This series consists of the business and personal correspondence of Edith Gregor Halpert and the Downtown Gallery. For the most part, this series is general business correspondence concerning routine activities of the Downtown Gallery, including the American Folk Art Gallery and the Daylight Gallery, both operated by the Downtown Gallery on the same premises. Included are correspondence with clients, employees, other galleries, and colleagues concerning sales, loans, purchases, appraisals, and so forth; arrangements for shipping, framing, photography, reproduction permissions, and insurance; and gallery housekeeping and improvements, ordering of supplies, and other administrative concerns.
Also included is personal correspondence of Edith Gregor Halpert. There are letters and greeting cards from nieces, nephews, and other relatives; correspondence with longtime friends, including some who were art collectors, museum curators, or museum directors; and correspondence concerning upkeep and improvement of her Newtown, Connecticut, country home and entertaining there.
See Appendix A for a list of selected correspondents from Series 1
Arrangement note:
Letters (with enclosures) are arranged chronologically, with those of the same date alphabetized by name of correspondent; undated material is arranged alphabetically, followed by unidentified correspondents and letters bearing illegible signatures.
Box numbers provided in the Container Listing are approximate.
Appendix A: List of Selected Correspondents in Series 1:
Names and titles indicated in this list are those that appear on the letters. Where appropriate, terms have been standardized and cross-referencing provided. Because filing is not always consistent, researchers are advised to check both the name of an individual and the institution that he or she represented.
Abate Associates, Inc., 1956
Abbot and Land, 1965
Abbot, B. Vincent, 1944
Abbot, Bernice, 1957
Abbot, John E., 1945, 1948
Abbot Laboratories, 1950, 1952
ABC Employment Agency, 1951
Richard Abel and Co., Inc., 1968
Abendroth, Robert W., 1966-1967
Abercrombie and Fitch Co., 1962
Abilene Museum of Fine Arts, undated, 1949, 1954
Abingdon Square Painters, 1965
Abraham and Straus, 1930, 1960, 1965-1966, 1968
Abraham, Mae C., 1965
Abrahamsen, Mrs. David, 1962
Abramowitz, M., 1958
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1958-1960, 1965-1966, 1968-1969
"HemisFair '68," 1968 (see also: "International Exposition, HemisFair '68")
Hemmenway, Catherine C., 1961
Hemmingsen, R. V., 1963
Hemmingson, Victoria, 1965
Henderson, Hanford, 1960
Henderson, Priscilla A. B. (Mrs. A. I.), 1934-1955
Henderson, Ray, 1956
Hendrick, Mrs. James Pomeroy, 1961
Heninger, Helen, undated, 1963, 1969
Henquet, Roger, 1948, 1965
Henri, Robert, 1926-1927
Henry, David T., 1964
Henry, Helen (Mrs. Charles), undated, 1949
Henry, James F., 1958
Henry Street Settlement, 1958, 1962-1963
Hentschel, R. A. A., 1951-1954
Hepburn, Katharine, 1952
Herbert, Elmer, 1962
Herbert, James D., 1962
Herider, Ed. L., 1961
Heritage Gallery, 1960, 1964
Herman, Stanley, 1964
Herman, Vic, 1968
Herring, Audrey L., 1964
Herrington, Nell Ray (Mrs. A. W. S.), 1962, 1965
John Herron Art Institute, undated, 1934, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1957-1958, 1962-1964, 1967 (see also: Art Association of Indianapolis; Art School of the John Herron Art Institute)
Hertslet, G. Gordon, 1962, 1966
Hertz, Richard C., 1965
Hertzberg, Stuart E., 1967-1968
Heschel, Mrs. Abraham, 1961
Hess, Elaine Marie, 1965
Hess, Mrs. Thomas B., 1954
Hetzel, Margaret deL. (Mrs. Joseph L.), 1948
Hewitt, Ada M., 1953
Edwin Hewitt Gallery, 1953
Heydenryk, Henry, 1954, 1960, 1964
Heynick, Carla Marian, 1965
Hickok, M., 1958
Hiddens, Mrs. Earl, 1952
Hiersoux, Arne, 1966
Hi Fi/Stereo Review, 1960
High Museum of Art, 1950, 1955, 1961-1962, 1965-1968 (see also: Atlanta Art Association; Atlanta Art Association and High Museum of Art)
Highway Antique Shop, 1954
R. Hill and Son, Ltd., 1960
Hill, Ralph Nading, 1952, 1962
Hille, Elise B., undated
Hille and Curran, 1954
Hilleman, Alex L., 1956
Hiller, Paula, 1962
Hilles, Mrs. Frederick W., 1956
Hillman, Mrs. Joel, II., 1960
Hillside Hospital Clinic, 1949, 1953
Hillstrom, Richard L., 1958, 1962, 1964-1965
Hilltop Theatre, Incorporated, 1952
Hilsenrath, Yakov R., 1965
Hilson, Catherine [Katy] and/or John S., undated, 1958-1959, 1961-1966
Himel, Irving, 1963
Himmelsfarb, Samuel, 1955
Hines, Felrath, 1961
Hinkhouse, Inc., 1960, 1964
Hirsch, B., 1961
Hirsch, E. W., 1954
Hirschberg, J. Cotter, 1956
Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., 1958, 1960, 1963-1965, 1968
Hirschland, Dr. and/or Mrs. F. H., undated, 1959
Hirschland, Paul Michael, 1945
Hirschburg, Mrs. Roy, undated
S. A. Hirsh Manufacturing Co., 1966
Hirshberg, Henrietta, 1961
Hirshhorn, Mrs. Arthur, 1960
Hirshhorn, Joseph H., 1946, 1948, 1951-1954, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1965
Joseph H. Hirshhorn Collection, 1959-1960, 1962-1963, 1965-1966
[incomplete; without signature], undated, 1953, 1961, 1967, 1968
Collection Restrictions:
The microfilm of this collection has been digitized and is available online via the Archives of American Art website.
Collection Rights:
The Downtown Gallery records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 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. Prior to publishing information regarding sales transactions, researchers are responsible for obtaining written permission from both artist and purchaser involved. If it cannot be established after a reasonable search whether an artist or purchaser is living, it can be assumed that the information may be published sixty years after the date of sale.
Collection Citation:
Downtown Gallery records, 1824-1974, bulk 1926-1969. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing, microfilming and digitization of the microfilm of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
39.88 cu. ft. (39 record storage boxes) (1 document box) (1 film box) (12 oversize folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Architectural drawings
Floor plans
Manuscripts
Black-and-white photographs
Drawings
Date:
1969-1992, with related records from 1948
Descriptive Entry:
These records contain the Director's correspondence files from 1975 to 1991, as well as smaller files created by Rohlfing, Pfister, and Scherer. In addition, the records
include administrative and subject files from 1970 to 1988. These files document museum functions such as acquisitions, collections management, and budgeting, as well as larger
initiatives such as the Museum Mile street festival, which was conceived by the Cooper-Hewitt and inaugurated in June 1979. They also contain a complete collection of the
Museum's newsletter from its first issue in the fall of 1977 through the spring 1990 issue; and photographs, plans, and drawings of proposed renovations to the Carnegie Mansion.
The records contain exhibition files dating from 1972 to 1992, with some gaps. The files include exhibition designs; publicity and press reviews; visitor comments; correspondence
with other institutions and museums regarding the loan of objects; label copy; budgets and funding materials; lists of objects; and contracts. Also documented are Museum publications
such as Cities (1982); The Phenomenon of Change (1984); and the Smithsonian Illustrated Library of Antiques, a twelve-part series begun in 1979 and published in association
with the Book-of-the-Month Club (BOMC). Publication files consist of correspondence with authors, contributors, subscribers, and publishers; progress reports; photographs
of artwork; requests for reproduction permission; background research files; publicity and advertising files; production files; and contracts. Some materials are in electronic
format.
Historical Note:
These records document the administration of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum (CHM) under directors Lisa Suter Taylor and Dianne H. Pilgrim. Taylor's appointment in October
1969 marked the first appointment of a woman as director of a Smithsonian museum. Previously, she had been a program director with the Smithsonian Associates. Taylor was made
Director Emeritus after her retirement in June 1987. Pilgrim became Director in November 1988 after serving as Curator and Chair of the Department of Decorative Arts at the
Brooklyn Museum.
Other staff also created some of the records. H. Christian Rohlfing joined the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in 1954 and, as Acting Administrator, oversaw its transition to a Smithsonian
bureau. He then served as Assistant Director for Collections Management from 1979 until his retirement in 1982. Harold F. Pfister joined the Museum in 1982 as Assistant Director.
He became Acting Director upon Taylor's retirement and resigned in 1988. Peter M. Scherer became Administrative Assistant to the Director in 1979 and rose to Special Assistant
to the Director before leaving the Museum in 1983.