchased the rights to Vicki Baum's novel Menschhen in Hotel. The novel had been the source for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's (MGM) 1931 film, Grand Hotel. In 1958, Davis adapted the story for At the Grand, a production of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. Thirty-one years, and numerous revisions, later it opened on Broadway in 1989 as Grand Hotel, the Musical. Directed by Tommy Tune, it ran until 1992. In 1990, the show was nominated for twelve Tony awards and won six.

As a producer, Davis and partners brought the World War I drama Not About Heroes to Broadway with stars Edward Hermann and Dylan Baker in 1981. He also co-produced Eden Court off-Broadway with Ellen Barkin and Melanie Griffith in 1985.

Davis continued his work in film as writer and producer, most notably with his controversial film Lady in a Cage, a 1964 study of modern violence starring Olivia de Havilland. Other film scripts, such as A Lion is in the Streets (1953) and Across 110th Street (1972), also explored gritty, contemporary themes. These were a marked contrast to the wry comedy of some of his earlier screenplays.

As a writer for television, Davis's work earned him recognition from the Writer's Guild of America and Mystery Writers of America. Most of his television work was produced in the 1960s, including episodes for the series "Run for Your Life" and "Kraft Suspense Theater." He authored several movies for television, including Arsenic and Old Lace in 1968. His other works for television included comedies, dramas, mysteries and thrillers.

In his lengthy career, Luther Davis earned success because of both his talent and his extraordinary determination and energy. His papers include not only his works produced for film, stage, and television but an equal, if not greater number, of works never seen by audiences.

His tireless efforts with these projects, as well as the many that reached fruition, indicate a willingness to persevere that is essential to success; in 2007, when he was ninety-one years old, he wrote a treatment for a stage musical based on Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Luther Davis died in 2008.

Provenance:

Donated to the Archives Center in 2009 by Davis's widow, Joan Bassie Davis.

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.

Occupation:

Dramatists  Search this

Topic:

Motion pictures  Search this

Screenwriters  Search this

Television  Search this

Television writers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Videotapes

Audiotapes

Awards

Programs

Screenplays

Scripts (documents)

Theater programs

Citation:

Luther Davis Papers, 1916-2007, undated, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1148

See more items in:

Luther Davis Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1148

Collector:

Medical Sciences, Division of, NMAH, SI.  Search this

Medical Sciences, Division of, NMAH, SI.  Search this

Creator:

Winslow, Randolph, 1852-1937 (surgeon, medical school professor)  Search this

Extent:

2.5 Cubic feet (7 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiotapes

Oral history

Interviews

Account books

Patient medical records

Place:

Hartford (N.C.)

Baltimore (Md.)

Date:

1868-1924.

Scope and Contents:

The Winslow Collection contains diaries, patient records, account books, collected historical materials, taped oral history interviews and miscellaneous papers. The core of the collection consists of a chronological series of small, handwritten leather bound books used for personal diaries, college and medical school notes, and patient records, kept over a 54 year period. The contents of these volumes are described more fully in the "Non Medical" and 'Medical' notes on Diaries and Journals at the end of this finding aid.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into three series.

Series 1: Diaries and Journals

Series 2: Account Books

Series 3: Collected Historical Materials

Biographical / Historical:

Randolph Winslow, a Baltimore physician, surgeon, and medical school professor, was born in Hertford, North Carolina on October 23, 1852. He died in 1937.

He grew up in an environment of medicine: his father, Caleb, was a much respected surgeon; his uncle, John, was a prominent physician who held the chair of materia medica at the Maryland College of Pharmacy; and his brother, John was a recognized specialist in diseases of the nose and throat and professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The medical atmosphere was maintained throughout Randolph's life and two of his sons followed the family tradition: both Nathan and FitzRandolph graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and later became members of the faculty.

Randolph himself received his A.B. from Haverford College in 1871, his M.D. from the University of Maryland College of Medicine in 1873 (standing at the head of his class), and an M.A. from Haverford after special study in advanced Greek. Dr. Winslow pursued further medical studies in 1883 and 1906 when he traveled to Berlin, Paris, Vienna and other European cities. There he attended medical clinics in such subjects as surgery and midwifery and purchased a number of surgical instruments.

On graduation from medical school Dr. Winslow began pedagogical work at the University of Maryland Medical School as an Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy (1873 1880). He then served as Demonstrator of Anatomy (1880 1886), Lecturer on Clinical Surgery (1886 1891), professor of Anatomy and Clinical Surgery (1891 1902) and Professor of Surgery (1902 1921). He was named Professor Emeritus of Surgery in 1921.

During his early career he was on the surgical staff of the Baltimore City Hospitals (then Bay View Asylum), the Good Samaritan Hospital, Hebrew Hospital (now Sinai) and the Elkton Hospital. He served for more than twenty five years as consultant surgeon to the Maryland Training School for Boys at Lock Raven, and as physician to the Johns Hopkins Colored Orphan Asylum. He was one of the founders of the Woman's Medical College in Baltimore, a professor of surgery there (1882 1893) and dean (1890 1892). He held the chair of Operative Surgery and Topographic Anatomy of the Baltimore Polyclinic (1984) and was also surgeon in chief to the University Hospital and Consulting Surgeon to the Hebrew Hospital.

Dr. Winslow was very interested in the advancement of medical education. It was mainly through his efforts that the second University Hospital was built, the medical curriculum was expanded from two to three years and then to four years and that the Baltimore Medical College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons were merged into the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland. He served as a regent of the University of Maryland (1891 1920) and on the board of trustees of the Endowment funds of the University of Maryland. Dr. Winslow sat in the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association, on the Judicial Council of the AMA (7 years), and on the Executive Council of the Association of American Medical Colleges (20 years). He was a member of the House of Delegates and on the Council of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland and he served as the vice president of the Faculty (1896 97) and president (1914). He was a member of numerous Medical Associations. Winslow was honorary president of the 'Randolph Winslow Surgical Society, a club founded by students at the University of Maryland in 1911 and named in his honor. He was president of the Southern Surgical Association (1921) and a fellow and a founder of the American College of Surgeons (1913). He attended many national and international medical conferences, and wrote prolifically on surgical and medical subjects (see attached listing of published articles available at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, Health Services Library).

In addition to his professional service and writing, Dr. Winslow was well known for his surgical practice. He was one of the first to introduce surgical antisepsis in Maryland; he was the first Maryland surgeon to resect the pylorus for carcinoma and to shorten the round ligaments; he performed the first vaginal hysterectomy in the state (1888); he was the first Maryland surgeon to operate successfully for gunshot wound of the intestine (1893).

From 1911 until he retired, he was a lieutenant in the Medical Reserve Corps of the Army, and is described by his son, Nathan, as being very disappointed at not being called into active service when the United States entered World War I.

Professionally Dr. Winslow seems to have been regarded as an excellent as well as demanding teacher, and as a surgeon with sound judgment, bold when necessary, but conservative, "never jeopardizing his patients for the sake of effect" (University of Maryland School of Medicine). He wrote well, simply and with clarity, and possessed skill, earnestness, and leadership qualities when working with students, and was quick to recognize merit. Personally, he was rigorously honest, direct, earnest, sincere, loyal, and fearless. (University of Maryland School of Medicine, Annals of Surgery, etc.)

He was happily married in 1877 to Rebecca Fayssoux Leper, who survived him by 3 years. Thirteen children were born of the marriage, delivered by Dr. Winslow himself. Twelve of them survived him, nine sons and three daughters: Nathan, 1878; John Leiper, 1880; Fitz Randolph, 1881; Edwards Fayssoux, 1883; Mary Fayssoux, 1885; Jane Parry, 1886; Caleb, 1889; Eliza Leiper, 1891; George Leiper, 1893; Oliver Parry, 1895; Richard Randolph Parry, 1897; St. Clair Spruill, 1899; Callender Fayssoux, 1901.

In his diaries, Dr. Winslow notes in 1869 that he is 'getting a pretty good knowledge of carving as father is away from nearly every dinner and I have to carve." It would seem that with his multiple professional obligations in addition to an active private practice, Dr. Winslow was seldom at home; nevertheless, he was apparently able to give his family a sense of his responsibility to duty but also a recognition of his devotion to them and his stern regard for their religious and moral upbringing.

In religious affiliation, Dr. Winslow was an active member of the Society of Friends. Politically he was a life long Republican. (National Cyclopedia of American Biography)

During his college days Dr. Winslow was an ardent sportsman, playing cricket, baseball, billiards, croquet, participating in bowling, skating, wrestling, literary societies, going hunting, and attending the theater. He went regularly to religious meeting, and was occasionally involved in playing pranks, visiting with friends and expressing an active interest in pretty girls. With increasing professional and family responsibilities he had less and less leisure time although he maintained his membership in the cricket clubs and at one time was one of Baltimore's crack cricket players.

He remained an active man throughout his life and visited the University regularly up to about 10 days before his death. He died in Baltimore following an illness of one week on February 27, 1937.

His friend and colleague Arthur Shipley wrote the following about him: "During his long service to his fellows he displayed the changing phases of a useful and successful life; the virile and fighting qualities of a young man, the strength and certainty of the maturer man and, after retirement, he unconsciously gave a fine exhibition of how a strong man grows old; showing, qualities of gentleness, kindness, understanding and sympathy with no evidence of bitterness or regret. He continued to take an interest in his profession, his societies, his friends and his school, which made association with him not only an inspiring companionship, but a real joy."

Provenance:

The Winslow Collection was donated to the Maryland Medical and Chirurgical Faculty. The diaries were willed by Dr. Winslow; other papers and photographs were given by his wife and/or several of his sons.

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.

Occupation:

Surgeons  Search this

Topic:

Education -- Medical  Search this

Physicians  Search this

Patient care  Search this

Medical care  Search this

Medical colleges -- Faculty  Search this

Medicine  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiotapes

Oral history

Interviews

Account books

Patient medical records

Citation:

Randolph Winslow Collection, Archives Center, National museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0150

See more items in:

Randolph Winslow Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0150

Creator:

Ayer (N W) Incorporated.  Search this

Names:

American Telephone and Telegraph Company -- Advertisements  Search this

Cunningham & Walsh.  Search this

Hixson & Jorgenson  Search this

United Air Lines, Inc. -- Advertisements  Search this

Ayer, Francis Wayland  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia , 1887-1986  Search this

Extent:

270 Cubic feet (1169 boxes )

7 Film reels (1463 boxes, 18 map-folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Film reels

Business records

Interviews

Oral history

Print advertising

Proof sheets

Proofs (printed matter)

Scrapbooks

Trade literature

Tear sheets

Advertisements

Date:

1817-1851

1869-2006

Summary:

Collection consists of records documenting one of the oldest advertising agencies created in Philadelphia. The company then moves to New York and expanses to international markets. During its history NW Ayer & Sons acquires a number of other advertising agencies and is eventually purchased. The largest portion of the collection is print advertisements but also includes radio and television. NW Ayer is known for some of the slogans created for major American companies.

Scope and Contents:

The collection consists primarily of proof sheets of advertisements created by NW Ayer & Son, Incorporated for their clients. These materials are in series one through thirteen and consist primarily of print advertisements. There are also billboards, radio and television commercials. The advertisements range from consumer to corporate and industrial products. The majority of the advertisements were created for Ayer's New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and international offices. Printed advertisements created by Cunningham & Walsh, Hixson & Jorgensen and Newell-Emmett are also included among these materials. Researchers who are interested in records created by Ayer in the course of operating an advertising agency will find these materials in Series fourteen-nineteen.

Series fourteen consists of advertisements created by NW Ayer & Son to promote their services to potential clients.

Series fifteen are scrapbooks of some of the earliest advertisements created by the company. Series sixteen are publications. Some of the publications were created by Ayer while others were about Ayer or the advertising industry in general. Provides good background materials and puts the company in perspective. Series eighteen are the legal records. Materials relating to employees including photographs, oral histories etc. are found in series nineteen.

Series twenty is one of the smallest amounts of materials and includes information relating to the history of NW Ayer & Son.

The container lists for series one-thirteen are part of a database and are searchable. The list has been printed for the convenience of the researcher and is included in this finding aid. Series fourteen-twenty container lists are also a part of the finding aid but are not in a searchable format.

Series 1, Scrapbooks of Client Advertisements, circa 1870-1920, is arranged into three boxes by chronological date. There are two bound scrapbooks and one box of folders containing loose scrapbook pages. NW Ayer & Son compiled an assortment of their earliest ads and placed them into scrapbooks. Besides the earliest advertisements, the scrapbooks contain requests to run advertisements, reading notices and listings of papers Ayer advertised in. The early advertisements themselves range from medical remedies to jewelry to machines to clothing to education and more. Most of the advertisements in the bound scrapbooks are dated.

Series 2, Proofsheets, circa 1870-1930, NW Ayer was fond of creating scrapbooks containing proofsheets. The series contains proofsheets created between 1892 and 1930, organized into 526 boxes. For convenience of storage, access and arrangement, the scrapbooks were disassembled and the pages placed in original order in flat archival storage boxes. The proofsheets are arranged by book number rather than client name. Usually the boxes contain a listing of the clients and sometimes the dates of the advertisements to be found within the box.

Series 3, Proofsheets, circa 1920-1975, is organized into 532 oversize boxes, and contain proofsheets and tearsheets created between 1920 and 1972. Within this series, materials are arranged alphabetically by company name (occasionally subdivided by brand or product), and thereunder chronologically by date of production. Many major, national advertisers are represented, including American Telephone & Telegraph, Armour Company, Canada Dry, Cannon Mills, Carrier Corporation, Domino Sugar, Caterpillar tractor company, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Goodyear, Hills Bros. Coffee, Ladies Home Journal, National Dairy, Plymouth (Chrysler Corporation), Steinway, TV Guide, United Airlines and the United States Army. Also contained in this series are three scrapbooks of client advertisements including Canada Dry, Ford Motor, and Victor Talking Machine.

Series 4, 2001 Addendum, circa 1976-2001, is organized into ninety three oversized boxes,one folder and contains proofsheets for select Ayer clients, created between 1975 and 2001. Within this series, materials are arranged alphabetically by client name and there under chronologically by date of production. Major national advertisers represented include American Telephone & Telegraph, Avon, the United States Army, DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines, Dupont, TV Guide, Sealtest, Kraft Foods, Gillette, General Motors, Cannon Mills.

Series 5, Billboards, circa 1952-1956, consists of mounted and un-mounted original art/mock-ups. Twenty-two pieces of original art created as mock-ups for Texaco billboards.

Series 6, Film and Video Commercials, 1967-1970,

Series 7, Radio and Television Materials, 1933-1993, undated, is arranged into eight boxes and includes radio scripts, television scripts, and story boards for commercials.

Subseries 7.1, Scripts and storyboards for Radio and Television Commercials, dates Scripts for radio and television commercials includes title, date, length of commercial, advertising agency, client information

NW Ayer's radio and television materials mainly focus on the American Telegraph and Telephone account. Some of Ayer's materials relate to Bell Telephone Hours.

Storyboards are used in television and film to assist the director in working with crew to tell the story. To show the viewer through the use of figures, visual effects and camera angles. When directors first start thinking about their storyboard they create a story in their mind. They think of all the camera angles, visual effects and how the figures will interact in their mind. They try to create an extraordinary story in their head to attract the viewer (YOU) In order for the storyboard to be entirely effective it can't be a passive document. When done properly, a storyboard serves as a central design, meeting the needs of many team members including graphics artists, video personnel and programmers.

Another function of a storyboard is to help the team communicate during the training development process. This communication is very important in working with a large team as in the movie King, produced in 1996. Figures help the director explain to the crew how they are going to record the film and how to present it to the audience. Sometimes the director wants special effects to be added to the film, but his budget might not be that big so the director will have to change the story to fit their budget.

The Visual Effects are an important part in the storyboards it adds a special touch of creativity to your film. Camera angles are an important expects in your film because the camera angles determine where the viewing audience will look. If you want your audience to look at a certain object you must turn their attention to it by focusing on that object and maybe you might try blocking something out. Then you will have your audience's attention and you may do whatever else you have to, it could be scaring them are just surprising them or whatever you do.

Also included is talent information and log sheets relating to the storage of the commercials.

Bell Telephone Hour Program, 1942-[19??], The Bell Telephone Hour, also known as The Telephone Hour, was a five minute musical program which began April 29, 1940 on National Broadcasting Company Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television from 1959 to 1968.

Earlier shows featured James Melton and Francia White as soloists. Producer Wallace Magill restructured the format on April 27, 1942 into the "Great Artists Series" of concert and opera performers, beginning with Jascha Heifetz. Records indicate that the list of talents on the program included Marian Anderson, Helen Traubel, Oscar Levant, Lily Pons, Nelson Eddy, Bing Crosby, Margaret Daum, Benny Goodman, José Iturbi, Gladys Swarthout and .The series returned to radio in 1968-1969 as Bell Telephone Hour Encores, also known as Encores from the Bell Telephone Hour, featuring highlights and interviews from the original series.

National Broadcasting television specials sponsored by the Bell System, 1957-1987includes information relating to Science series, Bell system Theshold Series, Bell telephone hour and commercial and public sponsored programs

Series 8, Chicago Office Print Advertisements, 1954-1989, is arranged alphabetically by the name of the client in ninety boxes and six oversize folders. Clients include Illinois Bell Telephone (1955-1989), Microswitch (1969-1989), Teletype (1975-1984), John Deere (1974-1989) and Caterpillar (1966-1972) are particularly well represented. Other clients of interest include Dr. Scholl's shoes (circa 1968-1972), the Girl Scouts (1976-1980), Sunbeam Personal Products Company (1973-1981), Bell and Howell (1974-1983) and Alberto Culver shampoos (1967-1971), Honeywell, Incorporated, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Associations, Kraft, Incorporated, Sears, Roebuck and Company, and YMCA.

Series 9, Los Angeles Office Materials, 1950s-1987, include printed advertisements created by this office and information relating to the employees.

Subseries 9.1, Print Advertisements, 1977-1987, printed advertisements arranged in one box alphabetically by client. There is a sparse sampling of clients from this particular Ayer branch office. The majority of the advertisements contained within this series are from Pizza Hut (1986-1987). Also included are Computer Automation (1977-1978), State of the Art, Incorporated (1982) and Toshiba (1986).

Subseries 9.2, Personnel Files, 1950s-1970s, includes cards of employees who worked in the Los Angeles office. Information on the cards includes name, address, telephone number, birthday, date hired, departure date and why (retired, terminated, resigned, etc) and position. Not all cards have all information. There is also a photograph of the employees on the cards.

Series 10, Foreign Print Advertisements, 1977-1991, undated, NW Ayer maintained partnerships with international companies such as Sloanas Ayer in Argentina, Connaghan & May Paton Ayer in Australia, Moussault Ayer in Belgium, NW Ayer, LTD. in Canada, GMC Ayer in France, Co-Partner Ayer in Germany, Wong Lam Wang in Hong Kong, MacHarman Ayer in New Zealand, Grupo de Diseno Ayer in Spain, Nedeby Ayer in Sweden, and Ayer Barker in United Kingdom. This group of material is a small sampling of advertisements created from these International offices. It is arranged alphabetically by client. There are quite a few automobile advertisements (i.e. Audi, Fiat, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen). In addition there are numerous advertisements for various personal items from MacLean's toothpaste to Quick athletic shoes to Labello lip balm, etc. Most of the advertisements have the creator's name printed on the advertisements.

Series 11, Cunningham & Walsh, Incorporated Materials, 1915-1987, undated contains 98 boxes 11 folders materials from the New York advertising agency acquired by NW Ayer in the 1960s. The company began with Newel-Emmett, an agency of nine men which broke up in 1949. Two of the men Fred Walsh and Jack Cunningham formed this agency in bearing their names in 1950. The agency created "let your fingers for the walking campaign for American Telephone & Telegraph, Mother Nature for Chiffon, and Mrs. Olson for Folgers's coffee and let the good times roll for Kawasaki motorcycle. In 1986, NW Ayer Incorporated purchased Cunningham & Walsh Incorporated.

Subseries 11.1, Print Advertisements, 1915-1987, are contained in ninety eight boxes of primarily print advertisements arranged alphabetically by client name. Clients that are particularly well represented are Graybar (electrical implements, circa1926-1937), Johns-Manulle (circa1915-1971), Smith and Corono typewriters (circa 1934-1960), Sunshine Biscuit Company (circa 1925-1961), Texaco Company (circa 1936-1961), Western Electric (circa 1920- 1971) and Yellow Pages (circa 1936-1971). Cunningham and Walsh also represented several travel and tourism industry clients, including Cook Travel Services (circa 1951-1962), Italian Line (circa 1953-1961), Narragansett and Croft (circa 1956-1960) and Northwest Airlines (circa 1946-1955). There are photographs of Texaco advertisements dating from 1913-1962. There is also a scrapbook of advertisements from the Western Electric Company dating from 1920-1922.

Subseries 11.2, Radio and Television Advertisements, 1963-1967, consist of materials created for Western Electric. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 11.3, Company Related Materials, 1962-1986, undated include client lists, information relating to NW Ayer purchase and annual report 1962.

Series 12, Hixson & Jorgensen Materials, 1953-1971, a Los Angeles advertising company, merged with Ayer in 1969. This series is housed in one box. Within the box are four scrapbooks and folders with a hodgepodge of materials relating to advertising. Of most interest are the scrapbooks. Two scrapbooks deal with Hixson and Jorgensen's self promotion ad campaign "the right appeal gets action" (1953-1957). The other two scrapbooks contain news clippings about the company and its activities (1959-1971).

Series 13, Newell-Emmet, 1942-1957, founded in 1919 and governed in the 1940s by a partnership of nine men. The partnership broke up in 1949 when the men went their separate ways. The materials consist of print advertisements for one of client, Permutit Company, a water conditioning company. The materials are arranged in one box in chronological order.

Series 14, House Print Advertisements, 1870-1991, 16 boxes consists of advertisements or self-promotion advertisements to campaign for new clients. The series is arranged chronologically by date into fifteen boxes. Within the series are two scrapbooks containing self promotion ads from 1888-1919 and 1892-1895. Numerous house ads relate to Ayer's "Human Contact" campaign. In addition to the self promotion ads, Ayer ran advertisements expounding about particular concepts or themes for example, one month the concept would "understand" while another month would be "teamwork" and yet another would be on "imagination". Some of the self promotion ads target specific groups like Philadelphia businessmen. Other advertisements incorporate the fine arts.

Series 15, Scrapbooks, 1872-1959, relates to company events, records and news clippings about Ayer's history. The six boxes are arranged by chronological date. Two of the boxes focus solely on the death of founder F.W. Ayer (1923). Another box houses a scrapbook that showcases Ayer's annual Typography Exhibition (1931-1959). One box contains a scrapbook that specifically deals with correspondences relating to Ayer's advertising. Yet another box's contents are folders of loose pages from scrapbooks that have newspaper clippings, order forms, correspondences and other company records. In one box, a bound scrapbook houses a variety of materials relating to Ayer and advertising (i.e. newspaper clippings, competitor's advertisements, NW Ayer's advertisements, correspondences for advertisements, clippings regarding the "theory of advertising."

Series 16, Publications, 1849-2006, are housed in thirty four boxes and are arranged into three main categories.

Subseries 16.1, House Publications, 1876-1994, covers diverse topics; some proscriptive works about the Ayer method in advertising, some commemorating people, anniversaries or events in the life of the agency. Materials consist of scattered issues of the employee newsletter The Next Step 1920-1921. The materials are arranged in chronological order by date of publication. Ayer in the News, The Show Windows of an Advertising Agency, 1915, book form of advertisements published on the cover of Printer's Ink, highlighting Ayer's relations with advertisers. The Story of the States, 1916, Reprint in book form of a series of articles published in Printer's Ink for the purpose of adding some pertinent fact, progressive thought and prophetic vision to the Nationalism of Advertising highlights major businesses, manufacturer, natural resources and other qualities or attractions of each state. The Book of the Golden Celebration, 1919, includes welcome address and closing remarks by founder F. Wayland Ayer, The Next Step, 1920 employee newsletter with photographs, employee profiles, in-house jokes, etc., Advertising Advertising: A Series of Fifty-two Advertisements scheduled one time a week. Twenty-seven, thirty and forty inches, a day of the week optional with publisher, 1924

Subseries 16.2, Publications about NW Ayer, 1949-2006, includes a book first published in 1939. Includes articles, documenting events and is arranged chronologically by date of publication.

Subseries 16.3, General Publications about Advertising, 1922-1974, are arranged chronologically by date of publication and relate primarily to the history of advertising.

Subseries 16.4, Publications about Other Subjects, 1948-1964, include four books about the tobacco industry primarily the history of the American Tobacco Company and Lorillard Company from the Cunningham and Walsh library.

Series 17, Business Records, circa 1885-1990s

Subseries 17.1, Contracts, 1885-1908, undated, are arranged alphabetically and span from 1885-1908. The majority of the contracts are with newspaper and magazine publishers from around the country.

Subseries 17.2, General client information, 1911-1999, undated, including active and cancelled lists with dates, client gains, historical client list, (should move this to series 20) Ayer Plan User Guide Strategic Planning for Human Contact, undated

Subseries 17.3, Individual Client Account Information, 1950s-1990s, undated, contain information used by Ayer to create advertisements for some of its clients. American Telephone &Telegraph Corporate Case History, American Telephone &Telegraph Corporate advertisement memo, commissioned artists for DeBeers advertisements, DeBeers information relating to the creative process and photography credits, a case history for DeBeers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., The Diamond Engagement Ring, Managing Communication at all levels, DuPont publications, JC Penny Marketing Communication Plan Recommendation, Leaf, Incorporated, Saturn presentation, and USAREC oral presentation.

Subseries 17.4, Potential Clients, 1993, includes grouping has a questionnaire sent to Ayer by a potential client. Questionnaire response for Prudential Securities, 1993 Prudential Securities advertising account review, 1993.

Subseries 17.5, Financial Records, 1929-1938, includes balance sheet, 1929 May 1 Balance sheet and adjustments Consolidated statement of assets and liabilities, Expenses 191936-37 Business review and expenses, 1937 and 1938 Business review and expenses comparative statement, 1937 and 1938.

Series 18, Legal Records, circa 1911-1982, Ayer's legal records are arranged by twelve subject groupings within four boxes. The twelve groupings are advertising service agreements (circa 1918-1982), bylaws, copyright claims, correspondences, international correspondences, dissolution of trusts, stock information, agreements between partners, incorporation materials, reduction of capital, property information and miscellaneous materials. The bulk of the materials are the advertising service agreements. These agreements are between Ayer and their clients and state the services Ayer will offer and at what cost. The bylaws are Ayer's company bylaws from 1969 and 1972. The copyright claims are certificates stating Ayer's ownership over certain published materials (i.e. "Policy", Media Equalizer Model, and Don Newman's Washington Square Experiment). The correspondences relate to either the voting trust and receipts for agreement or the New York Corporation. The international correspondences are from either Ayer's Canadian office or London office. The dissolutions of trusts contains materials about the dividend trust of Wilfred F. Fry, the investment trust of Winfred W. Fry, the voting trust, and the New York corporation. The stock information has stock certificates and capital stock information. The agreements between partners (1911-1916) specify the terms between F.W. Ayer and his partners. The incorporation materials (circa 1929-1977) deal with Ayer advertising agency becoming incorporated in the state of Delaware. The reduction of capital grouping is a notification that shares of stock have been retired. The property information grouping contains property deeds and insurance policy (circa 1921-1939), a property appraisal (1934), and a bill of sale (1948). The miscellaneous grouping contains a house memo regarding a set of board meeting minutes and a registry of foreign companies in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1929-1954).

Subseries 18.1, Advertising Service Agreements, 1918-1982

Subseries 18.2, Bylaw Materials, 1969-1972

Subseries 18.3, Copyright Claims, 1962-1969

Subseries 18.4, Correspondence, 1928-1933

Subseries 18.5, International Office Correspondence, 1947-1948

Subseries 18.6, Dissolution of Trusts, 1934-1937

Subseries 18.7, Stock Information, 1934-1974

Subseries 18.8, Agreements between Partners, 1911-1916

Subseries 18.9, Incorporation Materials, 1929-1977

Subseries 18.10, Certificates of Reduction of Capital, 1937; 1975

Subseries 18.11, Property Information, 1921-1948

Subseries 18.12, Miscellaneous Materials, 1929-1977

Series 19, Personnel Records, circa 1889-2001, are arranged into eight groupings within eight boxes. The groupings are employee card files, photographs, Ayer alumni, biographies, speeches, recollections, oral histories, and miscellaneous. Typed manuscript of book A Copy Writer Speaks by George Cecil, NW Ayer, Incorporated copy head 1920s-1950s

Subseries 19.1, Employee card files, circa 1892-1915; 1929-1963, consists of index cards with the name, age, job title, date and wage increases, date of hire/fire, as well as remarks about the employee's service and/or reasons for seeking or leaving the job. Materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the employee within three boxes.

Subseries 19.2, Photographs, circa 1924-1984, undated, are housed in two boxes. The photographs grouped together by subjects i.e. personnel, company events, Ayer buildings, and miscellaneous. This grouping primarily consists of personnel photographs. Includes a glass plate negative dated 1924 of NW Ayer.

Subseries 19.3, Ayer Alumni, circa 1989-98, include employees who have left Ayer. There is a listing of Ayer "graduates" and their current job. Emeritus, Ayer's alumni newsletter 1989-1996, makes up the majority of materials in this grouping. The newsletter keeps the alumni up to date with the happenings of Ayer and what has become of former Ayer employees. Emeritus is a quarterly newsletter devoted to the activities, thoughts and feelings of Ayer alumni a body of people who consists of retirees and former employees.

Subseries 19.4, Biographical Information, circa 1889-1994, undated, prominent members of Ayer's operations had biographical sketches completed of them. This was true for the bio sketches of Robert Ervin, Louis T. Hagopian, and George A. Rink. There is a substantial file on Dorothy Dignam ("Mis Dig"), a leading woman in the advertising world from the 1930s to the 1950s. Also of interest is a video ("The Siano Man") compiled by Ayer employees to commemorate Jerry Siano's retirement from Ayer in 1994. The series is arranged alphabetically by last name.

Subseries 19.5, Speeches, circa 1919-1931; 1975, contains speeches made by Wilfred W. Fry and Neal W. O'Connor. Wilfred W. Fry had various speaking engagements connected with Ayer. Contained in this group is a sampling of his speeches from 1919 to 1931. Neal O'Connor's speech "Advertising: Who Says It's a Young People's Business" was given at the Central Region Convention for the American Association of Advertising Agencies in Chicago on November 6, 1975. The speeches are arranged alphabetically by the speaker's last name.

Subseries 19.6, Recollections, 1954-1984, undated, are arranged alphabetically by last name. These are recollections from Ayer employees about the company and its advertisements. Some recollections are specifically about certain types of advertisements, like farm equipment while others reflect on F. W. Ayer and the company.

Subseries 19.7, Oral History Interview Transcripts, 1983-1985; 1989-1991, include interviews with key NW Ayer personnel, conducted by Ayer alumnae Howard Davis, Brad Lynch and Don Sholl (Vice President creative) for the Oral History Program. The materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee.

Subseries 19.8, Oral History Interview Audio Tapes, 1985-1990, include interviews on audiotape the materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee.

Subseries 19.9, Internal Communications, 1993-1999, includes information sent to employees relating to retirements, management changes, awards won by the company, promotions, potential new accounts, free items, grand opening of Ayer Café, donation events, sponsorship programs, holiday schedules, discounts for employees from clients, Ayer joins MacManus Group.

Subseries 19.10, General Materials, 1940; 1970, includes agency directory entry including a list of the employees, 1970s, annual banquet program for the Curfew Club May 22, 1940 a group formed by the Philadelphia employee in 1938. It sponsored numerous sports, social and educational activities. Groups were formed in public speaking, music appreciation and a series of talks on Monday evenings title the modern woman. The front page was a series of talks for general interest. A list of officers, 1991, Twenty five year club membership, 1973 December 1, List of NW Ayer graduates, 1970, List of Officers, 1991 May 31, Obituary for Leo Lionni, 1999 October 17, List of photographers of advertisements, 2001

Series 20, Background and History Information, 1817-1999, undated includes a chronology, 1817-1990, quick reference timeline, 1848-1923, loose pages from a scrapbook containing examples of correspondence, envelopes, advertisements dating from 1875-1878; slogans coined by NW Ayer & Sons, Incorporated, 1899-1990, history of management, 1909-1923, articles and photographs about the building and art galleries, 1926-1976, publications about the Philadelphia building, 1929, pamphlet relating to memories of NW Ayer & Sons, Incorporated, 1930s-1950s, television history, 1940-1948, Article about the history of the company, 1950 January, pocket guide, 1982, AdWeek reports about standings for advertising agencies, information relating to Human Contact which is NW Ayer's Information relating to Human Contact, undated which is their philosophy on advertising.

Series 21, Materials Created by other Advertising Agencies, 1945-1978, undated, consists of print advertisements collected by Ayer from other major advertising companies. The companies include Doyle Dane Bernback, Incorporated, Leo Burnett Company, Grey Advertising Agency, D'Arcy Ad Agency, Scali, McCabe, Sloves, Incorporated and Erwin Wasey Company. The materials are arranged in alphabetical order by client and include products from Ralston Purina and Van Camp (Chicken of the Sea), Kellogg, American Export Lines and No Nonsense Fashions.

Series 22, 2010 Addendum of Print Advertisements, circa 1879s-1999, undated, includes material given to the Archives Center in 2010. It is organized into seventy one oversized boxes and contains proofsheets of print advertisements for select Ayer clients. These are arranged alphabetically by client name and include substantial quantities of materials from American Telephone &Telegraph (1945-1996), Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (1967-1987), Carrier (1971-1981), Citibank (1973-1991), DeBeers (1940s-1960s and1990s), Electric Companies Advertising Program [ECAP] (1942-1970s), General Motors (1989-1998), J.C. Penney (1983-1986), Newsweek (1966-1975), and Proctor and Gamble (1980s-1890s). There are also numerous other clients represented by smaller quantities of materials.

Subseries 22.1, Print Advertisements, 1930-1990, undated

Subseries 22.2, Print Advertisements on Glass Plate Negatives, 1879-1881, undated, include Cannon towels, Cheny Brothers silks, Cornish & Company organs and pianos, Enterprise Manufacturing Company, 1879 sad iron, an ad from Harper's Weekly 1881 for ladies clothing, Ostermoor & Company mattresses, Pear's soap, Porter's cough balsam, Steinway pianos.

Series 23, Microfilm of Print Advertisements, circa 1908-1985, consists of three boxes of printed advertisements for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Some of the same advertisements might also be found in series two, three and four.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into twenty-three series.

Series 1: Scrapbooks of Client Print Advertisements, circa 1870-1920

Series 2: Proofsheets, circa 1870-1930

Series 3: Proofsheets, circa 1920-1975

Series 4: 2001 Addendum, circa 1976-2001

Series 5: Billboards, circa 1952-1956

Series 6: Audiovisual Materials

Series 7: Radio and Television Materials, 1933-1993, undated

Series 8: Chicago Office Print Advertisements, 1954-1989

Series 9: Los Angeles Office Materials, 1950s-1987

Subseries 9.1: Printed Advertisements, 1977-1987

Subseries 9.2: Personnel Files, 1950s-1970s

Series 10: Foreign Print Advertisements, 1977-1991, undated

Series 11: Cunningham & Walsh Incorporated Materials, 1915-1987, undated

Subseries 11.1: Printed Advertisements, 1915-1987

Subseries 11.2: Radio and Television Advertisements, 1963-1967

Subseries 11.3: Company Related Materials, 1962-1986, undated

Series 12: Hixson & Jorgensen Materials, 1953-1971, undated

Series 13: Newell-Emmet, 1942-1957

Series 14: House Print Advertisements, 1870-1991

Series 15: Scrapbooks, 1872-1959

Series 16: Publications, 1849-2006

Subseries 16.1: House Publications, 1876-1994

Subseries 16.2: Publications about NW Ayer, 1949-1995

Subseries 16.3: General Publications about Advertising, 1922-2006

Subseries 16.4: Publications about other Subjects, 1948-1964

Series 17, Business Records, circa 1885-1990s

Subseries 17.1: Contracts, 1885-1908, undated

Subseries 17.2: General Client Information, 1911-1999, undated

Subseries 17.3: Individual Client Account Information, 1950s-1990s, undated

Subseries 17.4: Potential Clients, 1993

Subseries 17.5: Financial Records, 1929-1938

Series 18: Legal Records, circa 1911-1984

Subseries 18.1: Advertising Service Agreements, 1918-1982

Subseries 18.2: Bylaw Materials, 1969-1972

Subseries 18.3, Copyright Claims, 1962-1969

Subseries 18.4: Correspondence, 1928-1933

Subseries 18.5: International Office Correspondence, 1947-1948

Subseries 18.6: Dissolution of Trusts, 1934-1937

Subseries 18.7: Stock Information, 1934-1974

Subseries 18.8: Agreements between Partners, 1911-1916

Subseries 18.9: Incorporation Materials, 1929-1977

Subseries 18.10: Certificates of Reduction of Capital, 1937; 1975

Subseries 18.11: Property Information

Subseries 18.12: Miscellaneous Materials, 1929-1977

Series 19: Employee Materials, circa 1889-2001

Subseries 19.1: Employee Card files, circa 1892-1915; 1929-1963

Subseries 19.2: Photographs, circa 1924-1984, undated

Subseries 19.3: Alumni Publications, circa 1989-1998

Subseries 19.4: Biographical Information, circa 1889-1994

Subseries 19.5: Speeches, circa 1919-1931; 1975

Subseries 19.6: Recollections, 1954-1984, undated

Subseries 19.7: Oral History Interview Transcripts, 1983-1985; 1989-1991

Subseries 19.8: Oral History Audiotapes, 1985-1990

Subseries 19.9: Internal Communications, 1993-1999

Subseries 19.1: General Materials, 1940-2001

Series 20: History and Background Information about the Company, 1817-1999, undated

Series 21: Materials Created by other Advertising Agencies, 1945-1978, undated

Series 22: 2010 Addendum of Print Advertisements, circa 1879s-1990s, undated

Subseries 22.1: Print Advertisements, 1930-1990, undated

Subseries 22.2: Print Advertisements on Glass Plate Negatives, 1879-1881, undated

Series 23: Microfilm of Print Advertisements, circa 1908-1985

Biographical / Historical:

Founded in Philadelphia in 1869, NW Ayer & Son is one of the oldest and largest advertising agencies in America. For most of its history, it was the undisputed leader and innovator in the field of advertising. In 1876, NW Ayer & Son pioneered the "open contract", a revolutionary change in the method of billing for advertising which became the industry standard for the next hundred years. NW Ayer pioneered the use of fine art in advertising and established the industry's first art department. It was the first agency to use a full-time copywriter and the first to institute a copy department. The agency relocated to New York City in 1974. During its long history, the agency's clients included many "blue-chip" clients, including American Telephone & Telegraph, DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines, Ford Motor Company, Nabisco, R. J. Reynolds and United Airlines. However, in later years, the Ayer's inherent conservatism left the agency vulnerable to the creative revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, the advertising industry restructuring of the 1980s and the economic recession of the early 1990s. The agency was bought out by a Korean investor in 1993. In 1996, NW Ayer merged with another struggling top twenty United States advertising agency, Darcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, under the umbrella of the McManus Group. Ayer continues to operate as a separate, full-service agency.

Through a series of buyouts and mergers, Ayer traces its lineage to the first advertising agency founded in the United States, a Philadelphia agency begun by Volney Palmer in 1841. Palmer began his career in advertising as a newspaper agent, acting as middleman between newspaper publishers and advertisers across the country. By 1849, Palmer had founded his own newspaper, V. B. Palmer's Register and Spirit of the Press, and had developed a complete system of advertising which included securing advertising space and placing ads in scores of commercial, political, religious, scientific and agricultural journals across the country. Palmer went one step further than the "space jobbers" of the day when he began offering "advertisements carefully drawn for those who have not the time to prepare an original copy." Always an enthusiastic promoter of advertising as an incentive to trade and American economic growth, Palmer promised advertisers that "every dollar paid for advertising in country newspapers will pay back twenty-fold" and encouraged skeptical consumers that "he who wishes to buy cheap should buy of those who advertise." When Palmer died in 1863, the agency was bought by his bookkeeper, John Joy, who joined with another Philadelphia advertising agency to form Joy, Coe & Sharpe. That agency was bought out again in 1868 and renamed Coe, Wetherill & Company. In 1877, Coe, Wetherill and Company was bought out by the newly formed NW Ayer & Son.

Francis Wayland Ayer was an ambitious young schoolteacher with an entrepreneurial streak. Having worked for a year soliciting advertisements on a commission basis for the publisher of the National Baptist weekly, Francis Ayer saw the potential to turn a profit as an advertising agent. In 1869, Ayer persuaded his father, Nathan Wheeler Ayer, to join him in business, and with an initial investment of only $250.00, NW Ayer & Son was born. Notwithstanding a smallpox epidemic in Philadelphia in 1871 and the general economic depression of the early 1870s, the agency flourished. The senior Ayer died in 1873, leaving his interest in the agency to his wife, but Francis W. Ayer bought her out, consolidating his interest in the company's management. In 1877, with Coe, Wetherill & Company (the successor to Palmer's 1841 agency) on the verge of bankruptcy and heavily indebted to Ayer for advertising it had placed in Ayer publications, Ayer assumed ownership of that agency. Thus did NW Ayer lay claim to being the oldest advertising agency in the country.

Both Nathan Wheeler and Francis Wayland Ayer began their careers as schoolteachers, and one of their legacies was a commitment to the cause of education: correspondence schools and institutions of higher learning were historically well-represented among Ayer clients. Just after World War I, the agency was heralded as "co-founder of more schools than any citizen of this country" for its conspicuous efforts to advertise private schools. Well into the 1960s, an "Education Department" at Ayer prepared advertisements for over three hundred private schools, camps and colleges, representing almost half the regional and national advertising done for such institutions. In fact, to its clients Ayer presented advertising itself as being akin to a system of education. In 1886, Ayer began promoting the virtues of the Ayer way advertising with the slogan, "Keeping Everlastingly at It Brings Success."

The agency's goals were simple: "to make advertising pay the advertiser, to spend the advertiser's money as though it were our own, to develop, magnify and dignify advertising as a business." Initially, Ayer's fortunes were tied to newspapers, and the agency began to make a name for itself as compiler and publisher of a widely used American Newspaper Annual. During the first years, Ayer's singular goal was "to get business, place it [in newspapers] and get money for it"; after several years as an independent space broker, however, Francis Ayer resolved "not to be an order taker any longer." This decision led NW Ayer and Son to a change in its mode of conducting business which would revolutionize the advertising industry: in 1876, Ayer pioneered the "open contract" with Diggee & Conard, Philadelphia raised growers and agricultural suppliers. Prior to the open contract, NW Ayer & Sons and most agencies operated as "space-jobbers," independent wholesalers of advertising space, in which the opportunities for graft and corrupt practices were virtually unlimited. In contrast, the open contract, wherein the advertiser paid a fixed commission based on the volume of advertising placed, aligned the advertising agent firmly on the side of the advertiser and gave advertisers access to the actual rates charged by newspapers and religious journals. The open contract with a fixed commission has been hailed by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker as one of the "three great landmarks in advertising history." (The other two were Lasker's own development of "reason-why" advertising copy and J. Walter Thompson's pioneering of sex appeal in an advertisement for Woodbury's soap.) Although the transition to the open contract did not happen overnight, by 1884, nearly three-quarters of Ayer's advertising billings were on an open contract basis. Since Ayer was, by the 1890s, the largest agency in America, the switch to direct payment by advertisers had a significant impact on the advertising industry, as other agencies were forced to respond to Ayer's higher standard. Just as important, the open contract helped to establish N W Ayer's long-standing reputation for "clean ethics and fair dealing" -- a reputation the agency has guarded jealously for over a century. The open contract also helped to establish Ayer as a full service advertising agency and to regularize the production of advertising in-house. From that point forward, Ayer routinely offered advice and service beyond the mere placement of advertisements. Ayer set another milestone for the industry in 1888, when Jarvis Wood was hired as the industry's first full-time copywriter. Wood was joined by a second full time copywriter four years later, and the Copy Department was formally established in 1900. The industry's first Art Department grew out of the Copy Department when Ayer hired its first commercial artist to assist with copy preparation in 1898; twelve years later Ayer became the first agency to offer the services of a full time art director, whose sole responsibility was the design and illustration of ads.

Ayer's leadership in the use of fine art in advertising has roots in this period, but achieved its highest expression under the guidance of legendary art director Charles Coiner. Coiner joined Ayer in 1924, after graduating from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Despite early resistance from some clients, Coiner was adamant that "the use of outstanding palette and original art forms bring a greater return in readership, in impact and prestige for the advertiser." To this end, Coiner marshaled the talents of notable painters, illustrators and photographers, including N.C. Wyeth and Rockwell Kent (Steinway), Georgia O'Keefe (Dole), Leo Lionni (DuPont), Edward Steichen (Steinway, Cannon Mills), Charles Sheeler (Ford), and Irving Penn (DeBeers). Coiner believed that there was a practical side to the use of fine art in advertising, and his success (and Ayer's) lay in the marriage of research and copywriting with fine art, an arrangement Coiner termed "art for business sake." Coiner's efforts won both awards and attention for a series completed in the 1950s for the Container Corporation of America. Titled "Great Ideas of Western Man" the campaign featured abstract and modern paintings and sculpture by leading U.S. and foreign artists, linked with Western philosophical writings in an early example of advertising designed primarily to bolster corporate image. In 1994, Charles Coiner was posthumously named to the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Fame, the first full time art director ever chosen for that honor.

Coiner and fellow art director Paul Darrow also created legendary advertising with the "A Diamond Is Forever" campaign for DeBeers; ads featured the work of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and other modernist painters. The "A Diamond is Forever" tagline was written in 1949 by Frances Gerety, a woman copywriter at Ayer from 1943 to 1970. In 1999, Ad Age magazine cited "A Diamond is Forever" as the most memorable advertising slogan of the twentieth century.

Coiner also earned respect for his volunteer government service during World War II; he designed the armbands for civil defense volunteers and logos for the National Recovery Administration and Community Chest. As a founding member of the Advertising Council in 1945, Ayer has had a long-standing commitment to public service advertising. In the mid-1980s, Ayer became a leading force in the Reagan-era "War on Drugs". Lou Hagopian, Ayer's sixth CEO, brokered the establishment of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a media coalition which generated as much as a million dollars a day in donated advertising space and time to prevent the use and abuse of illegal drugs. Famous names appear among NW Ayer's clientele from the very earliest days of the agency. Retailer John Wanamaker, Jay Cooke and Company, and Montgomery Ward's mail-order business were among the first Ayer clients. The agency has represented at least twenty automobile manufacturers, including Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Plymouth, and Rolls-Royce. Other major, long-term clients through the years have included American Telephone & Telegraph, Canada Dry, Cannon Mills, Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Kellogg's, R. J. Reynolds, Steinway and Sons, United Airlines, and the United States Army. By the time of Ayer's hundredth anniversary in 1969, some of these companies had been Ayer clients for decades if not generations, and the longevity of those relationships was for many years a source of Ayer's strength.

But the advertising industry began to change in the late 1960s and 1970s, due in part to a "creative revolution." Small advertising agencies won attention with provocative copywriting and art direction that more closely resembled art than advertising. Advances in market research allowed clients to more narrowly tailor their advertising messages to distinct groups of consumers, and this led to a rise in targeted marketing which could more readily be doled out to specialized small agencies than to larger, established firms like NW Ayer & Son. The civil rights and anti-war movements also contributed to increasing public skepticism with the values of corporate America, and by extension, with some national advertising campaigns. Older, more conservative firms like Ayer were hard pressed to meet these new challenges.

About 1970, in an effort to meet these challenges and to establish a foothold on the West Coast, Ayer bought out two smaller agencies--Hixson & Jorgenson (Los Angeles) and Frederick E. Baker (Seattle). The agency relocated from Philadelphia to New York City in 1974 in an attempt both to consolidate operations (Ayer had operated a New York office since the 1920s) and to be closer to the historic center of the advertising industry. Riding the wave of mergers that characterized the advertising industry in the late 1980s and 1990s, Ayer continued to grow through the acquisition of Cunningham & Walsh in 1986 and Rink Wells in 19xx.

During this transitional period, Ayer received widespread acclaim for its work for the United States Army, which included the widely recognized slogan "Be All You Can Be". Ayer first acquired the Army recruitment account in 1967 and with help from its direct marketing arm, the agency was widely credited with helping the Army reach its recruitment goals despite an unpopular war and plummeting enlistments after the elimination of the draft in 1973. Ayer held the account for two decades, from the Vietnam War through the Cold War, but lost the account in 1986 amid government charges that an Ayer employee assigned to the account accepted kickbacks from a New York film production house. Despite Ayer's position as the country's 18th largest agency (with billings of $880 million in 1985), the loss of the agency's second largest account hit hard.

NW Ayer made up for the loss of the $100 million dollar a year Army account and made headlines for being on the winning end of the largest account switch in advertising history to date, when fast food giant Burger King moved its $200 million dollar advertising account from arch-rival J. Walter Thompson in 1987. Burger King must have had drive-thru service in mind, however, and Ayer made headlines again when it lost the account just eighteen months later in another record-breaking account switch. Another devastating blow to the agency was the loss of its lead position on the American Telegraph and Telephone account. Ayer pioneered telecommunications advertising in 1908, when the agency was selected to craft advertising for the Bell System's universal telephone service. Despite valiant efforts to keep an account the agency had held for most of the twentieth century, and for which they had written such memorable corporate slogans as American Telephone &Telegraph "The Voice with a Smile" and "Reach Out and Touch Someone", the agency lost the account in 1996.

After a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the late 1980s, the economic recession of the early 1990s hit Madison Avenue hard, and Ayer was particularly vulnerable. Despite the agency's long history and roster of "blue-chip" clients, Ayer was not known for cutting-edge creative work. Moreover, though the agency had offices overseas, Ayer had never built a strong multinational presence, and many of the smaller international offices were sold during the financial turmoil of the 1980s. This left a real void in the new climate of global marketplace consolidation. By about 1990, earnings were declining (although Ayer was still among the top twenty United States agencies in billings), and the agency was suffering from client defections, high management turnover, expensive real estate commitments and deferred executive compensation deals, all fallout of the high-flying 1980s. This was the atmosphere in 1993, when W.Y. Choi, a Korean investor who had already assembled a media and marketing empire in his homeland, began looking for an American partner to form an international advertising network. Jerry Siano, the former creative director who had recently been named Ayer's seventh CEO, was in no position to refuse Choi's offer of $35 million to buy the now floundering agency. The infusion of cash was no magic bullet, however. Choi took a wait-and-see approach, allowing his partner Richard Humphreys to make key decisions about Ayer's future, including the purging of senior executives and the installation of two new CEOs in as many years.

The agency's downward trend continued with the loss of another longtime client, the DeBeers diamond cartel in 1995. Adweek reported that Ayer's billings fell from $892 million in 1990 to less than $850 million in 1995. Several top executives defected abruptly, and the agency failed to attract major new accounts. Ayer was facing the loss not merely of revenue and personnel, but the loss of much of the respect it once commanded. Ayer remained among the twenty largest U.S. agencies, but an aura of uncertainty hung over the agency like a cloud. A new CEO was appointed, and Mary Lou Quinlan became the agency's first woman CEO in 1995. A year later, Ayer and another struggling top twenty agency, D'arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, combined as part of the McManus Group of companies. In 1998, the McManus Group had worldwide billings of more than $6.5 billion.

Under the McManus Group, Ayer was able to expand its international operations and begin to rebuild a stronger global presence. Several important new clients were won in 1997 and 1998, including Avon, General Motors, Kitchenaid, several Procter & Gamble brands and, most notably, Continental Airlines worldwide accounts. Born in the nineteenth century, Ayer may be one of a very few advertising agencies to successfully weather the economic and cultural transitions of both the twentieth and twentieth first centuries. Ayer was eventually acquired by the Publicis Groupe based in Paris, France which closed down the N.W. Ayer offices in 2002.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)

Hills Bros. Coffee Incorporated Records (AC0395)

Provenance:

The collection was donated by N W Ayer ABH International, April 15, 1975 and by Ayer & Partners, October 30, 1996.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must use microfilm copy. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.

Technical Access: Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire; listening to audio discs requires special arrangement. Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply. Publication and production quality duplication is restricted due to complex copyright, publicity rights, and right to privacy issues. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff. Potential users must receive written permission from appropriate rights holders prior to obtaining high quality copies.

Topic:

Advertising agencies  Search this

advertising  Search this

Genre/Form:

Business records -- 1840-2000

Interviews -- 1980-2000

Oral history -- 1980-1990

Print advertising

Proof sheets

Proofs (printed matter)

Scrapbooks -- 1840-1990

Trade literature

Tear sheets

Advertisements

Citation:

NW Ayer & Sons, incorporated Advertising Agency Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0059

See more items in:

N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0059

Collector:

Moore, Clayton, 1914-1999  Search this

Donor:

Moore, Dawn A.  Search this

Names:

Lone Ranger (fictional character)  Search this

Extent:

0.5 Cubic feet (5 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Books

Oral history

Legal documents

Financial records

Autobiographies

Publicity photographs

Letters (correspondence)

Film stills

Contracts

Audiotapes

Date:

1980-1999.

Scope and Contents:

Archival materials documenting Moore's career as television's "Lone Ranger": biographical information; photographs, including appearances made by Moore, publicity photographs, and film stills; letters, financial and legal papers relating to Moore's work in endorsements after his retirement from television; and assorted papers, such as court documents, relating to a 1987 theft that Moore experienced; 24 tapes of oral history interviews conducted with Moore, and a copy of his published autobiography.

Arrangement:

2 series.

Biographical / Historical:

Actor who portrayed "The Lone Ranger" on television and in motion pictures.

Provenance:

Donated by Dawn A. Moore in 2000.

Restrictions:

UNPROCESSED COLLECTION.

Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

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:

Cowboys -- 20th century  Search this

Television programs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Books

Oral history -- 1980-2000

Legal documents

Financial records -- 1980-2000

Autobiographies

Publicity photographs

Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.

Film stills

Contracts

Audiotapes

Citation:

Clayton Moore "Lone Ranger" Collection, 1980-1999, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Dawn A. Moore.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0727

See more items in:

Clayton Moore "Lone Ranger" Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0727

Creator:

Fitzgerald, Ella, 1917-1996  Search this

Producer:

Decca (recording company).  Search this

Verve Records (Firm)  Search this

Granz, Norman  Search this

Performer:

Jazz at the Philharmonic (Musical group)  Search this

Musician:

Betts, Keter, 1928-  Search this

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this

Gillespie, Dizzy, 1917-1993  Search this

Pass, Joe, 1929-1994  Search this

Peterson, Oscar, 1925-  Search this

Names:

Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David), 1909-1986  Search this

Arranger:

Riddle, Nelson  Search this

Extent:

50 Cubic feet (92 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Awards

Videocassettes

Audiotapes

Programs

Sound recordings

Manuscripts

Phonograph records

Photographs

Posters

16mm motion picture film

Clippings

Contracts

Greeting cards

Date:

circa 1935-1996

Summary:

Ella Fitzgerald, often called the "First Lady of Song," was one of the 20th century's most important musical performers. The collection reflects her career and personal life through photographs, audio recordings, and manuscript materials.

Scope and Contents:

The Ella Fitzgerald Papers document the performing and personal life of the "First Lady of Song." The collection contains music manuscripts, sheet music, photographs, scripts, correspondence, clippings, business records, sound recordings and video. The bulk of the materials reflect Fitzgerald's career as a singer and performer. The collection comprises materials found in Ella Fitzgerald's home at the time of her death.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into 10 series.

Series 1: Music Manuscripts and Sheet Music, 1919-1973

Suberies 1.1: Television Shows

Series 2: Photographs, 1939-1990

Subseries 2.1: Ella Fitzgerald Performing Alone

Subseries 2.2: Ella Fitzgerald Performing With Others

Subseries 2.3: Publicity

Subseries 2.4: Ella Fitzgerald With Family, Colleagues, and Friends

Subseries 2.5: Ella Fitzgerald Candid Photographs

Subseries 2.6: Performing Venues

Subseries 2.7: Photographs From Friends and Fans

Series 3: Scripts, 1957-1981

Series 4: Correspondence, circa 1960-1996

Series 5: Business Records, 1954-1990

Series 6: Honorary Degrees and Awards, 1960-1996

Series 7: Concert Programs and Announcements, 1957-1992, undated

Series 8: Clippings, 1949-1997

Subseries 8.1: Magazine Articles, 1949-1997

Subseries 8.2: Newspapers, circa 19650-circa 1990

Series 9: Emphemera, 1950-1996

Subseries 9.1: Album Jackets

Subseries 9.2: Miscellaneous

Series 10: Audiovisual, 1939-1995

Subseries 10.1: Sound Discs: Test Pressings, Transcription Discs, and Performer Copies

Subseries 10.2: Commercial Sound Recordings

Subseries 10.3: Demonstration Sound Discs: Other Artists

Subseries 10.4: Videotapes

Biographical / Historical:

Born in Newport News, Virginia on April 25th, 1918, Ella Fitzgerald was sent to an orphanage in Yonkers, New York at the age of six. In 1934, she was discovered as a singer in New York's famed Apollo Theater Amateur Contest. This led to a stint with drummer Chick Webb's Band, with whom she recorded her first big hit, "A -tisket A-tasket" in 1938.

After Webb died in 1939, Fitzgerald took over leadership of the band for three years, during which time they were featured on a live radio series. She then embarked upon a solo career, which included recording for Decca Records, and in 1946, she began a pivotal association with producer Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic series, which brought her a large international following.

In 1956, Fitzgerald left Decca Records to join Granz's newly formed Verve label. Among her notable Verve recordings were a series of "songbooks" featuring the work of major American composers such as Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Harold Arlen as well as classic collaborations with Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Fitzgerald's toured and performed extensively and her immense popularity also led to appearances on television, in movies, and in commercials and magazine ads.

Despite increasing health problems, Fitzgerald continued to tour, perform and record into her seventies with musicians such as guitarist Joe Pass, arranger-producer Quincy Jones, and pianist Oscar Peterson. Throughout her life, Fitzgerald was active in charitable work with particular emphasis on the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the Ella Fitzgerald and Harriette E. Shields Child Care Centers.

Ella Fitzgerald was admired and honored world-wide. In addition to receiving more than a dozen Grammy awards, she was awarded numerous honorary degrees and many states and cities had commemorative Ella Fitzgerald days. Fitzgerald was a Kennedy Center honoree in 1979 and Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Club named her "Woman of the Year" in 1982.

The "First Lady of Song" died on June 17, 1996, of complications from diabetes.

Related Materials:

Materials at the Archives Center

Benny Carter Collection, 1928-2000 (AC0757)

Charismic Productions Records of Dizzy Gillespie, 1940s-1993 (AC0979)

Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program Collection, 1992-2012 (AC0808)

Milt Gabler Papers, 1927-2001 (AC0849)

Tad Hershorn Collection, 1956-1991 (AC0680)

Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection, circa 1910- circa 1970 (AC0491)

Separated Materials:

The National Museum of American History, Division of Culture ands the Arts holds Ella Fitzgerald artifacts including costumes and clothing.

Provenance:

The collection was donated by the Fitzgerald 1989 Trust, Richard Rosman, trustee on April 14, 1997. The Ella Fitzgeral Charitable Foundation is the successor to the Fitzgerald 1989 Trust.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Only reference copies of audiovisual materials can be used.

Rights:

The Archives Center can provide reproductions of some materials for research and educational use. Copyright and right to publicity restrictions apply and limit reproduction for other purposes. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Jazz  Search this

Genre/Form:

Awards

Videocassettes

Audiotapes

Programs -- 1930-2000

Sound recordings

Sound recordings -- 1930-1990

Manuscripts -- Music -- 20th century

Phonograph records

Photographs -- 20th century

Posters -- 20th century

16mm motion picture film

Clippings -- 20th century

Contracts

Greeting cards

Citation:

Ella Fitzgerald Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0584

See more items in:

Ella Fitzgerald Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0584

Creator:

Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.  Search this

Interviewer:

Bowers, Dwight Blocker  Search this

Interviewee:

Newby, Tom  Search this

Names:

Henson, Jim  Search this

Extent:

0.15 Cubic feet (1 box)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiotapes

Oral history

Interviews

Date:

August 5, 2006

Scope and Contents:

Interview of Tom Newby, conducted by Dwight Bowers for the Lemelson Center's "Innovative Lives" Program on August 5, 2006. Newby talks about his work with Jim Henson at the Creature Shops, and his work in motion pictures with animated figures.

Arrangement:

1 series.

Biographical / Historical:

Inventor and designer of toys, games and puppets.

Provenance:

Audio recording created by the Innovative Lives Program of the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, August 5, 2006.

Restrictions:

UNPROCESSED COLLECTION.

Unrestricted research access on site by appointment.

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:

Animators  Search this

Topic:

Amination (Cinematography)  Search this

Puppets  Search this

Puppet making  Search this

Animated films  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiotapes -- 2000-2010

Oral history -- 2000-2010

Interviews -- 2000-2010

Citation:

Tom Newby Innovative Lives Program, August 5, 2006, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0941

See more items in:

Tom Newby Innovative Lives Presentation and Oral History

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0941

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 by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

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

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0845

Collector:

Kovan, Florice Whyte  Search this

Author:

Whyte, Virgil (bandleader)  Search this

Names:

United Service Organizations (U.S.)  Search this

Virgil Whyte's "All-Girl" Band  Search this

Extent:

3 Cubic feet (11 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Postage stamps

Videotapes

Audiotapes

Postcards

Soap

Labels

Letterheads

Announcements

Clippings

Photomechanical prints

Photographs

Packages

Diaries

Place:

Racine (Wis.) -- 1940-1950

Date:

1942-1948, 1991-1993

Scope and Contents:

Includes 7 VHS videotapes and 1 audio tape produced by Florice Whyte Kovan, containing interviews and recollections by some band members. Studio portraits and snapshot photographs in 3 scrapbooks, which also contain display advertisements and newspaper clippings from about the band, 1940s. Snapshots include documentation of the band's travels and leisure activities while on the road, including swimming, horseback riding, etc. Packaged hotel soap bars collected by Betty Hansen during the bands' touring documents their itinerary, as do picture postcards written by Alice Smaus Jacoby.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into seven series.

Series 1: Unmounted snapshots

Series 2: Scrapbooks

Series 3: Alice Smaus Jacoby's postcards

Series 4: Packaged soap samples

Series 5: Audiovisual Materials

Series 6: Framed Portrait Photoprints

Series 7: Oversized Photoprints

The scrapbook pages are arranged in original order, apparently partly chronological, but series 1 snapshots are in topical order.

Biographical / Historical:

Founded 1942 in Racine, Wis., by Virgil Whyte, his "all-girl" band was composed of young Racine women. Whyte was instructor, manager, and the initial leader on drums; later his sister Alice took over as drummer. After initial success in Racine and elsewhere in Wisconsin, the band began to accept engagements in other parts of the country, eventually touring the U.S. The band's success drew other acts and performers, including Jill Fontaine and the Wilford Mae Trio, Sam Hearn (known as "Schlepperman"), the Woodson Sisters, and Paul La Verre and Bro. They did U.S.O. tours, entertaining servicemen.

The principal donor, a free-lance researcher and writer, is the daughter of Virgil Whyte.

Provenance:

Collection donated by Florice Kovan, 1993.

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.

Occupation:

Tap dancers -- 1940-1950  Search this

Topic:

Travel photography -- 1940-1950 -- U.S.  Search this

Barracks -- 1940-1950  Search this

Railroad passenger cars  Search this

Horseback riding -- 1940-1950  Search this

Singers -- 1940-1950  Search this

Comedians -- 1940-1950  Search this

Jazz musicians -- 1940-1950  Search this

Band music -- 1940-1950  Search this

World War, 1939-1945 -- Musicians  Search this

Horses -- 1940-1950  Search this

Women musicians -- 1930-1950  Search this

Beaches -- 1940-1950  Search this

Swimming pools -- 1940-1950  Search this

Swimming -- 1940-1950  Search this

Jazz -- 1940-1950  Search this

Portraits -- Women  Search this

Genre/Form:

Postage stamps

Videotapes

Audiotapes

Postcards

Soap -- Packaged

Labels

Letterheads

Announcements

Clippings

Photomechanical prints

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1940-1950

Packages

Diaries

Citation:

Virgil Whyte's "All-Girl" Band Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0503

See more items in:

Virgil Whyte "All-Girl" Band Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0503

Creator:

Ellsworth, Scott, Dr.  Search this

Zinn, Manfredo  Search this

Marx, Dick  Search this

Nunez, Raul  Search this

Winfield, Darrel  Search this

Kwan, William  Search this

Kwong, Goddard  Search this

Adams, Hall  Search this

Landry, Jack  Search this

Arguelles, Rafael  Search this

Fockler, Knut  Search this

Philip Morris, Inc.  Search this

Gil, Felipe  Search this

Jarrard, Tom  Search this

Names:

Leo Burnett, Inc.  Search this

Extent:

17.4 Cubic feet (86 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Color slides

Commercials

Audiotapes

Videotapes

Posters

Proofs (printed matter)

Newsletters

Articles

Slides (photographs)

Place:

Brazil -- advertising

Argentina -- advertising

China -- advertising

Hong Kong -- advertising

Switzerland -- advertising

West Germany -- advertising

Dominican Republic -- advertising

Date:

1926-1988

Scope and Contents:

The Marlboro Oral History and Documentation Project is the result of a two-year effort supported in part by a gift from Philip Morris, Inc. Sixty oral history interviews and a variety of television commercials, print advertising, promotional materials, packaging, and industry publications were gathered to document Marlboro cigarette advertising. The bulk of the collection focuses on the period between 1954 and 1986, and examines the "Marlboro man", "Settle Back" and "Marlboro Country" campaigns. The collection is a rich source of information for researchers interested in advertising and marketing history, issues of smoking and health, and the export of both tobacco and American cultural symbols abroad. The core of the collection is a series of interviews conducted during 1985-1987 by Dr. Scott Ellsworth, an independent scholar and oral historian. The broad range of interviewees included executives of Philip Morris, advertising agency personnel from Leo Burnett, photographers, production staff, sales and marketing personnel, and Marlboro cowboys. Twenty-seven interviews were conducted overseas, in Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and West Germany. Conducted primarily with Marlboro licensee and affiliate staff, the interviews focus on the marketing and advertising history of Marlboro in the six nations. These interviews and others conducted with executives of Philip Morris International in New York City also address the history of Marlboro advertising in Africa, the Middle East, China, Eastern Europe and elsewhere in Europe and Latin America. The interviews cover events from the 1930s through the 1980s. They focus on the theory and development of Marlboro advertising, its content and creation, and its modifications over the years. The foreign interviews also discuss the structure of the local cigarette marketplace, marketing and advertising techniques, and the use and modification of Marlboro advertising for different cultures. Finding aids to the oral histories include abstracts of each interview indicating the major topic discussed, a cumulative index to personal names and topics in the interviews, and brief biographical and scope notes.

Arrangement:

Dthe collection is divided into seven series.

Series 1: Research Files, 1943-1987

Series 2, Interviewee Files, 1986

Series 3; Oral History Interviews, 1986

Series 4: Advertising Materials, 1926-1986

Series 5: Promotional items and packaging, 1926-1986

Series 6: Publications and Research Material, 1960-1988

Series 7: Travel Slides Generated by Project Team, 1926-1986

Biographical / Historical:

The history of Marlboro cigarettes offers insight into one of the great advertising and marketing success stories of the 20th century. Marlboro cigarettes were marketed from the Victorian era through the first half of this century as a women's cigarette, with tag-lines that aimed to appeal to female smokers, such as "Marlboro - Mild As May." In 1955, two transformations occurred which would affect both profitability and brand recognition: the addition of an integrated filter and the re-invention of the market through the debut of the "Marlboro Man" advertising campaign. The original Marlboro Man campaign featured close-up images of all kinds of men using the product -- the cowboy was one, along with lifeguards, sailors, drill sergeants, construction workers, gamblers and other types suggestive of a masculine spirit and rugged independence. By 1963, the "Marlboro Country" campaign began. This campaign focused on the cowboy and his symbolic canon: boots, hats, horses, and western landscapes. By the mid-1980s, Marlboro was the best-selling brand in the United States and the world, and the Marlboro cowboy was among the most widely recognized of American cultural symbols. Sold in over 180 nations, both the cigarettes and the ad campaign had become a global phenomena.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Philip Morris, Inc. in 1986.

Restrictions:

The materials in the Marlboro Collection are made available for research according to the established practices and principles of the Archives Center and the National Museum of American History.

Rights:

In making these materials available for research, the Smithsonian Institution makes no claims of ownership of the copyrights or related rights. All responsibility for infringement of legal authorship rights and or copyright is assumed by the user of the materials. In addition, the user indemnifies and holds harmless the Smithsonian Institution for all claims, actions, damages, judgments and expenses that may result from use of these materials. In addition, the donor has imposed restrictions on reproduction or broadcast of collection materials by third parties. The reproduction or broadcast of print ads and television commercials in the collection is subject to prior written consent from: Nancy Lund, Vice President, Marketing,Philip Morris International, 120 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017;(917) 663-5000

Occupation:

Cinematographers  Search this

Topic:

T.V. commercial producers  Search this

Photographers  Search this

Accountants  Search this

advertising -- Cigarettes -- 20th century  Search this

Cowboys -- 20th century  Search this

Advertising, Newspaper -- 20th century  Search this

Smoking -- 1940-1990  Search this

Travel photography -- 1940-1990  Search this

Photography, Advertising -- 20th century  Search this

Advertising photography  Search this

Advertising campaigns -- 20th century  Search this

Cigarette industry -- 20th century  Search this

Cigarettes -- advertising -- 20th century  Search this

Advertising agencies -- 20th century  Search this

Television advertising -- Cigarettes -- 1940-1990  Search this

Advertising, magazine -- 20th century  Search this

Art directors  Search this

Copy writers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Color slides -- 1960-1990

Commercials

Audiotapes -- 1980-1990

Videotapes

Posters

Proofs (printed matter)

Newsletters

Articles

Slides (photographs) -- 1950-2000

Citation:

Marlboro Oral History and Documentation Project, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0198

See more items in:

Marlboro Oral History and Documentation Project

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0198

Collector:

Sultner-Welles, Donald H. (Sultner, Donald Harvey), 1914-1981  Search this

Printer:

Janus, Allan  Search this

Interviewee:

Hanfstaengl, Erna  Search this

Names:

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra  Search this

Chautauqua Institute  Search this

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation  Search this

Holland-America Cruises  Search this

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945  Search this

Extent:

87.6 Cubic feet (318 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Passports

Photographs

Travelogs

Receipts

Ephemera

Files

Filmstrips

Lecture notes

Personal papers

Silver-dye bleach process

Contracts

Notebooks

Prints

Press releases

Ships' passenger lists

Project files

Magnetic tapes

Posters

Postcards

Vertical files

Dye destruction process

Travel diaries

Letters (correspondence)

Professional papers

Bank statements

Correspondence

Audiotapes

Series 12.

Clippings

Card files

Concert programs

Dye destruction photoprints

Biography files

Awards

Business records

Birthday cards

Date:

circa 1790-1981

bulk 1945-1980

Scope and Contents:

This collection is primarily the work of one individual, Donald Harvey Sultner, known professionally as Donald Sultner-Welles (1914-1981). The collection forms a written and visual record of Sultner's family, life, and career from 1913-1980. Its major strength is Sultner's photographic documentation of the world during his travels, ca. 1950-1980. Work by other photographers and artists, correspondence, greeting cards, and contemporary memorabilia and ephemera are included, along with fewer than fifty examples of earlier materials, ca. 1790-1900, collected by Sultner.

The entire collection reflects Sultner's lifework and interests. Housed in @ boxes (.W cubic feet), the collection is organized into eleven series: Personal Papers; Professional Papers; Lecture Materials; Biographical Materials; Transparencies; Photoprints; Photonegatives; Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media; Audio Tapes; Miscellaneous; and Restricted Materials. The arrangement within each series is based as closely as possi-ble on Sultner's own organization of the materials. However, in several instances similar materials were found separated and have been placed together. In addition, obvious filing mistakes and spelling errors have been corrected. The spelling of geographic place names is based on Offi-cial Standard Names prepared by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Of-fice of Geography, U.S. Department of the Interior. Not all names given by Sultner were found in the gazetteers, so there may be errors.

The bulk of the collection consists of 2-1/4-inch by 2-1/4-inch color transparencies (Series 5). However, the manuscript materials (Series 1-4) provide a detailed complement to the transparencies. For example, from the mid-1950s until the late 1970s, Sultner kept a travel diary (Se-ries 1). Written on the backs of postcards, this stream-of-consciousness journal reflects not only his daily trips, but his impressions of the countries and thoughts on his photography. A juxtaposition of cards with images is especially useful in understanding what Sultner photographed as well as why and how he photographed it. Sultner's professional corre-spondence (Series 2) documents the various types of groups before which he performed and equipment manufacturers dealt with for cameras, projectors, and so on. Notes, drafts, and final lectures (Series 3) present the performance side of Sultner. This material, when viewed with tapes of concerts and slides, begins to recreate the photo-concert as Sultner presented it. Scrapbooks (Series 4), kept by Sultner from the 1940s to the 1980s, present Sultner's life and career in chronological fashion.

The transparency portion of the collection (Series 5), containing over 87,000 images, is especially rich because of its documentation of the countries of the world. People are seen at their daily tasks, such as washing clothes, marketing, shopping, and eating. Cities are documented as they changed over the years. Two areas in particular will be of spe-cial interest to European and Asian researchers. The first is Sultner's USIS Asian tour in 1959. He visited Japan, Java, India, Korea, the Phil-ippines, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The serene, prewar cities and coun-tryside of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam evince nothing of the devastation to come in the 1960a and 70s.

The second area of interest is Sultner's passion for documenting archi-tecture. As a guest of the German government in 1954, Sultner documented the devastation of World War II and photographed both the reconstruction of bombed buildings and the construction of buildings reflecting "new" postwar architectural styles. In addition to photographing post-WW II styles, throughout his career Sultner documented Palladian, baroque and Rococo architecture. This interest manifested itself in several of his lectures.

A third subject area of interest to Sultner was gardens. Among his first lectures following his USIS tour was "Gardens of the World." Sultner de-veloped this theme into an ongoing commitment to ecology, culminating in a filmstrip, "The Time is Now" (Series 10), prepared for the Hudson River Conservation Society in the 1960s. Carl Carmer, a noted author, wrote the text for the filmstrip. Sultner's taped interviews, lectures, and program music (Series 9) complement the transparencies. During his USIS-sponsored Asian tour in 1959, Sultner recorded impressions of his trip on tape. Interviews with people living in the countries he visited, radio interviews, and his own personal reflections are included. Of particular interest are his "No Harm Asking" interviews in Manila (tape #2), his interview of two French hotel managers in Saigon discussing post-French control conditions (tape #9), and--perhaps the most unusual--his discussion with Erna Hanfstaengl about her personal relationship with Adolf Hitler (tape #107). Scripts for lectures (Series 3) round out the documentation of Sultner's profes-sional work.

Because of the arrangement of the transparencies, it is necessary to check several areas for the same subject. For example, Vietnam images are in the "World" section alphabetically under Vietnam (box 81). Sult-ner also lectured on Vietnam, so there are Vietnamese images in the "framed subjects" (Boxes 137-138). Another example, perhaps more compli-cated, but more common to Sultner, was his distinguishing between images of unidentified "People" and identified "Portraits." Transparency stud ies of human beings will be found under the subseries "People." "Subjects --Portraits," various countries in the subseries "World," and "Lectures." There are also individuals in the black-and-white photoprints (Series 6), and photonegatives (Series 8). The painter and print-maker Charles Shee-ler appears in a number of locations, as does tenor Roland Hayes. Another area of complexity with regard to people concerns the transparencies and negatives. Sultner interfiled his transparencies and negatives of iden-tified individuals. For appropriate storage, these two different formats have been arranged in separate series. Therefore, instead of container lists for the two series, there is a combined alphabetical index to both (pp. 166-206).

Of tangential interest are the photoprints (Series 6), etchings, wood-cuts, and other prints (Series 8) collected by Sultner. One particular subseries of interest contains photographs presented to Sultner by Asian photographers during his 1959 tour. Over 45 images were given to Sultner and represent the standards of camera-club photography in the 1950s. Thesecond subseries consists of over 25 prints by the Italian-American art-ist Luigi Lucioni (1900- ). For further information on this artist,see The Etchings of Luigi Lucioni, -A Catalogue Raisonne', by Stuart P.Embury (Washington, 1984). Lucioni also painted Sultner's portrait in1952 and the "People" section of the transparencies contains a number of images of Lucioni at work. Another significant category is the Japanese prints, including two by a major nineteenth-century artist, Ando Hiro-shige (1797-1858).

Series 11 contains restricted letters to Sultner from friends. These materials will become available to the public in the year 2031. Twenty-three document boxes of clippings and magazine articles found in standard magazines and newspapers (e.g., Time, Life, Look, Modern Ma-turity, etc.) were destroyed. These materials represented general arti--cles being published on a number of topics during Sultner's lifetime. A list of subject file headings Sultner used is with the manuscript mate-rials.

A second grouping of materials destroyed were nine filing cabinet drawers of travel material--maps, guide books, and other tourist pamphlets used by Sultner on his travels. This material, as with the first group of ma-terial, was of the common variety easily found. Any books or pamphlets found with the clippings were sorted out and sent to Smithsonian Institu-tion Libraries. Other library material that came in with the estate was sent immediately to the library and disposed of through their channels. Any office equipment, such as filing cabinets and supplies, etc., has been put to use in the National Museum of American History.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Personal Papers, 1923-1981

Series 2: Professional Papers, 1954-1980

Series 3: Lecture Materials, 1952-1980

Series 4: Biographical Materials, 1954-1980

Series 5: Transparencies, 1947-1980

Series 6: Photoprints, 1913-ca. 1980

Series 7: Photonegatives, 1929-1981

Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, ca. 1790-1979

Series 9: Audio Tapes, 1947-1980

Series 10: Miscellaneous, 1947-1980

Biographical / Historical:

Donald Harvey Sultner was bom in York, Pennsylvania, on April 13, 1914, the son of Lillian May Arnold Sultner and Harvey A. Sultner. In 1923 Sultner attended the Lewis Institute in Detroit, Michigan, to overcome a speech impediment. He entered the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1932 and graduated in 1936. Sultner studied merchandising and sang in the glee club, then under the direction of composer Harl MacDonald. Sultner, a baritone, continued his interest in music and studied voice with Reinald Werrenrath and with Florence Benedict and Bruce Benjamin in New York City. In the late 1940s and early 1950s he appeared in concert with accompanists at schools, clubs, and resort hotels along the East Coast. It appears that photography was always an important part of Sultner's life. Using a small format (120) camera, he recorded his vacation travels around the United States and Canada, parties, and his family. While living in New York, Sultner continued photographing friends and family and began photographing the famous people he encountered on his concert tours. In the early 1950s he began taking 2-1/4-inch by 2-1/4-inch color transparencies (slides) of landscapes and architecture as he traveled giving concerts.

Sultner, who had taken the stage name of "Sultner-Welles," began what was to be his lifework as a professional "photo-lecturer" in 1952. He illustrated his talks on nature, art, architecture, and the environment with his color slides. In 1954 Sultner toured West Germany as a guest of the Bonn government, and in 1959 he lectured in Asia under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. He was dubbed the "camera ambassador." Constantly adding new material to his collection of slides, Sultner traveled extensively throughout the United States, speaking before garden clubs, cultural organi-zations, and schools. He also appeared aboard various ships of the Holland-America line during a number of cruises abroad.

Sultner had established his performance style by the early 1960s. He expanded his lectures to include a combination of art, words, and music. The expanded presentation resulted in the "photo-concert," a unique synthesis of light and sound that Sultner frequently per-formed with a symphony orchestra. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra commissioned "Concertino for Camera and Orchestra" by Eric Knight with Sultner in mind. The world premiere was in Baltimore in March 1979. While he spoke on many art, garden, and architectural topics, Sultner specialized in subjects relating to the baroque and rococo periods and Palladian architecture.

Sultner died of cancer in York, Pennsylvania, on March 25, 1981, at the age of 67.

1914 -- April 13, born York, Pennsylvania.

1929 -- In Detroit at Lewis Institute to overcome a speech impediment.

1932 -- To University of Pennsylvania.

1935 -- Summer trip to Roanoke (VA), Picketts, Hershey (PA); fall trip to New England for fraternity (AXP) convention.

1936 -- Spring glee club trip; graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; summer trips to Newport News (VA), northern trip to Canada, Picketts (PA).

1937 -- Fall trip to Williamsburg (VA), Duke University (NC); Sultner family begins building "Glen Hill" (Dover, PA).

1938 -- Summer at home, and Picketts (PA), Camp Pratt.

1939 -- Spring trip to Washington, D.C.; September trip to The Homestead (WV), Hot Springs (WV), Virginia; Lake Mohonk (NY).

1940 -- Summer trip to New Orleans, Blowing Rock (NC); winter trip to Skytop Club (NY); fall trip to Atlantic City (NJ), Philadelphia (PA), Annapolis (MD).

1941 -- Winter 1941-42 appearance in "Hit the Deck." Lake Mohonk (NY) with Ted Walstrum (Sept. 22-23); Skytop Club (NY) (February); summer trip to Canada, Lake Chazy (NY) (Aug. 17-23).

1942 -- Spring in Atlantic City (NJ); summer to Buck Hill Falls, Lakes Chazy and Mohonk.

1943 -- Summer trip to Mohonk (NY).

1944 -- Summer: To Toronto (Ontario), Muskoka Lake, Bigwin Island, Montreal (Quebec), Mohonk (NY).

1945 -- Summer: To Winnepesauke (ME), Woodstock (NY), Ogunquit (ME), Bridgeport (CT).

1946 -- To Mohonk (NY), Ogunquit (ME), Old Saybrook (CT), Nantucket (RI).

1947 -- Singing tour of Canada and New England; winter-spring tour to Georgia and Florida.

1948 -- To Florida and Nassau, Feb.-Mar., Vermont, July-Aug.; Nassau-Havana-Miami-Bermuda, October.

1949 -- Singing tour of North and South Carolina.

1950 -- Summer trip to South.

1951 -- To District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, [New Jersey?], New York, Vermont.

1952 -- January 9: first public photo-concert, Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts, Philadelphia; trips to Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont.

1953 -- To Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont.

1954 -- Guest of German government for a study tour in the fall. To District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia.

1955 -- To Holland; Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1956 -- To California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.

1957 -- Holland-America Cruise to Germany, Austria, Italy. To Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1958 -- Holland-America Cruises to Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy, Switzerland. To Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota., Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin.

1959 -- United States Information Service (USIS)-sponsored tour of Asia: Burma, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam. Also visited Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Spain; Alaska, California, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania.

1960 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Belgium, Caribbean, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Morocco. To Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

1961 -- To Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland; Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode.Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

1962 -- Portfolio, "Autumn in Vermont," with introduction by Carl Carmer, published in Autumn issue of Vermont Life. Holland-America Cruise to Denmark, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden. To Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1963 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Canada, Sweden, Thailand. To Alabama, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, N;w York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.

1964 -- Holland-America Cruise to Germany, Canada, England, Holland, Wales. To Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia.

1965 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Wales. To Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1966 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Germany, France, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland. To New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.

1967 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Austria, Denmark, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Wales. To Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia.

1968 -- To Germany; Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1969 -- To England, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland; Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1970 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden. To Alabama, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia.

1971 -- Holland-America Cruise to Caribbean, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Sweden. To Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania.

1972 -- Holland-America Cruise to Asia, Pacific, Caribbean, Africa, Austria, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Turkey. To California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia.

1973 -- Holland-America Cruise to Austria, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Sweden. To California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont.

1974 -- To Germany, Switzerland; California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1975 -- To Austria; California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia.

1976 -- To Canada; Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah.

1977 -- To Canada, Germany; New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia.

1978 -- To Scotland; Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina.

1979 -- To England; Florida.

1980 -- To Florida.

1981 -- March 25: Sultner dies of cancer, York, Pennsylania.

Introduction:

The Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection, ca. 1790-1981, came to the National Museum of American History in 1982 from the estate of Mr. Sultner. The collection was created by Sultner over his adult life and represents one of the most extensive collections of color transparencies created by one individual and held in a public repository. Sultner's emphasis was on world culture. He took the majority of his photographs in the eastern United States, western Europe, and Asia. Gardens, architecture, and people are the three major subject areas represented in the collection. Of additional interest are Sultner's taped impressions of his 1959 United States Information Service (USIS)-sponsored Asian tour. The collection occupies 309 boxes and covers more than 83 cubic feet.

The Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection is open to researchers in the Archives Center, third floor east, of the National Museum of American History, between 12th and 14th Streets, on Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560. The Archives Center is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Written and telephone (202/357-3270) inquiries are welcome and researchers are encouraged to contact the Archives Center before their arrival. The FAX number is 202/786-2453.

This is the eleventh in a series of occasional guides to collections in the Archives Center. Finding aids to other collections are available. The Guide to Manuscript Collections in the National Museum of History and Technology (1978) and an updated compilation contain brief descriptions of all archival holdings in the Museum. All current Archives Center holdings are available for search on the Smithsonian Institution Bibliographic Information System (SIBIS), an online database.

General:

References in notebook to tapes not located:

5/1960 Laddsl--Pasadena, CA (Thornton Ladd, Helen Peabody, me, Mrs. Ladd

5/11/1968 Glen Foerd, dinner party--F. Tonner, T[onner] tribute

List of Illustrations:

Frontispiece: Portrait of Donald Harvey Sultner-Welles by Ludwig Harren, Nuremberg, Germany, May, 1957. Series 6: Photo¬prints, box 6; Series 7: Photonegatives, 700.1.

vii Donald Sultner-Welles inspecting slides at his 2101 E. Market Street apartment. Photograph by Gretchen H. Goughnour, York, Pennsylvania, December 1958. Series 6: Photoprints, box 6, folder 5; Series 7: Photonegatives, Box 11, 696.1.

 Sultner-Welles with Rollei, Kobe, Japan, April 1959. Press photograph, photographer unknown. Series 7: Photonegatives, 687.1.

10 Americana by the Roadside" (boy with soda, Beech Creek, North Carolina). Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 102: 6.3.

20 "Americana in Europe" (sign: "To the Elephant Kraal," South Africa). Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 102: 6.33.

39 North Miami Beach Motel, Florida, February 1960. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 8: 9.11. SI Neg. 87-326, Videodisc Frame 2942.

40 Beech Creek, North Carolina (portrait of elderly woman), June 1956. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 28: 12.10. SI Neg. 87-327, Videodisc Frame 10156.

97 Brookgreen Sculpture Garden, South Carolina, ca. 1963. Series 5, Subseries 1: United States, Box 35.35.11. SI Neg. 87-328; Videodisc Frame 12747.

98 "Six Irrigation Paddlers Outside Hue," South Vietnam, 1959. Series 5, Subseries 2: World, Box 81: 35.11; also Series 7: Photonegatives, 658.1 (copy neg.). Videodisc Frame 27960.

151 Alkmaar Cheese Market, The Netherlands, September 1969. Series 5, Subseries 2: World, Box 70: 17.9. SI Neg. 87-329; not shown on videodisc.

152 African Cruise: Victoria Falls, Rhodesia, February 1972. Series 5, Subseries 3: Cruises, Box 83: 9.12. SI Neg. 87-330, Videodisc Frame 28344.

166 Il Galero, Italy, July 1966. Series 5, Subseries 4: European Architectural Styles, Box 99: 48.4. SI neg. 87-331.

179 "Baroque--Germany: Alterding," July 1965. Series 5, Subseries 4: European Architectural Styles, Box 94: 1.8. SI Neg. 87-332, Videodisc Frame 31310.

180 Design Elements, Hotel Fontainebleau, New Orleans,, Louisiana, April, 1961. Series 5, Subseries 5: Subjects, Box 106: 23.2. SI Neg. 87-333, Videodisc Frame 34912.

192 Charles Sheeler, ca. 1957-1965. Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 169: 49.2. SI Neg. 87-334. Videodisc Frame 52713.

238 "Ba-Rococo," Detail, Ottobeuren Church, Bavaria. Series 5, Subseries 7: Framed Subjects, Box 141: 47.7, Videodisc Frame 45665.

276 Villa Barbaro, Maser, Treviso, Italy. Series 7. Photonegatives, 715.1. SI Neg. 87-335.

281 "Water--Economics," Storm-Damaged Beach House. Series 5, Subseries 8: Notecard Transparencies, Box 155: 22.12. SI Neg. 87-336.

282 Market in Madeira. Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 161: 48.12. SI Neg. 87-337, Videodisc Frame 48435.

298 Children (South Carolina?). Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 104: 17.2. SI Neg. 87-338.

311 Goethe Statue, Chicago, Illinois. Series 7: Photonegatives, 678.1.

316 Feeding Gulls, Florida. Series 7. Photonegatives, 684.1.

331 Montage for Sultner's concerts. Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, filing case. Series 7: Photonegatives, 740.1.

332 Sultner Showing Slides to Garden Club, Caterpillar Tractor Co. Auditorium, Dec. 1958. Photograph by Gretchen H. Goughnour, York, Penn. Series 7: Photonegatives, 690.1.

340 Montage for Sultner's concerts. Series 8: Prints, Drawings, Mixed Media, filing case. Series 7: Photonegatives, 742.1.

341 Children, Ohio (boy in box in wagon) Series 5, Subseries 9: Lectures, Box 165: 13.2; Series 7: Photonegatives, 667.4 (copy neg.)

352 Publicity/brochure photograph. Drinking cup and water, Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania. Series 7: Photonegatives, 651.1.

353 Publicity/brochure photograph, Milles Gardens, Stockholm, Sweden. Series 7: Photonegatives, 659.1.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

A small number of letters and photographs are restricted until the year 2031. Identification list in box.

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:

Portraits -- 20th century  Search this

Lecturers  Search this

Photographers  Search this

Gardens -- Photographs -- 1300-1980  Search this

Architecture -- Photographs -- 1300-1980  Search this

Travel photography -- 1950-2000  Search this

Genre/Form:

Passports

Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film

Travelogs

Receipts -- 20th century

Ephemera

Files

Filmstrips

Lecture notes

Personal papers -- 20th century

Silver-dye bleach process

Contracts

Notebooks

Prints

Press releases

Ships' passenger lists

Project files

Magnetic tapes

Posters

Postcards

Vertical files

Dye destruction process

Travel diaries

Letters (correspondence) -- 20th century.

Professional papers

Bank statements

Correspondence -- 1930-1950

Photographs -- Phototransparencies -- 20th century

Audiotapes -- 1940-1980

Series 12. -- Cibachrome (TM)

Photographs -- 20th century

Clippings

Card files

Concert programs

Dye destruction photoprints

Biography files

Awards

Business records

Birthday cards

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0145

See more items in:

Donald H. Sultner-Welles Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0145

Creator:

Boatwright, Ruth Ellington, 1914-2004  Search this

Names:

Tempo Music, Inc.  Search this

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this

Extent:

33 Cubic feet (77 boxes, 3 oversize folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Business records

Correspondence

Audiotapes

Music

Photographs

Date:

1923–1992

Summary:

The collection consists of correspondence, appointment books, business records, music manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, and ephemera documenting the activities of Duke Ellington and the management of Tempo Music, Incorporated. There is a small amount of material relating to the Ellingotn family.

Scope and Contents:

The Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials includes music manuscripts (circa 1930-1981), sound recordings, Duke and Ruth Ellington's business and personal correspondence (1942-1991), business records covering the years 1923-1988, performances and programs covering the years 1951-1989, numerous awards and honors to Ellington and the orchestra, and personal papers relating to the Ellington family. Also among the materials are minutes of business meetings, letters, and newspaper clippings relating to the Duke Ellington Society in New York city, the certificate of incorporation and invitations for the Ellington Cancer Center, and slides, film, and home videos. The collection is arranged into eleven series.

Arrangement:

Divided into eleven series:

Series 1: Music Manuscripts, Scripts and Compositional Materials, 1930-1981, undated

Subseries 1.1: Music Manuscripts, undated

Subseries 1.2: Published Books, 1943-1986, undated

Subseries 1.3: Oversize Materials, undated

Subseries 1.4: Music Manuscript Notebooks and Untitled Music, undated

Subseries 1.5: Tempo Music, Incorporated Copyright Sheets of Non-Ellington Material, undated

Subseries 1.6: Uncopyrighted Submissions, 1958-2002, undated

Subseries 1.7: Notes, Scripts and Compositions, 1958-1969, undated

Series 2: Business Records, 1923-1988, undated

Series 3: Performance Materials, 1951-1989, undated

Series 4: Publicity, 1935-1992, undated

Series 5: Awards and Recognition, 1936-1989, undated

Series 6: Correspondence, 1942-1991, undated

Series 7: Photographs, 1937-1990, undated

Series 8: Family Papers, 1911-1981, undated

Series 9: Other Artists, 1955-1986, undated

Series 10: Harry Carney Materials, 1938-1959

Series 11: Audiovisual Materials, circa 1946-1970

Subseries 11.1: Sound Recordings, circa 1946-1970

Sub-subseries 11.1.1: Duke Ellington Concerts

Sub-subseries 11.1.2: Duke Ellington Volumes 1 through 58

Sub-subseries 11.1.3: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

Sub-subseries 11.1.4: Duke Ellington Jazz Society Guest Talks

Sub-subseries 11.1.5: Interviews

Sub-subseries 11.1.6: Miscellaneous

Sub-subseries 11.1.7: Non-Ellington Materials

Sub-subseries 11.1.8: 16" Transcription Discs

Subseries 11.2: Moving Images, 1929 - 1970

Biographical / Historical:

Born in 1915, Ruth Dorothea Ellington Boatwright was the sister and only sibling of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington. Sheltered and doted upon, she was almost sixteen years younger than her brother. She attended elementary and junior high schools in the Washington Metropolitan area and finished her basic schooling in New York City where the family moved in the early 1930s. Her mother, Daisy, died there in 1935, followed by her father, J. E. in 1937. Sometime after those life altering events, Ms. Ellington graduated from the New College program at Columbia University with a degree in biology.

In 1941, Duke Ellington established Tempo Music, and surprised his sister Ruth, by installing her as president of the company. He had a strong desire to maintain control of his own publishing, television, and recording rights, and after his sister's graduation, Duke felt that she could assist in accomplishing this goal.

Ruth's duties at Tempo included signing contracts, arranging some travel at Duke's request, and, most importantly, keeping Duke's music copyrighted. According to her own interview statement, she never arranged bookings. Other interests included hosting a Sunday salon for musicians, appearing at and listening to recording studio sessions once or twice a year, and keeping in touch with the older band members' wives. The older band members (i. e., Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Otto Hardwick, and Arthur Wetsol) along with the earlier singers (Ivie Anderson, Joya Sherrill, Marie Cole, and Kay Davis) were like family to Ruth.

In the 1950's, she was host of a radio program on WLIB in New York on which she interviewed guests including the writer Ralph Ellison.

Ruth Ellington's first marriage to Daniel James, a journalist and political scientist, produced two sons Michael and Stephen James. This marriage ended in divorce and she later married McHenry Boatwright, an operatic baritone. Boatright died in 1994.

Ruth was active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She was a founder of the jazz ministry of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Manhattan and a friend of the first designated jazz pastor, the Reverend John Garcia Gensel.

After Duke's death in 1974, Ruth maintained Tempo until 1995 when she sold fifty one percent of the company to a New York publishing firm, Music Sales. Ruth Dorothea Ellington Boatwright died in 2004 at the age of 88 in Manhattan. She was survived by her two sons.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the National Museum of American History in 1991. A second set of materials was received from Ruth Ellington Boatwright in 1993.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Copyright restrictions. Contact staff for information. Only reference copies of audiovisual materials are available for use.

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:

Jazz musicians -- United States  Search this

Jazz  Search this

Music -- 20th century  Search this

Musicians -- United States  Search this

Genre/Form:

Business records -- 20th century

Correspondence -- 1930-1950

Audiotapes

Music

Photographs -- 20th century

Citation:

Ruth Ellington Collection, 1923-1992, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Sponsor:

Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0415

See more items in:

Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0415

Creator:

Anderson, William "Cat", 1916-1981 ((musician))  Search this

Names:

Benny Carter All Stars  Search this

Cat Anderson Quintet  Search this

Duke Ellington Orchestra  Search this

Lionel Hampton Orchestra  Search this

Mingus Quintet  Search this

Bechet, Sidney (musician)  Search this

Calloway, Cab, 1907-  Search this

Carter, Benny, 1907-2003  Search this

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this

Fitzgerald, Ella, 1917-1996  Search this

Hampton, Lionel  Search this

Humphrey, Hubert H. (Hubert Horatio), 1911-1978  Search this

Humphrey, Muriel  Search this

Johnson, Lucy Bird  Search this

Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973  Search this

Tatum, Art, 1910-1956  Search this

Webster, Ben  Search this

Extent:

5 Cubic feet (12 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Manuscripts

Transcripts

Oral histories (document genres)

Oral history

Phonograph records

Photographs

Recordings

Interviews

Clippings

Audiotapes

Awards

Audiocassettes

Articles

Date:

1940-1981

bulk 1963-1977

Scope and Contents note:

Primarily audiotapes, sheet music, and photographic images. Also: correspondence, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, itineraries, awards, and ephemera.,Of particular interest are recordings or photographic images, including the personalities listed below, and President and Mrs. Tubman of Liberia; also, two interviews and three recordings of Cat Anderson as guest with various university and college jazz bands.

Arrangement:

Collection is divided into four series.

Series 1: Music

Series 2: Original tapes and recordings

Series 3: Photographs

Series 4: Miscellaneous

Biographical/Historical note:

Cat Anderson (Sept 12, 1916 - April 29, 1981) was one of the premier trumpet players of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Known for his effortless high notes, he was a strong section leader and a great soloist whose style exhibited humor and precision. He grew up in Jenkins= Orphanage in Charleston, SC, received basic music training there, and participated in many of their famous student ensembles. He formed and played with the Cotton Pickers, a group of orphanage teens while still a young man. Before joining Ellington in 1944, he played in several big bands, including Claude Hopkins and Lionel Hampton. Anderson left the Ellington organization from 1947 through 1949 again to lead his own group. From 1959 to1961 and after 1971 Anderson free lanced, working with the Ellington orchestra intermittently. He died in 1981 after receiving honors from the US Air Force, the Prix du Disque de Jazz, and the City of Los Angeles.

Related Archival Materials:

Related artifacts include: awards, plaques, mutes, trumpet mouth pieces, and the Jon Williams/Cat Anderson simulator in the Division of Cultural and Community Life. See accession: 1998.3074.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the National Museum of American History in January 1998, by Dorothy Anderson, Cat Anderson's widow. It was acquired through negotiations with her, her brother, Mr. John Coffey and her nephew, Andrew Brazington. The materials were picked up from Mr. John Coffey of upper N.W. Washington, DC on January 21, 1998.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Master tapes not available to researchers.

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 status of items varies. Signed copies of releases on file.

Occupation:

Composers -- 20th century  Search this

Topic:

Music -- 20th century  Search this

Music -- Acoustics and physics  Search this

Musicians -- 20th century  Search this

Piano and synthesizer music  Search this

Inventions -- 1980-2000  Search this

Synthesizer music  Search this

Electric engineering -- 1980-2000  Search this

Band musicians  Search this

African American musicians  Search this

Jazz musicians -- United States  Search this

Inventors -- 20th century  Search this

Genre/Form:

Manuscripts -- Music -- 20th century

Transcripts

Oral histories (document genres)

Oral history

Phonograph records

Photographs -- 20th century

Recordings

Interviews

Interviews -- 1950-2000

Clippings -- 20th century

Audiotapes -- 1940-1980

Awards

Audiocassettes

Audiotapes

Articles -- 1940-1980

Citation:

William "Cat" Anderson Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0630

See more items in:

William "Cat" Anderson Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0630

Moderator:

Rand, Harry Z. (NMAH curator)  Search this

Presenter:

Olitski, Jules, 1922-2007  Search this

Golden, Mark  Search this

Creator:

Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.  Search this

Names:

Golden Artist Colors, Inc.  Search this

Extent:

0.25 Cubic feet

5 Sound tape reels (7")

2 Cassette tapes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound tape reels

Cassette tapes

Audiotapes

Lectures

Date:

1997

Scope and Contents:

Tapes document Jules Olitski and Mark Golden delivering a lecture entitled "The Artist's View: Color, Technology, and Style in Postwar Art" as part of the Color Symposium held in the Museum Nov. 11-Nov. 16, 1997, in the Lemelson Center's New Perspectives series. Harry Rand served as moderator.

This lecture and discussion offers an unusal look at how the invention of new pigments, often at the urging of artists, together with new methods of application, advance the vocabulary and depth of painting.

Arrangement:

Divided into 3 series: (1) Original tape cassettes; (2) Master tapes; (3) Reference tape cassettes.

Biographical / Historical:

Jules Olitski is a major figure in American painting and Mark Golden is a paint manufacturer and president of Golden Artist Colors, Inc.

Provenance:

Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.,NMAH, SI, Dept. of History, Room 1016, MRC 604, 12th and Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20560.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Museum controls rights. Signed release on file.

Occupation:

Painters -- 1940-2000  Search this

Topic:

Paint industry and trade -- 1940-2000  Search this

Painting, American -- 1940-2000  Search this

Pigments -- 1940-2000  Search this

Color  Search this

Art -- 1940-2000  Search this

Technology -- 1940-2000  Search this

Paint -- 1940-2000  Search this

Artists -- 1940-2000  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiotapes -- 1990-2000

Lectures -- 1990-2000

Citation:

Jules Olitski and Mark Golden Lecture, 1997, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0632

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0632

Collector:

Rutgers University. Institute of Jazz Studies  Search this

Names:

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974  Search this

Extent:

1.5 Cubic feet (4 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Interviews

Oral history

Audiotapes

Date:

1971-1986.

Scope and Contents:

Collection consists of twenty-five (25) 7-inch reel-to-reel audiotapes of nine (9) radio interviews documenting the career of Duke Ellington as composer and musician.

Arrangement:

Collection arranged into one series.

Provenance:

Collection donated by Dan Morgenstern, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University, November 7, 1992.

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.

Occupation:

Composers -- 20th century  Search this

Topic:

Music -- 20th century -- United States  Search this

Musicians -- 1970-1990 -- United States  Search this

Jazz musicians -- 1970-1990 -- United States  Search this

Jazz -- 1970-2000  Search this

African American composers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Interviews -- 1970-1990

Oral history -- 1970-1990

Audiotapes -- 1970-1990

Citation:

Rutgers University Collection of Radio Interviews about Duke Ellington, 1971-1986, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0328

See more items in:

Rutgers University Collection of Radio Interviews about Duke Ellington

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0328

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:

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 Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material is owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Occupation:

Folk artists -- United States  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Navajo Indians -- Art  Search this

Folk art -- Southwest, New  Search this

Navajo Indians -- Social life and customs  Search this

Artists -- New Mexico -- Interviews  Search this

Santeros -- New Mexico -- Biography  Search this

Folk art -- United States  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

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-rosechuc

Creator:

Pickhardt, Carl E.  Search this

Extent:

2 Linear feet ((partially microfilmed on 3 reels))

4.5 Linear feet (Addition)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sound recordings

Drawings

Date:

1929-1998

Scope and Contents:

Drawings, prints, sketchbooks and studies, correspondence, photographs and slides of Pickhardt's work and some of Pickhardt, writings and notes, scrapbook, an album, an audio-tape, art appraisals and inventories, records regarding gifts to museums, printed material, and miscellany.

REEL 964: Three photographs of Pickhardt, undated and 1971; 286 photographs of Pickhardt's paintings, 1934-1971; and 4 photographs of Pickhardt exhibitions at the Pittsfield Museum, 1941, and at the Jacques Seligmann Gallery, 1952-1954.

REEL 987: Four hundred eighty-one numbered sketches and photographs of Pickhardt's abstract paintings, dated Nov. 22, 1954-July 11, 1975.

REEL 1324: Five hundred fifty-one drawings, 1932-1974. Some of the drawings are priced on the verso, and one 1954 drawing includes notes on the process of abstraction.

UNMICROFILMED: One hundred seventy-three pencil, ink, and pastel drawings of figures and abstract forms, 1929-1974, and 36 lithographs and 13 etchings, 1934-1974 (these art works have not been compared to microfilm; it is possible some were previously microfilmed); slides, 1973-1995, of Pickhardt's paintings; and a letter, 1984, describing some of these paintings; two group photographs of Carl and Rosamond Pickhardt, Hyman and Stella Bloom, and Jack Levine, 1992; and photographs of Harold Zimmerman, Hyman Bloom, and Jack Levine (thumbnail size mounted on cardboard).

ADDITION: Biographical sketches; business and pesonal correspondence; a scrapbook compiled by Pickhardt's mother Louise Fowler Pickhardt, "A record of events in the life of Emile Pickhardt," ca. 1925-1941; an album of postcards and photographs from his European travels in 1929; a copy of Mondays at Nine or Pedagogues on Parade, illustrated by Pickhardt, published by the Harvard Lampoon, Inc., 1931; writings and notes; art appraisals and inventories; sketchbooks and small studies; an audiotape of a radio broadcast on the occasion of Pickhardt's one-person show at the Doris Meltzer Gallery, New York, 1961; photographs of Pickhardt and his works of art; color transparencies of paintings; a videotape, "Carl Pickhardt: A New Sense of Space," for An Uncommon View (Fitchburg Access Television), 1996; newspaper and magazine clippings; records regarding gifts to museums and the disposition of his art collection; and miscellany.

Biographical / Historical:

Painter, printmaker; Sherborn, Massachusetts. Born 1908.

Provenance:

Material on reels 964, 987 & 1324 lent for microfilming 1975-1977. Unmicrofilmed material donated 1975-1992 by Pickhardt, and in 1998 by his son, Carl Emile Pickhardt, Jr.

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:

Painters -- Massachusetts  Search this

Printmakers -- Massachusetts  Search this

Topic:

Art, Abstract  Search this

Painting, Modern -- 20th century  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Drawings

Identifier:

AAA.pickcarl

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-pickcarl