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

Creator:

Vose Galleries of Boston  Search this

Names:

Arthur U. Newton Galleries  Search this

Centennial Exhibition (1876 : Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this

Ehrich Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Howard Young Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Jill Newhouse (Gallery)  Search this

M. Knoedler & Co.  Search this

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

Milch Galleries  Search this

Norton Gallery and School of Art  Search this

R.C. & N.M. Vose (Firm)  Search this

Robert C. Vose Galleries  Search this

Hassam, Childe, 1859-1935  Search this

Hoffman, Malvina, 1887-1966  Search this

Jonniaux, Alfred, b. 1882  Search this

Ladd, Anna Coleman, 1878-1939 (sculptor)  Search this

Norton, William E., 1843-1916  Search this

Sargent, John Singer, 1856-1925  Search this

Thayer, Abbott Handerson, 1849-1921  Search this

Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill), 1911-1998  Search this

Vose, Robert Churchill, 1873-  Search this

Extent:

25.6 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Video recordings

Manuscript

Date:

circa 1876

1890s-1996

bulk 1920-1940

Summary:

The records of Vose Galleries of Boston measure 25.6 linear feet and date from circa 1876, 1890s-1996 with the bulk of materials dating from 1920s-1930s. Nearly 90 percent of the collection documents the gallery's handling of American paintings and portraits through incoming and outgoing business correspondence with artists, clients, galleries, and museums, including considerable correspondence with portrait artist Alfred Jonniaux and clients regarding commissioned portraits. Other materials include client files; artists' biographies; records of sales, consignments, framing, restoration, and banking, mostly from the 1940s-1960s; and scattered exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, and postcards. Also found is a handwritten manuscript regarding the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, PA and a 1991 videotape about the Vose Galleries and its founding family.

Scope and Contents note:

The records of Vose Galleries of Boston measure 25.6 linear feet and date from circa 1876, 1890s-1996 with the bulk of materials dating from 1920s-1930s. Nearly 90 percent of the collection documents the gallery's handling of American paintings and portraits through incoming and outgoing business correspondence with artists, clients, galleries, and museums, including considerable correspondence with portrait artist Alfred Jonniaux and clients regarding commissioned portraits. Other materials include client files; artists' biographies; records of sales, consignments, framing, restoration, and banking, mostly from the 1940s-1960s; and scattered exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, and postcards. Also found is a handwritten manuscript regarding the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, PA and a 1991 videotape about the Vose Galleries and its founding family.

Correspondence of note is with artists Childe Hassam, Malvina Hoffman, Alfred Jonniaux, and John Singer Sargent; galleries Ehrich Galleries, Clapp & Graham Co., M. Knoedler & Co., Macbeth Galleries, Milch Galleries, Newhouse Galleries, Arthur U. Newton Galleries, Norton Galleries, and Howard Young Galleries; the estates of Anna Coleman Ladd and William E. Norton; and the family of Abbott H. Thayer.

Researchers should note that the records do not comprehensively span the gallery's history or operations. The bulk of the collection is correspondence from Robert C. Vose's era running the Robert C. Vose Galleries in the 1920s-1930s and, lesser so, under Robert C. Vose, Jr.'s direction in the 1970s. There is little material in the collection which dates before the 1910s or the 1950s-1960s, other than correspondence regarding Alfred Jonniaux and some financial records. There is a handful of correspondence which covers the period of R.C. & N.M. Vose Gallery. Records loaned for microfilming should be consulted for materials outside of the bulk dates of this collection, especially for materials from the late 1800s-early 1900s.

Arrangement note:

The collection is arranged as 5 series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1895-1996 (Boxes 1-23; 22.6 linear feet)

Series 2: Customer Files, 1912-1946 (Boxes 23-24; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 3: Art-Related Files, circa 1876, 1890s-1947 (Box 24; 7 folders)

Series 4: Financial Records, 1911-1962, 1991 (Boxes 24-25; 1.8 linear feet)

Series 5: Printed Materials, circa 1904-1990 (Boxes 25-26; 0.4 linear feet)

Biographical/Historical note:

Vose Galleries is a long time family run art gallery based in the Boston, Mass. area.

In 1841, Joseph Vose purchased Westminster Art Gallery, a small Providence, Rhode Island art gallery founded by Ransom Hicks. At the age of 19 in 1850, Joseph's son Seth Morton Vose joined the gallery and five years later became director. The gallery's primary business until the late 1860s was frame making, gilding and art supplies. Seth Morton Vose had a passion for art, especially the French painters of the Barbizon School and he slowly began buying and exhibiting artwork. By 1882, the gallery regularly exhibited in Boston.

Seth's son Robert C. Vose joined the business in 1896, and managed the gallery's Boston office from 1897. Robert broadened the gallery's horizons by showing his fine stock of Barbizon, Dutch, English and American artists throughout America, while his younger brother, Nathaniel, and his cousin, Charles Thompson, handled the Boston gallery. During the next sixty-seven years, Robert C. Vose moved the gallery into a position of national prominence.

In 1924, Nathaniel left the gallery and established his own gallery in Providence. The Boston gallery's name changed to Robert C. Vose Galleries, and around the same time, took over the Carrig-Rohane framing company. In 1931-1932, Robert's three sons, Robert C. Vose, Jr., Seth Morton Vose II, and Herbert Vose, joined the firm. The gallery continued to show exhibitions in Boston, and the sons took turns joining their father on the road. The gallery's name was changed to Vose Galleries of Boston, Inc. in 1952. In 1963, Vose Galleries moved to their current location at 238 Newbury Street in Boston. Robert C. Vose passed away in 1964.

Robert C. Vose, Jr.'s sons, Abbot W. Vose and Robert C. Vose III, joined the gallery in 1968 and 1970, respectively. Robert C. Vose, Jr. passed away in 1998. The Vose Galleries of Boston continues to operate at Newbury Street under the direction of the sixth generation of the Vose family.

Related Archival Materials note:

The Archives of American Art holds several separately cataloged collections related to Vose Galleries of Boston, including the Carrig-Rohane Shop records (1903-1962); oral history interviews with Seth Morton Vose (July 24, 1986 - April 28, 1987) and Robert C. Vose, Jr. (June 27 - July 23, 1986); a sound recording and videotape of a Robert C. Vose, Jr. lecture at the Somerset Club (May 14, 1987); a sound recording of an interview with Robert C. Vose (March 1961); the Miscellaneous Art Exhibition Catalog collection containing Vose Galleries exhibition catalogs, circa 1900-1941; and, Robert C. Vose, Jr. typescripts and clippings, 1961, on microfilm reels 3480 and 4314.

Separated Materials note:

The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming.

Reel B1 contains a scrapbook compiled by Seth Vose and annotated by Robert Vose that contains clippings, 1886-1900, and an 1889 letter from author and critic Alfred Trumble; and a scrapbook compiled and annotated by Robert C. Vose spanning the years 1920-1940, 1897, and 1905, containing clippings and handwritten lists.

Reel 2380 includes numerous photographs, circa 1890-1964, of Seth Morton Vose, Robert C. Vose, Sr., artists, collectors, and dealers associated with Vose Galleries; a Macbeth Gallery "smoker" in honor of Emil Carlsen; a drawing of Charles Emil Heil by George F. Wing, and a charcoal drawing after Monticelli by Albion Harris Bicknell. Many of the photographs are annotated by Robert C. Vose.

Reels 3936-3940 are comprised of account books, 1871-1887; a journal, 1889-1903, a ledger, 1889-1901; invoice books, 1896-circa 1954, inventories of paintings and drawings in stock, 1884, 1892 and 1906; exhibition records, 1911-1982?; traveling exhibition records, 1915-1949; and a record of paintings sold, 1876-1894. Written permission is required to access these reels.

Reels 4593-4594 contain clippings, undated and 1891-1989, chiefly about purchases, sales and exhibitions, but also pertaining to art dealers, museums, artists, and art events.

Reel 4909 contains a scrapbook of clippings, announcements, programs, and other printed materials, 1882-1993.

Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

From 1965-1994, Vose Galleries of Boston loaned materials to the Archives of American Art for microfilming. Robert C. Vose, Jr. also donated records in several installments from 1974 to 1997.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Vose Galleries of Boston records are 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:

Art dealers -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Topic:

Artists -- United States -- Photographs  Search this

Picture frame industry -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Picture frames and framing  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Rhode Island -- Providence  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Genre/Form:

Video recordings

Manuscript

Citation:

Vose Galleries of Boston records, circa 1876, 1890s-1996, bulk 1920s-1930s. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Collection Care Preservation Fund

Identifier:

AAA.vosegall

See more items in:

Vose Galleries of Boston records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-vosegall

Creator:

Milch Gallery  Search this

Names:

E. & A. Milch, Inc.  Search this

Milch Galleries  Search this

Vonnoh, Robert William, 1858-1933  Search this

Acheson, Alice  Search this

Adams, Charles L., 19th cent  Search this

Adams, Wayman, 1883-1959  Search this

Aiken, Charles Avery, 1872-1965  Search this

Albee, Grace  Search this

Anderson, Karl, 1874-1956  Search this

Appel, Marianne, 1913-1988  Search this

Archipenko, Alexander, 1887-1964  Search this

Arms, John Taylor, 1887-1953  Search this

Ascher, Mary G. (Mary Goldman), b. 1900  Search this

Azzaretti, Faust  Search this

Bacon, Peggy, 1895-1987  Search this

Baer, Martin, 1895-1961  Search this

Ballin, Hugo, 1879-1956  Search this

Barlow, Myron, 1873-1937  Search this

Barmore, Charles  Search this

Barr, Charles H.  Search this

Barr, Norman, 1908-  Search this

Barrymore, Lionel, 1878-1954  Search this

Baumann, Gustave, 1881-1971  Search this

Beal, Reynolds, 1866-1951  Search this

Bellows, George, 1882-1925  Search this

Benson, Frank Weston, 1862-1951  Search this

Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this

Blackburn, Morris, 1902-1979  Search this

Blakelock, Ralph Albert, 1847-1919  Search this

Blanch, Arnold, 1896-1968  Search this

Blanch, Lucile, 1895-1981  Search this

Bluemner, Oscar, 1867-1938  Search this

Blumenschein, Ernest Leonard, 1874-1960  Search this

Bohm, Max, 1868-1923  Search this

Bohrod, Aaron  Search this

Bosa, Louis, 1905-  Search this

Breckenridge, Hugh H. (Hugh Henry), 1870-1937  Search this

Bridgman, Frederick Arthur, 1847-1928  Search this

Browne, George Elmer, 1871-1946  Search this

Bruce, Edward, 1879-1943  Search this

Brush, George de Forest, 1855-1941  Search this

Buck, Claude, 1890-1974  Search this

Burlin, Paul, 1886-1969  Search this

Burr, George Elbert, 1859-1939  Search this

Butler, Howard Russell, 1856-1934  Search this

Calder, Alexander Stirling, 1870-1945  Search this

Carroll, John, 1892-1959  Search this

Chamberlain, Samuel, 1895-1975  Search this

Cheffetz, Asa, 1896-1965  Search this

Christy, Howard Chandler, 1873-1952  Search this

Cole, Alphaeus Philemon, 1876-1988  Search this

Congdon, William, 1912-  Search this

Crane, Bruce, 1857-1937  Search this

Curran, Charles C. (Charles Courtney), 1861-1942  Search this

Daingerfield, Elliott, 1859-1932  Search this

Davey, Randall, 1887-1964  Search this

De Groot, Adelaide Milton, b. 1876  Search this

DeCamp, Joseph, 1858-1923  Search this

Dehn, Adolf, 1895-1968  Search this

Dessar, Louis Paul, 1867-1952  Search this

Dewing, Thomas Wilmer, 1851-1938  Search this

Diederich, William Hunt, 1884-1953  Search this

Dike, Phil, 1906-1990  Search this

Donoho, Gaines Ruger, 1857-1916  Search this

Duncan, Charles, b. 1892  Search this

Eakins, Susan Macdowell  Search this

Etnier, Stephen, 1903-1984  Search this

Farnsworth, Jerry, 1895-1982  Search this

Fechin, Nikolai Ivanovich, 1881-1955  Search this

Fenton, Beatrice, 1887-1983  Search this

Fitzgerald, James, 1899-1971  Search this

Flagg, James Montgomery, 1877-1960  Search this

Fredenthal, David, 1914-1958  Search this

French, Daniel Chester, 1850-1931  Search this

Fuchs, Emil, 1866-1929  Search this

Gallagher, Sears, 1869-1955  Search this

Ganso, Emil, 1895-1941  Search this

Gaspard, Leon, 1882-1964  Search this

Genth, Lillian Mathilde, 1876-1953  Search this

Gonzalez, Xavier, 1898-1993  Search this

Greenwood, Marion, 1909-1970  Search this

Gregory, John, 1879-1958  Search this

Gregory, Waylande, 1905-1971  Search this

Grosz, George, 1893-1959  Search this

Halpert, Samuel, 1884-1930  Search this

Hart, George Overbury, 1868-1933  Search this

Hartmann, Sadakichi, 1867-1944  Search this

Haskell, Ernest, 1876-1925  Search this

Hassam, Childe, 1859-1935  Search this

Heerman, Norbert Leo, b. 1891  Search this

Heinz, Charles, 1885-1955  Search this

Hennings, E. Martin, 1886-1956  Search this

Henri, Robert, 1865-1929  Search this

Hopkinson, Charles, 1869-1962  Search this

Ireland, Leroy, 1889-1970  Search this

Judson, Alice, d. 1948  Search this

Kalish, Max, 1891-1945  Search this

Katz, A. Raymond (Alexander Raymond), 1895-1974  Search this

Kingman, Dong, 1911-  Search this

Kroll, Leon, 1884-1974  Search this

Kronberg, Louis, 1872-1965  Search this

Kupferman, Lawrence Edward, 1909-1982  Search this

Laufman, Sidney, 1891-  Search this

Lawson, Ernest, 1873-1939  Search this

Lever, Hayley, 1876-1958  Search this

Lie, Jonas, 1880-1940  Search this

Linde, Ossip L.  Search this

Low, Will Hicok, 1853-1932  Search this

Lucioni, Luigi, 1900-  Search this

Lutz, Dan, 1906-  Search this

MacRae, Emma Fordyce, 1887-1974  Search this

Manship, Paul, 1885-1966  Search this

Melchers, Gari, 1860-1932  Search this

Metcalf, Willard Leroy, 1858-1925  Search this

Meyerowitz, William, 1887-1981  Search this

Milch, Albert, 1881-1951  Search this

Milch, Edward, 1865-1954  Search this

Moffett, Ross  Search this

Mora, F. Luis (Francis Luis), 1874-1940  Search this

Moran, Thomas, 1837-1926  Search this

Murphy, Hermann Dudley, 1867-1945  Search this

Murphy, John Francis, 1853-1921  Search this

Myers, Jerome, 1867-1940  Search this

Nagler, Edith Kroger, 1890-1986  Search this

Oberteuffer, Karl A. (Karl Amiard), 1908-1958  Search this

Ochtman, Leonard, 1854-1934  Search this

Parshall, DeWitt, 1864-1956  Search this

Pearson, Ralph M., 1883-1958  Search this

Perrine, Van Dearing, 1868 or 9-1955  Search this

Pittman, Hobson Lafayette, 1899 or 1900-1972  Search this

Pleissner, Ogden M.  Search this

Pollet, Joseph C., 1897-1979  Search this

Pousette-Dart, Nathaniel, 1886-1965  Search this

Pugh, Mabel, b. 1891  Search this

Pène Du Bois, Guy , 1884-1958  Search this

Redfield, Edward Willis, 1869-1965  Search this

Ritschel, William, 1864-1949  Search this

Romano, Umberto, 1906-  Search this

Rungius, Carl, 1869-1959  Search this

Ryder, Chauncey F., 1868-1949  Search this

Ryerson, Margery  Search this

Sample, Paul, 1896-1974  Search this

Sawyer, Wells, 1863-1960  Search this

Schofield, Walter Elmer, 1867-1944  Search this

Shapiro, David, 1916-  Search this

Sharp, Joseph Henry, 1859-1953  Search this

Sheets, Millard, 1907-1989  Search this

Shuster, Will  Search this

Speicher, Eugene Edward, 1883-1962  Search this

Speight, Francis, 1896-1989  Search this

Sterne, Maurice, 1878-1957  Search this

Sterner, Albert, 1863-1946  Search this

Tanner, Henry Ossawa, 1859-1937  Search this

Thayer, Abbott Handerson, 1849-1921  Search this

Trebilcock, Paul, 1902-1981  Search this

Tryon, Dwight William, 1849-1925  Search this

Twachtman, John Henry, 1853-1902  Search this

Ufer, Walter, 1876-1936  Search this

Varian, Dorothy, 1895-1985  Search this

Warneke, Heinz (Heinrich), 1895-1983  Search this

Watkins, Franklin Chenault, 1894-1972  Search this

Waugh, Frederick Judd, 1861-1940  Search this

Weir, John F. (John Ferguson), 1841-1926  Search this

Weir, Julian Alden, 1852-1919  Search this

White, Henry Cooke, 1861-1952  Search this

Wickey, Harry  Search this

Wiggins, Carleton, 1848-1932  Search this

Wiles, Irving Ramsay, 1861-1948  Search this

Woodward, Robert Strong, 1885-1957  Search this

Woodward, Stanley Wingate, 1890-1970  Search this

Wyeth, Andrew, 1917-2009  Search this

Zucker, Jacques, 1900-  Search this

Extent:

42.2 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gallery records

Photographs

Date:

1911-1995

Summary:

The records of Milch Gallery measure 42.5 linear feet and date from 1911-1995. Edward Milch (1865-1953) opened the Edward Milch Gallery in New York City. In 1916, he formed a partnership with his brother Albert Milch (1881-1951), a gilder and framer, creating E. & A. Milch, Inc., a gallery specializing in American art. Harold C. Milch (1904-1981), Albert's son, was appointed a partner in 1944 and continued the business until his death. Business records of Milch Gallery, 1911-1968, include correspondence, sales records, inventories, financial records, printed matter, photographs, and legal documents. Later additions to the records date from 1922-1995 and include correspondence; artists' files; financial, sales, and stock records; printed material; and photographs.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of Milch Gallery document the business transactions of the corporation and the professional and personal relationships of the Milch brothers with the artists they represented, as well as with the larger community of artists and art dealers between 1911 and 1995. Unfortunately, early correspondence is sparse. In a letter responding to a 1951 request for historical information, Milch replied: "Several years ago [1947] we had to give up our gallery at 108 West 57th Street, and move to smaller quarters here. Since we had no room for old records, we had to destroy most of them."

Alphabetical files are comprised mainly of incoming correspondence from 1911 to 1962. Correspondence concerns arrangements for exhibitions, sales and consignments, advice to collectors and executors of estates, and routine business matters. A number of the artists represented in these files were friends of the Milch brothers and some of their letters mention their personal lives as well as their formal business with the Gallery. Collectors who routinely dealt with Milch Galleries included John Gellatly, Mary Blair, Hersey Egginton, Carlton Palmer, and Edward Coykendell; a three volume manuscript catalogue of Coykendell's collection is included. Among the estates handled by Milch were Willard Metcalf, John Twachtman, Abbott H. Thayer, Maurice Fromkes, and Thomas Moran.

Also found are sales records and other financial records such as general ledgers, sales and purchase records, and tax information.

Printed matter consists of gallery exhibition catalogs, checklists, invitations, announcements, publications, and scrapbooks. Many catalogs and checklists are annotated with prices and other information. A complete run of Milch Galleries Art Notes, issued intermittently from 1918-1928/29 is preserved with the gallery records. as is a scrapbook relating to early exhibitions held at the Edward Milch Galleries and E. & A. Milch, Inc., and artists represented by them.

Photographs included with the records are less voluminous than might be expected, and pictures of works of art predominate. There are also a very small number of exterior and interior photographs of Milch Gallery, photographs of people including artists, Edward and Albert Milch, and photographs of groups such as Ten American Artists and the Associated Dealers in American Paintings.

The 1995 and 2014 additions measure 3 linear feet and date from 1922-1995. Milch Gallery activities are documented through correspondence; artists' files; financial, sales, and stock records; printed material; and photographs.

See Appendix for a list of Milch Gallery exhibitions and checklists

Arrangement:

Records of the Milch Gallery are organized into seven series. With the exception of the alphabetical files, records are arranged by record type and then chronologically. Photographs are categorized by subject, with pictures of individuals arranged alphabetically by name, and works of art arranged alphabetically by artist.

Series 1: Alphabetical Files, 1911-1962

Series 2: Sales Records and Inventories, 1911-1969, undated

Series 3: Financial Records, 1914-1980, undated

Series 4: Printed Matter, 1996, 1910-1967, undated

Series 5: Photographs, 1903-circa 1944, undated

Series 6: Miscellaneous, 1916-1970, undated

Series 7: Addition to the Milch Gallery Records, 1922-1995 (Boxes 60-65, 3 linear feet)

Historical Note:

Between 1911 and 1916, prior to the establishment of the Milch Galleries, Austrian immigrant Edward Milch (1865-1953) operated the Edward Milch Galleries at 939 Madison Avenue 1911, mainly handling prints and providing framing services.

Albert Milch (1881-1951) was employed by a gilder and later a picture framer before becoming the business partner of his older brother. In 1916 they incorporated as E. & A. Milch (with Edward as President and Albert as Secretary of the corporation) and opened the Milch Galleries at 108 West 57th Street, New York City. During their partnership, Edward served as President and Albert as Secretary of the corporation. According to Joseph Gotlieb, a long-time employee, during this period Montross Gallery became inclined toward modern French art and the American artists associated with them began searching for galleries more sympathetic to their interests. "As Albert Milch was a framemaker to several of them, and as he was opening a new gallery in 1916 to specialize in American Art, some artists decided to let the Milch Galleries, and others, handle their work. It turned out to be a good arrangement for both sides, and a successful one" (letter from Joseph S. Gotleib to Susan Hobbs [National Museum of American Art], December 30, 1977).

From the beginning, Milch Galleries dealt in American art almost exclusively, representing living artists, handling the estates of recently deceased artists; in addition they acquired nineteenth century works for resale and accepted pieces on commission. Although framing and restoration services continued to be offered to customers, this aspect of the business soon diminished in importance.

Harold C. Milch (1904-1981), Albert's son, was affiliated with the business, and upon his father's retirement was appointed partner; after Albert died in 1951, Harold was sole proprietor, serving as both President and Secretary.

Milch Galleries moved to smaller quarters at 55 East 57th Street in 1947, and ten years later to 21 East 67th Street. In 1967, the name was changed to Milch Gallery and the business relocated to 1014 Madison Avenue. The gallery dissolved upon the death of Harold Milch. A third brother, David C. Milch, was also an art dealer, but was not associated with Milch Gallery.

1911 -- Edward Milch Galleries opens at 939 Madison Ave.

1912 -- First exhibition at Edward Milch Galleries

1916 -- Incorporation of E. & A. Milch; Edward Milch, President, and Albert Milch, Secretary; change of name to Milch Galleries and relocation to 108 West 57th St.

1918 -- Milch Galleries Art Notes begins publication

1944 -- Edward Milch retires; Albert Milch President, and Harold C. Milch [son of Albert], Secretary

1947 -- Milch Galleries moves to 55 East 57th St.

1951 -- Death of Albert Milch (1881-1951); Harold C. Milch, President and Secretary

1953 -- Death of Edward Milch (1865-1953)

1957 -- Milch Galleries moves to 21 East 67th St.

1966 -- Archives of American Art begins acquiring records of the Milch Galleries (gifts and loans from Milch Galleries)

1967 -- Relocation to 1014 Madison Ave., and name change to Milch Gallery

1981 -- Death of Harold C. Milch (1904-1981)

1986 -- Archives of American Art receives the bulk of Milch Gallery records (gift of Salander-O'Reilly Galleries)

Appendix: List of Milch Gallery Exhibitions and Checklists:

Items marked with an asterisk (*) are contained in the scrapbook rather than with the Milch Gallery exhibition catalogs.

Nov. 16-Dec. 7, 1912* -- Exhibition of 300 Original Sketches in Oil by 100 Well Known American Artists

Feb. 15-March 8, 1913* -- Glimpses of Nature We Love to See, Feast, and Dwell On

April 28-May 7, 1913* -- Portraits of Children and Grown-Ups by Miss Susan Ricker Knox

Oct. 18-Nov. 1, 1913* -- Small Paintings and Bronzes

Oct. 18-Nov. 1, 1913* -- Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures by Noted American Artists

Feb. 9-21, 1914* -- Paintings by W. Herbert Dunton of The Old West

Oct. 17-31, 1914* -- Portraits in Oil, Miniatures, and Sculpture

Feb. 20-March 7, 1915* -- Paintings and Etchings by Gordon Mallet McCouch

April 26-May 8, 1915* -- Paintings by Frew W. Kost, N.A.

Nov. 7-19, 1915 -- Paintings and Sculpture by Matilda Browne

Nov. 15-30, 1915* -- Views of the Panama California Exposition and Landscapes of Southern California

Jan. 31-Feb. 12, 1916 -- Paintings by Garber, Pearson, Lathrop, and Spencer

Feb. 14-26, 1916* -- Landscapes by Walter Clark, N.A.

Feb. 14-26, 1916* -- Paintings by Guy Wiggins

Nov. 4-18, 1916* -- Opening Exhibition

Nov. 25-Dec. 9, 1916* -- Works by the Late Louis Loeb

Jan. 15-27, 1917* -- Paintings by Helen M. Turner

Jan. 30-Feb. 10, 1917* -- Paintings by Leonard Ochtman, N.A.

Feb. 14-24, 1917* -- Recent Paintings by William V. Schevill

March 6-24, 1917 -- Ten American Painters

March 13-24, 1917* -- George Bellows

March 14-24, 1917* -- Paintings by Frederick J. Waugh

March 26-April 7, 1917* -- Paintings by Howard Russell Butler, N.A.

April 10-21, 1917 -- Paintings by Harry F. Waltman and Howard Giles, and Sculptures by Willard D. Paddock

April 15-27, 1917* -- Paintings by Valentino Molina

April 24-May 5, 1917* -- Paintings by Thalia Millet

Oct. 27-Nov. 17, 1917* -- William Jean Beauley

Jan. 15-Feb. 15, 1918* -- Etchings, Dry-Point and Lithographs by Ernest Haskell

Jan. 28-Feb. 4, 1918 -- Sketches and Paintings by the "Nova Scotia Group"

Feb. 25-March 16, 1918* -- Paintings by Robert Henri

March 13-24, 1918 -- George Bellows

March 22-April 4, 1918* -- Paintings by H. Gabrielle Levey

April 8-, 1918* -- Etchings by Allen Lewis

Nov. 25-Dec. 16, 1918* -- Paintings by Edward H. Potthast, N.A.

Dec. 18-Jan. 16, 1918 -- Annual Holiday Exhibition of Selected Paintings of Limited Size by American Artists

Dec. 23-Jan. 10, 1919* -- Etchings and Dry-Points by Ernest Haskell

Jan. 13-25, 1919* -- Paintings by Mary Prindeville

Jan. 27-Feb. 13, 1919* -- With the A.E.F., Paintings and Drawings Made at the Front by S. J. Woolf

Feb. 14-26 [1919?]* -- Paintings by Arthur C. Goodwin

Feb. 18-March 1, 1919* -- Paintings by Jerome Myers

March 3-16, 1919* -- Recent Paintings of California by William Ritschel, N.A.

March 17-29, 1919 -- Recent Paintings by Lillian Genth, A.N.A.

March 28-April 9, 1919* -- Drawings of New York City by Peter Marcus

April 8-30*, 1919 -- Paintings by Leading American Artists

April 19-May 1*, 1919 -- Paintings by Valentino Molina

May 3-22, 1919 -- Recent American Sculpture

May 5-17*, 1919 -- Recent American Sculpture in Bronze, Wood, and Terra Cotta for the Town and Country House, the Grounds, and Garden

May 20-, 1919 -- Flag Pictures and Street Scenes by Childe Hassam

Nov. 16-Dec. 6, 1919 -- Childe Hassam

Nov. 17-Dec. 6, 1919 -- Exhibition of Works in the Various Mediums by Childe Hassam

Dec. 18-Jan. 16, 1920 -- Annual Holiday Exhibition of Selected Paintings of Limited Size by American Artists

Dec. 29-Jan. 15, 1920* -- Portraits and Other Paintings by Royston Nave

Feb. 2-14, 1920 -- George Biddle

Feb. 2-14, 1920* -- Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels, Monotypes, Silver-Points and Etchings by George Biddle

Feb. 16-28, 1920* -- Paintings by Ossip L. Linde

March 1-12, 1920 -- Bruce Crane

March 1-13, 1920 -- Bruce Crane, A.N.A.

March 15-April 3, 1920 -- Willard L. Metcalf

April 5-20, 1920 -- Paintings

April 8-30 [1920] -- Exhibition of Paintings by Leading American Artists

April 15-May 1, 1920 -- Valentino Molina

Oct. 18-30 [1920?]* -- Paintings of New England and Drawings of the Devastated Towns of Flanders by George Wharton Edwards

Nov. 1-13, 1920 -- Six American Painters [Clark, Potthast, Snell, Nichols, Olinsky, and Volkert

Nov. 1-15, 1920 -- Paintings by Theresa F. Bernstein

Nov. 15-27, 1920 -- Childe Hassam

Nov. 21-Dec. 3, 1920* -- Sculpture by Gleb Derujinsky

Dec., 1920* -- Exhibition by George Biddle

Dec. 1-21, 1920 -- Etchings and Color Etchings by William Meyerowitz

Dec. 27-Jan. 28, 1921 -- Albert Delbert Smith

circa 1920 -- Ossip L. Linde

circa 1920 -- William Meyrowitz

circa 1920 -- Exhibition

Jan. 10-29, 1921 -- Exhibition of Paintings by Brush, Crane, Dewing, Metcalf, Hassam, and Murphy

Jan. 31-Feb. 12, 1921 -- American Art

Feb. 14-26, 1921 -- Guy Wiggins

Feb. 14-26, 1921 -- Arthur G. Goodwin

Feb. 28-March 12, 1921 -- Paintings by Robert Henri

March 14-April 9, 1921 -- Paintings by Gari Melchers

March 28-April 9, 1921 -- Peter Marcus

April 11-23, 1921* -- Portraits and Figure Paintings by Edith Catlin Phelps

April 11-30, 1921 -- Paintings by Willard Metcalf

May 2-30, 1921 -- American Sculpture for the Town and Country House, the Garden, and the Grounds

Oct. 18-30 [1921?]* -- Paintings and Drawings by George Wharton Edwards

Oct. 24-Nov. 5, 1921 -- Portraits and Paintings of Old New Orleans by Wayman Adams

Nov. 7-19, 1921 -- Flower Paintings and Sculpture by Mathilde Browne

Nov. 7-19, 1921 -- Paintings in Oil and Water Color by George H. Clements

Nov. 19-Dec. 3, 1921 -- Sculpture-Gleb Derujinsky

Dec. 5-31, 1921 -- Works by Abbott H. Thayer, Including Important Paintings, Water Colors, and Drawings

circa 1921 -- Exhibition

Jan. 9-21, 1922 -- Paintings by Katherine Langhorne Adams

Jan. 9-21, 1922 -- Paintings of California by Douglass Ewell Parshall

Feb. 13-March 4, 1922 -- Paintings of Cape Ann by Harry A. Vincent, A.N.A.

March 6-25, 1922* -- Pastels of the Cascapedia River, Canada, by Arthur C. Goodwin

March 6-25, 1922 -- Connecticut Landscape Paintings by Wilson Irvine

March 27-April 15, 1922* -- Moonlight Motifs: Garden of the Gods, Colorado and Other Paintings by Robert Reid, N.A.

Dec. 26-Jan. 13, 1923 -- Paintings and Pastels by Henry C. White

Jan. 15-27, 1923* -- Paintings of Spain by William J. Potter

Jan. 29-Feb. 10, 1923 -- Water Colors of the South Sea Islands by William Ritschel, N.A.

Feb. 12-March 3, 1923 -- Paintings by Willard L. Metcalf

March 5-31, 1923 -- Paintings of the Far East by Leon Gaspard

March 19-31, 1923* -- Landscape Paintings by Guy Wiggins, A.N.A.

April 2-21, 1923* -- Portrait Drawings by Ercole Cartotto

April 19-May 6, 1923 -- Paintings by Leading American Artists

Oct. 1-20, 1923 -- Paintings by Sidney E. Dickinson, A.N.A.

Oct. 22- Nov. 3, 1923 -- Paintings and Sculpture by Mathilda Brown (Mrs. Frederick Van Wyck)

Nov. 5-17, 1923 -- Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by William Gedney Bunce

Dec. 11-23, 1923* -- Water Colors by James Montgomery Flagg

Jan. 14-26, 1924 -- Exhibition of Nudes, Portraits, Landscapes and Genre by Eugene Paul Ullman

Feb. 18-March 8, 1924 -- Paintings by Willard L. Metcalf

March 27-April 5, 1924 -- Connecticut Landscapes by Guy Wiggins, A.N.A.

Dec. 1-27, 1924 -- Maurice Fromkes

Jan. 5-17, 1925 -- Paintings of the Pacific Coast by Armin Hansen

Jan. 19-31, 1925 -- Martha Walter

Feb. 16-March 7, 1925 -- Willard L. Metcalf

March 9-21, 1925 -- John Noble

March 23-April 11, 1925 -- Bruce Crane

May 4-16, 1925 -- Brynjulf Strandenaes Exhibition of Portraits

May 18-30, 1925 -- Paintings by Robert Brackman

Dec. 7-31, 1925 -- Paintings by the Late Willard Metcalf

Dec. 7-21, 1925 -- Sketches by Dorothea A. Dreier,

Jan. 11-23, 1926 -- Recent Landscape Paintings by Frank V. Du Mond

Jan. 25-Feb. 13, 1926 -- Smaller Paintings by Max Bohm

Feb. 15-March 6, 1926 -- Paintings of the Sea by William Ritschel

April 13-May 2, 1926 -- Jonas Lie

April 26-May 15, 1926 -- Landscapes and Street Scenes by William Jean Beauley

Nov. 15-27, 1926 -- California Marine Paintings and Water Colors by Armin Hansen

Nov. 29-Dec. 18, 1926 -- Water Colors by Frank W. Benson

Nov. 29-Dec. 18, 1926 -- Silver-Point Drawings by Ercole Cartotto

Jan. 10-22, 1927 -- Portraits by Millie Bruhl Frederick (Mrs. Leopold Fredrick)

Jan. 24-Feb. 12, 1927 -- Paintings of Cornwall and Devonshire by W. Elmer Schofield

Jan. 24-Feb. 12, 1927 -- Etchings by Teresa Cerutti Simmons, Watercolors by Will Simmons

Feb. 14-March 5, 1927 -- Sculpture by Heinz Warneke

March 28-April 16, 1927 -- Paintings by Henry Golden Dearth

April 18-30, 1927 -- Decorative Flower Paintings by Olin Howland

April 18-30, 1927 -- Recent Water Colors by John Whorf of Boston

Oct. 10-28, 1927 -- Decorative Embroideries by Georgiana Brown Harbeson

Nov. 14-26, 1927 -- Pastels and Etchings of Cambodia and China by Lucille Douglass

Nov. 28-Dec. 24, 1927 -- Works by Gari Melchers

Nov. 28-Dec. 24, 1927 -- Sculpture by Max Kalish

Dec. 26-Jan. 14, 1928 -- Water Color Exhibition of West African Native Types by Erick Berry; Also a Group of West African Pottery and Brass Figures Made by the Natives of Nigeria

Dec. 29-Jan. 14, 1928 -- Paintings by Joacb Dooyewaard

Jan. 14-26, 1928 -- Decorative Paintings by Jane Peterson

Feb. 7-April 29, 1928 -- Alfred Hutty

Feb. 13-25, 1928 -- Water Colors by Alice Judson

March 12-24, 1928 -- Etchings of Ancient Dances by Teresa Cerutti-Simmons and Wild Life by Will Simmons

March 12-24, 1928 -- An Important Exhibition of Paintings and Pastels by John H. Twachtman

March 12-24, 1928 -- Sculpture by Heinz Warnecke

March 26-April 14, 1928 -- Water Colors by John Whorf

April, 1928 -- Water Colors by William Ritschel, N.A.

April 15-May 5, 1928 -- Portrait Drawings in Pastel by Jessie Voss Lewis

Oct. 22-Nov. 3, 1928 -- Water Colors of France and Italy, and Etchings by Louis Wolchonok

Oct. 22-Nov. 3, 1928 -- Poetic Landscapes with Figures by Henry M. Rosenberg of Nova Scotia

Nov. 19-Dec. 1, 1928 -- Water Colors by Frank W. Benson

Nov. 19-Dec. 1, 1928 -- Water Colors of Architectural Subjects in France, Also Landscape and Figures by William de Leftwick Dodge

Dec. 1-28, 1928 -- Alfred Hutty

Dec. 3-24, 1928 -- Important Exhibition of Early and Recent Works by Childe Hassam of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

Dec. 3-24, 1928 -- Still Life Paintings by Ruth Payne Burgess

Dec. 20-Jan. 8, 1929 -- Drawings by Frank di Gioia

Dec. 20-Jan. 8, 1929 -- Memorial Exhibition, Water Color Sketches by Thomas Moran, N.A.

Dec. 27-Jan. 14, 1929 -- Erick Berry

Dec. 27-Jan. 14, 1929 -- Helen K. McCarthy Memorial Exhibition

Dec. 29-Jan. 14, 1929 -- Paintings by Jacob Dooyewaard

circa 1928 -- Indian and Animal Pictures and Bronzes by Edwin Willard Deming

Jan. 28-Feb. 9, 1929 -- Painitings of Western Life by F. Tenney Johnson

Jan. 28-Feb. 9, 1929 -- Paintings and Water Colors by Alice Judson

Feb. 11-23, 1929 -- Paintings and Drawings by Max Bohm

Feb. 11-23, 1929 -- Landscapes and Marines by Jay Connaway

Feb. 25-March 9, 1929 -- Water-Colors by Harold Putnam Browne

Feb. 25-March 9, 1929 -- Paintings by Truman Fassett

March 11-23, 1929 -- Recent Water Colors by C.E. Polowetski

March 11-23, 1929 -- Louis Ritman

March 25-April 6, 1929 -- Landscapes by Frank Vincent Du Mond

March 25-April 6, 1929 -- Water Colors by Armin Hansen of California

March 25-April 6, 1929 -- Sculptures by Roy Sheldon

April 8-20, 1929 -- Water Colors by John Whorf, Distinguished Young Boston Artist

Oct. 21-Nov. 2, 1929 -- Corners in Spain, An Exhibition of Paintings by Wells M. Sawyer

Nov. 4-17, 1929 -- Recent Sculpture by Heinz Warnecke

Nov. 4-16, 1929 -- Paintings of Ireland and Other Scenes by Power O'Malley

Nov. 18-30, 1929 -- Group of Recent Paintings by Hayley Lever

Nov. 18-30, 1929 -- Recent Water Colors and Etchings by Louis Wolchonok

Dec. 2-21, 1929 -- Paintings by Maurice Fromkes

Jan. 30-Feb. 11 [192?] -- Water Colors of Greek Temples in Sicily by Wm. De Leftwich Dodge

Feb. 2-15 [192?] -- Figure Paintings by Murray Bewley

March 15-April 3 [192?] -- Paintings by Willard L. Metcalf

March 28-April 16 [192?] -- Paintings by Henry Golden Dearth

April 2-21 [192?] -- Landscape Paintings by Bruce Crane, N.A

Oct. 17-29 [192?] -- Water Colors of the Rivera by Ferris Connah

Oct. 18-30 -- Paintings and Drawings by George Wharton Edwards

Oct. 25-Nov. 13 [192?] -- Recent Landscapes by John F. Carlson, N.A.

Oct. 25-Nov. 13 [192?] -- John F. Carlson

[192?] -- Indian and Animal Pictures and Bronzes by Edwin Willard Deming

Nov. 19-Dec. 1 [192?] -- Water Colors of Architectural Subjects in France, also Landscape and Figures by William De Leftwich Dodge

Jan. 20-Feb 1, 1930 -- West African Water Colors by Erick Berry

Jan. 20-Feb. 1, 1930 -- Paintings by Nelson C. White

Feb., 1930 -- Thelma Wood

Feb. 3-15, 1930 -- Paintings by Horace Brown

Feb. 17-March 1, 1930 -- Paintings by Francis Speight

Feb. 17-March 1, 1930 -- Paintings by Ruth Payne Burgess

March 3-15, 1930 -- Paintings by John Noble

March 17-29, 1930 -- Russian Paintings by Irwin D. Hoffman, Also a Group of Recent Watercolors

March 17-29, 1930 -- Alexander Warshawsky

March 31-April 12, 1930 -- Memorial Exhibition, Paintings and Watercolors of Sigurd Skou

March 31-April 12, 1930 -- Emmanuel Andrew Cavacos

April 14-26, 1930 -- Water Colors by John Whorf

Oct. 20-Nov. 1, 1930 -- Recent Paintings of Lake Como by Charles Warren Eaton

Nov. 3-15, 1930 -- Pastels and Etchings of Angkor and the Far East by Lucille Douglass

Nov. 17-29, 1930 -- Joseph Szekely

Nov. 17-29, 1930 -- Important Exhibiton of Paintings by a "Group of Americans"

Dec. 1-13, 1930 -- Diana Thorne and Canine Portraiture

Dec. 1-13, 1930 -- Recent Paintings of Ireland by Power O'Malley

Dec. 1-13, 1930 -- Paintings by Charles M. Cox of Boston

Jan. 19-31, 1931 -- Portraits by Jere R. Wickwire

Jan. 20-Feb. 1, 1931 -- Nelson C. White

Jan. 24-Feb. 7, 1931 -- Pastels and Etchings of Angkor and the Far East by Lucille Douglass

Feb. 2-24, 1931 -- Recent Paintings by Lillian Gentle

Feb. 2-24, 1931 -- Impressions of India and Palestine by Ruth Coleman

Feb. 16-28, 1931 -- Watercolors of Vermont Scenes and Other Views by Ruth Payne Burgess

Feb. 16-28, 1931 -- Martha Walter Recent Work in Oil and Watercolor

March 2-14, 1931 -- Recent Paintings by Alice Judson

March 2-28, 1931 -- Paintings & Drawings by Gari Melchers

March 16-28, 1931 -- Recent Watercolors by Harold Putnam Brown

March 30-April 11, 1931 -- Paintings by Louis Kronberg

March 30-April 11, 1931 -- Watercolors by John Whorf

April 13-25, 1931 -- Americans by American Artists, Exhibition of Portraits

April 13-25, 1931 -- Louis Kronberg

April 13-25, 1931 -- Portraits and Crayon Heads by Ferris Connah

April 13-May 2, 1931 -- Abbott H. Thayer

Sept. 22-Oct. 6, 1931 -- Water Colors by Gladys Brannigan, Alice Judson, Margery Ryerson

Oct. 19-30, 1931 -- Portraits by William Steene

Nov. 2-7, 1931 -- Portraits and Sketches by Maria Kammerer under the Patronage of Countess Laszlo Szechenyi

Nov. 9-21, 1931 -- Paintings by Bessie Lasky

Nov. 23-Dec. 5, 1931 -- Recent Oils, Water Colors and Etchings by Joseph Margulies

Dec. 7-21, 1931 -- Recent Paintings by George Wharton Edwards

Dec. 7-19, 1931 -- Paintings and Etchings of African and American Big Game by Major A. Radclyffe Dugmore

Dec. 7-19, 1931 -- Watercolors of Yucatan, "Land of the Mayas" by William de Leftwich Dodge

Dec. 20-Jan. 8, 1932 -- Water Colors of the Yellowstone and Mexican Series by Thomas Moran, N.A.

Jan. 11-23, 1932 -- Paintings, Watercolors and Etchings of Animals by Sybilla Mittell Weber

Jan. 25-Feb. 6, 1932 -- Paintings by George Oberteuffer, Member of the Salon d'Automne, Paris

Feb. 8-March 5, 1932 -- Important 19th and 20th Century American Painters

March 7-19, 1932 -- Paintings by Mrs. B. King Couper

March 7-19, 1932 -- Drawings by Maurice Sterne, Ernest Fiene, Alexander Brook, yasuo Kuniyoski, Bernard Karfiol, Peggy Bacon, and Leon Kroll

March 28-April 9, 1932 -- Watercolors by John Whorf

April 11-30, 1932 -- Forty Years of American Art

Oct. 3-15, 1932 -- New Paintings by American Artists

Oct. 19-Nov. 5, 1932 -- Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Nov. 7-30, 1932 -- Paintings by Edward Bruce

circa 1932 -- Recent Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Jan.30-Feb. 25, 1933 -- Important Exhibition of Paintings by Thomas Eakins

March 6-25, 1933 -- 19th and 20th Century Watercolors

March 27-April 14, 1933 -- Paintings by Francis Speight

April 17-May 6, 1933 -- Water Colors by John Whorf

May 15-31, 1933 -- 19th Century American Landscape Artists

Nov. 27-Dec., 1933 -- Water Colors by Emil Holzhaur

Feb. 26-March 17, 1934 -- Paintings by Stephen Etnier

March 19-April 7, 1934 -- Water Colors by John Whorf

April 16-May 5, 1934 -- Bali Studies by Maurice Sterne

June-Aug., 1934 -- Paintings by American Artists

Sept., 1934 -- Paintings by American Artists

Oct. 15-Nov. 3, 1934 -- New and Recent Paintings by American Artists

Nov. 5-21, 1934 -- Paintings by Sidney Laufman

Nov. 26-Dec., 1934 -- Recent Vermont Landscapes by Edward Bruce

circa 1934 -- American Figure Paintings of the 19th and 20th Century

Jan. 7-26, 1935 -- Paintings and Watercolors from the Samuel Halpert Estate

Feb. 4-28, 1935 -- Small Paintings by 19th and 20th Century American Artists

March 4-22, 1935 -- Recent Paintings by Stephen Etneir

March 25-April 13, 1935 -- Water Colors by John Whorf

April 22-May 11, 1935 -- Figure and Landscape Studies by Leon Kroll

May 20-June, 1935 -- Group Exibhition of Paintings

Summer, 1935 -- Paintings by American Artists

Oct. 1-26, 1935 -- Paintings by Childe Hassam

Oct. 28-Nov. 16, 1935 -- Watercolors by Millard Sheets

through Dec., 1935 -- Paintings by Americans

Jan. 1936 -- Paintings by Americans

Feb. 3-29, 1936 -- Important Exhibition of 19th and 20th Century American Painters

March 2-21, 1936 -- Stephen Etnier

March 30-April 19, 1936 -- Watercolors by John Whorf

May 18-June, 1936 -- Paintings by American Artists

Summer, 1936 -- Paintings by American Artists

September, 1936 -- Paintings by American Artists

Oct. 12-31, 1936 -- Contemportary Viewpoint

through Nov. 30, 1936 -- 19th and 20th Century American Figure Paintings

circa 1936 -- Landscapes--Contemporary Viewpoint

Jan. 11-30, 1937 -- Selected Landscapes

Feb., 1937 -- Contemporary American Sculpture

March 15-April 3, 1937 -- Watercolors by Millard Sheets

April 12-30, 1937 -- John Whorf

April 27-May 16, 1937 -- Maurice Sterne

May, 1937 -- Paintings by American Artists

Summer, 1937 -- Paintings

Oct. 1-15, 1937 -- Recent Watercolors

Oct. 18-Nov. 6, 1937 -- Paintings by Lucille Blanche

Nov. 8-30, 1937 -- Paintings by American Artists

Dec. 6-24, 1937 -- Watercolors by Lester Field

Jan. 3-22, 1938 -- Recent Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Jan. 24-Feb. 5, 1938 -- Paintings by Margaret Cooper

Feb. 7-26, 1938 -- Colonial Portraits

March 7-26, 1938 -- Recent Oils and Watercolors by Millard Sheet

April 4-23, 1938 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

Summer, 1938 -- Paintings by American Artists

through Oct., 1938 -- Paintings by American Artists

Oct. 24-Nov. 12, 1938 -- Recent Watercolors by Karl Oberteuffer

Nov. 21-Dec. 17, 1938 -- Paintings for the Home by American Artists

Jan. 16-Feb. 4, 1939 -- Recent Paintings by Floyd Clymer

Feb. 6-25, 1939 -- Harry Hering

March 6-31, 1939 -- Figure Paintings by American Artists

April 3-22, 1939 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

May 15-June 3, 1939 -- Recent Watercolors by Millard Sheets

Summer, 1939 -- Selected Group of Paintings by American Artists

Sept., 1939 -- Paintings and Watercolors by American Artists

through Oct. 13, 1939 -- Recent Paintings by a Group of American Artists

Oct. 16-Nov. 4, 1939 -- Recent Paintings by Saul Schary

Nov. 13-Dec. 2, 1939 -- Toreros and Dancers of Spain and Mexico by Carlos Ruano Llopis

Dec., 1939 -- Paintings for the Home

Nov. 5-17 [193?] -- Table Portraits by Eulabee Dix

[193?] -- Paintings by American Artists

Jan. 2-27, 1940 -- Stephen Etnier

Feb. 12-March 2, 1940 -- Recent Watercolors by Robert Carson

March 11-30, 1940 -- Daniel Serra Paintings

April 8-27, 1940 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

April 28-May 18, 1940 -- Rubin Recent Paintings

through June 29, 1940 -- Paintings by a Selected Group of American Artists

through Sept. 28, 1940 -- Summer Exhibition of Paintings by a Selected Group of Early and Contemporary American Artists

Oct. 1-19, 1940 -- Recent Paintings by a Selected Group of American Artists

Oct. 21-Nov. 9, 1940 -- Recent Watercolors by Allen Ingles Palmer

Nov. 18-Dec. 7, 1940 -- Helen Sawyer

Dec., 1940 -- Selected Paintings for the Home, and A Group of Original Studies in Color by Maurice Sterne

Jan. 13-Feb. 8, 1941 -- Watercolors by American Artists

Feb. 17-March 15, 1941 -- Paintings by Stephen Etnier, Sidney Laufman, and Francis Speight

April 7-26, 1941 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

April 28-May 17, 1941 -- Remembrances of South America and British West Indies by Manicol

May 19-June 30, 1941 -- Group of Paintings by Selected Contemporary American Artists

Summer, 1941 -- Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists

Sept., 1941 -- A Selected Group of Paintings by Americna Artists

Oct. 6-25, 1941 -- Recent Paintings by a Selected Group of American Artists

Oct. 27-Nov. 15, 1941 -- Eliot O'Hara Watercolors

Nov. 17-Dec. 5, 1941 -- Recent Paintings by Jay Connaway

Nov. 17-Dec. 6, 1941 -- Recent Watercolors by Richard A. Kimball

Dec. 8-27, 1941 -- Edith Blum Paintings

Jan. 5-24, 1942 -- Recent Paintings by Stephen Etnier

through Feb. 28, 1942 -- Selected Paintings by a Group of Contemporary American Artists

March 9-28, 1942 -- New Talents Presented by the Gloucester Society of Artists

April 6-25, 1942 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

May, 1942 -- Selected Paintings by Contemporary American Artists

June 2-13, 1942 -- Yun Gee

Summer, 1942 -- Selected Paintings by Early and Contemporary American Artists

Summer, 1942 -- Paintings by Selected American Artists

Oct. 5-31, 1942 -- Recent Paintings by a Selected Group of American Artists

Nov. 9-30, 1942 -- Watercolors by American Artists

Jan. 18-Feb. 6, 1943 -- Paintings by Yovan Radenkovitch

April 4-24, 1943 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

April 26-May 15, 1943 -- Paintings and Watercolors by Childe Hassam

May 25-June 5, 1943 -- Exhibition by Gladys Irene Cook

June, 1943 -- Selected Paintings by American Artists

Summer, 1943 -- Exhibition of Paintings by American Artists

Sept., 1943 -- Paintings by a Selected Group of American Artists

Oct. 4-23, 1943 -- Paintings by Yun Gee

Nov., 1943 -- Recent Paintings by a Selected Group of American Artists

Jan. 24-Feb. 12, 1944 -- Recent Watercolors by James Fitzgerald

Feb. 14-March 4, 1944 -- Paintings by Sidney Laufman

March 6-25, 1944 -- Paintings by Jessie Ansbacher

April 3-22, 1944 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

May, 1944 -- Paintings by Important American Artists

Summer, 1944 -- Exhibition of Paintings by a Selected Group of American Artists

Summer, 1944 -- Exhibition of Selected Paintings by a Group of American Artists

Oct. 2-21, 1944 -- Recent Paintings by Jay Connaway

Oct. 23-Nov. 11, 1944 -- Harry Hering

Nov. 13-Dec. 2, 1944 -- Paintings by Hobson Pittman

Dec., 1944 -- Paintings for the Home by American Artists

Jan. 3-13, 1945 -- Paintings by Therese Steinhardt

Jan. 22-Feb. 10, 1945 -- Louis Ritman

Feb. 18-, 1945 -- Memorial Exhibition, Paintings and Pastels by William Henry Singer, Jr., N.A.

Feb. 19-March 10, 1945 -- Recent Watercolors by Eliot O'Hara, A.N.A. (Elect)

March, 1945 -- Paintings by a Selected Group of Contemporary Artists

April 9-28, 1945 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

May, 1945 -- Paintings by American Artists, Late 19th and Early 20th Century

Summer, 1945 -- Paintings by a Selected Group of Contemporary American Artists

Oct., 1945 -- Paintings by a Group of Selected American Artists

Oct. 22-Nov. 10, 1945 -- Helen Sawyer

Nov. 19-Dec. 1, 1945 -- Recent Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Nov. 19-Dec. 8, 1945 -- Hilde Kayn

Dec., 1945 -- Paintings for the Home by American Artists

Dec. 31-Jan. 19, 1946 -- Paintings by Stpehen Etnier

Jan. 28-Feb. 16, 1946 -- Paintings by Alexandra Pregel

Feb. 18-March 9, 1946 -- W.H. Singer

March 11-30, 1946 -- Paintings by American Artists

April 8-27, 1946 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

Summer, 1946 -- Paintings by 19th and 20th Century Americans

Oct. 7-26, 1946 -- Recent Watercolors by Allen Ingles Palmer

Oct. 28-Nov. 16, 1946 -- Paintings by Ferdinand Warren

Nov. 18-Dec. 7, 1946 -- Louis Di Valentin

Dec. 9-29, 1946 -- Recent Watercolors by Wm. F.C. Ewing and Richard A. Kimball

Jan., 1947 -- Paintings by Selected American Artists

Jan. 13-Feb. 1, 1947 -- Gerrit V. Sinclair Paintings

Feb. 3-21, 1947 -- Recent Watercolors by Jerri Ricci

Feb. 24-March 15, 1947 -- Childe Hassam Paintings

March 31-April 19, 1947 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

April 21-May 10, 1947 -- Pastels of Charleston by Hobson Pittman

June 2-13, 1947 -- Yun Gee

Oct. 6-25, 1947 -- Special Exhibition of American Paintings Honoring the Great Artists Who Have Been Shown in Our Galleries

Oct. 27-Nov. 15, 1947 -- New Paintings, Oil Studies, and Drawings by Leon Kroll

Nov. 17-Dec. 6, 1947 -- F. Douglas Greenbowe Watercolors

Jan. 19-Feb. 7, 1948 -- Paintings by Alexandria Pregel

March 22-April 3, 1948 -- American Art

March 22-April 3, 1948 -- Paintings by Artists Equity Association Members

May, 1948 -- Paintings by a Group of Selected American Artists

May 24-June 5, 1948 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 16th Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

Oct. 5-23, 1948 -- Impressions of New York

Oct. 25-Nov. 13, 1948 -- Paintings by Ernest Lawson

Nov. 15-27, 1948 -- Sculpture by Eleanor M. Mellon

Dec. 20-Jan. 8, 1949 -- Drawings by Frank di Gioia

Jan. 10-29, 1949 -- Six Watercolorists [Greenbowie, Knauth, Newman, Palmer, Ricci and Whorf]

Jan. 31-Feb. 19, 1949 -- New Paintings by Ferdinand Warren

Feb. 21-March 12, 1949 -- Paintings by Louis Di Vanentin

April 4-23, 1949 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

April 25-May 7, 1949 -- Paintings by Mildred Hayward

May 9-21, 1949 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 17th Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

June 17-July 5, 1949 -- Paintings by Guy Pene DuBois

Oct. 4-29, 1949 -- Opening Exhibition of Paintings and Watercolors by 19th and 20th Century American Artists

Oct. 24-Nov. 12, 1949 -- Recent Watercolors by Henry Edmiston

Nov. 14-Dec. 3, 1949 -- Paintings by John H. Twachtman

Dec. 5-24, 1949 -- F. Douglas Greenbowe Watercolors

[194?] -- Paintings for the Home by American Artists

June [194?] -- 2-13Yun Gee

Jan. 9-28, 1950 -- Paintings by Gordon Samstag

Jan. 30-Feb. 18, 1950 -- George C. Ault Memorial Exhibition

Feb. 20-March 11, 1950 -- Recent Paintings by David Burr Moreing

March 13-April 1, 1950 -- Paintings by Frank di Gioia

April 3-22, 1950 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

April 24-May 13, 1950 -- Paintings by Contemporary American Artists

May 15-27, 1950 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 18th Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

Oct. 2-21, 1950 -- Recent Paintings by Benjamin Kopman

Nov. 13-Dec. 2, 1950 -- Paintings by Stephen Etnier

Dec. 4-30, 1950 -- Special Exhibition of American Paintings in Honor of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Diamond Jubilee

through Dec. 23, 1950 -- Watercolors and Drawings by Frank di Gioia

Jan. 8-27, 1951 -- New Gouaches of the Circus and Theatre by Walter Philipp

Jan. 29-Feb. 17, 1951 -- Louis Ritman Paintings

Feb. 19-March 10, 1951 -- Recent Watercolors by Jerri Ricci

March 12-31, 1951 -- Paintings, Panels, Figures of Africa, Belgian Congo, Bechuanaland, and Rhodesia by Jay Robinson

April 2-21, 1951 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

April 24-May 12, 1951 -- Sculpture and Drawings of Nicolaus Koni

May 21-June 1, 1951 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 19th Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

Oct. 22-Nov. 10, 1951 -- Recent Paintings by Thomas Blagden

Nov. 12-Dec. 1, 1951 -- Recent Paintings by David Burr Moreing

Dec., 1951 -- Group Exhibition

Jan. 7-26, 1952 -- Paintings of Italy and "Little Italy" by Frank di Gioia

Jan. 28-Feb. 16, 1952 -- London to Algiers, Recent Watercolors by Eliot O'Hara, N.A.

Feb. 18-March 8, 1952 -- Recent Paintings by Jacques Zucker

April 7-26, 1952 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

April 28-May. 10, 1952 -- Paintings by Alexandra Pregel

May 12-24, 1952 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 20th Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

Oct. 28-Nov. 15, 1952 -- Paintings by John Sharp

Nov. 17-Dec. 6, 1952 -- Stephen Etnier: Recent Paintings

Dec. 8-27, 1952 -- Childe Hassam Watercolors

Jan. 5-24, 1953 -- Jay Robinson

Jan. 26-Feb. 14, 1953 -- Iver Rose

Feb. 16-March 7, 1953 -- Recent Watercolors by Jerri Ricci

April 6-25, 1953 -- Recent Watercolors by John Whorf

May 18-29, 1953 -- Richard Whorf

May 18-29, 1953 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 21st Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

June, 1953 -- Paintings and Watercolors by 19th and 20th Century American Artists

Oct., 1953 -- Paintings and Watercolors by American Artists

Oct. 26-Nov. 14, 1953 -- Recent Paintings by David Burr Moreing

Nov. 17-Dec. 5, 1953 -- Ogden W. Pleissner Recent Paintings

Dec. 7-30, 1953 -- Recent Landscapes by Sidney Laufman

Jan. 4-23, 1954 -- Paintings of New York's "Little Italy" by Frank di Gioia

Jan. 25-Feb. 13, 1954 -- Round the World by Watercolor with Eliot O'Hara, N.A.

Feb. 15-March 6, 1954 -- Hobson Pittman

March 8-27, 1954 -- Jay Robinson: Kentucky, Part II

April 5-24, 1954 -- John Whorf Watercolors

May 17-28, 1954 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 22nd Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

Oct. 25-Nov. 13, 1954 -- Recent Watercolors by James Vance

Nov. 15-Dec. 4, 1954 -- Stephen Etnier Recent Paintings

Dec. 6-24, 1954 -- Recent Paintings by Thomas Blagden

Jan. 3-22, 1955 -- Recent Paintings by Jacques Zucker

Jan. 24-Feb. 12, 1955 -- Recent Watercolors by Jerri Ricci

Feb. 14-March 5, 1955 -- Paintings of Spain and Her People by Maurice Fromkes

April 25-May 14, 1955 -- Gluckmann Recent Paintings

May 16-27, 1955 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 23rd Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

Oct. 24-Nov. 12, 1955 -- Paintings and Gouaches by John Taylor

Nov. 14-Dec. 3, 1955 -- Paintings and Panels by Jay Robinson of West and Central Africa

Dec. 5-30, 1955 -- Childe Hassam and American Impressionism

Jan., 1956 -- Recent Paintings by a Group of American Artists

Feb. 6-25, 1956 -- F. Douglas Greenbowe Watercolors

March, 1956 -- Group Exhibition

April 9-28, 1956 -- John Whorf Watercolors

May, 1956 -- Paintings by a Group of 18 American Artists

May 7-19, 1956 -- Paintings by New York Artists, 24th Exhibition of the Arthur Schwieder Group

Nov. 5-24, 1956 -- Stephen Etnier Recent Paintings

Nov. 27-Dec. 15, 1956 -- Ogden M. Pleissner Recent Paintings

Dec. 1-Jan. 19, 1957 -- Jay Robinson Paintings in Fired Enamel on Copper

Feb. 11-March 2, 1957 -- Recent Paintings by Thomas Blagden

March 4-23, 1957 -- Adolph Dehn

April 15-May 4, 1957 -- John Whorf Watercolors

Oct. 28-Nov. 16, 1957 -- Recent Still Life Paintings by Aaron Bohrod

Jan. 13-Feb. 8, 1958 -- Recent Paintings by a Group of Contemporary Americans

Feb. 10-March 8, 1958 -- Long Island Paintings by Childe Hassam

March 10-29, 1958 -- Paintings by Louis Di Valentin

March 31-April 19, 1958 -- Recent Paintings by Sidney Laufman

April 21-May 10, 1958 -- John Whorf Watercolors

May, 1958 -- Americans: 1865-1925

June, 1958 -- Exhibit to Benefit Friends of the Whitney Museum

June 3-27, 1958 -- American Paintings and Sculpture

Oct. 6-25, 1958 -- Recent Paintings by David Shapiro

Oct. 27-Nov. 15, 1958 -- Stephen Etnier Recent Paintings

Nov. 17-Dec. 6, 1958 -- Paul Sample Recent Paintings

Dec. 8-24, 1958 -- Recent Drawings and Watercolors of France, Italy, Spain, and North Africa by Frank di Gioia

Jan. 19-Feb. 7, 1959 -- Marion Greenwood Paintings

March 2-21, 1959 -- Leon Kroll Paintings and Drawings

March 23-April 18, 1959 -- Elmer L. Mac Rae Forgotten Artist of the 1913 Armory Show

May 4-23, 1959 -- Philip Visson

Oct., 1959 -- Paintings by American Artists

Oct. 26-Nov. 14, 1959 -- Recent Painting by Aaron Bohrod

Nov. 17-Dec. 5, 1959 -- Ogden M. Pleissner Recent Paintings

Dec. 7-30, 1959 -- Recent Oils and Watercolors by Thomas Blagden

Jan. 18-Feb. 6, 1960 -- Elmer L. Mac Rae, Re-Discovered Artist of the 1913 Armory Show and a Founder of "The Pastellists"

through Jan. 15, 1960 -- Paintings by American Artists

March 14-April 2, 1960 -- Xavier Gonzalez Recent Paintings

April 4-23, 1960 -- Paintings by Louis Bosa

April 25-May 14, 1960 -- Grigory Gluckmann

May-June, 1960 -- Group of Contemporary Armerican Artists

Oct. 10-29, 1960 -- Adolf Dehn Caseins and Watercolors

Oct. 31-Nov. 19, 1960 -- Stephen Etnier

Dec., 1960 -- Paintings for the Home

Jan., 1961 -- Group Exhibition, 19th and 20th Century Americans

Jan. 30-Feb. 18, 1961 -- Recent Watercolors by Jerri Ricci

Feb. 20-March 11, 1961 -- Frank di Gioia Recent Paintings

March 20-April 8, 1961 -- David Fredenthal Memorial Exhibition

April 10-29, 1961 -- Allen Tucker

May, 1961 -- Contemporary American Artists

June-July, 1961 -- 19th & 20th Century American Artists

Oct. 10-28, 1961 -- David Shapiro Recent Paintings

Oct. 31-Nov. 18, 1961 -- Aaron Bohrod

Nov. 21-Dec. 9, 1961 -- Thomas Fransioli

Feb. 6-24, 1962 -- Retrospective Exhibition, Maurice Sterne

March 6-24, 1962 -- Three Watercolorists: Childe Hassam, John Whorf, and David Fredenthal

April 3-21, 1962 -- Thomas Blagden

April 24-May 12, 1962 -- Grigory Gluckmann

Summer, 1962 -- Gallery Group of Contemporary Americans

Sept., 1962 -- 19th & 20th Century American Artists

Oct., 1962 -- Gallery Group of Contemporary Americans

Oct. 30-Nov. 17, 1962 -- Stephen Etnier

Nov. 21-Dec. 8, 1962 -- Pleissner Recent Paintings

Dec., 1962 -- Group Exhibition

Jan. 22-Feb. 9, 1963 -- Paul Sample Recent Paintings

Feb. 11-March 2, 1963 -- Group of Contemporary Americans

March 5-23, 1963 -- Gouaches by John Taylor

March 26-April 13, 1963 -- Fletcher Martin Recent Paintings

April-May, 1963 -- Gallery Group-Contemporary Americans

Oct. 8-26, 1963 -- David Shapiro Recent Work

Oct. 30-Nov. 16, 1963 -- Xavier Gonzalez Recent Watercolors

Nov. 19-Dec. 7, 1963 -- New Paintings by Aaron Bohrod

April, 1964 -- Watercolors and Pastels

April 21-May 9, 1964 -- Grigory Gluckmann

May 13-29, 1964 -- Frank di Gioia Recent Paintings

Oct., 1964 -- Group Exhibition

Nov. 3-21, 1964 -- Stephen Etnier

Nov. 24-Dec. 12, 1964 -- Thomas Blagden

Jan., 1965 -- Comtemporary American Artists

Feb. 2-14, 1965 -- Figure Paintings by Murray Bewley

Feb. 2-14, 1965 -- Exhibition by George Biddle

Feb. 11-23, 1965 -- Paintings and Drawings by Max Bohm

Feb. 14-26, 1965 -- Paintings by Arthur C. Goodwin

Feb. 16-28, 1965 -- Water Colors by Matilda Browne

Feb. 16-March 6, 1965 -- Water Colors by Adolf Dehn

March, 1965 -- 19th and 20th Century American Artists

March 1-13, 1965 -- Bruce Crane, N.A.

March 6-25, 1965 -- Pastels of the Cascapedia River, Canada, by Arthur C. Goodwin

March 26-April 7, 1965 -- Paintings by Howard Russell Butler, N.A.

March 23-April 10, 1965 -- Paintings by Dan Lutz

March 28-April 16, 1965 -- Paintings by Henry Golden Dearth

April 2-21, 1965 -- Landscape Paintings by Bruce Crane, N.A.

April 13-May 1, 1965 -- Paintings by Louis Bosa

April 16-28, 1965 -- Water Colors and Etchings by Adolphe W. Blondheim

May, 1965 -- Gallery Contemporaries

Oct. 25-Nov. 13, 1965 -- Recent Landscapes by John F. Carlson, N.A.

Oct. 26-Nov. 13, 1965 -- Twenty-Four New Paintings by Aaron Bohrod, Artist in Residence, University of Wisconsin

Nov. 2-14, 1965 -- Paintings by Ann Crane

Nov. 5-17, 1965 -- Memorial Exhibition of Paintings of Venice by Wm. Gedney Bunce, N.A.

Nov. 7-19, 1965 -- Paintings and Sculpture by Matilda Browne

Nov. 16-Dec. 4, 1965 -- Electra Bostwick

Dec. 7-30, 1965 -- Recent Drawings and Watercolors of European Countries and North Africa by Frank di Gioia

Jan. 11-29, 1966 -- Georges Schreiber Watercolors: 1963-1965

Jan.-Feb., 1966 -- 19th and 20th Century American Artists

Feb.-March, 1966 -- Group Exhibition

June, 1966 -- Group Exhibition

Oct. 11-29, 1966 -- Thomas Blagden

Nov. 1-19, 1966 -- Stephen Etnier

Nov. 22-Dec. 10, 1966 -- Pleissner

Jan. 24-Feb. 11, 1967 -- Xavier Gonzalez

April, 1967 -- Group Exhibition

April 18-May 6, 1967 -- Grigory Gluckmann

July, 1967 -- Group Exhibition

undated -- Etchings and Color-Etchings

undated -- Etchings of China and Cambodia by Lucille Douglass

undated -- Thomas Jefferson Bust in Bronze by Robert Aitken, N.A.

undated -- Paintings by Ossip L. Linde

undated -- Etchings by William Meyerowitz

undated -- Recent Screens and Panels by Roy Mac Nicol

undated -- Summer Exhibition of Paintings and Watercolors by 19th and 20th Century American Artists

undated -- Paintings by Clement

undated -- Important Works in Paintings and Sculpture by Leading American Artists

Jan. 3-14, undated -- Armin Hansen

Jan. 8-27, undated* -- Recent Etchings by William Meyerowitz

Jan. 8-31, undated -- Group of American Figure Paintings, 19th and 20th Century

Jan. 9-21, undated -- Paintings by Katherine Langhorne Adams

Jan. 16-28, undated -- Paintings by Dewitt Parshall, N.A., and Douglass Parshall, N.A.

Jan. 23-Feb. 11, undated -- Paintings by Bruce Crane, Elliott Daingerfield, Granville Smith, and F. Ballard Williams

Jan. 27-Feb. 11, undated -- Willam de Leftwick Dodge

Jan. 28-Feb. 16, undated -- Paintings by Gari Melchers

Jan. 29-Feb. 10, undated -- Paintings of the California Coast by Armin Hansen

Jan. 30-Feb. 11, undated -- Sigrud Skou

Feb. 13-25, undated -- Water Colors by Alice Judson

Feb. 13-25, undated -- Paintings by Guy Wiggins, N.A.

Feb. 13-March 11, undated -- Paintings by H.T. Keasbey

Feb. 15-March 5, undated -- Frederic James

Feb. 17-March 1, undated -- Silver Point Drawings by Thelma E. Wood

Feb. 18-March 6, undated -- Landcapes, Nature Moods Expressed in Terms of Light by Julie Mathilde Morrow

Feb. 18-March 8, undated -- Paintings of Venice, Rome and French Landscape, also Pastel Drawings of the Battle Sectors of the 26th Division, A.E.F. by J. Alden Twachtman

Feb. 27-March 10, undated -- Portrait Busts and Drawings by Alexander Portnoff

March 5-17, undated* -- Pastels of the Hudson River by Arthur C. Goodwin

March 7-16, undated -- Paintings of Africa and Spain by Lillian Genth

March 7-26, undated -- Sigurd Skou

March 8-20, undated -- Paintings by Sigurd Skou

March 10-22, undated -- MacDowell Club of New York City Annual Exhibition of Paintings

March 22-April 10, undated -- Paintings of the Cathedrals of France by Pieter Van Veen

March 26-April 12, undated -- Paintings by E. Martin Hennings

March 26-April 14, undated -- Recent Etchings by Elias M. Grossman

March 28-April 16, undated -- Martha Walter Water Colors of Spain and North Africa

April 5-17, undated -- Paintings by Ernest L. Blumenschein, Victor Huggins, Walter Ufer

April 7-19, undated -- Figure Paintings by Louis Ritman

April 12-23, undated -- Portraits and Figure Paintings by Edith Catlin Phelps

April 12-24, undated -- Paintings of American Gardens by Abbott Graves

April 16-28, undated -- Portrait Drawings in Pastel by Jessie Voss Lewis (Mrs. H.L. Daingerfield Lewis)

April 19-May 1, undated -- Paintings by Valentino Molina

April 21-May 3, undated -- Paintings of Tahiti and California by William Ritschel, N.A.

April 21-May 3, undated -- Leonard Lopp, Glacier Park Artist

April 22-May 15, undated -- Sculpture for House, Garden & Grounds by Leading American Artists, and Pottery by Clara L. Poillon

April 24-May 5, undated -- Paintings by Thalia Millett

April 26-May 15, undated -- Dan Lutz, Mighican Summer and Mexican Sojourn

April 26-May 15, undated -- William H. Singer

April 27-May 16, undated -- Recent Paintings by Gluckmann

May 3-28, undated -- Exhibition of Sculpture for Garden and Grounds by Leading Sculptors

May 5-17, undated -- Recent American Sculpture in Bronze, Wood and Terra Cotta for the Town and Country House, Grounds and Garden

Oct. 11-23, undated -- Paintings by Anna Heyward Taylor

Oct. 25-Nov. 13, undated -- Water Colors by Alice Judson

Oct. 27-Nov. 15, undated -- Paintings and Etchings by William Auerbach-Levy

Oct. 30-Nov. 11, undated* -- Connecticut Landscape Paintings by Robert Nisbet, A.N.A.

Oct. 31-Nov. 12, undated -- Paintings of China and Tibet by Alice Job

Oct. 31-Nov. 14, undated -- Drawings by James Wilkie

Nov. 5-17, undated -- Paintings of Venice

Nov. 15-27, undated* -- Water Colors by Childe Hassam

Nov. 16-Dec. 5, undated -- Recent Etchings by Alfred Hutty

Nov. 16-Dec. 5, undated -- Paintings by W. Elmer Schofield

Nov. 17-29, undated -- Paintings and Etchings by Power O'Malley

Nov. 18-30, undated -- Recent Work in Water Color and Etching by Louis Wolchonok

Nov. 19-Dec. 1, undated -- Winter Landscapes in Water Color by Walter Launt Palmer, N.A.

Nov. 19-Dec. 1, undated -- Painter Friends, Robert H. Nisbet, Guy C, Wiggins, Edward C. Volkert, Wilson Irvine, George M. Bruestle, and Carl J. Nordell

Nov. 23-, undated -- Landscapes by Ault, Brook, Coleman, Karfiol, Ritman, Speight, Sterne, and Weber

Nov. 23-Dec. 6, undated -- Portraits of America's Most Distinguished Women by Leon Gordon

Nov. 24-Dec. 3, undated -- Sculpture by Gleb Derujinsky

Nov. 26-Dec., undated -- Exhibition of Recent Vermont Landscapes by Edward Bruce

Nov. 26-Dec. 5, undated -- Alfred Hutty

Nov. 27-Dec. 9, undated -- Paintings by Sigure Schou

Dec. 1-27, undated -- Works Painted in Spain by Maurice Fromkes

Dec. 1-25, undated -- Annual Holiday Exhibition of Selected Paintings of Limited Size

Dec. 3-29, undated -- Recent Paintings, Water Colors, and Etchings by Hilde Hassam, N.A., of the American Academy of Arts and Letters

Dec. 6-30, undated -- Selected Paintings for the Home by American Artists

Dec. 14-Jan. 2, undated -- Recent Paintings by George Shillard

Dec. 20-Jan. 8, undated -- Selected Small Paintings for the Home

Dec. 27-Jan. 12, undated -- Helen K. McCarthy Memorial Exhibition

Dec. 30-Jan. 18, undated -- Paintings by Stewart McDermot

Dec. 31-Jan. 12, undated -- Second Annual Exhibition in Pure Water Color by The Aquarellists

Provenance:

Milch Gallery gave the Archives of American Art a small selection of correspondence, photographs, and printed matter, and loaned a few other items in 1966-1967; these records were microfilmed on reels D285, N730, and NM1-NM2. Records of the Milch Gallery were purchased from the estate of Harold C. Milch by Elliott Galleries of New York City, and subsequently acquired by Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, which donated them to the Archives in 1986. With the exception of the scrapbook about Thomas Moran (reel N730; present location of the original is unknown), prior loans and gifts from Milch Gallery were incorporated and refilmed with the 1986 gift.

Stuart Feld of Hirschl & Adler Galleries donated an additional .8 linear feet of records in 1995. Zachary Ross of Hirschl & Adler Galleries donated 2.2 linear feet in 2014.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Patrons must use microfilm copy.

Rights:

The Milch Gallery records are 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:

Painters  Search this

Topic:

Gallery owners  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art, American  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Art dealers -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Gallery records

Photographs

Citation:

Milch Gallery records, 1911-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.milcgall

See more items in:

Milch Gallery records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-milcgall

Creator:

Dale, Chester, b. 1883  Search this

Names:

Allentown Art Museum  Search this

Amherst College  Search this

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

National Gallery of Art (U.S.)  Search this

Parrish Art Museum  Search this

Batigne, Claire  Search this

Batigne, Renee  Search this

Braque, Georges, 1882-1963  Search this

Burkhardt, Rudy  Search this

Cantor, Irving  Search this

Cassatt, Mary, 1844-1926  Search this

Cooper, Maria  Search this

Cooper, Veronica  Search this

Cézanne, Paul, 1839-1906  Search this

Dale, Mary Towar Bullard, 1892-1984  Search this

Dale, Maud, 1875-1953  Search this

Dallas Museum of Art  Search this

Dalí, Gala  Search this

Dalí, Salvador, 1904-  Search this

Dmitri, Ivan, 1900-1968  Search this

Dufy, Raoul, 1877-1953  Search this

Elizabeth, Queen of Great Britain, II, 1926-  Search this

Frost, Robert, 1874-1963  Search this

Hamilton, Edith, 1867-1963  Search this

Ingersoll, R. Sturgis (Robert Sturgis), b. 1891  Search this

Kahlo, Frida  Search this

Kessel, Dmitri  Search this

MacNeil, Neil  Search this

Mayes, Herbert R., 1900-1987 (Herbert Raymond)  Search this

Mellon, Paul  Search this

Mellon, Timothy  Search this

Orozco, José Clemente, 1883-1949  Search this

Picasso, Pablo, 1881-1973  Search this

Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957  Search this

Salles, Georges  Search this

Wyeth, Andrew, 1917-2009  Search this

Wyeth, Jamie, 1946-  Search this

Wyeth, Nicholas  Search this

Extent:

8.4 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Travel diaries

Place:

Europe -- description and travel

Date:

circa 1883-2003

bulk 1920-1970

Summary:

The papers of New York art collector Chester Dale measure 8.4 linear feet and date from circa 1883-2003. Dale amassed one of the world's most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art, was a collector of eighteenth century American portraitists, and a patron and collector of twentieth American artists including George Bellows and Mary Cassatt. The bulk of the collection dates from 1920 to 1970 and documents Dale's activities through biographical material, correspondence, memoirs and other writings, purchase, sales and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of New York art collector Chester Dale measure 8.4 linear feet and date from circa 1883-2003. Dale amassed one of the world's most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art, was a collector of eighteenth century American portraitists, and a patron and collector of twentieth American artists including George Bellows and Mary Cassatt. The bulk of the collection dates from 1920 to 1970 and documents Dale's activities through biographical material, correspondence, memoirs and other writings, purchase, sales and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs.

Biographical material comprises brief genealogical and biographical notes on Dale's father's side of the family; four pieces of miscellaneous artwork; several certificates, membership cards, and programs; circa six unidentified dictaphone recordings; and a home movie of an unidentified social event.

Correspondence provides scattered documentation of Dale's activities as a collector and benefactor, including correspondence relating to gifts to various museums such as the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as posthumous gifts to the Allentown Art Museum and Amherst College. Also documented is Dale's election as president of the National Gallery of Art in 1955. There are several letters to and from Salvador and Gala Dali, copies of two letters from Diego Rivera, and letters from other friends and business associates, including historian Georges Salles. Over one third of the correspondence consists of condolence telegrams and letters sent to Mary Dale following Dale's death. Other correspondence documents Mary Dale's work as exhibition chairman for the Parrish Museum of Art, and includes letters from Andrew, Jamie, and Nicholas Wyeth.

Writings include typed drafts of Dale's memoirs which recall the beginning of his career in banking, and include stories of his early experiences in buying art. Dale credits the highly discerning and influential eye of his first wife, Maud Dale, for guiding him in his early selections, and his memoirs recall his unconventionally direct way of doing business with the Paris art dealers. Two travel diaries record a 1904 trip to Europe, and five trips to Europe and the Caribbean between 1949 and 1953. Writings by others include several essays on Dale by various authors, several essays on art by Maud Dale, and a typed draft of a manuscript on Dale's life by Neil MacNeil.

Extensive inventories, estate appraisals, and will disbursement records document the contents of the Chester Dale collection in Series 4. Also found here are receipts for specific purchases of works by Cezanne, Cassatt, Dali, Dufy, Picasso, and others.

Printed material includes catalogs for auction sales annotated with sales prices and other purchase information; catalogs of Dale's collection; and exhibition catalogs and announcements for the Parrish Museum of Art during Mary Dale's tenure as exhibition chairman. Some of the catalogs include essays by Maud Dale. News clippings and magazine articles document press coverage of Dale's activities at home and abroad.

Scrapbooks contain additional printed material, primarily news clippings, documenting press coverage of Chester Dale's life from the 1920s until his death. One of the scrapbooks includes multiple photographs of Dale and others, including a photo of Frida Kahlo and Jose Orozco. An additional scrapbook of photographs and clippings documents Mary Dale's life before and after her marriage to Dale.

Photographs are of Dale, Mary Dale, Maud Dale, family, friends, and colleagues. There are photographs of Dale and Mary Dale with artists including George Braques, Salvador and Gala Dali, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and Jamie and Nicholas Wyeth; and friends and associates Renee and Claire Batigne, Veronica "Rocky" Cooper and Maria Cooper, Robert Sturgis Ingersoll, Edith Hamilton with Robert Frost, Neil MacNeil, Herbert Mayes, and Paul and Timothy Mellon. There are individual photos and three photograph albums of Dale's various residences and his collection, including photographs taken shortly before his death at his Plaza Hotel apartment showing some of his favorite pictures. Photographers include Rudolph Burkhardt, Irving Cantor, Ivan Dmitri, and Dmitri Kessel. There are also many photographs of exhibition openings and museum events, especially events at the National Gallery of Art, including the presentation of Dale's gift of Dali's The Sacrament of the Last Supper to the museum in 1956, and the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II of England's visit to the museum in 1957. Photographs also include photographs of artwork in Dale's collection.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as seven series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1897-circa 1960, 2003 (Boxes 1, 7-8; FC 20; 0.45 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1911-1984 (Box 1; 0.9 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1904-1963 (Boxes 2, 8; 0.55 linear feet)

Series 4: Chester Dale Collection, circa 1930-1968 (Boxes 2-3; 1 linear foot)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1925-circa 1972 (Boxes 3-4, 8, OV 9; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 6: Scrapbooks, circa 1920s-1963 (Box 4, BVs 10-14; 1.2 linear feet)

Series 7: Photographs, circa 1883-1972 (Boxes 4-6, 19, BVs 15-17, OV 18; 3.3 linear feet)

Biographical / Historical:

New York art patron and collector of French and American art Chester Dale (1883-1962), made his fortune as a banker who pioneered the sale of public utility securities. He began purchasing French paintings in the mid-1920s and retired from the investment security business in 1935 in order to focus full time on the acquisition of art.

Dale was encouraged to begin collecting art by his first wife, Maud Dale, who was an artist, a writer, and a former chairman of the Exhibition Committee of the Museum of French Art. With the benefit of his wife's knowledge, passion, and perception, Dale began to lay the foundation of his collection in 1926, and amassed circa seven hundred pictures within ten years. His collection is considered to be one of the most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art in the world, and includes some of the finest examples of works by Braque, Corot, Delacroix, Degas, Derain, Dufy, Leger, Matisse, and Renoir, as well as by artists representative of the French tradition in art including Modigliani, Picasso, Rivera, and Van Gogh.

Although primarily interested in French art, Dale also collected and encouraged American artists. He was a patron of George Bellows and Salvador Dali, and had his portrait painted by both artists. Dale presented the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art with their first Dali paintings, the latter being The Sacrament of the Last Supper. Dale also purchased works by Mary Cassatt, representative works by "the Eight," and examples of eighteenth century American portraitists John Smibert, Gilbert Stuart and Thomas Sully. In the early 1940s he visited Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Mexico, and Rivera subsequently completed a portrait of Dale in 1945.

Dale served as a trustee to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He made the first of a series of gifts to the National Gallery of Art when it opened in 1941. In 1955 he was elected president of the museum, by which time his collection occupied ten of its galleries. Dale bequeathed the bulk of his remaining collection to the National Gallery in his will. This final gift included eighty of his favorite pictures, which had been located in his Manhattan apartment at the Plaza Hotel up until his death.

A year after the death of Maud Dale in 1953, Dale married Mary Towar Bullard, whom he had employed as his secretary for twenty-five years. Mary Dale oversaw the disbursement of her husband's estate, following Dale's death from a heart attack in 1962.

Related Materials:

Holdings at the Archives of American Art also include the Chester Dale papers concerning George Bellows, 1919-1956, comprising correspondence, a photograph, and invoices relating to Chester Dale's relationship with George Bellows and Dale's interest in artwork by Bellows; and the Chester Dale eulogy, consisting of one 35 minute, 9 second sound tape reel of a eulogy delivered by an unidentified speaker.

Provenance:

The collection was donated in 1972 by Mary Dale, Chester Dale's second wife, and in 1985 by Mary Dale's estate.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D. C., Research Center. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate copy requires advance notice.

Rights:

The Chester Dale papers are 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:

Art dealers -- France -- Paris  Search this

Topic:

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art, French--19th century  Search this

Art, French--20th century  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Art, Modern--19th century--Collectors and collecting  Search this

Motion pictures (visual works)  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Sound recordings

Travel diaries

Citation:

Chester Dale papers, circa 1883-2003, bulk 1920-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of the Chester Dale papers is provided by The Walton Family Foundation. Funding for the reformatting of the 16mm film reel was provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.daleches

See more items in:

Chester Dale papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-daleches

Creator:

Meigs, Montgomery C., 1816-1892  Search this

Photographer:

Russell, Andrew J., 1829-1902  Search this

Names:

Pension Building  Search this

Post Office Building (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

United States Capitol (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Extent:

12.5 Cubic feet (27 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Albums

Clippings

Photographs

Scrapbooks

Place:

Georgia

West Point (N.Y.)

Washington (D.C.)

Date:

1870 - 1890

Summary:

The collection documents Mongomery C. Meigs, an Army officer, engineer, architect, and scientist. Meigs's papers include scrapbooks and photographs relating primarily to his work on the Pension Building and the Washington Aqueduct in Washington, D.C. but also his interest in politics, military affairs, construction, Native Americans, inventions, real estate, and financial matters.

Scope and Contents:

The collection documents, Mongomery C. Meigs, an Army officer, engineer, architect, and scientist. Meigs's papers include scrapbooks and photographs relating primarily to his work on the Pension Building in Washington, D.C., an extension to the Post Office Building, the Washington Aqueduct, Cabin John Bridge, and the dome of the United States Capitol. The scrapbooks reflect Meigs's interests in politics, military affairs, construction, Native Americans, inventions and technology, real estate, and financial matters.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series.

Series 1, Scrapbooks, 1870-1890

Series 2, Photographs, 1850-1885

Biographical / Historical:

1816, May 3, Born, Augusta, Georgia

1832, Entered United States Military Academy, West Point, New York

1837, Second lieutenant, Corps of Engineers. Surveyed Upper Mississippi River

1838, Survey engineering work, Delaware River

1839, Duty at army headquarters, Washington, D.C.

1841, Married Louisa Rodgers (died 1879)

1843-1852, Stationed in Detroit, Michigan, until return to permanent duty in Washington, D.C.

1852, Supervised construction of the Washington aqueduct for Great Falls, Virginia and various United States Capitol improvements, including a new and larger dome

1861, June Appointed Quartermaster General, United States Army

1865, April 15, Present at the death of Abraham Lincoln

1867, Postwar illness and trip to Europe

1882, Retired from the United States Army. Began engineering work on the Pension Office Building, Washington, D.C.

1892, January 2, Died, Washington, D.C.

*Biographical Chronology courtesy the Library of Congress, Montgomery C. Meigs Papers, 1799-1892 (bulk 1849-1892)

Related Materials:

Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

William R. Hutton Papers (AC0987)

Materials at the National Museum of American History

Several curatorial divisions hold material culture related to Montgomery C. Meigs.

Division of Culture and the Arts

Armed Forces History

Division of Home and Community Life

Division of Medicine and Science

Division of Work and Industry

Materials at Other Organizations

Library of Congress, Manuscript Division

Montgomery C. Meigs Papers, 1799-1892 (bulk 1849-1892)

Army officer, engineer, architect, and scientist. Correspondence, diaries and journals, notebooks, family papers, military papers, drawings and plans, scrapbooks, and other papers relating primarily to Meigs's work in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, his service as Quartermaster General during the Civil War, and family matters.

Provenance:

Parts of the collection were donated by Dr. Paul L. Smith on January 8, 1971 and Mr. and Mrs. Mayo S. Stuntz on March 8, 1974. Other sources are unknown.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Bridges -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Architecture -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Civil engineers  Search this

Civil engineering  Search this

Architects  Search this

Tunnels  Search this

Reservoirs -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Water-supply  Search this

Washington Aqueduct  Search this

Engineering  Search this

Architecture  Search this

Hydraulic structures  Search this

Engineers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings -- 19th century

Albums

Clippings -- 1850-1900

Photographs -- 19th century

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Montgomery C. Meigs Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0984

See more items in:

Montgomery C. Meigs Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0984

Creator:

Vose Galleries of Boston  Search this

Subject:

Vose, Robert Churchill  Search this

Hassam, Childe  Search this

Hoffman, Malvina  Search this

Jonniaux, Alfred  Search this

Ladd, Anna Coleman (sculptor)  Search this

Thayer, Abbott Handerson  Search this

Norton, William E.  Search this

Sargent, John Singer  Search this

Vose, Robert C. (Robert Churchill)  Search this

Arthur U. Newton Galleries  Search this

Ehrich Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Howard Young Galleries (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Jill Newhouse (Gallery)  Search this

M. Knoedler & Co.  Search this

Macbeth Gallery  Search this

Milch Galleries  Search this

Norton Gallery and School of Art  Search this

R.C. & N.M. Vose (Firm)  Search this

Robert C. Vose Galleries  Search this

Centennial Exhibition  Search this

Type:

Video recordings

Manuscript

Topic:

Artists -- United States -- Photographs  Search this

Picture frame industry -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Picture frames and framing  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Rhode Island -- Providence  Search this

Art galleries, Commercial -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Art, Modern -- 20th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Massachusetts -- Boston  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)9272

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211467

AAA_collcode_vosegall

Theme:

The Art Market

Art Gallery Records

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211467

Creator:

Mayer, Ralph, 1895-1979  Search this

Names:

Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this

Bishop, Isabel, 1902-1988  Search this

Brook, Alexander, 1898-1980  Search this

Burchfield, Charles Ephraim, 1893-1967  Search this

Florsheim, Richard A., 1916-1979  Search this

Hammer, Victor Karl, 1882-  Search this

Hirsch, Stefan, 1899-1964  Search this

Hurd, Peter, 1904-1984  Search this

MacKendrick, Lilian  Search this

Mayer, Bena Frank, 1898-1991  Search this

Miller, Kenneth Hayes, 1876-1952  Search this

Pach, Walter, 1883-1958  Search this

Rattner, Abraham  Search this

Sloan, John, 1871-1951  Search this

Smith, David, 1906-1965  Search this

Extent:

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

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

[ca. 1920]-1964

Scope and Contents:

Correspondence, writings, photographs, art work, subject files, scrapbooks, and printed material.

REELS D211-D213: Ralph Mayer's correspondence is with artists, conservators, museum directors, publishers, art organizations, and others. Notebooks contain data on 19th century canvas makers and dealers of artists' materials. Also included are correspondence and a ledger regarding restoration and conservation of paintings, 1929-1963; files on Columbia University, the National Academy of Design, the Newark Museum, The New York State Department of Commerce, the Whitney Museum of Art, subway murals, and other subjects; and correspondence with the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding standards for paints and pigments. Photographs are of Ralph Mayer's paintings. Correspondents include: George Biddle, Isabel Bishop, Alexander Brook, Charles Burchfield, Richard A. Florsheim, Victor Hammer, Stefan Hirsch, Peter Hurd, Lilian MacKendrick, Kenneth H. Miller, Walter Pach, Abraham Rattner, John Sloan, and David Smith.

Bena Frank Mayer's papers consist of biographical material, clippings, correspondence, exhibition catalogs and announcements, and photographs of her paintings. Two scrapbooks contain printed material, letters, and photographs regarding the Mayers' careers.

UNMICROFILMED: Correspondence includes Ralph Mayer's, 1930-1964, mainly concerning the use of artists' materials, Bena Frank correspondence, 1910-1977, and letters concerning Mayer's book, The Painter's Craft, 1948. Among his correspondents are Josef Albers, Thomas Hart Benton, Isabel Bishop, Georgia O'Keeffe, Walter Pach, Paul Sample, John Sloan, and Frederic Taubes. Subject files are on the Artists' Laboratory, the Art Students League, Gustav Berger, Huntington Hartford, the MacDowell Colony, the National Academy of Design, Diego Rivera murals, subway murals, and other subjects. Writings consist of papers on commercial standards of paint, a typescript of The Painter's Craft, and lecture notes from classes Mayer taught at the Art Students League and Columbia University.

Art work consists of sketchbooks and sketches. Photographs are of the Mayers, their studios, family, friends, and paintings. Printed material includes exhibition catalogs and announcements, brochures, clippings, and posters. There are also six scrapbooks, ca. 1930-1940, containing clippings, photographs, letters received, and printed material.

Biographical / Historical:

Ralph Mayer: conservator, restorer, painter. Died 1979. Bena Frank Mayer: painter. They lived in New York. Ralph Mayer was educated as a chemical engineer, and spent several years working in the manufacture of paints and varnishes. He also studied painting at the Art Students League. His work in conservation and artists' materials led him to found the Artists Technical Research Institute in 1959. Author of The Artists Handbook of Materials and Techniques (1940) and The Painter's Craft (1948), and numerous articles. Taught at Columbia University.

Provenance:

Material on reels D211-D213 was lent for microfilming in 1965 by Ralph Mayer. Portions were subsequently donated along with unmicrofilmed material, 1972-1979, by Ralph and Bena Frank Mayer.

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:

Art restorers  Search this

Conservators  Search this

Restorers  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Artists' materials  Search this

Art -- Conservation and restoration  Search this

Art -- Technique  Search this

Identifier:

AAA.mayeralp

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-mayeralp

Creator:

Muller, Robert O., 1911-2003  Search this

Extent:

7.5 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Auction catalogs

Exhibition catalogs

Photographic prints

Price lists

Correspondence

Place:

Japan -- Description and Travel

Date:

1930-1997

Summary:

Personal papers of Robert O. Muller, a Connecticut-based art dealer and collector who, over the course of seventy years, assembled one of the world's finest collections of Japanese prints from the late 1860s through the 1940s. The papers include Muller's correspondence relating to Japanese art, files relating to his and his wife's 1940 honeymoon in Japan during which he forged many contacts with Japanese artists and art dealers and purchased thousands of prints, subject files, catalogs, business transactions, magazine and newspaper clippings, photographs, and notes and drafts for a planned book.

Scope and Contents:

The Robert O. Muller Papers consist of Mr. Muller's correspondence; research and subject files; indexes to his art collection; printed matter; photographs; and a draft manuscript and notes for a planned book. The papers document his art collecting and dealing, his relationships with a wide variety of art shops and other art dealers, his 1940 honeymoon to Japan, and the dealings of his various businesses from the 1940s through to the 1990s.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into five series:

Series 1: Correspondence and subject files

Series 2: Catalogs and indexes to Robert-Lee Gallery and Robert O. Muller's Art Collection

Series 3: Draft Manuscript

Series 4: Printed Matter

Series 5: Photographs and slides

Biographical / Historical:

Born in 1911 in Pelham, New York, art collector, dealer, and connoisseur Robert O. Muller assembled a collection of nearly 4,500 late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Japanese prints throughout his life. As a history student at Harvard University, Mr. Muller's world renowned print collection began to take shape with the purchase of the print 'Kiyosu Bridge" by Kawase Hasui for $5.00 from the Shima Art Company in 1931.

Mr. Muller married Ingeborg Lee in 1940 and their honeymoon in Japan played a critical role in Mr. Muller's development as an art dealer and collector. They spent five months there and met with many important artists and dealers and purchased thousands of prints for both their personal art collection and for commerce.

Upon their return to the States, Mr. Muller purchased the Shima Art Company's assets and started the Robert Lee Gallery with his partner William Lee Comerford in 1940. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, Muller and Comerford closed the Robert Lee Gallery and later reopened it in a different Manhattan location. The Mullers moved to Newton, Connecticut, in 1946 and reestablished the Robert Lee Gallery there. In 1962, Muller purchased a frame shop, Merwin's Art Shop, in New Haven, Connecticut. Although primarily a framing shop, Muller not only befriended many scholars and academics from nearby Yale University but sold Japanese prints from the back room.

From that initial purchase of 'Kiyosu Bridge' in 1931 up until his death in 2003, Robert Muller amassed what many art historians, collectors, and curators regarded as the finest collection of its type in the world. Muller bequeathed his Japanese print collection, archival materials, and library to the Sackler Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Much of the biographical information comes from, Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection. (Washington, D.C. : Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in association with Hotei Publishing, c2004)

Further information and clarification from conversations with Dr. James T. Ulak, Deputy Director of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery .

1911 October 5 -- Born in Pelham, New York. Great-grandson of Charles Erhart, cofounder of Charles Pfizer & Company, now Pfizer Inc.

1931 -- Purchased first modern Japanese print, "Kiyosu Bridge", from the Shima Art Company in New York City.

1934 -- Earned Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Harvard University.

1936 -- Traveled to Germany aboard the Hindenberg. During return to United States, visited with and bought many prints from Japanese print collector Thomas Bates Blow in London.

1940 February 3 -- Married Ingeborg Lee and honeymooned in Japan.

1940 September -- Purchased the assets of the Shima Art Co. for $7,000. Remained friends with the former owners, Kazue Sumii and Hango Sumii and their daughter Noriko.

1940 October 21 -- Opened the Robert-Lee Gallery on 69 East 57th Street in Manhattan.

1941 December -- After attack on Pearl Harbor, closed Robert-Lee Gallery. Later reopened at new location at 32 West 57th Street

1941 - 1952 -- Mrs. Muller gave birth to four daughters and one son.

1942-1945 -- Worked for Pfizer Inc.

1946 -- Moved to farmhouse in Newtown, Connecticut and re-established Robert Lee Gallery there one year later.

1962 -- Purchased and ran Merwin's Art Shop in New Haven, Connecticut

1985 -- Handed over management of Merwin's Art Shop to his son Robert L. Muller

2003 April 10 -- Died as a result of Parkinson's Disease.

2003 May -- Bequeathed his collection of Japanese prints, cataloging records, papers, and library to the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery of Art.

Related Materials:

The Sackler Gallery of Art owns the Robert O. Muller Collection of Japanese prints.

Provenance:

Robert O. Muller bequeathed his Japanese print collection as well as his archival records to the Sackler Gallery in 2003.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Permission to reproduce and publish an item from the Archives is coordinated through the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's Rights and Reproductions department. Please contact the Archives in order to initiate this process.

Topic:

Printmakers  Search this

Prints, Japanese -- 20th century  Search this

shin-hanga  Search this

Prints, Japanese -- 19th century  Search this

Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this

Genre/Form:

Auction catalogs

Exhibition catalogs

Photographic prints

Price lists

Correspondence

Citation:

Robert O. Muller Papers, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Bequest of Robert O. Muller, 2003

Identifier:

FSA.A2003.14

See more items in:

Robert O. Muller Papers

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-fsa-a2003-14

Creator:

Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, 1903-1987  Search this

Names:

Abbott, Jere  Search this

Austin, Arthur Everett, 1900-1957  Search this

Barr, Alfred H., Jr., 1902-1981  Search this

Berenson, Bernard, 1865-1959  Search this

Berman, Eugene, 1899-1972  Search this

Berman, Leonid, 1896-1976  Search this

Doesburg, Theo van, 1883-1931  Search this

Erffa, Helmut von, 1900-1979  Search this

Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956  Search this

Francis, Henry Sayles, 1902-1994  Search this

Gill, Brendan, 1914-1997  Search this

Goldwater, Robert John, 1907-1973  Search this

Howe, George, 1886-1955  Search this

Johnson, Philip C.  Search this

Kaufmann, Edgar, 1910-  Search this

Kirstein, Lincoln, 1907-  Search this

McCormick, Thomas J.  Search this

Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990  Search this

Oud, J. J. P. (Jacobus Johannes Pieter), 1890-1963  Search this

Panofsky, Erwin, 1892-1968  Search this

Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1902-1983  Search this

Porter, Kingsley  Search this

Sachs, Paul J. (Paul Joseph), 1878-1965  Search this

Schindler, R. M. (Rudolph M.), 1887-1953  Search this

Scully, Vincent Joseph, 1920-  Search this

Sizer, Theodore, 1892-1967  Search this

Smith, E. Baldwin (Earl Baldwin), 1888-1956  Search this

Smith, Peter van der Meulen  Search this

Soby, James Thrall, 1906-  Search this

Spark, Victor D. (Victor David), 1898-1991  Search this

Sterner, Harold  Search this

Summerson, John Newenham, Sir, 1904-  Search this

Thomson, Virgil, 1896-  Search this

Vanderbilt, Paul  Search this

Washburn, Gordon B. (Gordon Bailey), 1904-1983  Search this

Wittkower, Rudolf  Search this

Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959  Search this

Extent:

24.8 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Writings

Photographs

Date:

1919-1987

Summary:

The papers of architectural historian, author, critic, teacher, and museum director, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, date from 1919-1987 and measure 24.8 linear feet. Almost all of the collection is comprised of Hitchcock's correspondence files relating to academic research, teaching, curatorial interests, and professional associations. Letters are from prominent architectural historians, architects, artists, preservationists, museum directors and curators, and family and friends. Also found are two feet of writings by Hitchcock and others, scattered biographical information, printed material, and photographs of Hitchcock and architecture.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers of architectural historian, author, critic, teacher, and museum director, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, date from 1919-1987 and measure 24.8 linear feet. Almost all of the collection is comprised of Hitchcock's correspondence files relating to academic research, teaching, curatorial interests, and professional associations. Letters are from prominent architectural historians, architects, artists, preservationists, museum directors and curators, and family and friends. Also found are two feet of writings by Hitchcock and others, scattered biographical information, miscellaneous records, printed material, and photographs of Hitchcock and architecture.

Among the biographical documents are Hitchcock's birth certificate, passport, and wills. Awards, citations, honorary degrees and commendations are from the University of Pennsylvania, Wesleyan University, the Friends of Cast Iron Architecture, National Institute of Arts and Letters, and the Victorian Society in America.

Chronological name and subject files consist mostly of correspondence and printed material along with a small number of photographs. They include personal and professional correspondence and subject files relating to academic research, teaching, curatorial interests, and professional associations. The correspondence includes large numbers of letters from prominent architectural historians, architects, artists, preservationists, museum directors and curators. Also included are students, friends, relatives, publishers, and representatives of organizations and institutions. Among those of note are: Jere Abbott, Everett A. (Chick) Austin, Alfred H. Barr, Bernard Berenson, Eugene Berman, Leonid Berman, Lyonel Feininger, Henry (Harry) Sayles Francis, Brendan Gill, Robert Goldwater, George Howe, Philip C. Johnson, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., Lincoln Kirstein, Thomas J. McCormick, Lewis Mumford, J.J.P. Oud, Erwin Panofsky, Nikolaus Pevsner, Kingsley Porter, Paul J. Sachs, R. M. Schindler, Vincent Scully, Jr., Theodore Sizer, E. Baldwin Smith, Peter van der Meulen Smith, James Soby, Victor Spark, Harold Sterner, John Summerson, Virgil Thomson, Paul Vanderbilt, Theo Van Doesburg, Helmut von Erffa, Gordon Washburn, Rudolf Wittkower, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Writings by Hitchcock consist of manuscripts and drafts of numerous published and unpublished articles, book chapters, and his masters thesis. Other writings by Hitchcock include lecture notes and texts, book reviews, notes, outlines, photo lists, and a bibliography. Among the other authors represented in this series are John Coolidge and Sir Wilfred Green.

Miscellaneous records consist of the alien registration card of Hitchcock's friend Peter van der Meulen Smith, architectural drawings by Hitchcock, book contracts, and a small number of receipts and invoices.

Printed material consists of articles about, by, or mentioning Henry-Russell Hitchcock, along with advertisements for his books, and postcards of architectural subjects.

Photographs are of architecture, art work, events, people, places, and miscellaneous subjects; also included are color slides, negatives, and transparencies. Architectural subjects include the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and Gaudi, as well as interior and exterior views of buildings identified only by location. Photographs of people include Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Chick Austin and Ernestine Carter, Alexander Dorner, Tammy Grimes, Lincoln Kirstein, the Steinway family, and Edgar Tafel. Events recorded include the Society of Architectural Historians at the Newport Casino, Hitchcock receiving honorary degrees at the University of Glasgow and Wesleyan University, and a high tea sponsored by the Victorian Society in America. Family houses and views of Greece are among the photographs of places. Miscellaneous subjects include exhibition installations and family heirlooms.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 6 series:

Series 1: Biographical Information, 1922-1984 (Box 1; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 2: Chronological Name and Subject Files, 1919-1987 (Boxes 1-22; 21.9 linear ft.)

Series 3: Writings, 1922-circa 1978 (Boxes 23-24; 2.0 linear ft.)

Series 4: Miscellaneous Records, 1928-1977 (Box 25; 0.1 linear ft.)

Series 5: Printed Material, 1922-1984 (Boxes 25-26; 0.4 linear ft.)

Series 6: Photographs, circa 1926-1979 (Box 26; 0.3 linear ft.)

Biographical Note:

Henry-Russell Hitchcock, considered the "father" of modern architectural historiography, played a major role in bringing modern architecture to the United States. As an eminent professor for more than forty years, Hitchcock trained and influenced several generations of scholars and critics. He combined a love of architecture with criticism and scholarship to produce a large number of distinguished monographs and articles on a broad range of styles and periods.

Born in Boston in 1903, Henry-Russell Hitchcock was the son of Mayflower descendants. At Harvard University, he studied medieval history with A. Kingsly Porter as his mentor and completed the undergraduate curriculum in three years. Hitchcock spent his senior year studying architecture, graduated in 1924, and stayed to study for a master's degree, which was awarded in 1927. During his years at Harvard, he wrote for Hound and Horn and knew Alfred Barr, T. S. Eliot, Philip Johnson, Lincoln Kirstein, Virgil Thomson, and others who became leaders in the modernist movement.

Henry-Russell Hitchcock's teaching career began when he was appointed an assistant professor at Vassar College for the academic year 1927-28. In 1929, he joined the faculty of Wesleyan University, where he remained for two decades before moving to Smith College in 1949. During his tenures at Wesleyan and Smith, his services as a visiting lecturer were employed on many occasions by Cambridge University, Connecticut College, Harvard University, the Institute of Fine Arts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Yale University. Upon retiring from Smith College in 1968, Hitchcock moved to New York City and taught briefly at Columbia University, the Institute of Fine Arts, and the University of Massachusetts, at Amherst.

Best known as a proponent of modernism, Hitchcock wrote more than two dozen books about a wide range of styles and periods, and most are considered standard works on their subjects. His first, Modern Architecture: Romanticism and Reintegration, appeared in 1929 and was the first book on the subject to be published in English; his final book, German Renaissance Architecture, was published in 1981.

Henry-Russell Hitchcock served as director of the Smith College Museum between 1949 and 1955. In addition, he was curator of several exhibitions, the first and most important of which was Modern Architecture: International Exhibition, organized in collaboration with Philip C. Johnson and held at the Museum of Modern Art. Their book, The International Style: Architecture Since 1922, was published in 1932 in conjunction with the exhibition.

During World War II, Hitchcock's civilian service included working as director of the U. S. Navy's Photographic Library and writing Pratt and Whitney aircraft engine manuals.

Henry-Russell Hitchcock was an active member of many professional associations. He served as president of the Society of Architectural Historians from 1952 to 1954. In addition, he was a founding member of The Victorian Society in Great Britain, and between 1969 and 1974 was president of its sister organization, The Victorian Society in America.

During his long and illustrious career, Henry-Russell Hitchcock won many awards and honors. Awards for Early Victorian Architecture in Britain and Architecture: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries were conferred by the Society of Architectural Historians (1955) and College Art Association (1960), respectively. Hitchcock received the Royal Society of Arts Medal for Best Lecture (1956) and its Benjamin Franklin Medal (1970), in addition to the American Institute of Architects' Architectural Critics' Medal (1970). Other awards include: National Institute of Arts and Letters Award (1956), American Council of Learned Societies Prize for Distinguished Accomplishment in Humanistic Scholarship (1961), Friends of Cast-Iron Architecture Certificate of Commendation (1978), the American Institute of Architects Award of Merit (1978), and Municipal Art Society Certificate of Merit (1978).

He received honorary degrees from Glasgow University and the University of Pennsylvania in 1973, and in 1979 from Wesleyan University. In Search of Modern Architecture: A Tribute to Henry-Russell Hitchcock, edited by Helen Searing, was published by The Architectural History Foundation in 1982.

Due to declining health, Henry-Russell Hitchcock lectured rarely and wrote little in the three years preceding his death from cancer. He died in New York City, February 19, 1987.

Related Material:

The Archives of American Art also holds Henry-Russell Hitchcock letters to Dorothy Stroud and John N. Summerson, 1946-1949. Additional Henry-Russell Hitchcock papers (circa 8 linear feet) are in the Special Collections division of Wesleyan University Library.

Provenance:

Mosette Broderick, assistant to Hitchcock and his literary executor, donated the papers to the Archives of American Art in 1988.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Use requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Henry-Russell Hitchcock papers are 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:

Architectural historians -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Museum directors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Authors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Genre/Form:

Writings

Photographs

Citation:

Henry-Russell Hitchcock papers, 1919-1987. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art

Identifier:

AAA.hitchenp

See more items in:

Henry-Russell Hitchcock papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-hitchenp

Creator:

Page, Charles Grafton, 1812-1868  Search this

Donor:

Poinier, Lois W.  Search this

Poinier, Lois W.  Search this

Extent:

0.25 Cubic feet (1 box, 1 oversize folder)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Drawings

Date:

1844-1870

Summary:

Papers relate to American inventor Charles Grafton Page, an early developer of electromagnetic machinery.

Scope and Contents:

These papers were created by Charles Grafton Page. The bulk of the papers relate to invention matters about electro magnetic engines (1844); axial galvanometer (1846); magnetic axial pump (1848); and electro dynamic axial engine (undated).

Arrangement:

Divided into three series.

Series 1, Correspondence, 1844-1970

Series 2, Writings and drawings, undated

Series 3, Publications, 1846-1868.

Biographical / Historical:

Charles Grafton Page was born on January 25, 1812 in Salem, Massachusetts. He received a bachelor's degree in science from Harvard University (1832), and a medical degree (1836). In 1838, Page moved to Washington, D.C. where he practiced medicine and taught medicine at Columbian College (now George Washington University). During the late 1830s and 1840s, Page experimented with electricity and specifically with electromagnetism. Page developed an induction coil in 1836 and a self-acting circuit breaker and a primitive electric locomotive, which had a trial run in 1850. In 1841, Page was appointed Examiner of Electricity at the United States Patent Office. He left the Patent Office in 1852 to start is own business, returned in 1861 where he remained until his death in 1868. Page died on May 5, 1868, in Washington, D.C.

Provenance:

This collection was donated by Lois Wodell Poinier, a descendant of Charles Grafton Page, 2006.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Inventors  Search this

Electromagnetism  Search this

Electricity  Search this

Inventions  Search this

Electromagnets  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century

Drawings -- 19th century

Citation:

Charles Grafton Page Papers, 1844-1870, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Lois W. Poinier.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0933

See more items in:

Charles Grafton Page Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0933

Creator:

United Telegraph Workers.  Search this

Western Union Telegraph Company  Search this

Extent:

452 Cubic feet (871 boxes and 23 map folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Patents

Scrapbooks

Contracts

Drawings

Articles

Administrative records

Clippings

Books

Photographs

Newsletters

Photograph albums

Specifications

Technical documents

Date:

circa 1820-1995

Summary:

The collection documents in photographs, scrapbooks, notebooks, correspondence, stock ledgers, annual reports, and financial records, the evolution of the telegraph, the development of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the beginning of the communications revolution. The collection materials describe both the history of the company and of the telegraph industry in general, particularly its importance to the development of the technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection is useful for researchers interested in the development of technology, economic history, and the impact of technology on American social and cultural life.

Scope and Contents:

The collection is divided into twenty-six (26) series and consists of approximately 400 cubic feet. The collection documents in photographs, scrapbooks, notebooks, correspondence, stock ledgers, annual reports, and financial records, the evolution of the telegraph, the development of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the beginning of the communications revolution. The collection materials describe both the history of the company and of the telegraph industry in general, particularly its importance to the development of the technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection is useful for researchers interested in the development of technology, economic history, and the impact of technology on American social and cultural life.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into twenty-six series.

Series 1: Historical and Background Information, 1851-1994

Series 2: Subsidiaries of Western Union, 1844-1986

Series 3: Executive Records, 1848-1987

Series 4: Presidential Letterbooks and Writings, 1865-1911

Series 5: Correspondence, 1837-1985

Series 6: Cyrus W. Field Papers, 1840-1892

Series 7: Secretary's Files, 1844-1987

Series 8: Financial Records, 1859-1995

Series 9: Legal Records, 1867-1968

Series 10: Railroad Records, 1854-1945

Series 11: Law Department Records, 1868-1979

Series 12: Patent Materials, 1840-1970

Series 13: Operating Records, 1868-1970s

Series 14: Westar VI-S, 1974, 1983-1986

Series 15: Engineering Department Records, 1874-1970

Series 16: Plant Department Records, 1867-1937, 1963

Series 17: Superintendent of Supplies Records, 1888-1948

Series 18: Employee/Personnel Records 1852-1985

Series 19: Public Relations Department Records, 1858-1980

Series 20: Western Union Museum, 1913-1971

Series 21: Maps, 1820-1964

Series 22: Telegrams, 1852-1960s

Series 23: Photographs, circa 1870-1980

Series 24: Scrapbooks, 1835-1956

Series 25: Notebooks, 1880-1942

Series 26: Audio Visual Materials, 1925-1994

Series 27: Materials for Interfile (Series 1; Series 3; Series 13; Series 15-23; Series 25-26)

Biographical / Historical:

In 1832 Samuel F. B. Morse, assisted by Alfred Vail, conceived of the idea for an electromechanical telegraph, which he called the "Recording Telegraph." This commercial application of electricity was made tangible by their construction of a crude working model in 1835-36. This instrument probably was never used outside of Professor Morse's rooms where it was, however, operated in a number of demonstrations. This original telegraph instrument was in the hands of the Western Union Telegraph Company and had been kept carefully over the years in a glass case. It was moved several times in New York as the Western Union headquarters building changed location over the years. The company presented it to the Smithsonian Institution in 1950.

The telegraph was further refined by Morse, Vail, and a colleague, Leonard Gale, into working mechanical form in 1837. In this year Morse filed a caveat for it at the U.S. Patent Office. Electricity, provided by Joseph Henry's 1836 "intensity batteries", was sent over a wire. The flow of electricity through the wire was interrupted for shorter or longer periods by holding down the key of the device. The resulting dots or dashes were recorded on a printer or could be interpreted orally. In 1838 Morse perfected his sending and receiving code and organized a corporation, making Vail and Gale his partners.

In 1843 Morse received funds from Congress to set-up a demonstration line between Washington and Baltimore. Unfortunately, Morse was not an astute businessman and had no practical plan for constructing a line. After an unsuccessful attempt at laying underground cables with Ezra Cornell, the inventor of a trench digger, Morse switched to the erection of telegraph poles and was more successful. On May 24, 1844, Morse, in the U.S. Supreme Court Chambers in Washington, sent by telegraph the oft-quoted message to his colleague Vail in Baltimore, "What hath God wrought!"

In 1845 Morse hired Andrew Jackson's former postmaster general, Amos Kendall, as his agent in locating potential buyers of the telegraph. Kendall realized the value of the device, and had little trouble convincing others of its potential for profit. By the spring he had attracted a small group of investors. They subscribed $15,000 and formed the Magnetic Telegraph Company. Many new telegraph companies were formed as Morse sold licenses wherever he could.

The first commercial telegraph line was completed between Washington, D.C., and New York City in the spring of 1846 by the Magnetic Telegraph Company. Shortly thereafter, F. O. J. Smith, one of the patent owners, built a line between New York City and Boston. Most of these early companies were licensed by owners of Samuel Morse patents. The Morse messages were sent and received in a code of dots and dashes.

At this time other telegraph systems based on rival technologies were being built. Some companies used the printing telegraph, a device invented by a Vermonter, Royal E. House, whose messages were printed on paper or tape in Roman letters. In 1848 a Scotch scientist, Alexander Bain, received his patents on a telegraph. These were but two of many competing and incompatible technologies that had developed. The result was confusion, inefficiency, and a rash of suits and counter suits.

By 1851 there were over fifty separate telegraph companies operating in the United States. This corporate cornucopia developed because the owners of the telegraph patents had been unsuccessful in convincing the United States and other governments of the invention's potential usefulness. In the private sector, the owners had difficulty convincing capitalists of the commercial value of the invention. This led to the owners' willingness to sell licenses to many purchasers who organized separate companies and then built independent telegraph lines in various sections of the country.

Hiram Sibley moved to Rochester, New York, in 1838 to pursue banking and real estate. Later he was elected sheriff of Monroe County. In Rochester he was introduced to Judge Samuel L. Selden who held the House Telegraph patent rights. In 1849 Selden and Sibley organized the New York State Printing Telegraph Company, but they found it hard to compete with the existing New York, Albany, and Buffalo Telegraph Company.

After this experience Selden suggested that instead of creating a new line, the two should try to acquire all the companies west of Buffalo and unite them into a single unified system. Selden secured an agency for the extension throughout the United States of the House system. In an effort to expand this line west, Judge Selden called on friends and the people in Rochester. This led, in April 1851, to the organization of a company and the filing in Albany of the Articles of Association for the "New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company" (NYMVPTC), a company which later evolved into the Western Union Telegraph Company.

In 1854 there were two rival systems of the NYMVPTC in the West. These two systems consisted of thirteen separate companies. All the companies were using Morse patents in the five states north of the Ohio River. This created a struggle between three separate entities, leading to an unreliable and inefficient telegraph service. The owners of these rival companies eventually decided to invest their money elsewhere and arrangements were made for the NYMVPTC to purchase their interests.

Hiram Sibley recapitalized the company in 1854 under the same name and began a program of construction and acquisition. The most important takeover was carried out by Sibley when he negotiated the purchase of the Morse patent rights for the Midwest for $50,000 from Jeptha H. Wade and John J. Speed, without the knowledge of Ezra Cornell, their partner in the Erie and Michigan Telegraph Company (EMTC). With this acquisition Sibley proceeded to switch to the superior Morse system. He also hired Wade, a very capable manager, who became his protege and later his successor. After a bitter struggle Morse and Wade obtained the EMTC from Cornell in 1855, thus assuring dominance by the NYMVPTC in the Midwest. In 1856 the company name was changed to the "Western Union Telegraph Company," indicating the union of the Western lines into one compact system. In December, 1857, the Company paid stockholders their first dividend.

Between 1857 and 1861 similar consolidations of telegraph companies took place in other areas of the country so that most of the telegraph interests of the United States had merged into six systems. These were the American Telegraph Company (covering the Atlantic and some Gulf states), The Western Union Telegraph Company (covering states North of the Ohio River and parts of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Minnesota), the New York Albany and Buffalo Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company (covering New York State), the Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph Company (covering Pennsylvania), the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company (covering sections of Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois), and the New Orleans & Ohio Telegraph Company (covering the southern Mississippi Valley and the Southwest). All these companies worked together in a mutually friendly alliance, and other small companies cooperated with the six systems, particularly some on the West Coast.

By the time of the Civil War, there was a strong commercial incentive to construct a telegraph line across the western plains to link the two coasts of America. Many companies, however, believed the line would be impossible to build and maintain.

In 1860 Congress passed, and President James Buchanan signed, the Pacific Telegraph Act, which authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to seek bids for a project to construct a transcontinental line. When two bidders dropped out, Hiram Sibley, representing Western Union, was the only bidder left. By default Sibley won the contract. The Pacific Telegraph Company was organized for the purpose of building the eastern section of the line. Sibley sent Wade to California, where he consolidated the small local companies into the California State Telegraph Company. This entity then organized the Overland Telegraph Company, which handled construction eastward from Carson City, Nevada, joining the existing California lines, to Salt Lake City, Utah. Sibley's Pacific Telegraph Company built westward from Omaha, Nebraska. Sibley put most of his resources into the venture. The line was completed in October, 1861. Both companies were soon merged into Western Union. This accomplishment made Hiram Sibley leader of the telegraph industry.

Further consolidations took place over the next several years. Many companies merged into the American Telegraph Company. With the expiration of the Morse patents, several organizations were combined in 1864 under the name of "The U.S. Telegraph Company." In 1866 the final consolidation took place, with Western Union exchanging stock for the stock of the other two organizations. The general office of Western Union moved at this time from Rochester to 145 Broadway, New York City. In 1875 the main office moved to 195 Broadway, where it remained until 1930 when it relocated to 60 Hudson Street.

In 1873 Western Union purchased a majority of shares in the International Ocean Telegraph Company. This was an important move because it marked Western Union's entry into the foreign telegraph market. Having previously worked with foreign companies, Western Union now began competing for overseas business.

In the late 1870s Western Union, led by William H. Vanderbilt, attempted to wrest control of the major telephone patents, and the new telephone industry, away from the Bell Telephone Company. But due to new Bell leadership and a subsequent hostile takeover attempt of Western Union by Jay Gould, Western Union discontinued its fight and Bell Telephone prevailed.

Despite these corporate calisthenics, Western Union remained in the public eye. The sight of a uniformed Western Union messenger boy was familiar in small towns and big cities all over the country for many years. Some of Western Union's top officials in fact began their careers as messenger boys.

Throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century the telegraph became one of the most important factors in the development of social and commercial life of America. In spite of improvements to the telegraph, however, two new inventions--the telephone (nineteenth century) and the radio (twentieth century)--eventually replaced the telegraph as the leaders of the communication revolution for most Americans.

At the turn of the century, Bell abandoned its struggles to maintain a monopoly through patent suits, and entered into direct competition with the many independent telephone companies. Around this time, the company adopted its new name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T).

In 1908 AT&T gained control of Western Union. This proved beneficial to Western Union, because the companies were able to share lines when needed, and it became possible to order telegrams by telephone. However, it was only possible to order Western Union telegrams, and this hurt the business of Western Union's main competitor, the Postal Telegraph Company. In 1913, however, as part of a move to prevent the government from invoking antitrust laws, AT&T completely separated itself from Western Union.

Western Union continued to prosper and it received commendations from the U.S. armed forces for service during both world wars. In 1945 Western Union finally merged with its longtime rival, the Postal Telegraph Company. As part of that merger, Western Union agreed to separate domestic and foreign business. In 1963 Western Union International Incorporated, a private company completely separate from the Western Union Telegraph Company, was formed and an agreement with the Postal Telegraph Company was completed. In 1994, Western Union Financial Services, Inc. was acquired by First Financial Management Corporation. In 1995, First Financial Management Corporation merged with First Data Corporation making Western Union a First Data subsidiary.

Many technological advancements followed the telegraph's development. The following are among the more important:

The first advancement of the telegraph occurred around 1850 when operators realized that the clicks of the recording instrument portrayed a sound pattern, understandable by the operators as dots and dashes. This allowed the operator to hear the message by ear and simultaneously write it down. This ability transformed the telegraph into a versatile and speedy system.

Duplex Telegraphy, 1871-72, was invented by the president of the Franklin Telegraph Company. Unable to sell his invention to his own company, he found a willing buyer in Western Union. Utilizing this invention, two messages were sent over the wire simultaneously, one in each direction.

As business blossomed and demand surged, new devices appeared. Thomas Edison's Quadruplex allowed four messages to be sent over the same wire simultaneously, two in one direction and two in the other.

An English automatic signaling arrangement, Wheatstone's Automatic Telegraph, 1883, allowed larger numbers of words to be transmitted over a wire at once. It could only be used advantageously, however, on circuits where there was a heavy volume of business.

Buckingham's Machine Telegraph was an improvement on the House system. It printed received messages in plain Roman letters quickly and legibly on a message blank, ready for delivery.

Vibroplex, c. 1890, a semi-automatic key sometimes called a "bug key," made the dots automatically. This relieved the operator of much physical strain.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Additional moving image about Western Union Telegraph Company can be found in the Industry on Parade Collection (AC0507). This includes Cable to Cuba! by Bell Laboratory, AT & T, featuring the cable ship, the C.S. Lord Kelvin, and Communications Centennial! by the Western Union Company.

Materials at Other Organizations

Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware.

Western Union International Records form part of the MCI International, Inc. Records at the First Data Corporation, Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Records of First Data Corporation and its predecessors, including Western Union, First Financial Management Corporation (Atlanta) and First Data Resources (Omaha). Western Union collection supports research of telegraphy and related technologies, and includes company records, annual reports, photographs, print and broadcast advertising, telegraph equipment, and messenger uniforms.

Smithsonian Institution Archives

Western Union Telegraph Expedition, 1865-1867

This collection includes correspondence, mostly to Spencer F. Baird, from members of the Scientific Corps of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, including Kennicott, Dall, Bannister, and Elliott; copies of reports submitted to divisional chiefs from expedition staff members; newspaper clippings concerning the expedition; copies of notes on natural history taken by Robert Kennicott; and a journal containing meteorological data recorded by Henry M. Bannister from March to August, 1866.

Separated Materials:

Artifacts (apparatus and equipment) were donated to the Division of Information Technology and Society, now known as the Division of Work & Industry, National Museum of American History.

Provenance:

The collection was donated by Western Union in September of 1971.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audio visual materials. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Electric engineering  Search this

Electric engineers  Search this

Electrical equipment  Search this

Communication -- International cooperation  Search this

Electrical engineers  Search this

Electrical science and technology  Search this

Communications equipment  Search this

Telegraphers  Search this

Telegraph  Search this

Genre/Form:

Patents

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Contracts

Drawings

Articles

Administrative records

Clippings

Books

Photographs -- 19th century

Newsletters

Photograph albums

Specifications

Photographs -- 20th century

Scrapbooks -- 19th century

Technical documents

Citation:

Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0205

See more items in:

Western Union Telegraph Company Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0205

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

37.8 Cubic feet (consisting of 76 boxes (including 12 off-site), 12 folders, 16 oversize folders, 7 flat boxes (6 full, 1 partial), plus digital images of some collection material. )

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Date:

1768-1973

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Dry Goods forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

This material consists primarily of scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, bills/receipts, printed advertisements, trade catalogs, handbills, pamphlets, advertising cards , photographs, cloth samples , leaflets, books, prospectus, order forms, chromolithographs, magazine advertisements, seals, postcards, business cards, children's books, greeting cards, almanacs, calendars, cardboard standups, fans, paper bag samples and import/export documents from businesses referred to loosely as department or variety stores. A number of these stores are still in business and tend to have a substantial amount of material . Such companies include I. Magnin, R. H. Macy, Woodward & Lothrop, F. H. Woolworth's, Sears, Roebuck & Company , Montgomery Wards, Wanamaker, etc. There are a few references to businesses who imported English, French, German, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian, Sudanese, Persian and Moorish articles.

Generally the stores included among these materials sold a variety of products consisting of clothing and clothing accessories, home furnishings, home construction kits, novelties, stationery , groceries and a number of other products sold in contemporary department and variety stores. There are also companies that specialized in a particular product or type of product. Researchers interested in these businesses should also consult the same subject category if it is included on the listing of vertical document boxes. It is also possible that if the company produced oversize catalogs these would be listed with the Warshaw Collection oversize materials. For example, there are a number of Montgomery Wards, Butler Brothers, Bellas Hess and Company and Sears, Roebuck and Company catalogs found among the oversize materials.

There are a number of images that appear on these materials. Most of these images tend to be illustrations of the exterior or interior departments of the stores . Product illustrations also appear throughout the catalogues, printed advertisements and price lists. Ethnic images particularly in French advertisements also appear regularly. Dry goods stores relied heavily on advertisements directed toward children especially during the Christmas/holiday season. Books for children illustrating characters from favorite stories or Christmas scenes are common among the larger stores namely Woodward & Lothrop.

Materials in boxes one through thirty-nine are organized by name of company. Publications that discuss the history of a particular company are included with the company related materials. Catalogues , calendars , almanacs and price lists are generally listed under the company name in the finding aid with dates . This is due to the fact that these materials are often requested by researchers in this manner. This does not imply that these are the only materials for that particular company in the folders .

Box thirty-nine is also partially arranged by type including patents, stocks , general images, associations and miscellaneous items. A few related publications such as a chain store bibliography and a book on the history of chain stores are also included.

Boxes forty and forty-one contain periodicals created by W. A. Spelman in New York. Published as a trade journal devoted to the interests of the retail merchants, it was primarily meant to aid the subscriber in meeting the increasing competition in the dry goods trade. It was also meant to guide merchants in the purchase of goods. Referred to as The Fancy Goods Graphic or Spelman's Fancy Goods Graphic, these publications date from 1881-1890 .

Import and export documents are found in boxes forty-one, through forty-three.

The processing of additional materials in 2017 integrated a significant volume of material, most notably the Jermain Business and Family papers and to a lesser extent, the Trimble Family Business records. Both offer insight to the operations of 19th Century family businesses. Also added was significant manuscript on the history of Montgomery Ward is also available.

Catalogues, especially thinner circular type editions have not been consolidated and may be found throughout the material in this collection. However there are several groupings listed in the Catalogue series, especially for regular issue bulky catalogues published by Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck and Company. See note regarding some items that have been microfilmed or transferred off-site.

Arrangement:

Dry Goods is arranged in two subseries.

Business Records and Marketing Material

General, including Accounting Books and Ledgers

Companies and Proprietors

Companies and Proprietors, Oversize Material

Trade Literature and Other

Export/Import Records

Jermain Business and Family Papers; plus associated Albany Records

Montgomery Ward History Manuscripts

Trimble Family Business Records

General, Marketing Material

Catalogues

General and Mail Order

Montgomery Ward

Sears, Roebuck and Company

Assorted [Off-Site, including Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company]

Materials in the Archives Center:

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Dry Goods is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogs are restricted due to fragile condition. Researchers should consult microfilm in NMAH library for 1880-1983 editions, drawer 692. Some additional items may be restricted due to fragile condition. Off-site materials must be requested in advance. Consult Archives Staff.

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:

Dry-goods  Search this

Genre/Form:

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Dry Goods, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Dry

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Dry Goods

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-dry

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

Source:

Culture and the Arts, Division of (NMAH, SI)  Search this

Larson, Mary E.  Search this

Former owner:

Culture and the Arts, Division of (NMAH, SI)  Search this

Larson, Mary E.  Search this

Extent:

2 Cubic feet (4 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Black-and-white photographs

Clippings

Guest lists

Ledgers (account books)

Letters (correspondence)

Notes

Scrapbooks

Date:

1880-1990

Summary:

The collection relates to the Slover Family of puppeteers, and documents their lives and activities as they traveled the country with their show.

Content Description:

The collection relates to the Slover Family of puppeteers, and documents their lives and activities as they traveled the country with their show. The collection includes photographs, including photographs from their earliest days when they were traveling in wagons; guest books; a manuscript for a memoir from the matriarch of the family; a ledger, 1916-1932, listing what the box office take was in each location the show was performed; a notebook containing content of the shows, jokes, etc.; a scrapbook containing photographs and other things; letters; clippings and articles; and printed music.

Provenance:

Donated by Mary E. Larson to the Division of Culture and the Arts, National Museum of American History, in 2004.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

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:

manuscripts  Search this

Puppeteers  Search this

Puppets  Search this

Traveling theater -- United States -- 19th century  Search this

Traveling theater -- United States -- 20th century  Search this

Genre/Form:

Black-and-white photographs

Clippings

Guest lists

Ledgers (account books) -- 20th century

Letters (correspondence)

Notes

Scrapbooks

Citation:

Slover Puppeteer Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1464

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1464

Creator:

International Salt Company  Search this

Costain, Harold Haliday  Search this

Rittase, William M., 1894-1968  Search this

Extent:

3.5 Cubic feet (11 boxes, 1 oversize folder)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photograph albums

Slides (photographs)

Photographs

Transparencies

Time books

Scrapbooks

Cashbooks

Annual reports

Ledgers (account books)

Financial records

Patents

Letters

Newsletters

Date:

1881-1993

bulk 1920-1929

Summary:

The collection contains business records and photographic materials documenting the International Salt Company. The business records include correspondence, account and ledger books, a payroll book, patent and trademark information, print advertising and marketing materials, and a salesman salt display kit. The photographic materials include a series of photographs by William M. Rittase, a series of photographs by Harold Haliday Costain, a small photograph album, snapshots, and slides. The images cover all facets of the salt manufacturing and packaging operations, and include photographs taken in New York State, Michigan, and Louisiana.

Scope and Contents:

The collection contains business records and photographic materials documenting the International Salt Company. The business records include correspondence, account and ledger books, a payroll book, patent and trademark information, print advertising and marketing materials, and a salesman salt display kit. The photographic materials include a series of photographs by William M. Rittase, a series of photographs by Harold Haliday Costain, a small photograph album, snapshots, and slides. The images cover all facets of the salt manufacturing and packaging operations, and include photographs taken in New York State, Michigan, and Louisiana.

The scrapbooks contain advertisements for the International Salt Company's Sterling Salt label and other leading salt companies, especially Morton's. Much of the ephemera consists of labels, but there are also small pamphlet cookbooks. The cookbooks, prepared and marketed by various salt companies, tout recipes for tasty dishes using specific salts and expound upon the merits of salt in general, especially the medical benefits. Other clever salt-related advertising appears in conjunction with maps, buttons, song books, calendars, and health exercises.

Series 1, Business Records, 1894-1937, consists primarily of financial materials--ledgers, cash books, monthly statements, timekeeping and payroll information--for the Avery Rock Salt Mining Company (A.R.S.M.Co.), Detroit Rock Salt Company, Detroit Salt Company, International Salt Company, and the Restof Mining Company. Additionally, there is one annual report for the International Salt Company (1957) and the newsletter Saltmaker, 1964.

There are two A.R.S.M.Co. ledgers, 1898-1907 and 1907-1922. The first ledger, 1898-1907, predates the founding of the International Salt Company, and it is likely that A.R.S.M.Co was absorbed by International Salt during a merger. Documentation recorded including inventories, merchandise, labor, surplus, insurance, office expenses, legal expenses, taxes, bills receivable, directors' committee fees, fuel, candles, oil, waste and packing, rental, repairs and maintenance, interest, labor, feed, outside salary account, Cuban consignment account, and loan account. Specific persons, such as superintendents F. Rundio and Sidney Bradford, are mentioned and specific companies including Restof Mining, Joy Morton Company, Havana Mill, G. Lawton Childs & Company, International Salt of New York and various others (pages 193-212), are listed with expenses.

The Detroit Salt Company (general ledger), 1911-1913, consists of one bound volume documenting the company's assets, liabilities, expenses, earnings, advance accounts, and old accounts.

Detroit Rock Salt Company (cash record), 1912 October-1913 January, consists of one bound volume documenting cash received and cash disbursed.

International Salt Company, Inc., Independent Salt Company Division (monthly statements), 1933 October-1937 December, consists of one bound volume of general ledger trial balance sheets organized chronologically. Detailed documentation includes general expenses, assets, capital assets, liabilities, special reserves, net worth, profit and loss statements, warehousing costs and tonnage purchased.

Restof Mining Company (time and payroll), 1894 July 1-1895 March 31, consists of one bound volume of 400 pages, documenting the time and payroll for employees. The volume contains the name of the employee, the number of days worked, hourly wage earned per day, the amount earned, advances, board due, store (supplies due), rent, and any balances due. A portion of the volume is severely water-damaged.

Series 2, Trademarks, 1881-1935, consists of copies of issued trademark declarations from the United States Patent Office. The trademarks are for company names, logos, salt containers and packages, and various salt products. The trademarks are arranged alphabetically by the name of the trademark. For example, Amaessa, a trademark for baking powder and salt is filed with other trademarks beginning with the letter "A." Additional materials consist of one file folder of correspondence and printed materials about patents, trademarks and copyright laws. The correspondence relates specifically to the ownership of certain trademarks by International Salt Company, and there is correspondence from John L. Ryon, assistant sales manager and W.T. Chisolm, vice-president of International Salt Company. There are compiled lists of brand names, trademarks, and package designs for which International Salt registered at the United States Patent Office, 1926-1927. There are two examples of small cloth bags branded with "Ideal Salt" and some packaging, such as "White Lily High Grade Salt" and labels such as "Purex Free Running Table Salt." The Peter J.L. Searing trademark for salt (No. 52,963) and Chicago Sawed Salt-Block Company (No. 15,174) provide examples of ethnic imagery. A trademark is a brand name. A trademark or service mark includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination used or intended to be used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services. Although federal registration of a mark is not mandatory, it has several advantages, including notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the mark, legal presumption of ownership nationwide, and exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with the goods/services listed in the registration.

Series 3, Photographs, 1934-1993, is divided into five subseries: Subseries 1, Harold Haliday Costain, 1934; Subseries 2, William Ritasse, circa 1934; Subseries 3, Loose Photographs, 1969-1993; Subseries 4, Slides, circa 1970s; and Subseries 5, Album (unidentified), undated.

Subseries 1, Harold Haliday Costain, circa 1934, consists of three photographs (approximately 10 1/2" x 13") black-and-white prints mounted to 16" x 20" boards. The prints are numbered #6, #42, and #44 and depict a salt mine and equipment used in salt manufacturing located in Avery Island, Louisiana.

Subseries 2, William Ritasse, circa 1934, consists of black-and-white prints (10" x 14") signed by Ritasse which are mounted on 18 1/2" x 20" boards. The photographs are arranged numerically from #350 to #480. Many of the photographs are captioned. American photographer William Rittase (1887-1968), active in the 1920s-1930s, is known for his industrial photography. Rittase's images provide insight into International Salt Company activities such as salt manufacturing, packaging operations, general factory processes, printing salt bags, can labeling, brine storage, exteriors of buildings, crushing salt, men in the salt mines, machine shop views, and equipment.

Subseries 3, Loose Photographs, 1969-1993, consists of black-and-white and color prints, as well as transparencies depicting salt mines and related activities. Some of the photographs document a visit by International Salt Company executives to the Jefferson Island, Louisiana salt plant.

Subseries 4, Slides, circa 1970s, consists of seventeen color slides documenting salt plants, equipment and salt miners.

Subseries 5, Album (damaged mine), undated, consists of twenty-two 4" x 6 1/2" black-and-white photographs documenting the damage to a salt manufacturing plant. The photographs are captioned, but there is no indication of the geographic location of the salt plant.

Series 4, Advertising and Marketing Materials, 1920-1948, consists of two scrapbooks (14" x 17" and 11" x 16") that contain primarily tear sheets, unbound periodical pages showing an advertisement as printed, or as a proof, newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, price lists, recipes, labels, periodicals, and other ephemera.

The scrapbook, 1920-1931, consists primarily of advertisements and newspaper clippings related to advertising salt products, especially for Morton's Salt and Diamond Crystal Salt. Other companies represented include Colonial Salt Company, Carey Salt Company, Jefferson Island Salt Company, Kerr Salt Company, Mulkey Salt Company, Myles Salt Company, Ohio Salt Company, Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company, Remington Salt Company, Star Salt Corporation, Union Salt Company, Worcester Salt Company, and Watkins Salt Company.

The scrapbook from 1945-1948 is devoted to advertisements for the International Salt Company and Sterling Salt, which promoted salt uses for the home (table salt, curing meats, and brines), industry (rock salt for winter weather) and agriculture (killing weeds). Many of the advertisements were part of the "Pass the Salt" campaign and were featured in publications such as Woman's Day, National Provisioner, Food Industries, Hide, Leather and Shoes, Chemical Previews, and Public Works. The scrapbook is divided into three sections: institutional, weed prevention, and Lixate, a process developed by the International Salt Research Laboratory for making brine. Many of the advertisements were prepared by J.M. Mathes Incorporated.

Also included is a traveling salt kit for Sterling Salt Company salesmen, undated, featuring small glass vials of sterling salt from mines in Detroit, Avery Island, Louisiana, and Restof, New York. Each vial notes the types of salts--purified, softener, iodized, medium flake, coarse flake, granular flour, and meat.

Series 5, Posters, circa 1920s, consists of oversize advertising posters for Worcester Salt Company. There is one set of labels from an exhibit titled "I Eat Rocks! Salt of the Earth."

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into five series.

Series 1, Business Records, 1894-1937

Series 2, Trademarks, 1881-1935

Series 3, Photographs, 1934-1993

Subseries 1, Harold Haliday Costain, circa 1934

Subseries 2, William Ritasse, circa 1934

Subseries 3, Loose Photographs, 1969-1993

Subseries 4, Slides, circa 1970s

Subseries 5, Album (damaged mine), undated

Series 4, Advertising and Marketing Materials, 1920-1948

Series 5, Posters, circa 1920s

Biographical / Historical:

The International Salt Company incorporated on August 22, 1901, and in 1902, the company purchased the stock and assets of the National Salt Company, which had failed. By 1934, International Salt was a holding company for six subsidiaries: Avery Salt Company (West Virginia), Detroit Rock Salt Company (Michigan), Eastern Salt Company (Massachusetts), Independent Salt Company (New York), International Salt Company, Inc. (New York), and Retsof Mining Company (New York). All of the subsidiaries operated rock salt mines and evaporated salt plants and distributed salt. In 1940, the International Salt Company decided to sell four of its subsidiaries--Avery Salt Company, Detroit Rock Salt Company, International Salt Company, Inc., and Retsof Mining Company.

John M. Avery discovered rock salt at Petite Anse, Louisiana in 1862. Petite Anse Island was renamed Avery Island in the late 19th century. Ownership and mining of salt at Petite Anse involved numerous parties until 1886, when New Iberia Salt Company took over operations. In 1896, the Avery family began operating the mine, and they founded the Avery Rock Salt Mining Company. In 1899, the International Salt Company leased the mine.

The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company was founded in 1906. The company quickly went bankrupt during construction of a shaft and was acquired in 1910 by the Watkins Salt Company, which incorporated the new organization under the name Detroit Rock Salt Company. The company experienced success and the International Salt Company purchased the mine circa 1914. In 1983, International Salt closed the mine's operations and in 1985, Crystal Mines, Inc., purchased the mine as a potential storage site.

In 1885 the Empire Salt Company of New York was renamed the Retsof Mine Company, and the Village of Retsof was founded near the mine shaft. During the next 110 years, the mine grew to become the largest salt-producing mine in the United States and the second largest in the world. Before the initial collapse in March 1994, the mine encompassed an underground area of more than 6,000 acres, and the mine footprint (outer edge of mined area) extended over an area of nearly ten square miles. At the time of the collapse, the Retsof Mine was owned by Akzo-Nobel Salt Incorporated (ANSI) and, during the winter of 1993--994 operated at full capacity to meet demands for road salt throughout the northeastern United States. The Retsof Mine ceased operations on September 2, 1995, and by December, twenty-one months after the initial collapse, the mine was completely flooded.

Related Materials:

Materials held at the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution Libraries, National Museum of American History

Trade catalogs from International Salt Company Inc., 1900s

Materials held at Other Organizations

Harvard University Archives

Ritasse, William M., 1894-1968. Photographs of Hardvard University campus and environs taken by William M. Ritasse, circa 1930.

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs

Avery Rock Salt Mining Company, Plan. June 16, 1924 (AKZO No. 7-77-02) - Avery Island Salt Works, Akzo Salt Incorporated, Avery Island, Iberia Parish, LA

Salt Mine Village, Salt Workers' Houses No. 6, Avery Island, Iberia Parish, LA

Avery Island Sugarhouse, Avery Island, Iberia Parish, LA

State Library of Louisiana

Historic Photograph Collection contains images of salt mining at Avery Island, Louisiana.

University of North Carolina, Southern Historical Collection at the Louis Round Wilson Library

Papers for the Avery Family of Louisiana, 1796-1951

Provenance:

Tom Maeder donated the collection on June 13, 2009.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Salt  Search this

Salt workers  Search this

Salt mines and mining -- Michigan  Search this

Salt mines and mining -- New York  Search this

Salt industry and trade  Search this

Salt mines and mining -- Louisiana  Search this

advertising  Search this

Industrial photography -- 1990-2000 -- Texas  Search this

Mines and mineral resources -- Louisiana  Search this

Mines and mineral resources -- New York  Search this

Mines and mineral resources -- Michigan  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photograph albums

Slides (photographs) -- 20th century

Photographs -- 20th century

Transparencies

Time books

Scrapbooks

Cashbooks

Annual reports

Ledgers (account books)

Financial records

Patents

Letters

Newsletters

Citation:

International Salt Company Records, 1881-1993, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.1158

See more items in:

International Salt Company Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1158

Creator:

Hutton, William R., 1826-1901  Search this

Extent:

30 Cubic feet (33 boxes, 21 oversize folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Letterpress copybooks

Blueprints

Diaries

Drawings

Cashbooks

Business records

Business letters

Notebooks

Topographic maps

Tax records

Technical drawings

Stock certificates

Technical literature

Photoengravings

Notes

Maps

Microfilms

Linen tracings

Letter books

Letters

Land titles

Legal documents

Sketches

Salted paper prints

Reports

Receipts

Plans (drawings)

Photostats

Photographic prints

Architectural drawings

Administrative records

Albumen prints

Albums

Annual reports

Booklets

Account books

Books

Family papers

Financial records

Cyanotypes

Correspondence

Deeds

Printed material

Contracts

Harlem river bridge

Photograph albums

Specifications

Christmas cards

Menus

Place:

France

Maryland

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Panama Canal (Panama)

New Jersey

New York (N.Y.)

Hudson River

Baltimore (Md.)

Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)

New York

Washington Bridge

New Croton Aqueduct

Kanawha River Canal

Washington Aqueduct

Potomac River -- 19th century

Washington Memorial Bridge

Hudson River Tunnel

Date:

1830-1965

Summary:

The papers document the life and work of William R. Hutton, a civil engineer during the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Materials include diaries, notebooks, correspondence, letterpress copy book, printed materials, publications, specifications, photographs, drawings, and maps that document the construction of several architectural and engineering projects during this period. Most notable are the records containing information related to the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Hudson River Tunnel, the Washington Aqueduct, the Kanawha River Canal, and the Washington/Harlem River Bridge. There are also several records about railroads in the state of Maryland, the District of Columbia and elsewhere, including the Western Maryland Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Colorado Midlands Railway, Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, the Northern Adirondack Railroad, and the Pittsfield and Williamstown Railroad. The records can be used to track the progression of these projects, and engineering innovation during the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

Scope and Contents:

These papers document William R. Hutton's professional career as a civil engineer and his personal affairs. Although the personal materials in the collection provide insight into a man and a family that have been largely forgotten by biographers, it is the professional materials that are perhaps the most interesting to researchers. They provide a compelling narrative of the push to the West that occurred in 19th century America and the internal improvements movement typified by the American System plan proposed by Henry Clay. Perhaps best remembered for the high tariffs that accompanied it, the American System plan was also concerned with the advancement of internal improvements, such as canals, that would unite the East and West in communication, travel, and trade. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal can be seen as one of the products of this movement (1) and was in fact initially heralded as the first great work of national improvement (2).

The papers in this collection that are related to the construction and maintenance of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal are an invaluable documentation of efforts during this turbulent time to unite the eastern and western United States. They provide details of the canal from its initial construction to its decline with the incline at Georgetown project. The canal also serves as an example, or perhaps a warning against, federal involvement in state improvement efforts as it was the first project to be directly funded and staffed by the federal government (3). The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by then President John Quincy Adams whose toast, "to the canal: perseverance," (4) became an ironic omen, as construction of the canal took over twenty-two years to be completed. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal materials can be used as a case study for the problems encountered during canal building (5). These problems are best typified in the collection by the papers relating to the Georgetown incline. This project was headed by Hutton and was plagued with construction problems, boating accidents, and obsolescence from the moment of its completion. Despite these issues, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal remains a structure of historical significance in America. As the third and last effort to construct an all-water route to the West (6), the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is an important artifact of 19th century attitudes and efforts towards commerce, trade, travel, and communication between the eastern and western United States. Other significant canals and water structures represented in the collection are the Kanawha Canal, the Washington Aqueduct, and a large collection of materials relating to the Kingston Water Supply (New York).

One of the most significant internal improvements made during this time was the railroad. The legal conflicts that arose between the canal companies and railroads is also represented in the materials relating to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. These materials specifically deal with the legal conflict's between the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The development and construction of the railroads is also represented in the materials documenting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, the Northern Adirondack Railroad, the Western Maryland Railroad, the Mexican National Railroad, the Colorado Midlands Railroad, and the Columbia Railroad.

The collection also demonstrates the spirit of innovation and invention that was prevalent in the engineering field in the nineteenth century. Joseph Gies writes, "...one of the distinctive characteristics of the great nineteenth century engineering adventurers was their readiness to gamble on the translation of theory into practice" (7). In this quote, he is speaking of the civil engineer Dewitt Clinton Haskins and a project that truly encapsulates engineering invention in the nineteenth century, the Hudson River Tunnel. Responding to the increase in the population of the City of New York in the late nineteenth century from sixty thousand to three and a half million, the Hudson River Tunnel was originally devised as a way to alleviate traffic and to transport train passengers directly across the Hudson River (8). Beginning with records dating from 1881 to 1901, the Hutton papers can be used to document not only the advances in engineering during this time but also the costs of progress. Haskins' initial efforts to build the tunnel using submerged air pressurized caissons were marked by failure and in some cases fatalities. Workers on the tunnel often suffered from what came to be known as "caisson disease" or "the bends," caused by the immense forces of compression and decompression experienced while working in the tunnels (9). This problem was so prevalent that as construction progressed the rate of worker deaths caused by "the bends" rose to twenty-five percent (10). Materials in the collection document worker complaints and deaths resulting from this disease as well as providing a technical record of the construction of the tunnel. The highlight of the materials relating to the Hudson River Tunnel is an album that contains photographs of workers in the tunnel and a detailed daily report of the construction progress on the tunnel that was maintained by Hutton's assistant, Walton Aims. The first hand account in these reports provides insight not only into the construction of the tunnel, but also the problems encountered.

Another project featured in the Hutton collection that was devised in response to the population explosion in the City of New York in the nineteenth century is the Harlem River Bridge, or as it is now known, the Washington Bridge. Known as one of the longest steel arch bridges of its time, the Harlem River Bridge also represents that spirit of invention and innovation that was prevalent in the civil engineering field during the nineteenth century. The collection provides an invaluable resource for those wishing to track the construction of the bridge from early concept drawings and proposals to finalized plans. Also present are photographs of the construction and workers. Societal response to the bridge in the form of newspaper and magazine clippings help to create the narrative of the Washington Bridge, and these are supplemented by correspondence from the builders, suppliers, and planners.

This collection also includes diaries, 1866-1901; letterpress copybooks, 1858-1901; correspondence on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Hudson River Tunnel, Washington Bridge over the Harlem River, and Maryland and Colorado railroads, 1861-1901, and on Hutton's financial and real estate affairs, 1835-1921; construction photographs of the Harlem River, Cairo, Poughkeepsie, Niagara bridges and the Hudson River Tunnel, Washington Aqueduct, and Capitol Dome (in the form of albumen, cyanotype, salted paper print); data and drawings; rolled land profile drawings; canal notes, 1828-1892; Hudson River Tunnel construction reports, 1889-1891; publications, drawings, and maps of railroad routes; pamphlets and reprints on hydraulic works and water supply; road, railway, bridge, and hydraulic construction specifications, 1870-1900; drawings (linen, oil cloth, and heavy drawing paper), and blueprints; account books, 1891-1899; and plans, drawings, field notebooks, and publications on American and European construction projects, especially in Maryland, New York, and France; personal correspondence detailing his role as executor for the estates of Benjamin H. Hutton, Joseph Hutton, Annie Theller, and the Countess H. De Moltke-Hvitfeldt and his relationships with his children, siblings, cousins, and colleagues, 1850-1942.

Materials are handwritten, typed, and printed.

Special note should be made that any materials dated after the year 1901 were added to the collection by another creator who is unidentified. It can be speculated that professional materials added after this date were contributed by his brother and colleague Nathanial Hutton or his son Frank Hutton. Personal materials contributed after this date may have been added by his wife, daughters, or other members of his extended family.

Series 1, Letterpress Copybooks, 1858-1901, consists of twenty seven letterpress copybooks containing correspondence between Hutton and other engineers, architects, and building suppliers. The letterpress copybooks in this series have been arranged chronologically. The books involve a process by which ink is transferred through direct contact with the original using moisture and pressure in a copy press. The majority of the correspondence is business- related. Some letterpress copybooks are devoted to specific projects such as the Washington/Harlem River Bridge, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The letterpress copybooks provide a record of correspondence written by Hutton, which makes it distinctive from the other correspondence in the collection. Most of the other correspondence has Hutton as recipient.

The letterpress copybooks also document Hutton's various residences throughout his life and provide a glimpse into the civil engineering profession at the time by demonstrating how engineers shared ideas and comments about projects. This can be supplemented with the printed materials in the collection as many of the authors also appear in the correspondence. Other topics covered in the letterpress copybooks include business reports (specifically the report of the president and directors of the Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad), records of people and companies involved in projects, pasted in engineering sketches, engineering specifications and notes, travel expenses and estimates, construction histories and progress, legal issues with family estates, tax information, Colorado Railroad, payment certificate schedules, St. Paul Railroad, personal correspondence, title guarantees, Hudson River Tunnel, financial matters, real estate matters, insurance information, sketches and drawings, supply lists, cost estimates, the Memorial Bridge, Coffin Valve Company, engineering expenses, engineering calculations, payroll notes for Kingston Water Supply, proposals, account information, Hutton Park, reservoirs, contract drafts, French Society of Civil Engineers, inspection results (specifically Piedmont Bridge), land descriptions, damage reports, Morse Bridge, Illinois Central Railroad, North Sea Canal, moveable dams, iron works, site histories, Potomac Lock and Dock Company, Kanawha River canal (lock quantities, specifications, payroll information), Pennsylvania Canal, and bills for services.

Series 2, Professional Correspondence, 1861-1901, consists of correspondence that relates to Hutton's architectural and engineering projects. This series is further subdivided into two subseries: Project Correspondence and General Correspondence. Subseries 1, Project Correspondence, 1876-1899, correspondence is divided by project and arranged alphabetically. Subseries 2, General Correspondence, 1861-1901, is arranged chronologically. Both series contain handwritten and typed letters. Some letters are on letterpress copybook pages and are most likely copies. Some materials are in French and Spanish. Special note should be made that this series does not contain all of the professional correspondence in the collection. Some correspondence has been separated according to project and placed in Series 8, Professional Projects, 1830-1965, in order to make it easier for researchers to access materials related to those subjects.

Subseries 1, professional correspondence topics include comparisons between construction projects (specifically comparisons of the Kanawha River Canal to other canals), supply lists, location recommendations, sketches, construction plans and modifications, bills for supplies and works, leaks in the gates, cost estimates, Brooklyn Water Supply, use of lake storage (Ramapo Water Supply), water supply to states and counties, damages to water supply pipes, estimates of water quantities, responses to construction reports, legal issues related to projects, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and payment for services.

Subseries 2, general correspondence topics include employment opportunities, committee meetings and elections, land surveys, sketches, engineering plans and ideas, work on projects, dismissal from projects, notes on supplies, Washington Aqueduct, construction progress, land purchases, Civil War, Jones Falls, cost of water pumps, steam drills, lots divisions and prices, repairs, report of the engineering bureau, tidewater connection at Annapolis, bridge construction, construction costs, statement of vessels that entered and cleared Baltimore, technical questions from colleagues, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, supply costs, letters of introduction, requests for reference, changes to plans and designs, survey reports, St. Andrew's lot, Canal Coal Company, publication process, American Society of Civil Engineers and its members, responses to project inquiries, Graving Dock gross revenue, job offers, specifications, trade figures, contracts, water levels, appointment dates and times, moveable dams, proposals for membership, salaries, Piedmont Coal Lands, maps, land profiles, Washington Bridge, board payments, Nicaragua Canal, Grant Coal Company, statistics, engineering notes, Hartford Bridge, water pressures, coal deposits, Colorado Coal, pipe lines, reservoirs, boat costs for canals, floods, bridges, letters of resignation, engines, Ruxton Viaduct, Colorado and Midland Railroad, Morse Bridge, share values, railroad locations, membership invitations, call for submissions, structural tests, record of accounts for room and board, appointments, water rights (Putnam County), publications, blueprints, visitation programs, cotton compresses, street trenches, pressures in dams, level tests, Portland Transportation bureau, trade information, concrete steel, Chicago drainage canal, ship canals, Augusta Cotton and Compress Company, Sooysmith case, Consolidated Gas Company, masonry, book binding, Columbia Railway Company, jetties, land grades, Chesapeake and Delaware canal, water wheels, pneumatic lock, tunnel arches, rifton power, Hutton's health, elevators, Brooklyn Bridge Terminals, girder weights, legal issues and their results, rating table for the Potomac, land profiles, transmission lines, transformers, water turbines, and water power on the Potomac River.

Correspondents for this series include the following: Captain Montgomery C. Meigs, Captain T.W. Symons, William Bryan, Ernest Flagg, John Hurd, Jake Wolfe, J.C. Saunders, J.H. Dolph, Charles J. Allen, G.H. Mendell, Virgil S. Bogue, B.A. Mounnerlyn, Edward Burr, H.G. Prout, R. William, H. Dodge, C.R. Suter, M. Mink, W.R. King, John Lyons, Alex Brown and Sons, John G. Butler, D. Condon, Bernard Carter, R.P. McCormick, D.R. Magruder, Andrew Banks, Isaac Solomon, C.J. Mayer, C.W. Kern, John Herring, James S. Mackie, D.R. Magunde, D. Rittaguide, R.S. Stevens, J.L. Raudolph (Baltimore and Ohio Railroad), J.M. Lane, W.D. Stuart, W.G.P. Palmer (Committee Church of the Ascension), C. Crozet, General W. Hughes, V.R. Maus, J.M. Hood (Western Maryland Railroad Company), Ernest Pontzen, M. Haus, William F. Craighill, Harry Hutton, John W. Pearce, Reverend James A. Harrald, William Watson, A.L. Rives, Thomas Monro, A.F. Croswan (Commander United States Navy), H.R. Garden, William McAlpine, James Forrest, Wm. Bloomsfield, Daniel Ammen, Linel Wells, A. and Otto Sibeth, Alfred Noble, Clemens Hershel, Sidney Warner, E.H. de Rheville, Theodore Cooper, William Findlay Shunk, Lewis S. Wolfe, Rufus Mead, Theodore F. Taylor, John Bogart, J. Whaler, B. Williamson, Colonel F.V. Greene, Robert H. Sayre (Lehigh Valley Railroad Company), Charles W. Pussey, Louis Q. Rissel, V.C. Bogue, H.C. Eckenberger, Melville E.G. Leston, Edwin Parson, Rudolph Hering, R.S. Hale, F.M. Turner, Thosl Martindale, Justus C. Strawbridge, William M. Ayresm, R.L. Austin, A.M. Miller, P. Livingston Dunn, T.J. Cleaver, C.S. Dutton, H.A. Carson, William Bainbridge Jaudon, H.A. Presset, Thomas H. McCann, Russel Sturgis, H.G. Prout, Alexis H. French, John K. Cowen, F.W. Williams, J. Waldorf, B.H. Byrant, B.H. Jones, M.H. Rogers, J.W. Ogden, General W. Cashing, William Longhudge, A.J. Cameron, T.L. Patterson, J.J. Hagerman, H. Wigglesworth, Charles B. Rowland, E. Bantz, W.G. Lathrop, Clarence King, George Rowland, George A. Tibbals (Continental Iron Works), George N. Vanderbilt, Eugene C. Lewis, F.P. Burt, Colonel John C. Clarke, Lieutenant Thomas Turtle, W.S.M. Scott, E. Bates Dorsey, Bernard Carter, George M. Shriver (Baltimore and Ohio Railroad), Russel Sturgis, Macmillan Publishing, James Abernethy, B. Baker, J.G.W. Fynje, A. Mallet, Jean Hersuy, L.F. Vernon Horcourt, Robert Lilley, A.J. Johnson, F.M. Colby, Henry D. Loney, A.S. Cameron, James A. Harrald, William Watson, John B. Lervis, A.L. Rives, Edwin F. Bidell, Frank H. Stockett, E. McMahon, C.F. Elgin, Enrique Budge, G. Clayton Gardiner, Dwight Porter, William A. Chapman, T.E. Sickels, Theodore Cooper, C.J. Warner, Institution of Civil Engineers, Robert Gordon, United States Coast of Geodetic Survey Office, C.P. Pattun, J.N. Putnam, Sidney B. Warner, H.D. Fisher, Union Pacific Railway Company, Lewis S. Wolle, George E. Waring Junior, The American Exhibition, G.F. Swain, American Society of Civil Engineers, N.H. Whitten, U.S. Engineer Office, Government Works Committee, J.J. Hagerman, D. Jackson, Sterling Iron and Railway Company, E.P. Alexander, E. Williamson, Central Railway Company of New Jersey, William A. Underwood, F. Collingwood, James Dun (Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Company), Henry F. Kilburn, Louis A. Bissell, Virgil G. Boque, H.C. Eckenberger, Melville Egleston, Charles Parson, George Swain, Continental Iron Works, Rudolph Hering, J.B. Gordon, Mayor's Office (Baltimore), Harry Robinson, Pennsylvania Railway Company, W.H. Gahagan, L. Luiggi, B.H. Bryant, T.J. Cleaver (Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company), H.A. Carson, H.A. Presset (Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey), John K. Cowen, Vernon H. Brown, J. Waldorf, B.H. Bryant, L.F. Root, P.W. White, Metropolitan Railroad Company, Charles F. Mayer (Consolidated Coal Company, Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad Company), J.M. Lane (Western Maryland Railroad), Dr. R.S. Stewart (Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad), Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad (John Lyons, John G. Butler, D. Candon, R.P. McCormick, Andrew Banks), Thomas F. Rowland, J.A. Bensel, Walton Aims, S.D. Coykendall, H.C. Rogers, John F. Ward, T.B. Jewell, H.A. Pressey, C.S. Armstrong, J. Nennett, V.G. Bague.

Series 3, Personal Correspondence, 1850-1942, contains correspondence with immediate and extended family, specifically the heirs to the Benjamin H. Hutton and Joseph Hutton estates and Adele Gorman. Correspondence is primarily arranged chronologically, but some files have been divided based on subject or author (the Deer Park and Adele Gorman files), or by form (the Telegrams, and Cablegrams file). Special note is made of the posthumous correspondence file, which includes correspondence both relating to Hutton's death and correspondence that was written by family members after the years of his death. The series contains both hand written and typed letters. Some correspondence is in French. The correspondence demonstrates his relationship with his children specifically Elizabeth (Bessie) Hutton, and illuminates his role in his family. This series also provides details about nineteenth century upper class society and activities. Special note should be made that this folder does not contain all of the personal correspondence contained in the collection. Some correspondence has been separated according to recipient, or subject in order to make researching these recipients or subjects easier.

Series 3 correspondence topics include: estate payments, distribution of assets, funds transfers, estate lines, conflicts with tenants, sketches, lot maintenance, real estate sales, deeds, real estate sales negotiations, congratulations wishes on new babies, family illnesses, family affairs and travels, traveling directions, personal investments, invitations for social occasions, family debts, professional interests, professional and personal appointments, family issues, requests for money, sketches, advice to children (specifically Frank Hutton), life insurance, books, letters of introduction, legal issues, funeral expenses, charity donations, advertisements, minutes from professional organizations, army enlistment, deaths of friends and family, recipes, estimates of personal expenses, renovations, stock certificates (Great Northern Railway Company, New York), food, social activities, the weather, marriages, real estate and construction plans, and loan agreements.

Correspondents include the following: Frank Hutton, Thomas B. Brookes, J.L. Marcauley, C.M. Matthews, Edward J. Hancy, John M. Wilson, H.A. Carson, William H. Wiley (of John Wiley and Sons Scientific Publishers, New York), Georgina Hutton, Pierre and Jane Casson, George McNaughlin, Henrietta Hutton, Aaron Pennington Whitehead, J.B. Wheeler, B. Williamson, Robert De Forest, Elizabeth (Bessie) Hutton, Grace Beukard, J.C. Saunders, Mary Hutton, William J. Pennington, C.S. Hurd, Henry C. Cooper, Henry J. Segers, S.F. Miller, Annie Theller, Alfred Noble, Maria Burton, Joseph Hobson, E. Lennon, F. Hulberg, Charles Gordon Hutton, Edward C. Ebert, A. William Lewin, E.R. Dunn, William P. Craighill, Theodore Cooper, P.I. Chapelle, Anita McAlpine, Clarence King, Victoria Raymond, and Adele Gorman.

Series 4, Personal Materials, 1835-1946, contains documentation about Hutton's personal finances, role as executor of the Benjamin H. Hutton, Joseph Hutton, Annie Theller, and Countess H. De Moltke-Hvitfeldt estates, Mary Augusta Hutton (wife), Mary Hutton (daughter), Frank Hutton, John Caulfield (son-in-law), and B.F. and C.H. Hutton. The series has been divided into four subseries: Financial Records, 1876-1901, Estate and Real Estate Records, 1835-1921, Other Huttons, 1876-1936, and Personal Material, 1878-1946. Subseries 2, Estate and Real Estate Records, 1835-1921, contains correspondence relating to specific family estates and family members. This correspondence was separated from Series 3, Personal Correspondence, 1850-1942, to make it easier for researchers to access all records relating to the family estates. This series includes hand written, typed, and printed materials. Some materials are in French. All material dated after 1901 has been added to the collection by other creators such as Hutton's wife and children.

Subseries 1, Financial Records, 1876-1901, includes account books, account records, correspondence related to bank accounts, bank statements, financial notes, bills and proofs of payment, rent receipts, tax bills (New York, Flatbush, Montgomery County), checks, money exchanges, receipts for tax payments, real estate receipts, stock and bond certificates, loan agreements, executor accounts, rebate calculation sheet, and tax and insurance payments.

Subseries 2, Estate and Real Estate Records, 1835-1921, includes property maps and information (rent, mortgage costs, deeds), correspondence, notes on estate distribution, estate assets, value of estate and estate payments, account records, loan agreements, receipts, proof of payments, checks, financial records, legal documents, insurance documents, tax bills, auction receipts, and wills relating to the estates of Benjamin H. Hutton, Joseph Hutton, Countess H. de Moltke-Hivtfeldt, Annie Theller, and William R. Hutton. Also included are correspondence, property maps and information, and deeds and mortgages on Hutton properties.

Subseries 2, the estate and real estate records correspondence topics include: Virginia state building codes, construction costs, construction notices, purchasing offers for property, real estate prices, receipts of payments, property lines, real estate purchases and sales, real estate sales negotiations, deeds insurance estimates and costs, loan costs, property estimates, renovation costs, mortgages, property damages and repairs, property tax payments, insurance rates and payments, rent payments, telephone installation, building permits, rental agreements, reports on property condition, contracts of sale, conflicts with tenants, changes of address, deeds, distribution of estate monies, details about the Countess' illness, estate arrangements, changes of address, problems arising out of estate distribution, payment of debts, will details, selling of mortgage shares, accounts, estate settlement, money cables and transfers, dealings with lawyers, rent on Hutton Park property, legal and accounting fees, power of attorney transfer, investments, property security, land appraisals, lists of assets, legacy taxes, mortgages transfers, property management, Flatbush property, property rent and values, and physicians bills.

Correspondents include the following: A.C. Weeks, Walter I. Green, John D. Probsh, A.G. Darwin, Thomas H. McCann, Allan Farguhar, Thomas Dawson, Potter and Crandall Real Estate and Insurance Brokers, George C. Tilyou, H.D. Olephant, F. Winston, Richard E. Calbraith, Frank P. Martin, Henry DeForest, Henry C. Cooper, Metropolitan Telephone and Telegraph Company, John Ecker, C.K. Avevill, Georgina Hutton, Edward J. Hancy, Robert Graham, W.M. Bennett, Willis E. Merriman, Nathan L. Miller, Harry Hutton, Marquise de Portes (Adele Gorman), Annie Theller, Samuel L. Theller, Mrs. R. Locke, Frank Z. Adams, John Palmer (Secretary of State, New York), J.T. Cammeyer, Frank P. Martin, Florence Theller, Francis H. Seger, Henry C. Cooper, D.W.G. Cammeyer, Campbell W. Adams, Jane Casson, Elizabeth Hutton, Rene de Portes, H.G. Atkins, Grace Beukard, Aaron Pennington Muikhead, J.E. Delapalme, T.H. Powers, Egerton L. Winthrop Junior, George B. Glover, William Jay and Robert W. Candler, B. Williamson, J.E. Knaff, Cornelius C. Vermeule, S.V. Hayden, Charles G. Landon[?], H.A. Hurlbert, F.A. Black, John L. Calwalder, the Health Department of New York, A.G. Darwin, William Laue, Frederick Frelinghuysen, Charles S. Brown, Henrietta Hutton, Edward Gelon.

Subseries 3, Other Huttons, 1874-1936, includes professional drawings and proposals, checks, insurance information, correspondence, tax information, medical information, tax bills, relating to Mary Augusta Hutton (wife), Mary Hutton (daughter), Henry and Harry Hutton, Frank Hutton (son), John Caulfield (son-in-law), B.F. Hutton, and C.H. Hutton.

Subseries 4, Personal Materials, 1878-1946, contains handwritten property notes, school notes, sermons, travel documents, menus, Christmas cards, jewelry box, postal guide, typed religious materials and flyers.

Series 5, Diaries, 1866-1901, contains twenty nine diary books that document both Hutton's personal and professional life. These diaries provide not only a record of Hutton's life, but were also used by Hutton himself as a reference tool. When working on projects he would refer to notes and observations he made in his diary (as evidenced by notes made in his diaries). The first pages of the diaries often list his height, weight and clothing sizes as they varied from year to year. A researcher could probably use the cashbooks (see Series 7) and the diaries in conjunction as both detail the purchases made by Hutton. Many of the diaries also include a short record of accounts in the back. The diaries are arranged chronologically.

Topics found in the diaries include short form accounts of daily activities and appointments, records of the weather, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project, construction progress on projects, steam pumps, sketches and calculations, extension of Washington railroads, cost of food, work supplies, travel costs, costs of goods and food, work deadlines, home renovations, visits to family, cash accounts, accounts of household duties, produce on Woodlands property, records of deaths, debts owed, account of clearing Woodlands property, church visits, Hancock and Tonoloway Aqueduct, canals, Drum Point Railroad, Montgomery C. Meigs, Washington Aqueduct, Annapolis Water Works, telegram costs, wages for Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project, William Craighill, Morris Canal, Annapolis Railroad and Canal, professional duties (inspections), Kanawha River Canal, travel schedules, professional expenses, cash received from Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, John's Dam, cathedral construction (St. Patricks?), Piedmont Bridge, Cumberland, account of farm property belonging to Major Campbell Bruns, Cunard Pier, Marquise de Portes, rent costs, Baltimore Canal, Kingston Water Supply, Croton Orange Estate, Pierre Casson, Hudson River Tunnel, Washington/Harlem River Bridge, entertainment costs, Greenwood cemetery, train schedule, notes on illness, real estate sales, Hutton Park, Benjamin H. Hutton estate and heirs, estimates, accounts of correspondence received and sent, Central Railroad, rent on Orange properties, addresses, contracts and building supplies for projects, personal finances, Joseph Hutton property on Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, amounts paid and received, medical appointments, Ramapo Water Company, drawing progress of maps and diagrams, Harbor Board (New York), property repairs, inspection and test reports, reservoirs, lists of birthdays, Boston Tunnel, family financial issues, tax payments, and prayers.

Series 6, Notebooks, 1860-1900, document the engineering and architectural projects worked on by Hutton. The series has been divided into three subseries: Subseries 1, Engineering and Survey Field Notes, 1860-1899; Subseries 2, Notebooks, 1871-1886; and Subseries 3, Notes, 1863-1900. Subseries 1, Engineering and Survey Field Notes, 1860-1899, contains sixteen field notebooks used by Hutton. Subseries 2, Notebooks, 1871-1886, contains seven notebooks. Subseries three, Notes, 1863-1900, contains four documents.

Some notebooks correspond to specific projects such as the Kanawha River Canal (lockgate and Phoenix Waterline), Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Buffalo Reservoir, Potomac Lock and Dock Company, Northern Adirondack Railroad account, Washington Aqueduct, Little Rock Bridge, Wilson-Adam Dock, Croten Brick Works, Hutton Park, Centennial Iron Works, Cumberland Canal, Williamsport Aqueduct, Catoctin Aqueduct, Alexandria Canal, Miller's Saw Mill, Seneca Dam, Union Tunnel, Cumberland Waterworks, Victoria Bridge, Welland Canal, North Sea Canal, Ramapo Water Company, Annapolis Water Company, Antietam Aqueduct, Interoceanic Canal, San Quentin Canal, Suez Canal, Amsterdam Canal, Harlem Bulkhead, Morris Canal, Blue Lake Canal, and Nicaragua Canal.

These notebooks should be used in conjunction with the other materials in the collection related to professional projects, as they often provide more detailed accounts of the construction and land surveys. Some of the notebooks contain entries from several different sources. The notebooks were probably shared among the engineers working on these projects. The notebooks also contain looseleaf ephemera such as hand written calculations, newspaper clippings, and blueprints. Languages found in this series are English and French.

Notebook topics include construction projects, supply needs, costs for labor, sketches (Woodland Mills, landscapes, dams, railway cars, Noland Tunnel), costs of crops, survey measurements, cost of livestock, aqueducts, inspections, canal bridges, seed prices, dams, measurements, coffer dam, canal maintenance, worker salaries, calculations, towpath sketches and measurements, shipping rates, worker accidents, water and coal used, geometrical sketches (Washington Aqueduct), locks, damage reports, interactions with other engineers (William Reading), coal shipments on the canal, travel expenses, land survey notes, drafts for correspondence, William Craighill, Victoria docks, lists of personal supplies used, construction time estimates, surveying expenses, telegram costs, sand pump, canal from Sherling to Tuxedo Bay, analysis of several artificial lakes and reservoirs, distances of reservoirs to main pipes, calculations for the Austin Wheel, engine construction, bridges, gauging water depth, results and observations of tests and performance, problems with construction, to-do lists, cost of land surrounding towpaths, Fawcett's Lock, Tarman's Lock, comparison of costs in transporting coal by water and by rail, inspection notes, iron work, drainages, leaks, cost of supplies, watergates, harbor ferries, railroad station distances, flood protection, Panama Canal via the Nicaraguan route, cost of jetties, water levels, pressure of steam, boilers, steam and water cycle, water depth, cement, Great Falls, Virginia, waterflow, soundings, time of floats, flow of currents, rain fall measurements, tunnel measurements, cost of trenching San Francisco water supply, record of livestock, cost of food, rates of sawing woods and mills, preliminary railroad line measurements, profile of final line, and railroad line profiles.

Series 7, Cash Books, 1856-1899, contains seven cashbooks which list prices for personal items purchased by Hutton. Topics include groceries, church dues, clothes, hygiene products, cigars, some short journal entries about his work (Williamstown), concerts, dinners, family addresses, cakes, meals, cars, stamps, office supplies (pencils and papers), valentines, glasses, gloves, fabric, medicine, needles, diapers, tobacco, shoes (adult and childrens), travel expenses, telegrams, candles, newspapers, liquor, coal oil, jewelry, allowances given to family members, bank deposits, monies paid and received, taxes, subscriptions, tailoring costs, deposits and payments into estate trusts, and notes about payments to Benjamin H. Hutton heirs. The cashbooks also contain some personal loose leaf ephemera such as prayers, sketches, and engineering notes collected by Hutton.

Series 8, Professional Projects, 1830-1965, contains documents about engineering and architectural projects throughout Hutton's career, including information about the professional organizations and the legal issues in which he was involved. This series has been divided into eight subseries based on project, document form, and document subject. Some materials are in French and Italian.

Series 8, Professional Projects, also includes correspondence related to specific projects, primarily the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Hudson River Tunnel, the Washington/Harlem River Bridge, and the Georgetown Incline.

Topics include construction and repair to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, engineering and use of Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, worker contracts, supply and labor purchases, design plans and proposals, construction and repair costs, supply notes and costs of supplies, water pressure and power, shipping materials and routes (specifically the shipping of coal), inspections and their findings, condition of canal dam and locks, water supply, drainage, sketches, board proceedings, business meetings, deeds, cost comparisons to other shipping methods, hiring processes, wages, cost estimates, Hutton's consulting fees, measurements and calculations, funding issues, worker conflicts, negotiations with municipal governments, payment schedules, bills for services, air pressure in Hudson River Tunnel, permission for construction, specifications, mortality rate among workers on the Hudson River Tunnel, construction reports, outlet incline, proposals for construction, letters of introduction, railroad versus water for trade, controversy with Tiersey, construction contracts, construction schedules, construction issues, construction progress, construction damage, basis for estimates, supply requests, internal politics, changes to construction plans, contract and price adjustments, issues with suppliers, construction delays, work permits, bills, worker issues, engineering notes, construction excavations, expenses, construction instructions, Union Bridge Company, lighting installations, construction processes, hiring practices, electrical conductors, water proofing, hydraulics, cement, concrete, payment of contributors, processes of approval for construction, meeting dates of the Harlem River Bridge Commission, and contract restrictions.

Correspondents include the following: W.W.M. Kaig, Henry Dodge, E. Mulvany, John Shay, James Clarke, H.D. Whitcomb, Horace Benton, J. Rellan, J.R. Maus, W.E. Merrill, A.P. Gorman, J.H. Staats, Vernon H. Brown, Charles H. Fisher (New York Central and Hudson River Railway Company), B. Baker, John Fowler, Benjamin and John Dos Passos, Charles B. Colby, Charles B. Brush, S. Pearson, Stanford White, Horace E. Golding, R.H. Smith, Daniel Lord, A. Fteley, Herbert Hinds, J.R. Bartlett, D.M. Hirsch, M.H. Bartholomew, Thomas O. Driscoll, W.E. Porter, Thomas F. Rowland, George Edward Harding, R.H. Dames, William Watson, James B. Eads, J.D. Bright, H. Aston, Charles Suley, A.M. Maynard, W.R. Henton, G. Geddes, H.P. Gilbut, Malcolm W. Niver (Secretary of the Harlem River Bridge Commission), J.D. Patterson, George Devin (Assistant Engineer Washington/ Harlem River Bridge), J.B. Wheeler, John Bogart, Charles Burns, J. McClellon, Rob Bassee, B. Williamson, Theodore Cooper, Lewis Cass Ledyard, R.M. Hunt, John Cooper, Henry Wilson, A.A. Caille, Myles Tierney, W. Pentzen, L.B. Cantfield, George Q. Grumstaid Junior, M.J. Funton, George Pierce, W.O. Fayerweather, Noah S. Belthen, Herbert Steward, W.M. Habirsham. Subseries 1, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 1828-1965, consists of plans, blueprints, land profiles, drawings, boat rates, contract forms, order forms, descriptions of the canal, design information, engineering data, sketches, cost estimates, land titles, microfilm, business papers, supply bills, patent bills, news clippings, reports, specifications, stockholder's reports, receipts, water leases, printed materials, and correspondence.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal project was started in 1828 and completed twenty two years later in 1850. The canal's main objective was to connect Georgetown to the coal banks above Cumberland, Maryland, providing a short and cheap trade route between the eastern and western United States. It was also hoped that the canal would provide greater communication and travel between these two regions. Plagued by natural disasters, and construction setbacks, the canal was never completed in time to be useful and became obsolete shortly after its completion. Canal trade was eventually put out of business by the increase of railroads. Although it was an important development in engineering at its inception, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is no longer in use and has become what locals affectionately refer to as "the old ditch." The canal was designated a National Historical Park in 1971 and consists of 184.5 miles of hiking and biking trails.

Subseries 2, Hudson River Tunnel, 1887-1901, consists of agreements for construction, certificates, contracts, and cost estimates, construction reports, engineering notebooks, engineering notes, sketches, land profiles, maps, progress profiles, plans, proposals, printed material, statements of expenses, and correspondence.

The Hudson River Tunnel project was started in 1874, and the final tubes were opened in 1910 after several construction setbacks. The tunnel connects Weehawken, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, New York City. Today the Hudson River Tunnel, known as the North River Tunnels is used by Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and New Jersey Transit rail lines.

Subseries 3, Harlem River Bridge, 1878-1982, consists of blueprints, printed materials, photographs, engineer's estimates, schedules, costs, reports, proposals, contracts, specifications, and correspondence.

The Harlem River Bridge project was started in 1885 and was completed in 1889. It spans the Harlem River in New York City, New York and connects the Washington Heights section of Manhattan with the Bronx. It was later named and is still known as the Washington Bridge and has been adapted over time to carry highway traffic. These adaptations have allowed the bridge to remain in use today.

Subseries 4, Other Projects, 1858-1832, consists of drawings, maps, blueprints, plans, proposals, cost estimates, bills, correspondence, sketches, land profiles, dimensions, engineering notes, account records, photostats, supply lists, calculations, legal documents, surveys, inspection reports, financial data, and measurements on architectural and engineering projects. Highlights of this subseries include: Western Maryland Railroad, Washington Aqueduct, Panama Canal, Ramapo Water Company, Piedmont Bridge, Northern Adirondack Railroad, Columbia Railroad, Morris Canal, Pittsfield and Williamstown Railroad, Suez Canal, St. Gothard Canal, Tansa Dam, Colorado Midland Railroad Company, Memorial Bridge, Mersey Tunnel, Little Rock Bridge, Kingston Water Supply, Kanawha River Canal, Florida Ship Canal, East Jersey Water Company, Consolidated Coal Company, Dismal Swamp Canal, Boston and Baltimore Tunnels, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Annapolis Water Company, Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad Company, and the Baltimore Beltline.

Subseries 5, Unidentified Project Files, 1872-1900, consists of bills of sale, engineering forms and regulations, cement test results and methods, census bulletin, contracts, cost estimates, correspondence, notes on publications, engineering data and notes, drawings, surveys, sketches, payrolls, photographs, and reports.

Subseries 6, Specifications, 1870-1900, consists of documents related to some of Hutton's projects, including specifications for bridges, reservoirs, canals, viaducts, docks, buildings, water works, and tunnels. Some specifications are more general, and some are blank proposal/specification forms. There are also proposals for estimates and a "call" or advertisement to contractors to bid on certain projects. Many of the specifications deal with projects in New York State, but projects in Pennsylvania, the City of Baltimore, and Europe are represented. The materials are arranged alphabetically by project name. There is one folder of documentation for the Potomac River Bridge (Arlington Memorial Bridge) in Washington, D.C. The Arlington Memorial Bridge was part of the 1901 McMillan Commission's plan for restoring Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant's original plan for the capital. Two decades passed before construction was initiated by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White. The documentation for the Memorial Bridge consists of calculations and monetary figures for materials such as granite.

Subseries 7, Legal Documents, 1886, contains documents related to a patent infringement suit for moveable dams involving Alfred Pasqueau vs. the United States. This file contains both a printed version of the case and a handwritten statement from Hutton.

Subseries 8, Professional Organizations, 1870-1902, contains documents related to professional organizations where Hutton held membership. Specific organizations represented are American Institute of Architects, American Society of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers, Boston Society of Civil Engineers, Societe des Ingenieurs Civils de France, Librarie Polytechnique, American Agency of "Engineering" in London, Imperial Institute, League of Associated Engineers, Railroad Corporation, American Institute of Mining Engineers, and the Century Association. Material in the subseries includes correspondence, candidates for membership, membership payments, membership lists, meeting minutes, schedule of terms, professional practices, charges, articles of association, invitations for membership, and election notes. Some materials are in French.

Series 9, Printed Materials, 1850-1913, contains a variety of printed materials relating to engineering and architectural projects written by Hutton and fellow engineers. This series can be used to examine not only professional developments of the period and responses to those developments, but also to track how ideas were transferred between engineers across countries and continents. This series should be used in conjunction with the professional correspondence found in this collection, as many of the authors also appear there. Some materials are in French, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Subseries 1, Printed Materials by Hutton, 1852-1900, includes printed papers on the Missouri flood wave, the Ravine du Sud, the Potomac waterfront, the Colorado midlands, and the application of water supply machinery.

Subseries 2, Printed Materials by Others, 1826-1913, includes printed materials on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canals, Tehuantec Ship Railway, Interoceanic canals and railways, jetties, Nicaragua Canal, uses of cements, mortars, concretes, steam power, harbors, Niagara Falls, Kanawha River canal, Mississippi River, Hudson River Bridge, sewage disposal, Washington Aqueduct, specifications, construction progress reports, hydraulic experiments, water supply, drainage, road surfacing, sea walls, water-cooling apparatus, pollution reports, bridges, pipes, channels, reservoirs, irrigation, water power, and sewers.

Subseries 2 contains an issue of The North American Review in which Hutton has specifically highlighted an article entitled, "The Inter-Oceanic Canal." Please see the container list for names of authors.

Subseries 3, Printed Materials with No Author, 1852-1903, includes printed materials on harbor reports, Annapolis Water Company, Ramapo Water Company, water departments and boards, maps, engineer's reports, sea walls, preservation of structures, annual reports, Coal and Iron Railway Company, sewers, Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad, contract specifications, proposals, social club life, Croton Water Supply, law suits, water supplies, moveable dams, reservoirs, East River Bridge, Eastern Canal, water filtration, Kingston New Water Supply, water pipes, locks, docks, contracts, construction reports, Croton Water Supply, and surveys. Also included are issues of journals such as Le Correspondant, Circular of the Office of Chief Engineers, The Club, VIII Congres International de Navigation, Journal of the Association of Engineering Studies, and Journal of the Franklin Institute.

Subseries 4, Newspaper, Journals and Magazine Clippings, 1873-1900, contains clippings from a variety of newspapers such as Scientific American, andRailroad Gazette. Subjects included are the Union Tunnel opening in Baltimore, Drum Point Railroad, railroad company conflicts, Washington/Harlem River Bridge, Metropolitan Railroad, Western Maryland Railroad, crop prospects, lumber trade, North Avenue Bridge, Nicaraguan Canal, harbors, river improvements, reactions to engineering projects, Belt tunnel, city transit, Washington, D.C. flood in 1880, tunnel shields, Springfield Bridge, railroad patents, Panama Canal, jetties, Hudson Tunnel, steel boilers, composition and use of cement, and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Subseries 5, Oversized Printed Materials, 1889-1892, contains large printed materials related to the Washington Aqueduct, General Post Office Building, subway arches, cornices, Warwick's Castle, Neuschwanstein Castle, Renaissance paintings, botanical drawings, school buildings, church architecture, the Hospital for the Insane of the Army and Navy and the District of Columbia, the Panama Canal, Morningside Park, and the Mississippi Jetties. Also includes engravings of Hutton, T.N. Talfound, and F. Jeffrey and photographs of Montgomery C. Meigs, and Hutton. Some materials are in German and French.

References:

1. Ward, George Washington, "The Early Development of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Project," Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science Series XVII, no. 9-11 (1899): 8.

2. Ibid., 88.

3. Ibid., 55.

4. Ibid., 90.

5. Sanderlin, Walter S., "The Great National Project: A History of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal," Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science Series LXIV, no. 1 (1946): 21.

6. Ibid., 282.

7. Gies, Joseph, Adventure Underground (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1962): 134.

8. Ibid., 131-132.

9. Ibid., 135-136.

10. Ibid., 145.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into ten series.

Series 1, Letterpress Copybooks, 1858-1901

Series 2, Professional Correspondence, 1861-1901

Subseries 1, Project Correspondence, 1876-1899

Subseries 2, General Correspondence, 1861-1901

Series 3, Personal Correspondence, 1850-1942

Series 4, Personal Materials, 1835-1946

Subseries 1, Financial Records, 1876-1901

Subseries 2, Estate and Real Estate Records, 1835-1921

Subseries 3, Other Huttons, 1874-1936

Subseries 4, Personal Materials, 1878-1946

Series 5, Diaries, 1866-1901

Series 6, Notebooks, 1860-1900

Subseries 1, Engineering and Survey Field Notes, 1860-1899

Subseries 2, Notebooks, 1871-1886

Subseries 3, Notes, 1863-1900

Series 7, Cashbooks, 1856-1899

Series 8, Professional Projects, 1830-1965

Subseries 1, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 1828-1965

Subseries 2, Hudson River Tunnel, 1887-1901

Subseries 3, Harlem River Bridge, 1878-1892

Subseries 4, Other Projects, 1858-1932

Subseries 5, Identified Project Files, 1872-1900

Subseries 6, Specifications, 1870-1900

Subseries 7, Legal Documents, 1886

Subseries 8, Professional Organizations, 1870-1902

Series 9, Printed Materials, 1826-1913

Subseries 1, Printed Materials by Hutton, 1852-1900

Subseries 2, Printed Materials by Others, 1826-1913

Subseries 3, Newspaper, Journals, and Magazine Clippings, 1855-1901

Subseries 4, Oversized Printed Material, 1889-1892

Series 10: Drawings, 1875, 1883

Biographical / Historical:

Not much is known about the history of William Rich Hutton outside of his role in architectural and engineering projects of the late 1800s and early 1900s. In many cases, he is spoken of only in reference to his projects, and the short biographies that have been written read more like a resume than a life story. Because of this lack of information, this note will focus on Hutton's professional accomplishments, but will attempt to make some comments on his personal life.

William Rich Hutton was born on March 21, 1826 in Washington, D.C., the eldest son of James Hutton (died 1843) and his wife, the former Salome Rich (1). He was educated at the Western Academy (Washington, D.C.) from 1837-1840 under George J. Abbot and then at Benjamin Hallowell's School in Alexandria, Virginia, where he received special training in mathematics, drawing, and surveying (2). Hutton began his professional career in California when he, along with his younger brother James, accompanied their uncle William Rich to work for the United States Army. His uncle was a paymaster for the army and Hutton became his clerk. They traveled around the new state paying the various platoons stationed there, but Hutton also occupied his time by drawing the landscapes and structures he saw in the settlements of Los Angeles, San Francisco, La Paz, Mazatlan, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Pedro, San Diego, and Cape San Lucas (3). These drawings are now held by the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Hutton held the position of clerk until the spring of 1849, and in July of that year he began working with Lieutenant Edward O.C. Ord and completed the first survey of Los Angeles and its surrounding pueblo lands and islands. Hutton continued surveying in California from 1850-1851. He was hired by William G. Dana to survey the Nipomo Ranch in San Luis Obispo County and also surveyed the ranches Santa Manuela and Huer-Huero, both owned by Francis Z. Branch. After his employment with Dana, he became the county surveyor for San Luis Obispo County, where he prepared the first survey and map of the region. He also continued to survey ranches for Captain John Wilson during this time. In August 1851, he resigned from his position as county surveyor and moved to Monterey where he worked as an assistant to Captain (later General) Henry W. Hallack, superintendent of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine in Santa Clara County (4). He remained in this position until March, 1853 when he returned to Washington, D.C. by way of Mexico (5).

Hutton began his career as a civil engineer in Washington, D.C. He was first assigned to the position of assistant engineer on a survey of the projected Metropolitan Railroad in 1853, which was chartered to connect Washington, D.C. with the mainline of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In 1855 he began his professional relationship with Montgomery C. Meigs when he was appointed to the position of assistant engineer on the Washington Aqueduct. He also served as division engineer on this project until construction was shut down in 1861 because of the outbreak of the Civil War. Fortunately for Hutton, the construction on the Aqueduct was resumed in 1862, and when Congress transferred the supervision of the aqueduct project from the War Department to the Department of the Interior, Hutton was made chief engineer. By the end of the Civil War, Hutton's reputation as a civil engineer was established (6).

During this decade Hutton also served as the chief engineer for the Annapolis Water Works (1866) and as chief engineer for one of his most famous projects, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (1869-1871). Although some historians minimize Hutton as just one of many engineers to work on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, he did make one major contribution to its construction: the Georgetown Canal Incline. Perhaps the final effort of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal company to compete with the emerging and fast expanding railroad, the Georgetown Incline was designed to allow canal boats to travel through the canal with low water levels and to alleviate canal congestion. Unfortunately, by the time the incline was completed use of the canal had decreased so significantly that it was no longer needed to help control traffic (7). Despite this, Hutton continued to work as a consulting engineer for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company until 1881, when he was let go because of the dwindling fortunes of the company (7).

In the 1870s and 1880s Hutton was busy with several engineering projects. During 1871-1873, he was the chief engineer in the completion of the Western Maryland Railroad to Hagerstown and Williamsport (9). He also practiced as an architect with his brother, the prominent Baltimore architect Nathanial Henry Hutton, during the years 1873-1880. He relocated to New York in 1880, serving as chief engineer for the Washington Bridge in 1888 and 1889 and the Hudson River Tunnel from 1889 to 1891. In 1886, he became the consulting engineer for the New Croton Aqueduct and served in the same position for the Colorado Midland Railway between the years of 1886-1889 (10).

As his personal and professional correspondence shows, Hutton continued to work on various engineering and architectural projects until his death on December 11, 1901. In addition to these projects, he also invented the innovative system of locks and moveable dams used in the Kanawha River Canal. He was awarded the Diplome d'Honneur for this featat the Paris Exposition in 1878 (11). His correspondence also demonstrates how Hutton was respected within his professional community. These letters refer to the accuracy of his work, his willingness to help other colleagues and supply them with reference materials and information, and, in addition to all this, his politeness. It seems that these qualities defined not only his personality but also his ideology. In one of the cashbooks in the collection, dated 1899, a hand written note contains a religious parable of "The Straw." The phrase in this parable that speaks most to Hutton's work ethic, and to the spirit of inventors everywhere, is this: "Even so however lowly may be the act, however little opportunities we may have of assisting others, we may still do something. Let us beg to fulfil our duty in this regards by making ourselves useful to others by some little act of thoughtful charity..." (12). Hutton, in his dedication to civil engineering, seems to have lived up to this virtue, and in his work he changed the landscape of Washington, D.C. and New York.

The Fairy Godfather: Hutton's Personal History

His professional records reveal a man who was fiercely dedicated to his work. His obituary references his professional life more than his personal life (13). Despite his reputation in the professional engineering community, his personal records demonstrate that Hutton was also dedicated to his family and children. In 1855, he married Montgomery County native Mary Augusta Clopper (died 1915). Together they lived on her family's estate known as the Woodlands, and had five children: Frank C. Hutton, Mary Hutton, Elizabeth Hutton (later Caulfield), Rosa Hutton, and Annie Salome Hutton (14). It is at this estate that Hutton died and was buried. The personal letters to his wife found in the Woodlands Collection held at the Montgomery County Historical Society show a man in love and willing to take time from his work to write to his wife. His letters to his children show a similar interest and compassion. In the many letters found in this collection from his daughter Elizabeth (Bessie) one can see a father who is interested in not only his daughter's activities abroad, but also in her opinion. This interest also extends to his son Frank Hutton, as their correspondence shows Hutton offering his son advice on his own engineering projects.

Hutton also served as executor to many of his extended family's estates. Many letters show the conflicts that Hutton had to mediate and the dependence of his cousins on him for advice and money. Although his family was wealthy (his cousin was Benjamin H. Hutton whose daughters married into the court of Napoleon III), they were volatile, and his records seem to indicate that he served as a mediator for many of their disputes. In addition to this, as his nickname of Fairy Godfather suggests, Hutton was always willing to lend his family either financial or moral support when needed. Unfortunately, little other documentation concerning Hutton's personal life exists outside of this collection and the one held at the Montgomery County Historical Society.

References:

1. Waters, Willard O., "Introduction," California 1847-1852 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942).

2. Waters, Willard O., "Memoir," Glances at California 1847-1853 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942): ix.

3. Waters, Willard O., "Introduction," California 1847-1852 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942). and Waters, Willard O., "Memoir," Glances at California 1847-1853 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942): x-xi.

4. Waters, Willard O., "Introduction," California 1847-1852 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942).

5. Waters, Willard O., "Memoir," Glances at California 1847-1853 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942): xvii.

6. Waters, Willard O., "Memoir," Glances at California 1847-1853 (San Marino: The Huntington Library, 1942): xvii-xviii.

7. Skramstad, Harold, "The Georgetown Canal Incline," Technology and Culture, Vol. 10, no. 4 (Oct. 1969): 555.

8. Business Correspondence, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 22 February 1881, William R. Hutton Papers, 1830-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, box number 27, folder number 29.

9. "William Rich Hutton," The Club: A Journal of Club Life for Men and Women,(July 1894):37

10. Ibid.

11. Monzione, Joseph, "William R. Hutton," A.P.W.A. Reporter (Sept. 1977): 7.

12. Cashbook, 1899, William R. Hutton Papers, 1830-1965, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, box number 23, folder number 5.

13. The Woodlands Collection, Montgomery County Historical Society.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

The Montgomery C. Meigs Papers, 1870-1890, (AC0987). Contains materials relating to the construction of the Washington Aqueduct including a book of drawings illustrating reservoirs, tunnels, culverts, and other structural elements, a Government Senate Document relating to construction progress, scrapbooks created by Meigs that include newspaper clippings about the Washington Aqueduct project, water supply, engineering projects, building construction, architecture and other subjects. Collection is currently unprocessed, but is available for research.

Materials in Other Organizations:

The William Rich Hutton Papers, 1840-1961, are located at the Huntington Library in California (see http://catalog.huntington.org).

The collection contains 95 drawings, 13 letters, and 39 facsimile copies of letters and manuscripts. The illustrative material includes both watercolor and pencil drawings of California (including Los Angeles, Monterey, San Francisco, the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine, and the California missions), Baja California, Mexico, and Peru. There are also five pieces in the collection related to the author María Amparo Ruiz de Burton. In 1942, the Huntington Library published Glances at California 1847--853: Diaries and Letters of William Rich Hutton, Surveyor and California 1847--852: Drawings by William Rich Hutton.

The Hutton family papers are located at the Montgomery County Historical Society, Sween Library (see http://www.montgomeryhistory.org/sites/default/files/Family_Files.pdf).

The collection contains account books from the Woodlands estate, recipe books, livestock records, records of Mary Augusta Hutton (wife), Mary and Rose Hutton (daughters), newspaper clippings (including his obituary), correspondence, record books, deeds, bills and receipts, engineering papers, religious momentos (funeral service cards), and insurance papers.

Provenance:

The collection was donated by Mr. and Mrs. James J. Madine, a relative of Hutton's and last owners of the Woodlands estate; the Department of Forests and Parks, Maryland; Louis Fischer; and Mr. and Mrs. Mayo S. Stuntz, 1965-1966, 1974.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.

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:

Dams  Search this

Hydraulic engineering  Search this

Canals  Search this

Underwater tunnels  Search this

Railroad bridges  Search this

Railroad construction  Search this

Water-supply  Search this

Construction workers  Search this

Construction equipment  Search this

Concrete construction  Search this

Concrete  Search this

Coal -- Transportation  Search this

Civil engineers  Search this

Civil engineering  Search this

Canals -- Panama  Search this

Canals -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Canals -- Maryland  Search this

Canals -- Design and construction  Search this

Bridges -- United States  Search this

Waterworks  Search this

Tunnels  Search this

Tunnels -- New York (N.Y.)  Search this

Construction -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Underground construction  Search this

Locks and dams  Search this

Shipping  Search this

Iron and steel bridges  Search this

Sewage disposal  Search this

Railroads -- Maryland  Search this

Railroads -- 19th century  Search this

Railroad engineering  Search this

Railroad companies  Search this

Aqueducts  Search this

Arch bridges  Search this

Architects -- 19th century  Search this

Books  Search this

Bridges -- New York (N.Y.)  Search this

Bridges -- Design and construction  Search this

Bridge construction industry -- United States  Search this

Engineering notebooks  Search this

Docks  Search this

Domestic and family life  Search this

Architecture -- United States  Search this

Architecture -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Western Maryland Railroad  Search this

Annapolis Waterworks  Search this

Steam engineering  Search this

Harlem River Bridge Commission  Search this

Washington (D.C.) -- 19th century  Search this

Reservoirs  Search this

Patents  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Letterpress copybooks

Blueprints

Diaries

Drawings

Photographs -- 19th century

Cashbooks

Business records -- 19th century

Business letters

Notebooks

Topographic maps

Tax records

Technical drawings

Stock certificates

Technical literature

Photoengravings

Notes

Maps -- 19th century

Microfilms

Linen tracings

Letter books

Letters

Land titles

Legal documents

Sketches

Salted paper prints

Reports

Receipts

Plans (drawings)

Photostats

Photographic prints

Architectural drawings

Administrative records

Albumen prints

Albums

Annual reports

Booklets

Account books -- 19th century

Books -- 19th century

Family papers -- 18th century

Financial records -- 19th century

Diaries -- 19th century

Drawings -- 19th century

Cyanotypes

Correspondence -- 19th-20th century

Deeds

Printed material

Correspondence

Contracts

Harlem River Bridge

Photograph albums

Specifications

Christmas cards

Menus

Citation:

William R. Hutton Papers, dates, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0987

See more items in:

William R. Hutton Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0987

Producer:

Smithsonian World  Search this

Names:

Center for Advertising History  Search this

Grey Advertising.  Search this

Mitsubishi  Search this

WETA  Search this

Wieden & Kennedy  Search this

Gitlin, Todd  Search this

Marchand, Roland  Search this

Oda, Frances  Search this

Ogilvy, David  Search this

Pertshuk, Michael  Search this

Polykoff, Shirley  Search this

Extent:

23 Cubic feet (16 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiovisual materials

Oral history

Motion pictures (visual works)

Transcripts

Interviews

Press releases

Date:

1990-1991

Summary:

The collection documents "Selling the Dream" was an hour long television documentary that aired in early 1991 as part of the public television series, Smithsonian World.

Scope and Contents:

Series 1, boxes 1-15: 16 mm color film shot for the program, arranged in two subseries. Subseries A, boxes 1-10, consists of primary source materials including film footage of a meeting of scholars, historians, archivists, Weiden & Kennedy advertising agency personnel, and Nike executives at the Smithsonian's Center for Advertising History for the Nike Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project; interviews with scholars, historians, industry representatives (including transcripts for some interviews); and documentation of a Mitsubishi GT3000 ad from pitch to production, including meetings between Grey advertising agency personnel and Mitsubishi account representatives, a live commerical shoot and a production session with a commercial narrator. Subseries B, boxes 11-15, consists of secondary materials created during production, including pre-production sync pulls, trims, and lifts as compiled and edited by producer Steven York and Associates. Series 2, box 16, contains documentary materials relating to the show's production and broadcast, including correspondence, press releases, and publicity. Transcripts for the interviews are located here.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into two series.

Series 1: Film

Series 2: Documentary Material

Biographical / Historical:

"Selling the Dream" was an hour-long television documentary that aired in early 1991 as part of the public television series "Smithsonian World." The program traces the evolution of advertising from the late 19th century through the creative revolution of the 1960s to explore how advertising both influences and reflects American culture. In addition to historical imagery, the program follows a contemporary Mitsubishi GT3000 automobile advertising campaign from conception to production. The program features interviews with the men and women who created the advertising as well as with scholars, historians, industry advocates and government officials who comment on the role and history of advertising in a comsumer culture. "Selling the Dream" was underwritten by Southwestern Bell and co-produced by WETA and the Smithsonian Institution. The Center for Advertising History served as a resource and consultant to the producers.

Provenance:

Collection donated by Smithsonian World through executive producer Sandra Bradley, in August 1991.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

There are reproduction restrictions on material in this collection. See repository details.

Topic:

Stereotypes (Social psychology) in advertising  Search this

Symbolism in advertising  Search this

Wit and humor in advertising  Search this

Sex role in advertising  Search this

Television advertising  Search this

advertising  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiovisual materials

Oral history -- 1990-2000

Motion pictures (visual works) -- 1990-2000

Transcripts

Interviews -- 1950-2000

Press releases -- 1990-2000

Citation:

Smithsonian World/WETA "Selling the Dream" Collection, 1990-1991, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0418

See more items in:

Smithsonian World/WETA "Selling the Dream" Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0418

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

34.05 Cubic feet (consisting of 60 boxes, 14 half boxes, 9 folders, 38 oversize folders, 12 map case folders, plus digital images of some collection material.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Date:

1832-1966

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Patent Medicines forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

This collection consists primarily of advertising cards, pamphlets, leaflets, booklets, calendars, post cards, printed advertisements , medical newspaper articles, blotters, almanacs, cookbooks, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, medical journals, labels, bills/receipts, business cards, import/export documents, recipe books, reports, reviews, editorials, lectures, family manuals, notices, circulars, memorandum & account books, order forms, lithographs, photographs, caricatures song books and articles from manufacturers of proprietary medicines and wholesale and retail drug dispensers. There is a substantial amount of material from each company relating to the medical treatment of various diseases. Companies with a large amount of material include James C. Ayer, Foster, Milburn Company, C. T. Hood, Johnson and Johnson, Lehn and Fink, Lyons Manufacturing Company, Miles Medical Company, Parke Davis, Lydia Pinkham, Power Taylor Drug Company, Rumford Chemical Works, S. T. W. Stanford and Son, Seabury and Johnson, W. H. Schieflein and Company, E. R. Squibb and Sons and H.H. Warner.

Included within the collection are pamphlets on various disease entities, societies and institutes, chiropractic, homeopathy, hygiene and health and martial behavior. Doctors are listed in a separate section. Most of the material is organized by name of company. The first 51 boxes contain material from manufacturers of proprietary medicines and is arranged in alphabetical order. This material consists mostly of advertising cards, testimonials and various advertising leaflets. Many manufacturers published almanacs and other publication s with health and household hints. This material covers the nineteenth century; however, most of it is undated. Boxes 52 thru 58 are documents from wholesale and retail drug dispensers including invoices, booklets, almanacs and leaflets dating from 1800 thru 1926. Box 59 contains a large ledger with pasted cards and advertising material from various manufacturers, wholesalers and druggists. Medical publications are in boxes 60 to 64 and consist of journals with multiple articles regarding various diseases and their treatment. This material dates from 1859-1937. Contained in boxes 65 and 66 are pharmaceutical publications, state journals, national journals and other pharmaceutical booklets dating from 1856-1933. In box 66 folder number 13 there is a publication by Abbott Laboratories, printed in 1956, is a comprehensive summary of the first 50 years of the Pure Food and Drug act. Also in box 66 folders 14, 15, and 16 are journals of the Homeopathic News from 1895 to 1902, and Homeopathic Envoy dated 1901. In the last folder is an 1804 issue of Phrenology and Physiognomy. The entire box number 67 contains only copies of the Pharmaceutical Era with dates from 1890 to 1903. A collection of medical pamphlets, leaflets and booklets cover a variety of medical problems as well as diagnosis and their medical treatment in boxes 68 and 69. Miscellaneous materials in box 70 include prescription s, photographs, chromolithographs, etchings and engravings and information about the Pasteur Institute and vaccines developed at that facility. In box 71 there are some medical- legal papers and import export documents. Box 72 contains many miscellaneous medical materials. Newspaper clippings, medical economics, U.S. revenue order forms and instructions. Treatment articles and forms for ordering journals and other medical publications. Printing companies, catering to druggists for labels, letterheads and other related printing needs, along with labeling samples are contained in box 73. The last box contains foreign language medical material. In this group are articles and advertising written in Chinese, German, French, Hungarian, Spanish and Swedish.

Additional information may be found in the subject labeled medicine.

This material contains information on diseases, x-ray, instruments, insanity, tuberculosis, cancer, female medicine, medical schools, anesthetics (ether).

Biographical / Historical:

Before the Pure Food and Drug Administration was instituted in 1908 there were no restrictions on the claims or contents of medications available to the public without a physician prescription. This is reflected in the advertisements and testimonials as seen in this material. Many of the companies manufactured and distributed other products such as cosmetics, hair preparations and dyes; therefore researchers interested in chemical substances other than medical treatments would also be interested in this subject. The material dates from ca. 1800-1956 but, the bulk is late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Many diseases in the 19th century were known by names not currently used at this time. Throughout much of the material consumption which is known as tuberculosis was of great concern. Other diseases include kidney ailments (renal disease) referred to as Bright's disease, catarrh referred to the common cold, bronchitis, or sinusitis, gleet discharge from any body area used for example in gonorrhea and syphilis and scrophula glandular diseases many times accompanied by eruptions. Diseases that were considered curable by many of the medications described in this collection were catarrh, Bright's disease, anemia, syphilis, female diseases, gonorrhea, nervousness, tiredness and listlessness, headaches, weight loss, backaches, alcoholism, masturbation, typhoid, malaria, children's diseases and narcotic addiction.

Materials in the Archives Center:

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Patent Medicines is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

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.

Genre/Form:

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patent Medicines, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.PatentMedicines

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Patent Medicines

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-patentmedicines

Creator:

Chickering, Jonas, 1798-1853  Search this

Source:

Musical History, Division of (NMAH, SI)  Search this

Names:

Chickering & Sons Piano Company  Search this

Wurlitzer Company  Search this

McKay, John, Captain  Search this

Stewart, James  Search this

Former owner:

Musical History, Division of (NMAH, SI)  Search this

Extent:

16 Cubic feet (37 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Microfilms

Trade literature

Photographic prints

Papers

Place:

Boston (Mass.)

Date:

1864 - 1985

Scope and Contents:

This collection consists of 51 volumes of Chickering & Sons piano registers, documenting piano production (May 1823-September 1985); correspondence related to the hundredth anniversary of Jonas Chickering's presidency of the Handel and Hayden Society; publications on the history of the Company and sales literature (1854-1984); newspapers articles about the company (1847-1876); photographs (1926-1966); advertising and management forms (1938-1968); and a copy of a letter by Jonas Chickering to his father dated January 27, 1838. There are also ten documents related to the construction, mortgaging and insurance of Chickering Hall in New York City (1876-1886). Chickering Hall opened with great acclaim in 1875 and was an important musical center in New York City in the last quarter of the 19th Century. Some grand pianos from turn of the century onward are not listed in the ledgers. It is thought that Chickering may have had a duplicate set of serial numbers for grand pianos but this collection lacks that volume.

Arrangement:

This collection organized into seven series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1950

Series 2: Publications, 1854-1884

Series 3: Company history and records, 1838-1940

Series 4: Newspapers, 1847-1876

Series 5: Photographs, 1924-1966

Series 6: Management forms and material, 1938-1968

Series 7: Microfilm of ledger books, 1823-1985

Biographical / Historical:

Chickering & Sons pianos are an old line that came into being in April 1823 in Boston. Jonas Chickering, the founder, was a youthful cabinet maker. He learned piano making from John Osborn, a true master of the trade. The division of labor in Osborn's shop was not very extensive and Chickering was compelled to study every part of the instrument and to make himself acquainted with all the details. This exposure to the full range of tasks would served him well when he became a master in his own right. During his four years with Osborn, he became acquainted with Osborn's partner, James Stewart, who was awarded a patent for a "detached" soundingboard that was incorporated in the partners' pianos.

When Osborn and Stewart severed their business relationship, Stewart and his new partner, Chickering, opened a small shop on Tremont Street near King's Chapel on February 15, 1823. The partnership lasted three years until Stewart withdrew and left for London. At the age of 28, Chickering became the sole owner of the small but prosperous manufactory. The firm's annual output climbed over the next three years and reached 47 instruments in 1829.

In early 1830, Chickering made Captain John McKay, an experienced, aggressive, and successful merchandiser a partner in Chickering & Company. Captain Mackay made frequent trips to South American ports with ships laden with pianos. Returning home, the hold was filled with fragrant rosewood and richly grained mahogany. Chickering's first invention was patented in 1837 the first practical casting of a modern iron frame built to sustain the great tension of the strings of the piano so that it would stay in tune for a considerable period. In 1845, another important patent was secured, representing the first practical method of overstringing for square pianos, and in 1849 he applied the same principle to uprights. These contributions and others have become standard with all piano manufacturers.

The Chickering firm made pianos in a new way, employing production strategies that paralleled developments in other trades undergoing industrialization. "When he first commenced business for himself about 15 instruments a year were turned out while in the later years Mr. Chickering's business finished between fifteen and sixteen hundred instruments a year and at least one grand piano worth about a thousand dollars every week." (Richard G. Parker, A Tribute To The Life and Character of Jonas Chickering "By one who knew him well" (Boston: William P. Tewksbury, 1854.)

He was a long time President of the Handel & Hayden Society of Boston, this Country's oldest oratorio, founded in 1815.

On December 1, 1853, a fire swept through the Washington Street factory. Rather than rebuild on Washington Street, plans were made to erect a new factory on Tremont Street in the South End of Boston. Chickering, however, never saw the new plant in operation as he suffered a stroke and died December 8, 1853. The large Chickering factory built in 1853 was described at that time as the largest building in the United States outside the U.S. Capitol, and as "... the most perfect and extensive pianoforte estblishment in the world."

Chickering's death in 1853 left the business in the hands of his sons. In 1867, Emperor Napoleon III of France bestowed the Imperial Cross of the Legion of Honor on Frank Chickering at the Paris World's Fair that year.

With the passing of C. Frank Chickering in 1891, the company lost headway; and it was purchased by the American Piano Company in 1908 (Chickering Brothers pianos, which were made for several years following 1892 were in no way related to Chickering & Sons, though this family of boys was trained in the Chickering & Sons Boston factory).

From 1905 to 1911, the firm alone among American builders supported the revival of early instruments by hiring the English musician and craftsman Arnold Dolmetsch to build harpsichords, clavichords, and violas.

Chickering & Sons continued manufacturing pianos in Boston until 1927, when the plant and its personnel were relocated to East Rochester, New York. The Chickering was the foremost piano of the time Longfellow had one and there was one on the stage at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. the night Lincoln was assassinated. In 1932 the Company became part of the Aeolian American Corporation.

William Knabe of Kreutzburg, Germany, trained as a piano manufacturer, established his business in Baltimore, Maryland in 1837, and controlled the market in the Southern states by 1860. The Civil War and economic pressures may have contributed to the death of Knabe in 1864. The Company was eventually purchased by the American Piano Company in 1908, shortly after Chickering became a part of the organization.

The Wurlitzer Company, a major musical instrument manufacturer, acquired the Chickering firm in 1985 and continued to produce instruments with the Chickering name. The Wurlitzer Company was later purchased by the Baldwin Piano Company; Baldwin was subsequently purchased by Wurltech, Inc., of Houston, Texas.

Provenance:

This collection was donated by the Wurlitzer Company, May 17, 1987.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research 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:

advertising  Search this

Keyboard instruments  Search this

Business -- History  Search this

Musical instruments -- 1860-1990  Search this

Musical instrument manufacturing  Search this

Piano makers  Search this

Genre/Form:

Microfilms

Trade literature

Photographic prints

Papers

Citation:

Chickering and Sons Piano Company Collection, 1864-1985, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0264

See more items in:

Chickering & Sons Piano Company Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0264

Creator:

Smith, Myron Bement, 1897-1970  Search this

Source:

Blake, Marion Elizabeth  Search this

Names:

Aga-Oglu, Mehmet, 1896-1949  Search this

Ettinghausen, Richard  Search this

Field, Henry  Search this

Herzfeld, Ernst, 1879-1948  Search this

Kuban, Dogan  Search this

Moe, Henry Allen  Search this

Pope, Arthur Upham, 1881-1969  Search this

Former owner:

Blake, Marion Elizabeth  Search this

Extent:

192 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Date:

circa 1910-1970

Summary:

The Myron Bement Smith collection consists of two parts, the papers of Myron Bement Smith and his wife Katharine and the Islamic Archives. It contains substantial material about his field research in Italy in the 1920s and his years working on Islamic architecture in Iran in the 1930s. Letters describe the milieu in which he operated in Rochester NY and New York City in the 1920s and early 1930s; the Smiths' life in Iran from 1933 to 1937; and the extensive network of academic and social contacts that Myron and Katharine developed and maintained over his lifetime. The Islamic Archives was a project to which Smith devoted most of his professional life. It includes both original materials, such as his photographs and notes, and items acquired by him from other scholars or experts on Islamic art and architecture. Smith intended the Archives to serve as a resource for scholars interested in the architecture and art of the entire Islamic world although he also included some materials about non-Islamic architecture.

Scope and Contents:

The Myron Bement Smith Collection consists of two parts, the papers of Myron Bement Smith and his wife Katharine and the Islamic Archives. The papers include some biographic material about Myron but little about his wife. Information on his academic and professional experience is sketchy and his diaries and appointment books often contain only sporadic entries. The papers contain substantial material about his field research in Italy in the 1920s and his years working on Islamic architecture in Iran in the 1930s. Correspondence comprises the largest and most potentially useful part of the papers. Letters describe the milieu in which he operated in Rochester, NY and New York City in the 1920s and early 1930s; the Smiths' life in Iran from 1933 to 1937; and the extensive network of academic and social contacts that Myron and Katharine developed and maintained over his lifetime.

The Islamic Archives, formally entitled The Archive for Islamic Culture and Art, was a project to which Smith devoted most of his professional life. It includes both original materials, such as his photographs and notes, and items acquired by him from other scholars or experts on Islamic art and architecture. Most of the latter consists of photographs and slides. Smith intended the Archives to serve as a resource for scholars interested in the architecture and art of the entire Islamic world although he also included some materials about non-Islamic architecture. The core collection of the Archives consists of Smith's original photographs and architectural sketches of Iranian Islamic monuments made during his field research in the 1930s. He meticulously photographed the interior and exterior of monuments, including their decorative detail. Some of the photographic materials subsequently loaned, purchased, or donated to the Archives may enable scholars to document sites over time but in many cases the materials are poorly preserved or reproduced. A notable exception to this is the glassplate negatives and prints of 19th century Iranian photographer Antoin Sevruguin.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 2 major series with further subseries. A third series inventories the outsized and miscellaneous materials.

Series 1: Papers

Subseries 1.1: Biographic Materials

Subseries 1.2: Professional Experience

Subseries 1.3: Notebooks, Journals and Appointment Books

Subseries 1.4: Correspondence

Subseries 1.5: Published and Unpublished Materials

Subseries 1.6: Italy Research 1925, 1927-1928

Subseries 1.7: Iran Research 1933-1937

Subseries 1.8: Katharine Dennis Smith Papers and Correspondence

Series 2: The Islamic Archives

Subseries 2.1: Islamic Archives History, Collection Information

Subseries 2.2: Resource Materials Iran

Subseries 2.3: Resource Materials Other Islamic World and General

Subseries 2.4: Myron Bement Smith Architectural Sketches, Plans and Notes, Iran, 1933-1937

Subseries 2.5: Myron Bement Smith Iran Photographs, Notebooks and Negative Registers

Subseries 2.6: Country Photograph File

Subseries 2.7: Lantern Slide Collection

Subseries 2.8: Myron Bement Smith 35 mm Color Slides

Subseries 2.9: Country 35 mm Color Slide File

Subseries 2.10: Myron Bement Smith Negatives

Subseries 2.11: Country Photograph Negatives

Subseries 2.12: Antoin Sevruguin Photographs

Series 3: Outsize and Miscellaneous Items

Subseries 3.1: Map Case Drawers

Subseries 3.2: Rolled Items

Subseries 3.3 Items in Freezer

Subseries 3.4 Smithsonian Copy Negatives

Biographical Note:

Myron Bement Smith was born in Newark Valley, New York in 1897 and grew up in Rochester, New York. He died in Washington D.C. in 1970. He showed an early interest in drawing, and after graduation from high school, he worked as a draftsman for a Rochester architect. He served in the US Army Medical Corps in France during World War I and on return again worked as an architectural draftsman. He studied at Yale University from 1922 to 1926, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. During summer vacations, he worked as draftsman or designer for architectural firms in New York City. After graduation, he received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation grant and spent two years in Italy doing research on northern Italian brick and stone work. He used photography as an tool for his research and published several well-illustrated articles. On return he joined an architectural firm in Philadelphia and in 1931 became a registered architect in New York. He enrolled in Harvard University graduate school in 1929 pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree.

In April 1930, Smith was appointed Secretary of the newly created American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology founded by Arthur Upham Pope and located in New York City. He had no prior academic or work experience in Islamic art or architecture, and his job entailed designing publications, arranging lectures, organizing exhibitions and fund raising. That summer he arranged an independent study course at Harvard University on Persian art and subsequently studied Persian language at Columbia University and attended graduate courses at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. His work and academic credentials enabled him to compete successfully for a research fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies in 1933 to study Iranian Islamic architecture.

Accompanied by his new bride Katharine Dennis, Smith left for Iran in 1933. They suffered a horrendous motor vehicle accident in Iraq en route and required a lengthy recuperation in Lebanon and Cyprus. The Smiths eventually arrived in Isfahan, Iran, where they established their "Expedition House," as Smith called it, in a rented faculty house at Stuart College. Smith's research consisted of meticulous photographic documentation of Islamic monuments and architectural sketches and drawings of many of them. He concentrated on the Isfahan area but also documented monuments elsewhere in Iran. Smith outfitted his station wagon as a combination camper and research vehicle in which he and his staff traveled widely. Katharine sometimes traveled with him but generally she remained in Isfahan managing the household and logistics for the "expedition." The Smiths left Iran in 1937.

Smith published several articles about Iran's Islamic monuments based on his field research and in 1947 completed his PhD thesis for The Johns Hopkins University on the vault in Persian architecture. His professional career from 1938 until his death in 1970 consisted of a series of temporary academic positions, contract work and government or academic sponsored lecture tours and photographic exhibits. He had a long lasting relationship with the Library of Congress where he served as an Honorary Consultant from 1938 to 1940 and again from 1948 to 1970; from 1943 to 1944 he was Chief of the Iranian Section at the Library. Despite his lack of published material, Smith was well-known among academic, government and private citizens who worked, traveled or were otherwise interested Iran and the Islamic world.

Smith developed an extensive network of professional and social contacts that dated from his early student days and increased markedly during his time at the Persian Institute and later in Iran. He kept in touch with them and they touted him to others who were interested in Iran or Islamic art and architecture. This network served him well in realizing his ambition of creating a resource for scholars that relied on photographs to document Islamic architecture. The Islamic Archives began with his own collection of photographs from his Iran research and grew to include all manner of photographic and other materials not only on the Islamic world but also other areas. Creating and managing the Archives became the main focus of Smith's professional life and career. In 1967 he received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to revise his PhD thesis as a publishable manuscript but died before he could complete it.

Related Materials:

The Antoin Sevruguin Photgraphs

Ernst Herzfeld Papers

Lionel B. Bier Drawings

Lionel D. Bier and Carol Bier Photographs

Provenance:

Gift of Myron Bement Smith

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.

Topic:

Islamic architecture  Search this

Islamic Architecture-Turkey  Search this

Iran-description and travel  Search this

Iran-History 20th Century  Search this

Islamic Architecture-Middle East  Search this

Iran-social life and customs  Search this

United States-Social life and customs  Search this

Mosques  Search this

Architecture -- Iran  Search this

Citation:

The Myron Bement Smith Collection. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Identifier:

FSA.A.04

See more items in:

Myron Bement Smith Collection

Archival Repository:

Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-fsa-a-04