The papers of ceramist William P. Daley measure 26.3 linear feet and date from 1905-2016 (bulk 1951-2001). The collection documents Daley's career as both artist and teacher through biographical information, correspondence, exhibition files, project files, material on workshops, seminars, and lectures, teaching files, artist files, reference files, printed material, photographs, financial files, and artwork.
There is an 11.1 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2022 that includes project, exhibition and book files; photographs and slides of works of art, Daley and events; printed material; writings; awards and honors; lectures; drawings; kiln logs; notebooks; audio cassettes, CDs and DVDs; files on artists and miscellany regarding William P. Daley. Materials date from circa 1959-2016.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of ceramist William Daley measure 26.3 linear feet and date from 1905-2016 (bulk 1951-2001). The collection documents Daley's career as both artist and teacher through biographical information, correspondence, exhibition files, project files, material on workshops, seminars, and lectures, teaching files, artist files, reference files, printed material, photographs, financial files, and artwork.
Biographical files encompass items from Daley's early life including family, education, and military materials, as well as files on awards he has earned, and interviews he has given during his career. Correspondence includes general correspondence with family, friends, artists, colleagues, and schools, as well as named files on correspondence with galleries, organizations, and individuals. The largest series in the collection, Exhibition Files, spanning a fifty year period, contain materials on group and solo exhibitions in which Daley participated, and also includes Auction Files and Exhibition Juror Files. Project Files contain materials related to public and private commissions.
Workshops, Seminars, and Lectures, documents the numerous events at which Daley taught or spoke on topics of art, ceramics, and/or education. Many of these topics are also found in Writings, which include drafts of writings by Daley and others. Within this series Daley's personal address lists and calendars are also found. The Teaching Files provide insight into Daley's teaching methods, primarily at the Philadelphia College of Art, from materials such as curriculum plans, lesson notes, and assignments. Also within this series are general teaching notes which contain many hand drawn diagrams. The Artist Files that Daley created house materials concerning artists who were friends, former students, co-workers, and colleagues. Daley also compiled Reference Files containing materials on various topics for use in teaching and projects. Topics include the art of various countries, formulas and tables for ceramics, essays on art and education, and other general subjects. Printed Material provides information, primarily on ceramics, through press clippings, exhibit announcements, catalogs and journals, as well as other miscellaneous materials. Also found are reviews of Daley's work. While photographs are included throughout the collection, the Photographs series contains additional photographs of Daley in the studio or in the classroom, as well as photographs of artwork by others. Also found in the collection are copies of drawings Daley completed throughout his career.
There is an 11.1 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2022 that includes project, exhibition and book files; photographs and slides of works of art, Daley and events; printed material; writings; awards and honors; lectures; drawings; kiln logs; notebooks; audio cassettes, CDs and DVDs; files on artists and miscellany regarding William P. Daley. Materials date from circa 1959-2016.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into fourteen series. Each series is arranged either in rough chronological or alphabetical order.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Files, 1905-2003 (Box 1; 0.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1957-2001, undated (Boxes 1-2; 1.5 linear feet)
Series 3: Exhibition Files, 1949-1999, undated (Boxes 3-5; 2.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Project Files, 1956-2000 (Boxes 5-6; 1.0 linear foot)
Series 5: Workshops, Seminars, and Lectures, 1958-1998, undated, (Boxes 6-8; 2.3 linear feet)
Series 6: Writings, 1951-2003, undated (Box 9; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: Teaching Files, 1951-1998, undated (Boxes 9-10; 1.3 linear feet)
Series 8: Artist Files, 1938-2001, undated (Boxes 10-12; 2.1 linear feet)
Series 9: Reference Files, 1951-2001, undated (Box 13; 1.0 linear foot)
Series 10: Printed Material, 1936-2004 (Boxes 14-15; 1.9 linear feet)
Series 11: Photographs, 1953-2001, undated (Box 15; 5 folders)
Series 12: Financial Files, 1962-1997, undated (Box 16; 4 folders)
Series 13: Artwork, 1954-2003, undated (Boxes 15-16; 3 folders)
Series 14: Unprocessed Addition, circa 1959-2016 (Boxes 17-27; OV 28)
Biographical Note:
Born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, in 1925, William P. Daley developed an interest in art at an early age, and was encouraged by his parents William and Alice. In 1943 Daley finished high school and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. When the war ended, he returned home, and with the help of the G.I. Bill, completed a B.S. in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art, and a M.A. from the Teachers College at Columbia University. While at the Massachusetts College of Art he met and married fellow student Catherine Stennes. They had three children together, Barbara, Charlotte, and Thomas.
Originally intending to focus on painting, Daley discovered his love for ceramics while in art school. Much of his early work after graduation consisted of architectural and sculptural commissions. From 1961 to 1965 he held teaching positions as a ceramics instructor at the University of Northern Iowa, State University of New York at New Paltz, Philadelphia College of Art and Design, and the State University of New York at Fredonia. In 1965 he settled in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania and returned to the Philadelphia College of Art and Design, University of the Arts. There he taught in both the Industrial Design and Craft Department until his retirement from the college in 1990. When not teaching in the classroom, and even after retirement, Daley traveled extensively giving workshops and lectures at art centers, high schools, colleges, and universities. He has won several awards for teaching in the arts, including the College Art Association of America Distinguished Teaching of Art Award in 1991.
Daley became an active member of the crafts movement in Philadelphia, co-founding the Philadelphia Council of Professional Craftsmen. The Helen Drutt Gallery opened in Philadelphia in 1974 and gave Daley his first one man show there. Later, the gallery would become Daley's primary dealer. A self-proclaimed "mud man" and maker of "cosmic pots," Daley has focused throughout his career on the issues of the ceramic vessel, using drawings to explore his ideas. In 1994 the Renwick Gallery held a retrospective entitled, "William Daley: Ceramic Works and Drawings" which featured thirty years of his work. William Daley continued producing new work until his death in 2022.
Provenance:
The William P. Daley papers were donated by William Daley in 2003 and by Thomas Daley in 2022.
Restrictions:
This collection is temporarily closed to researchers due to archival processing. Contact Reference
Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
The donor has retained all intellectual property rights, including copyright, that they may own in the following material: all drawings and photocopies of drawings.
The scattered papers of industrial designer Viktor Schreckengost measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1995. Largely, this selection of papers deals with Schreckengost's dinnerware design career, specifically with the American Limoges pottery firm of Sebring, Ohio. Found is correspondence with the American Limoges China Company and the Crockery and Glass Journal; printed materials featuring his designs; a photo of Schreckengost and his ceramics; sketches and large-scale renderings of dinnerware; and three VHS videocassettes. One videocassette dates from 1993 and contains an interview of Viktor and Don Schreckengost, a 1994 videocassette concerns the history of Schreckengost's art, and a third tape contains a slide show.
Scope and Contents:
The scattered papers of industrial designer Viktor Schreckengost measure 0.7 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1995. Largely, this selection of papers deals with Schreckengost's dinnerware design career, specifically with the American Limoges pottery firm of Sebring, Ohio. Found is correspondence with the American Limoges China Company and the Crockery and Glass Journal; printed materials featuring his designs; a photo of Schreckengost and his ceramics; sketches and large-scale renderings of dinnerware; and three VHS videocassettes. One videocassette dates from 1993 and contains an interview of Viktor and Don Schreckengost, a 1994 videocassette concerns the history of Schreckengost's art, and a third tape contains a slide show.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of this collection the papers are arranged as one series.
Series 1: Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995 (Box 1-3; 0.7 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Viktor Schreckengost (1906-2008) was an industrial designer, teacher, and sculptor in Cleveland, Ohio.
Schreckengost was born in Sebring, Ohio--a major dinnerware manufacturing community. He began odd jobs at the potteries as a child and created his first dinnerware design while still in high school. After attending the Cleveland School of Art (now Cleveland Institute of Art), he studied in Vienna, Austria under Michael Powolny. Returning to Cleveland, Schreckengost accepted a teaching position at the institute. Also, he worked at Cowan Pottery located in Rocky River, Ohio where he designed the Jazz Bowl commissioned by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Schreckengost remained an instructor at the Cleveland Institute of Art for over seventy years as faculty and professor emeritus and founded the CIA's school of industrial design. He was equally prolific in design and produced a body of work consisting of fine art ceramics, every day kitchen and dinnerware, sculpture, watercolor and industrial designs including a pedal car and a bicycle. At thirty-seven, he enlisted in U.S. Navy and fought in World War II. He designed prosthetics to help his fellow soldiers.
For the American Limoges China Company (Sebring, Ohio) and the Salem China Company (Salem, Ohio), Schreckengost designed dinnerware for the everyday American table. Influenced by the Great Depression, he believed good design did not need to be expensive. Additionally, he created complimentary design lines so that different patterns and styles could be mixed together.
He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2006. A lifelong Clevelander, Viktor Schreckengost passed away in Tallahassee, Florida while on vacation in 2008.
Related Materials:
The of bulk Viktor Schreckengost's papers are housed at Cleveland State University, Michael Schwartz Library, Special Collections in Cleveland, Ohio.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds material lent for microfilming (reel 1078) including three scrapbooks dating from 1929-1949 and photographs from 1929-1954. Lent materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Viktor Schreckengost lent material for microfilming in 1975. Chip Nowacek, Executive Director of the Viktor Schreckengost Foundation donated papers in 2006.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Viktor Schreckengost's scattered papers largely concern his designs for dinnerware for the American Limoges China Company between 1933 and 1947. His complimentary designs across multiple production companies is evident through letters included here. Also found are letters for permissions to use illustrations of Schreckengost's work from the Crockery and Glass Journal. Clippings are of advertisements of dinnerware in newspapers and magazines.
Small sketches and large renderings of dinnerware are found, some of which are labeled, notably Refridgerator Ware. There is one photograph of Viktor Schreckengost with Kate Smith and a piece of his dinnerware at the Cleveland department store Higbees in 1936. Other photographs are of dinnerware.
Three VHS videocasettes are from 1993 to 1995. One includes an interview with Viktor and his brother Don Schreckengost discussing their "early days" filmed at the Spread Eagle Tavern in Sebring, Ohio. A 1994 VHS concerns the history of Schreckengost's art. A third VHS contains a slide show.
Collection 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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
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 copies requires advance notice.
Collection Citation:
Viktor Schreckengost papers, 1933-1995. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
An interview of Ed Moulthrop conducted 2001 April 2-3, by Mary Douglas, for the Archives of American Art's Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, in Moulthrop's home and studio, Atlanta, Georgia.
Moulthrop speaks of his childhood in Cleveland; his introduction to woodcarving at age 8; buying his first wood lathe in 1932 at age 16; studying architecture at Western Reserve University and sculpture with Victor Schreckengost; his architecture studies in graduate school at Princeton University; the rejection of crafts or "handmade things" in the 1930s; the use of craft in architecture; the beginning of the craft movement in 1965; the government invention of polyethylene glycol which allowed wood to dry without cracking; his process of soaking wood in polyethylene glycol; teaching architecture at Georgia Tech for ten years; his work with architectural firms in Atlanta and designing an addition to the Library of Congress; selling his first pieces at The Signature Shop & Gallery, in Atlanta, in 1970; the progression of the craft movement from clay, to glass, metal, then wood; the importance of the Albert LeCoff woodturning shop in Philadelphia and conferences sponsored by Coff in the mid-1970s; his full-time pursuit of woodturning in 1975; craft exhibitions at the Mint Museum, High Museum, and American Craft Museum; his exhibitions at Arrowmont; teaching woodturning to his son Philip; his scholarship to make watercolors at Fontainbleu; and his interest in design over technique. He also talks about the work of Bob Stocksdale; the qualities of different woods; major woodturning exhibitions at DIA, the Connell Gallery in Atlanta, and of the Mason collection; the necessity of dealers; galleries including The Hand and The Spirit, Heller Gallery, Gumps, and The Signature Shop & Gallery in Atlanta; woodturning as an American craft movement; the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, Frank Gehry; and the Greene Brothers; the strengths and limitations of wood; commissions for museums and corporations; his preference for ellipsoids (squashed spheres) and other shapes; his search for unusual woods, such as American Chestnut, Yellowwood, American Mahogany, and Box Elder; making his own tools and lathe; developing his own polish; his involvement with the Georgia Designer-Craftsmen with Jerry Chappell, Gary Noffke, and Ginny Ruffner; and his invention of the "Saturn Bowl" (a bowl with rings).
Biographical / Historical:
Ed Moulthrop (1916-2003) is a wood turner from Atlanta, Georgia. Mary Douglas (1956- ) is the curator at the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, N.C.
General:
Originally recorded on 3 sound cassettes. Reformatted in 2010 as 5 digital wav files. Duration is 2 hrs., 39 min.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
