The Jacques Lipchitz papers and Bruce Bassett papers concerning Jacques Lipchitz measure 52.8 linear feet and are dated circa 1910-2001, with the bulk of the material from the period 1941-2001. Papers are comprised of sculptor Jacques Lipchitz's personal papers and filmmaker Bruce Bassett's papers relating to Jacques Lipchitz. Lipchitz's personal papers contain personal and professional correspondence, comprising nearly half of the series, and biographical material, writings by and about Lipchitz, printed material, and photographs documenting Lipchitz's commissions, exhibitions, friendships, and interests. Also found are records relating to the compilation and production of The Sculpture of Jacques Lipchitz: A Catalogue Raisonné by Alan G. Wilkinson. The Bruce Bassett papers relating to Jacques Lipchitz consist mainly of Bassett's extensive audiovisual documentation of Lipchitz's life and art. Also found are paper records related to the audiovisual projects, including letters, business records, printed materials, and production records. A small quantity of material unrelated to Lipchitz is also found among the Bassett material, including video and sound recordings related to Sidney Lifchez, IBM, Isamu Noguchi, the Storm King Sculpture Center, and Auguste Rodin.
Scope and Contents note:
The Jacques Lipchitz papers and Bruce Bassett papers concerning Jacques Lipchitz measure 52.8 linear feet and are dated circa 1910-2001, with the bulk of the material from the period 1941-2001. Papers are comprised of sculptor Jacques Lipchitz's personal papers and filmmaker Bruce Bassett's papers relating to Jacques Lipchitz. Lipchitz's personal papers contain personal and professional correspondence, comprising nearly half of the series, along with biographical material, writings by and about Lipchitz, printed material, and photographs documenting Lipchitz's commissions, exhibitions, friendships, and interests. Also found are records relating to the compilation and production of The Sculpture of Jacques Lipchitz: A Catalogue Raisonné by Alan G. Wilkinson. The Bruce Bassett papers relating to Jacques Lipchitz consist mainly of Bassett's extensive audiovisual documentation of Lipchitz's life and art. Also found are paper records related to the audiovisual projects, including letters, business records, printed materials, and production records. A small quantity of material unrelated to Lipchitz is also found among the Bassett material, including video and sound recordings related to Sidney Lifchez, IBM, Isamu Noguchi, the Storm King Sculpture Center, and Auguste Rodin.
The Jacques Lipchitz biographical material includes an address book, biographical notes, membership cards, rent receipts and a lease, and a survey of Lipchitz's property in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.
Correspondence is both professional and personal in nature. Approximately 20 percent is in foreign languages. French predominates, followed by Russian; German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Latvian, Hebrew, and Yiddish are also represented.
Professional correspondence documents business transactions with architects, potential clients, museum officials, art dealers, and others concerning commissions, exhibition plans, loans of artwork, jury service, etc. Art groups, Jewish organizations and charities wrote to solicit donations of artwork for fundraising events and issued invitations to speak or be a guest of honor. Scholars contacted Lipchitz about their research and requested information about specific works by him, items in his collection, and his opinions on a variety of subjects. Also found are fan letters from aspiring artists seeking advice, and from the general public asking for the opportunity to meet Lipchitz and visit his studio. After the 1952 studio fire, many friends and strangers sent letters of condolence and encouragement.
Correspondence with wife Yulla, nephew Gyorgy Hay, and close friends recounts personal and family news, activities, and sometimes touches on future plans. Among these correspondents are: Jenny Courtois, Varian and Annette Fry, Leo Gaspard, R. Sturgis Ingersoll, Gregorio Landau, Juan and Marianne Larrea, Camille Soula, and Joel and Celeste Starrels.
Eleven small pocket diaries, 1940-1965, contain brief, often sporadic entries noting appointments, events, addresses and phone numbers, notes of expenses, and include some sketches. Among the other writings by Lipchitz are: a notebook containing random notes on sculpture; a list of sculptures destroyed in the 1952 studio fire; short pieces and fragments of writings about sculptors Mary Frank, Natan Rapoport, Auguste Rodin, and William Zorach; a memoir of Amedeo Modigliani; and articles and reflections on contemporary art and the church.
Catalogue raisonné records concern the compilation and production of The Sculpture of Jacques Lipchitz: A Catalogue Raisonné by Alan G. Wilkinson, sponsored by Marlborough Gallery, Inc.
Among the financial records are statements of the sculptor's accounts with Buchholz Gallery and Curt Valentin Gallery, and receipts for Lipchitz Collection purchases. Also found are insurance and tax records, as well as receipts for routine professional expenses and miscellaneous personal expenses.
Artwork consists of a few rough sketches by Lipchitz and several geometric designs by an unidentified artist. Two scrapbooks, 1945-1946, consist of newspaper clippings and a few items from other periodicals that mention Lipchitz or contain reproductions of his work. Volume 2 includes typescripts of an interview and remarks delivered by Lipchitz, both very brief.
Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs and announcements, articles, press releases, books, programs, and reproductions concerning Lipchitz's exhibitions, sculpture, commissions, and events honoring him. Of particular interest are architectural prints showing sites and project details of several commissions. Also found are a variety of printed items about general art topics.
Photographs document people, artwork, project sites and models, exhibition installations, events, and places. People include Jacques Lipchitz, family members, and other individuals. Artwork represented is by Lipchitz and other artists. Views of Lipchitz exhibition installations mainly document solo shows. Photographs of events record a variety of occasions, among them: the opening of Lipchitz's studio in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY; a dedication ceremony for Philip Johnson's Roofless Church in New Harmony, IN, with ornamental gates and a sculpture by Lipchitz; and Lipchitz addressing an anatomy class at Albert Einstein Medical College. Among the pictures of places are Lipchitz's studios in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, and Pietrasanta, Italy, and a view of Picasso's Paris studio.
The Bruce Bassett papers relating to Jacques Lipchitz contain mostly audiovisual materials from sound and film documentation projects conducted by Bassett with Lipchitz. Found are original sound recordings and photographs from Deborah Stott's 200 hour oral history with Jacques Lipchitz, as well as detailed, typewritten summaries of its content. Records from Bassett's film projects about Lipchitz include original film and sound recordings from Bassett's 40 hours of interviews with Lipchitz from 1971, and film documentation of the posthumous installations of Lipchitz's large-scale sculptures in Philadelphia, New York, and Israel in the late 1970s. In addition to the raw footage from these projects, which is incomplete, the collection contains workprint and final, edited works Bassett created in multiple versions and formats, and paper records documenting the film projects' creation, production, and later use.
Among the papers related to the film projects are scripts, an index to original footage, programming notes, film lab records, exhibition materials, an extensive collection of questions about Lipchitz gathered from the public for the interactive project, and other production records. Other papers include letters from Lipchitz and his wife, business correspondence, financial records, contracts, project files, and printed materials. Other projects by Bassett, unrelated to Lipchitz, are documented in video and sound recordings related to Sidney Lifchez, IBM, Isamu Noguchi, the Storm King Sculpture Center, and Auguste Rodin.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged as 2 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Jacques Lipchitz papers, circa 1910-1999, bulk 1941-1999 (Boxes 1-10, OV 11-12; 9.5 linear feet)
Series 2: Bruce Bassett papers concerning Jacques Lipchitz, 1961-2001 (Boxes 13-67, OV 68-69; 43.3 linear feet)
Biographical/Historical note:
Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973), an internationally known and influential Cubist sculptor, studied in Paris and established his career there. He fled Paris just before the German occupation, arrived in New York City in 1941, and eventually settled in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY.
Chaim Jacob Lipchitz was born in Druskieniki, Lithuania, then part of the Russian empire. His father, a building contractor from a well-to-do Jewish banking family, expected his son to study engineering as preparation for joining the business. Lipchitz, however, aspired to become a sculptor. With financial help from his mother, and determined to pursue his dream, he left for Paris after graduating from high school in 1909. Once there, Chaim Jacob soon became Jacques, the name he used throughout his life.
He first enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts as a "free pupil." After his father agreed to provide an allowance, Lipchitz transferred to the Académie Julian to study with sculptor Raoul Verlet. He also attended evening drawing classes at the Académie Colarossi. By 1911 he was working in his own studio. Two years later, Lipchitz's entry in the Salon d'Automne received favorable recognition.
In Paris, his circle of friends and acquaintances grew to include Dr. Albert C. Barnes, Constantin Brancusi, Coco Chanel, Jean Cocteau, André Derain, Ernest Hemingway, Max Jacob, Charles-Édouard Jenneret (Le Corbusier), James Joyce, Fernand Léger, André Lhote, Jean Metzinger, Amédée Ozenfant, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Chaim Soutine, Gertrude Stein, and Virgil Tompson. Juan Gris and Amedeo Modigliani were his closest friends.
Lipchitz's earliest work was traditional. Exposure to Picasso and other avant-garde artists influenced his style, and by 1915 he was producing purely Cubist sculptures. In 1916, dealer Léonce Rosenberg offered Lipchitz a contract with a monthly stipend. Able to afford assistants, Lipchitz began much larger projects. Over time, as he came to feel that angular forms were devoid of humanity, his style gradually changed. In the 1920s, he began experimenting with "transparencies" - delicate abstract forms with large open spaces for which he developed casting techniques that influenced sculpture for a generation. In the 1950s, he began creating "semi-automatics." These were cast in bronze from forms made by submerging hot wax in water, which sometimes incorporated found objects. Much of Lipchitz's later work was massive, dynamic, and incorporated more naturalistic forms.
In the early 1920s, Lipchitz received multiple commissions from Coco Chanel and Dr. Albert C. Barnes. He became a French citizen in 1924, the year he married poet Berthe Kitrosser, with whom he had lived since 1915. (Their double portrait by Modigliani that Lipchitz commissioned in 1916, now titled The Sculptor Jacques Lipchitz and His Wife Berthe Lipchitz, is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago). The following year they moved to a suburban home and studio designed by Le Corbusier.
Léonce Rosenberg's Galerie de l'Effort Moderne presented Lipchitz's first solo exhibition in 1930, and the first important Lipchitz exhibition in the United States was held in 1935 at Brummer Gallery, New York. As the sculptor's reputation grew throughout the 1930s, his work was very much in demand.
As World War II approached, Lipchitz sensed the impending horror of the Nazi regime but was extremely reluctant to leave Paris. With time running out, he finally was persuaded that it was too dangerous to stay. Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz departed for the free zone of Toulouse, and with help from American friends sought asylum in the United States. In June of 1941, they arrived in New York City with some clothing, a portfolio of drawings, and very little money.
Lipchitz, a mature artist with an international reputation, soon attracted invitations to teach. Although finances were tight, the offers were rejected because he understood that any commitment would impede his artistic output. In search of a gallery, he contacted Brummer Gallery, the site of his first American show six years earlier. Although Joseph Brummer had shifted his focus to antiques, he provided an introduction to art dealer Curt Valentin of Buchholz Gallery (later Curt Valentin Gallery), who was sincerely interested in modern sculpture. Valentin went on to represent Lipchitz for well over a decade. Curt Valentin Gallery closed in 1955, a year after the owner's death. Lipchitz then became affiliated with Fine Arts Associates and its many successors (Otto Gerson Gallery, Inc., and Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, Inc.), which represented him for the remainder of his life. Marlborough Gallery, Inc. handled Lipchitz's estate.
Berthe longed to go home after the war, and in 1946 the couple returned to France. But because he and France had changed, Lipchitz soon realized that his future lay in America. He returned to New York after seven months; Berthe remained, and a divorce soon followed.
Within the year, Jacques Lipchitz married Yulla Halberstadt, a fellow refugee who was also a sculptor. Their only child, Loyla Rachel, was born in 1948. The family moved to Hastings-on-Hudson, NY in 1949, and he continued to work at his studio on East 23rd Street in New York City. After a major studio fire in early 1952 destroyed commissions in progress and many other pieces, the sculptor set up a temporary work space at Modern Art Foundry, Long Island City, NY. Several museums, collectors, and friends, quickly raised funds for a new studio, which became a loan at Lipchitz's insistence. A new studio designed by Milton Lowenfish and located within walking distance of Lipchitz's Hastings-on-Hudson home opened in 1953.
During the course of his career, Lipchitz was honored with a large number of solo and retrospective exhibitions at major museums and galleries in Europe, North and South America, and Israel. His work is represented in the permanent collections of world renowned museums and is owned by a wide range of private collectors and institutions.
Lipchitz was an avid art collector. An exhibition of Scythian art at the Hermitage Museum, seen while on a brief trip home in 1912, greatly impressed and inspired him. The result was an intense interest in non-European art, especially African art. He began to collect appealing objects from other cultures, and soon developed a life-long habit of visiting flea markets, antique shops, and galleries on a regular basis in search of items for his growing collection. In addition to ethnographic and ancient art, Lipchitz also bought old masters and 19th century art, and developed a special interest in Géricault. The original collection was abandoned when he left Paris; once settled in the United States, he resumed collecting. A substantial portion of the Lipchitz Collection, with an accompanying scholarly catalogue, was exhibited in 1960 at The Museum of Primitive Art, New York City.
Lipchitz's family was observant and he attended Jewish schools that stressed religious education, but he showed little interest in his faith during his early adult life. However, the establishment of Israel affected him profoundly and, over time, religious themes emerged in Lipchitz's work. He began making arrangements for gifts of sculpture to the Bezalel National Museum and the Israel Museum, developed a friendship with Jerusalem's outspoken Zionist mayor, Theodore Kollek, and in 1963 made his first of many visits to Israel.
He was a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and received awards for artistic achievement from the American Institute of Architects, Boston University, and Brandeis University. The Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, presented him an Honorary Doctorate of Laws degree.
Jacques Lipchitz died in Capri, Italy, May 16, 1973, and is buried in Israel. At his death, several large-scale sculpture commissions were left unfinished, and his wife Yulla took over the projects and saw that the installations were accomplished as planned. These posthumous installations include Government for the People, installed in Philadelphia in 1976, Bellerophon Taming Pegasus, installed at the Columbia University School of Law in New York City in 1977, and Our Tree of Life, installed in Jersusalem in 1978.
Bruce Bassett (1925-2009), a television and film producer, worked for NBC in New York for over 20 years. Bassett met the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973) when they were both living in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. In 1968, Bassett initiated an extensive oral history project when he realized that Lipchitz, as an English speaker and participant in the birth of modernism in Europe, was the only living artist who could provide an oral record of the beginnings of modern art for an English audience.
From 1968, until his death in 2009, Bassett carried out extensive documentation projects regarding Lipchitz, often in his spare time, under the auspices of two organizations he founded: the Jacques Lipchitz Art Foundation (1968-1975) and Histor Systems (circa 1991-2001). In 1968 Bassett raised funds to enable Deborah Stott to travel to Italy and conduct roughly 200 hours of audio interview with Lipchitz, interviews which cover not only his own history, but also include a complete record of the origins of his extensive collection of primitive art, numbering almost 3000 objects at the time. Bassett himself traveled to Italy and filmed nearly 40 hours of additional interviews with Lipchitz in 1971.
Drawing from these filmed interviews, Bassett created a pioneering interactive program which allowed museum-goers to pose questions to Lipchitz and moments later receive answers in the form of video segments of Lipchitz speaking. He used the same footage to write, produce, and direct a one hour documentary, "Portrait of an Artist: Jacques Lipchitz." Both projects were originally presented to the public in tandem with a retrospective exhibition of Lipchitz's sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum in New York in 1972, and were later revised and updated several times for subsequent distribution and presentation. The last presentation of the interactive project documented in Bassett's papers was held at the Krannert Art Museum of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2001. The interactive project is now online at the Israel Museum website entitled "Ask Jacques Lipchitz a Question," a project Bassett had been working on with Hanno Mott at his death. Bassett had visited the Museum several years earlier to demonstrate the video.
Bassett died in 2009 in New York, NY.
Related Archival Materials note:
Interviews with Lipchitz are represented among the following Archives of American Art collections: Brooklyn Museum interviews of artists; KPFK "Art Scene," interviews by Marian L. Gore; Interviews of artists by Brian O'Doherty; and Interviews relating to American Abstract Artists by Ruth Bowman.
The Tate Archive houses the Jacques Lipchitz collection presented by Rubin Lipchitz, with materials dating from the 1910s-1970s and measuring 9.8 linear feet.
The Israel Museum hosts a website entitled "Ask Jacques Lipchitz a Question," which presents Bruce Bassett's entire interactive project of Lipchitz, described here in series 2.5.2, as a web-accessible video project.
Provenance:
Donated in 2010 by Hanno D. Mott, step-son of Jacques Lipchitz, and also on behalf of Loyla R. Lipchitz and Frank L. Mott.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual materials with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
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.
Jacques Lipchitz papers and Bruce Bassett papers concerning Jacques Lipchitz, circa 1910-2001, bulk 1941-2001. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by The Jacques and Yulla Lipchitz Foundation, Inc.
The Macbeth Gallery records provide almost complete coverage of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1892 to its closing in 1953. Through extensive correspondence files, financial and inventory records, printed material, scrapbooks, reference and research material, and photographs of artists and works of art, the records document all aspects of the gallery's activities, charting William Macbeth's initial intention to lease his store "for the permanent exhibition and sale of American pictures" through over sixty years of success as a major New York firm devoted to American art. The collection measures 131.6 linear feet and dates from 1838 to 1968 with the bulk of the material dating from 1892 to 1953.
Scope and Content Note:
The Macbeth Gallery records provide almost complete coverage of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1892 to its closing in 1953. The records document all aspects of the gallery's activities, charting William Macbeth's initial intention to lease his store "for the permanent exhibition and sale of American pictures" through over sixty years of success as a major New York firm devoted to American art. The collection measures 131.6 linear feet and dates from 1838 to 1968 with the bulk of the material dating from 1892 to 1953.
The gallery's correspondence files form the core of the collection and illuminate most aspects of American art history: the creation and sale of works of art, the development of reputations, the rise of museums and art societies, change and resistance to change in the art market, and the evolution of taste. Ninety-five feet of correspondence house substantial and informative letters from dozens of important American painters and sculptors, including older artists and younger contemporaries of the gallery in its later years. There are also letters from collectors, curators, other galleries, and critics.
The financial files found in the collection offer insight into the changing economic climate in which the gallery operated. They include information ranging from the details of individual sales and the market for individual artists, to consignment activities and artist commissions, to overviews of annual sales. This information is augmented by the firm's inventory records and the photographs of artwork with their accompanying records of paintings sold. The inventory records provide details of all works of art handled by the gallery, both sold and unsold, and the buyers who purchased them; the photographs of artwork include images of artwork sold with accompanying sales information.
The highlight of the gallery's printed material is the publication Art Notes. Although published only until 1930, Art Notes provides an excellent and detailed view of the gallery's exhibition schedule and the relationship of the gallery owners with many of the artists whose work they handled. It was a house organ that also provided a running commentary on events in the art world. The gallery's 19 fragile scrapbooks, maintained throughout the firm's history, provide further coverage of activities through exhibition catalogs and related news clippings. Printed material from other sources provides a frame of reference for activities in the art world from the mid-19th to the mid-20th-centuries and includes an almost complete run of the rare and important pre-Civil War art publication The Crayon.
Reference files record the interest which the gallery owners took in the work of early portrait painters and in later artists such as George Inness and Winslow Homer. Together with the immense volume of correspondence with buyers and sellers of paintings by the great portraitists and the Hudson River School found in the gallery's correspondence files, these records are still useful sources of information today and underscore the deep interest that the Macbeths and Robert McIntyre took in 18th and 19th-century American art.
The photographs of artists found here are a treasure trove of images of some of the major figures of the 19th and 20th-centuries. There are photographs of artists such as Chester Beach, Emil Carlsen, Charles Melville Dewey, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, George Inness, Maurice Prendergast, and Julian Alden Weir, many of them original prints and the majority of them autographed.
With the exception of the "The Eight" and a few of their contemporaries, an important aspect of art history, the modernist movement, is generally represented in the Macbeth Gallery records only in a negative form as the three successive proprietors of the gallery showed very little interest in this area. Nevertheless, the collection is a highly significant source of information on many of the major and minor figures in American art in the period after 1890.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Correspondence, 1838-1968 (Box 1-95, 163-164, OV 165; 96.2 linear feet)
Series 2: Financial and Shipping Records, 1892-1956 (Box 96-110; 11.8 linear feet)
Series 3: Inventory Records, 1892-circa 1957 (Box 111-113; 3.0 linear feet)
Series 4: Printed Material, 1838-1963 (Box 114-119, 162; 5.0 linear feet)
Series 5: Scrapbooks, 1892-1952 (Box 120-130; 3.3 linear feet)
Series 6: Reference Files, 1839-1959 (Box 131-132; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 7: Miscellaneous Files, 1912-1956 (Box 133-134; 0.8 linear feet)
Series 8: Photographs, circa 1880-circa 1968 (Box 135-161; 12.1 linear feet)
Historical Note:
The Macbeth Gallery was established in 1892 by William Macbeth, a Scotch-Irish immigrant who had spent ten years with the print dealer Frederick Keppel before he opened his doors to the art-buying public at 237 Fifth Avenue in New York. Despite the prevailing interest in foreign art at that time, particularly in that of the Barbizon and Dutch schools, Macbeth was determined to dedicate his gallery to "the permanent exhibition and sale of American pictures, both in oil and water colors."
Although some of the gallery's earliest exhibitions were of work by European artists, the business soon became the only gallery in continuous operation that kept American art permanently on display. In the January 1917 issue of Art Notes, Macbeth recounts those early days remembering that "The opening of my gallery......was a rash venture under the existing conditions, and disaster was freely predicted." Nevertheless, he struggled through the financial crisis of 1893 and persisted with his devotion to American art; slowly the market for his pictures grew more amenable.
Macbeth moved to more spacious quarters at 450 Fifth Avenue in 1906 and two years later undertook what was to become the major event in the gallery's early history: the 1908 exhibition of "The Eight," featuring work by Arthur B. Davies, Willam J. Glackens, Robert Henri, Ernest Lawson, George Luks, Maurice Prendergast, Everett Shinn, and John Sloan. "The Eight" were an unlikely combination of social realists, visionaries and impressionists eager to challenge the dominating influence of the National Academy. The exhibition received an immense amount of publicity and instantly entered into art history as a successful assault on tradition.
Despite the splash that the exhibition made and its implications for the future of American art, nothing that the gallery did subsequently indicated that Macbeth intended to capitalize on its significance. It is true that Macbeth supported many artists later considered leaders in American art when the public would pay no attention to them because of their modernist tendencies; Arthur B. Davies, Paul Dougherty, Maurice Prendergast, Theodore Robinson, and F. Ballard Williams all held their first exhibitions at his gallery. Nevertheless, neither Macbeth nor the gallery's two successive proprietors, Robert G. McIntyre (William's nephew) and Robert Macbeth (William's son), who joined the gallery in 1903 and 1906 respectively, ever developed a true interest in modern art. The November 1930 issue of Art Notes summarizes their collective disdain for modernism, stating: "We believe that, by and large, modern art is amusing. We are heretical enough to believe that much of it was started for the amusement of its creators and that no one was more surprised than they when it was taken seriously by a certain audience to whom the bizarre and the unintelligible always makes an appeal." So while the Macbeths and McIntyre cetainly championed American artists and insisted they deserved as much recognition as the Europeans, their deepest and most abiding interest was undoubtedly the established artists of the 18th and 19th-centuries and those of the early 20th-century who continued in a more conservative style. Artists such as Emil Carlsen, Charles Harold Davis, Frederick C. Frieseke, Robert Henri, Winslow Homer, Chauncey F. Ryder, Abbot Handerson Thayer, J. Francis Murphy, A. H. Wyant were the gallery's bread and butter.
When William Macbeth died in 1917 Robert Macbeth took up the reins with the assistance of Robert G. McIntyre . Although they incorporated the business as William Macbeth, Inc., in 1918 the gallery continued to be known, as it always would be, simply as Macbeth Gallery. Macbeth and McIntyre continued to show work in the same vein as the elder Macbeth. They concentrated primarily on oil paintings at this time, having found by the 1920s that "oils are all that our gallery owners will buy," though they also exhibited an occasional group of watercolors and pastels in addition to bronzes and other sculpture by contemporary American artists such as Chester Beach and Janet Scudder.
Of the early American painters the Macbeths and McIntyre were particularly interested in colonial portraits and miniatures, especially those painted by prominent artists in the latter part of the eighteenth century such as John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully and John Trumbull. In its early years the gallery also handled the work of a few prominent American etchers including Frank W. Benson, Emil Fuchs, Daniel Garber, Childe Hassam and Chauncey F. Ryder. The print department was generally discontinued, however, in the late 1930s although the gallery continued to show prints by contemporaries such as Stow Wengenroth.
In 1924 relative prosperity allowed the gallery to move uptown to 15 East Fifty-seventh Street. When the 1930s brought new financial hardship for the gallery Macbeth and McIntyre took a variety of approaches to boosting sales. In 1930 they decided to hold only group exhibitions throughout the season to the exclusion of one-man shows, and also held some special exhibitions of paintings priced at a hundred dollars each in the hope that they could tempt those "willing to take advantage of a rare chance to secure representative examples of good art at a most attractive price." A move to smaller quarters at 15 East Fifty-seventh Street in 1935 was made with the intention of concentrating their efforts on the work of fewer contemporary artists, while continuing to handle the work of the older Americans they had long supported.
When Macbeth died suddenly and unexpectedly in August 1940 following an operation for appendicitis, McIntyre continued to run the gallery with the assistance of Hazel Lewis. During the 1940s McIntyre and Lewis showed primarily contemporary art in a wide range of media including oil, watercolor, pastel, drawing and sculpture, while continuing, as always, to show the occasional group of 19th-century Americans. The great success of the gallery's later years was undeniably Andrew Wyeth whose first exhibition, held at Macbeth Gallery in 1937, resulted in the sale of all twenty-two paintings cataloged.
Although subsequent Wyeth exhibitions were also successful, McIntyre struggled financially throughout the 1940s and periodically considered liquidating the company. Although "vitally interested" in contemporary art by people such as Robert Brackman, Jay Connaway, Carl Gaertner, James Lechay, Herbert Meyer and Ogden M. Pleissner he found that, for the most part, it did not pay. McIntyre continued operations until 1953 when he decided that doing so for profit was not only a financial burden but also ran contrary to his desire to spend more time devoted to his first love, early American art. When the lease expired on 11 East Fifty-seventh Street in April 1953 McIntyre did not renew it. After closing the gallery's doors he sold art from his New York apartment and from his home in Dorset, Vermont. He officially dissolved William Macbeth, Inc., in 1957.
The history of the Macbeth Gallery is a long and distinguished one with each successive proprietor making a significant contribution to art in America. William Macbeth helped establish an audience and a market for American art when few were willing to give it serious consideration. Robert Macbeth continued to cement the gallery's reputation as one of the leading firms in New York and was instrumental in organizing the American Art Dealers Association. Robert G. McIntyre claimed in a letter to Lloyd Goodrich, dated 22 June 1945, that the thing of which he was most proud was "the share I have had in the formation of the collection of the Addison Gallery of American Art, at Andover, Massacusetts." McIntyre was widely respected in the art community as a dealer, as an adviser to curators, and as a scholar whose research and book on Martin Johnson Heade helped "rediscover" an important American artist. One of his most significant and lasting contributions to the history of art in America, however, was undoubtedly his gift of the gallery's historical records to the Archives of American Art.
Related Material:
Among the holdings of the Archives of American are a small collection of scattered Robert McIntyre's papers and 9 items of William Macbeth's papers. Macbeth Gallery exhibition catalogs are also available in the American Art Exhibition Catalog collection and the Brooklyn Museum Records, both loaned and microfilmed collections.
An extensive collection of Macbeth Gallery exhibition catalogs are also held by the Frick Art Reference Library and the Watson Library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Provenance:
The bulk of the Macbeth Gallery records were donated and microfilmed in several installments between 1955 and 1966 by Robert G. McIntyre and Estate. Additional Macbeth Gallery printed material was donated by Phoebe C. and William Macbeth II, grandchildren of William Macbeth, in 1974.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
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.
Macbeth Gallery records, 1838-1968, bulk 1892 to 1953. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Grant Program. Digitization of the scrapbooks was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee. Correspondence, financial and shipping records, inventory records, and printed material were digitized with funding provided by the Mr. and Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.
United States of America -- Maryland -- Carroll County -- Westminster
United States of America -- Maryland -- Carroll County -- Marston
United States of America -- Maryland -- Carroll County -- New Windsor
Date:
1838-2023, undated
bulk 1872-1985
Summary:
Papers documenting the farming and family life of the Robinson family of Prince George's County and after 1975, Charles County, Maryland. Papers documenting the farming and family of the Via family of Greene County, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Prince George's and Calvert Counties, Maryland, by 1949.
Scope and Contents:
An extensive and comprehensive collection of papers relating to family, farming, and the Southern Maryland tobacco culture, the Robinson and Via Family Papers cover many aspects of family and farm life. The papers are particularly important in regard to the tobacco culture that defined Southern Maryland for generations. The papers concern two distinct family groups, the Robinson and Via families who are connected through the marriage of Franklin A. Robinson and Adina Mae Via. The papers consist of material generated by the Robinson and Via families in their personal and working lives and as farm owners and operators.
The papers are especially strong in 20th century material. They consist of various types of farm records: account books, bills, receipts, tenant farming agreements, ephemera, land rental and purchase agreements, insurance policies, photographs and 8mm and 16mm films of farming practices and procedures, equipment and landscapes, related to the farming of tobacco, small grains, and livestock. The personal records include diaries, letters both personal and business, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, high school yearbooks, baby books, house plans, recipe books, photographs and 8mm films of birthdays, holidays, weddings, baptisms, family occasions, and family travel, oral histories, and funeral ephemera including photographs, and transcription discs. Of particular interest are the "Serenity Farm Tobacco Production Photographs" documenting the crop year 1999-2000 and the films detailing agricultural practices. There is a memorandum book for Black Walnut Thicket, 1885-1901, the Baden farm in Baden, Prince George's County.
This collection includes a comprehensive range of 8mm and 16mm films and photographs documenting farming practices and landscapes as well as family gatherings, birthdays, holidays, and vacations. The researcher is alerted to the fact that in some cases with the memorandum and account books, books printed for a given year were often saved and used for subsequent years, some were dated, some were not.
The collection is divided into seven series arranged by subject and most often chronologically at folder level within each series.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into seven series:
Series 1: Ferndale Farm (Potomac Landing), Prince George's County, Maryland, 1861-1973, undated
Subseries 1.1: Farm papers, bill, and receipts, and publications, 1861-1973, undated
Subseries 1.2: Farm papers, bill, and receipts, 1945-1960, undated
Subseries 1.3: Farm papers, bills, and receipts, 1960-1965, undated
Series 2: Robinson Family, 1845-2017, undated
Subseries 2.1: Family Papers and Publications, 1845-1993, undated
The Robinson family is thought to be of Scottish origin and appear in the records of Prince George's County, Maryland by the early 18th century. The line has been definitively traced to James Robinson (?-1849). James' father was probably Benjamin Robinson (?-1810), of Prince George's County, Maryland. (Will Book TT1, pg. 15, Records of Prince George's County, Maryland, Maryland State Archives (MSA))
James Robinson and Sarah Wynn were issued a marriage license on February 28, 1802 in Prince George's County, Maryland. (Marriage Records of Prince George's County, Maryland) Eleven children lived to maturity (not listed in birth order); Thomas Wells (1803-1869), Ann, Priscilla, James Monroe, Benjamin (1813-1882), John C. (1819-1895), Mary Sophia, Thomas Stanley (1800-1874), Alfred, Sarah Ann, Matilda, and Rebecca Maria.
James worked as a farm manager for Benjamin Oden near Upper Marlborough, Prince George's County. (Oden Papers, Maryland Historical Society) The Robinsons and their children, moved to Wood County, Virginia (now West Virginia) by April 18, 1818 where James acted as Oden's land agent (Deed Book 6, pg. 123, Land Records of Wood County, West Virginia). They brought with them three enslaved described in the above reference as, "Kate a woman 45 years of age very black; Colonel a boy aged 8 years yellow complexion: and George a boy aged six years of a dark brown complexion." They settled on part of what was known as the "Burnt Mill" tract in the general area where the Hughes River meets the Little Kanawha River. (Deed Book 9, pg. 110 and Deed Book 14, pg. 40, Land Records of Wood County)
Thomas Wells Robinson may not have accompanied his family to Virginia as he has a presence in Prince George's County prior to 1822 and was employed as a farm manager for Benjamin Oden at least until 1832. He married Elizabeth J. Richards on December 15, 1829 (Robinson Family Bible). They had nine children; Richard Thomas (1831 1906), Rebecca Maria (1832-1895), Mary Wynn (1834-1916), James George (1835-1883), Virlinda Victoria (1837-1838), Elizabeth Ann (1839-1916), Sarah Ann Sophia (1840-1874), Franklin Alexander (1841-1905) and John Alfred (1843); seven lived to maturity. (Robinson Family Bible) Elizabeth died on August 17, 1843 from complications in childbirth. She was buried in the graveyard of Page's Chapel (later known as St. Thomas Episcopal Church), Croom, Prince George's County.
In 1843, Thomas purchased the plantation of Dr. Benjamin B. Hodges for $10,000 or approximately $15 an acre. Hodges was a brother-in-law of Benjamin Oden. The deed dated September 7, 1843 describes the parcel as containing, "Six hundred and twenty nine acres of land more or less and constitute that plantation or Estate of the said Benjamin Oden heretofore commonly called "Brown's Quarter Place" being the Land tracts and parcels of land sold by the said Benjamin Oden to the said Benjamin B. Hodges and by deed bearing date the tenth day of December eighteen hundred and thirty five and recorded in Liber AB no. 10 folio 162 also one of the land Records of the County aforesaid". (JBB no. 3 pgs. 312 314, Land Records of Prince George's County) The land was level to rolling bordered on the north by a tributary of Piscataway Creek and generally termed "white oak land". Underlying the whole property was a large strata of gravel and sand. The entire parcel went by the name, Potomac Landing.
Thomas supplemented his land holdings with later purchases. With the exception of twenty acres purchased from Sarah Talbert in 1844, (JBB no. 3 pg. 475, Land Records of Prince George's County) and the purchase of lot #3 consisting of 195 acres, part of the estate of John Townshend in 1856, these purchases were not contiguous to Potomac Landing. By the time of his death in 1869 these non-contiguous parcels had been sold. Thomas sold eighty-six acres of Potomac Landing and Jeffries to Edward Eversfield in October of 1843. (JBB no. 3, pg. 198, Land Records of Prince George's County) On January 13, 1846 Thomas married the widow Martha Ann Walls, daughter of George and Martha Naylor Walls. They had two sons; Benjamin Wells (1848-1849) and Robert Henry (1851-1937).
In addition to his sons, Thomas owned enslaved. The number varied from six in 1849 (JBB 6, folio 186, Land Records of Prince Georges' County) to eleven as noted in the census for 1850, and finally six as noted in the census of 1860. The 1867 Maryland Slave Statistics noted that, "at the time of the adoption of the Constitution of Maryland, in the year 1864, . . ." Thomas owned six enslaved, their names and ages being; Isaac Franklin age 31, Alfred West age 19, Susan West age 17, Margaret Franklin age 14, Fannie Franklin age 12, and Peter Franklin age 9. All were noted as being in good physical condition. (Prince Georges' County Slave Statistics 1867 1869, C 1307 1, MdHR:6198, page 185, MSA)
Thomas's financial problems began in the mid-1800s when Deeds of Trust appear in the county records securing outstanding loans. In 1856 and 1857 Thomas joined with others as bondsman for his son, Richard who was serving as "Collector of the State and County Taxes" for the 4th collection district, making he and the other signatories liable for any uncollected taxes. This, coupled with poor investments, led to his almost being "sold out" in 1859-1860 by J.W. & E. Reynolds of Baltimore to pay his debts. He executed three drafts on Penn & Mitchell, also of Baltimore, to pay off J.W. & E. Reynolds. (Equity Case #597, Prince Georges' County) Thomas was in poor health and his son James managed the farm in 1857 and 1858, and again from 1861 to October of 1862 (Equity Case #873, Prince Georges' County)
In October of 1862 Thomas' two sons, James and Franklin, traveled to Richmond to join the Confederate States Army. James enrolled in the 5th Battalion, Local Defense Arsenal and Franklin enrolled in the 5th Virginia Infantry, the Stonewall Brigade. (CSA Military Records, National Archives) James visited home frequently but was captured by the Union Army in St. Mary's County, Maryland on May 15, 1864 and spent the remainder of the war in Point Lookout Prison Camp. He was released on May 14, 1865. Franklin was not able to visit home at all during the war but survived to return home in 1865.
In 1865, Thomas surveyed a parcel of 172 acres for his daughter Rebecca Maria. Rebecca had married her second cousin, William B. Robertson, on November 18, 1855. He made a gift of fifty acres, and Rebecca agreed to purchase the remainder. The Robertsons named this parcel Holly Grove. In Equity Case #849 (1872) filed after Thomas' death, his widow Martha and Samuel H. Berry, as executrix and executor, sought to recover payment for this land. At that time, William B. Robertson described this 172 acres of Potomac Landing: "There was no fences on the line which separated this land from the old gentleman's land, but he was to put a fence on it which he agreed to do before we agreed to come there. The land was thin, unimproved, with gullies and scrubby pine. If witness had been a judge of land he would not have given five dollars for it. All the improvements were one comfortable quarter the other indifferent with a poor oak shingle roof, worn out which made it not tenantable." Further along in his testimony, William gave an account of a conversation, "In a few days my father in law Thos. W. Robinson came to Washington and told me there his children had returned from the South, his two sons, that his debts were small and he was a happy man." Rebecca and William built a house on the property, a side-hall, double parlor plan that most likely her brother James was builder. They also built accompanying farm structures. (Records of Prince George's County, Maryland, Equity Case #849, MSA)
Thomas' son, Franklin, managed the farm after the War. In December 1868 Thomas entered into a sharecropping agreement with Edward Hanson, an African-American. After about a year-long illness, on May 16, 1869, Thomas died, deeply in debt. He was buried beside Elizabeth in the graveyard at St. Thomas' Church. He named as executrix his wife, Martha, and his friend and lawyer, Samuel H. Berry, as executor. His will divided the farm into thirds, one third going to his wife and their son Robert Henry, one third to his son James, and one third to his son Franklin. The land was surveyed according to the will. His personal property was sold but not enough profit was realized to pay off his creditors. The Commissioners of Prince George's County sued the estate on behalf of Thomas' creditors. The outcome was that in 1876 the property was sold at public auction. The Notice of Sale dated September 1, 1876 in the local county newspaper, The Prince Georgian, describes the farm as, "containing 514 2/3 acres More or less. The Improvements consist of a SMALL DWELLING, Three Barns, Stabling, and other necessary outbuildings. It is well wooded and watered, and the soil of fair quality. It has recently been divided into three lots and will be offered in lots, a description of which will be given at the time of sale." The sale was held on September 27, 1876, Lot No. 1 was purchased by Robert for $6.00 an acre, Lot #2 was purchased by Franklin for $5.00 an acre and Lot #3 was purchased by James for $4.00 per acre. Robert and Franklin eventually paid off their mortgage, but James defaulted on his purchase and later moved to St. Mary's County, Maryland. His portion later came to be owned by the Hawkins family, some members who had worked on the Robinson farm. (Equity Case #873, Prince Georges' County, MSA)
Lot #1, purchased by Robert from his fathers' estate, consisted of 177-1/3 acres, including the dwelling and farm buildings. On July 24, 1872, he married Amanda Malvina Baden (1849-1940), daughter of Robert W. G. and Margaret Caroline Early Baden. The Baden and Early families were both prominent south county families. Robert and Amanda had eight children; Caroline Early (1873 1967), Lucy Tennent (1875 1958), Albert Henry (1878 1914), Martha Perry (1880 1961), Robert Gover (1882 1882), Frank Alexander (1883 1970), Margaret Baden (1886 1956) and Grace Malvina (1889 1965).
By 1880 Robert had paid off his debt on the property and was fully engaged in farming. Unlike his father, or perhaps because of his father, Robert did not add to his land holdings, choosing to remain relatively debt free for his lifetime. The only land transactions he participated in were the sales of 79-3/4 acres in 1921 of Amanda's inheritance from her father and her interest in two smaller parcels of her father's land sold in 1894 and 1928 respectively. In 1928 he transferred 3.09 acres to his son Frank.
As late as the Federal census of 1880, Franklin was living with Robert and his household, both men engaged in farming. Sometime after 1880, Franklin took up residence on his part of Potomac Landing. His brother James most likely built the side-hall double parlor house that copied the main house at Potomac Landing. On February 18, 1897, Martha Robinson, died at the age of ninety. She was buried in the graveyyard of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Baden, Prince George's County.
Robert continued cultivation of tobacco and small grains as his father before him. The first reference to the farm being named Ferndale is found in the "Communion Record" of Robert's daughter, Martha Perry "Pattie", dated 1896. (Robinson and Via Family Papers) The exact origin or reason for this new name is lost but perhaps the name Potomac Landing held such bitter memories of debt and hardship that, as a symbolic break with the past, a new name was found. It also may have simply been a way to distinguish this portion of Potomac Landing from the others. The farm continued to be listed on tax bills as Potomac Landing well into the 20th century, but was known to the general public and businesses as the Ferndale Farm. (Robinson and Via Family Papers)
Robert served as deputy inspector at the State Tobacco Warehouse in Baltimore for eight years under W.B. Bowie. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Bank of Brandywine. In July of 1905, Franklin died, a bachelor farmer. He was buried facing south in the graveyard of the Church of the Atonement, Cheltenham, (a chapel in St. Thomas' Episcopal Parish) where he had served as vestryman, treasurer, and cemetery custodian. Franklin died intestate and a lengthy process of dividing his estate began. This resulted in the sale of his part of Potomac Landing (Lot #2) in July 1908 to William E. Boswell. The court declared Robert ineligible for any inheritance due to his being " . . . a brother of the half blood." The Boswell family later sold the property to the Billingsley family of St. Mary's County. (Equity Case 3209, Prince George's County)
In 1910, after living in the farm's original home for approximately sixty seven years, the Robinson family built a new home. It was described in a 1956 insurance policy as, "2 story, frame, metal roof, 16x43, wing 14x28, 9 rooms." (Robinson and Via Family Papers) The house design was a simple Victorian with plastered walls, and lit by carbide gas. Electrical lighting was installed in 1951. The house was built with monies from Robert and Amanda, and their son Frank, who served as builder and contractor.
On Tuesday March 9, 1937, "During a celebration in honor of his wifes birthday anniversary, Mr. Robinson collapsed at the table and died immediately without a word or a sigh." (Robinson and Via Family Papers) Robert was buried beside his mother in the cemetery at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Baden.
At Robert's death, Ferndale Farm was valued at $30.00 an acre, the total acreage, 174 acres, being valued in the whole at $5,220.00. Robert died intestate, again the fate of the land was in question. He left eight heirs, his widow, Amanda, six of his children and his son Albert Henry's only surviving child, R. Henry Robinson. Rather than have the farm sold and his mother's life disrupted, Frank purchased the estate and personal property from the heirs. Before this could take place, a deed had to be granted the heirs for the property since one had never been recorded after the 1876 sale. Equity case 873 was reopened sixty-two years after its supposed resolution. Frank testified, "over a period of about thirty years I would on a number of occasions, talk about the fact that he had purchased and paid for this property and that a deed had never been executed to him and [he] kept saying he was going to have someone straighten this matter out for him." It was discovered that Robert had fully paid for his part of Potomac Landing. On February 14, 1938 the farm was deeded from Amanda along with Robert''s heirs to Frank. (Book 499, page 334, Land Records of Prince George's County) According to the deed and a 1937 fire insurance policy the farm consisted of 177 1/3 acres, "1 two story dwelling, one tenant house, 1 barrack, 1 tobacco barn, 1 corn house & cow stable, 1 Stable, and 1 Granary & Stable." (Robinson and Via Family Papers)
Frank A. Robinson, now the sole owner of Ferndale Farm, was born August 17, 1883. He learned farming and in addition took up the trade of builder and contractor. As a young man, he worked in the general store of his uncle Robert Baden. He was the contractor for the first Bank of Brandywine and many homes in and around the town of Brandywine, including the home of his cousin Robert E. Baden, DDS. He was secretary of the Building Committee for construction of the Chapel of the Incarnation in Brandywine, a mission chapel for St. Thomas' Episcopal Parish. His success in the building trade gave him disposable income that he invested in land. His first purchase was in August, 1915 of a 2-9/100 acre of land in Brandywine that was being sold by the Board of County School Commissioners; the purchase price was $300. In March 1916 he purchased 38.09 acres of his Uncle Franklin's farm. This property adjoined Ferndale Farm.
Over the next fifty-four years of his life, Frank bought and sold many pieces of real estate. Perhaps his most significant purchases were: 18-1/3 acres purchased from The German American Colonization Land Company of Maryland in October 1915 (Book 115, pg. 140, Land Records of Prince George's County); 147.99 acres purchased from August and Wilhelmina Noltensmeir in December 1917 (Book 129, pg. 263, Land Records of Prince George's County) and 320 acres called the Vineyard purchased from William M. Wilson in March 1928. Frank used these three parcels as collateral for other purchases. Never once did he mortgage Ferndale Farm, insuring that no matter what financial stormy seas might blow, his home was secure. Over the course of his life, especially in the case of the Noltensmeir farm, when cash was needed a parcel of land would be surveyed off and sold. He inherited his grandfather Thomas' love of land but had fortunately developed a shrewd business sense to go along with it.
On November 20, 1929, he married Elizabeth Freeland Bourne, daughter of Joseph Blake and Maria Gantt Bourne of Calvert County, Maryland. They had three children: Mary Elizabeth (1930-2009), Franklin Alexander (1932-2023), and Robert Lee (1935-1997). In addition to his construction business he continued farming, raising tobacco, hay, and small grains. He engaged in sharecropping with tenants on his various properties. He was active in community affairs serving on the Board of The Maryland Tobacco Growers Association (MTGA), the Vestry of St. Thomas Parish, and as sheriff of Brandywine. On January 9, 1940 Amanda Baden Robinson died. She was buried next to her husband at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Baden. In February 1958, Frank and Elizabeth conveyed 1.57 acres of Ferndale Farm to son Franklin where he and his fiancée, Adina M. Via, were building their new home prior to their marriage in July of that same year.
The booming economy and suburbanization of the Washington metropolitan area in the early 1960's led to the high quality gravel lying beneath Ferndale into becoming a valuable commodity. In October 1962, Franklin and his parents granted a three-year lease to William C. Nolte for mining sand and gravel on the Ferndale Farm at .174 per yard. (Book 2747, pg. 11, Land Records of Prince George's County) From now until 1975 when the property was sold, gravel would be mined from under the farm by various companies. In November 1962, Elizabeth and Frank transferred to Franklin the 38.09 acres Frank had purchased from Fitzhugh Billingsley in 1916. (Book 2754, pg. 99, Land Records of Prince George's County) That same year they transferred 6.754 acres, part of the Vineyard, to son Robert and his wife Lois, (Book 2765, pg. 201, Land Records of Prince George's County)
On December 28, 1965, Frank and Elizabeth participated in a land exchange/purchase of the farm of Ralph W. and Cordelia H. Brown located along the Patuxent River in Benedict, Charles County, Maryland. Franklin had rented this farm the year before and was impressed enough by its location and arability to work out a purchase. Frank and Elizabeth traded 65.9920 acres that would eventually become Franklin's under Frank's will. On February 21, 1966 they deeded the Charles County farm to Franklin and Adina. Adina named this property Serenity Farm. The property consisted of 480.66 acres. (Liber 179, page 708 etc., Land Records of Charles County)
On February 5, 1970, after a short illness, Frank died at Cafritz Memorial Hospital. He was buried at St. Paul's Episcopal Church near his parents. In his will, probated March 4, 1970 he left thirty acres of the property purchased from the German American Land Company and A. Noltensmeir to Elizabeth. He willed forty acres of the same parcel to daughter Mary Robinson Conner. The remainder of Ferndale Farm was willed to Franklin and the remaining acreage of the Vineyard was left to Robert Lee.
Franklin Alexander Robinson was born August 13, 1932 at the Garfield Hospital in Washington, D.C.. He received his schooling in the public school system of Prince George's County, graduating from Gwynn Park High School in June 1951. He was a charter member of Gwynn Park's chapter of The Future Farmers of America. He was extremely active in FFA, achieving the Degree of Maryland Farmer in 1950 and their highest award, the Degree of American Farmer at their convention in Kansas City, Missouri in October 1953. He obtained his private pilots license in 1954. He entered the United States Army in February 1955 and went through basic training at Camp Gordon, Augusta, Georgia. After basic training he was transferred to Camp Hanford, Washington State. There he worked part time on the farm of Dick and Theresa Laurent during his off duty hours and began a lifelong friendship with them. He returned home to farming on an agricultural discharge in October of 1956. On July 27, 1958 he married his high school sweetheart, Adina Mae Via, daughter of Robert Milton and Virginia Woods Via. They had three children: Franklin Alexander (1959), Robert David (1962), and Adina Theresa (1963).
Franklin continued expanding and improving the farming operation by modern methods and means. At times, he farmed over one thousand acres, both owned and rented. On February 21, 1966, his parents deeded their purchase of the Ralph W. and Cordelia H. Brown farm in Benedict to he and Adina, later known as Serenity Farm Franklin and Adina engaged an architect to draft house plans for an anticipated new residence. A small A frame vacation home was built on the property so the family could spend weekends there.
On December 14, 1966, after a long illness, Adina died from complications associated with Hodgkin's Disease. She was buried in Trinity Memorial Gardens, Waldorf, Charles County. Franklin married Margaret Walker Lennox (nee Tallen, known as Rita) on August 21, 1970 (Marriage Records of Prince George's County, Maryland). This marriage ended in divorce in 1977. There were no children from this marriage.
On July 14, 1975 the Robinson family, Franklin, his second wife, Margaret, her daughter Margaret W. Lennox, Franklin, Jr., R. David, A. Theresa and Elizabeth B. Robinson, moved to Serenity Farm. On July 17, 1975 Franklin and Elizabeth sold the remaining acreage of Ferndale Farm to Brandywine Sand and Gravel, thus ending 131 years of ownership by the Robinson family. Elizabeth Bourne Robinson died on July 15, 1976 and was buried beside her husband at St. Paul's Church, Baden. Franklin married Hiltrud (Ceddie) Harris (nee Sedlacek) on July 15, 1978. (Robinson Family Bible) This marriage ended in divorce in 1986. There were no children from this marriage. Franklin married Diedre Gale Merhiage on April 19, 1989; this marriage ended in divorce in 1997. There were no children from this marriage. He married Remelda Henega Buenavista on January 13, 2007.
The Robinson family continue day-to-day operations of Serenity Farm. The land is well suited to the growing of tobacco and small grains, which crops, (with the exception of tobacco) along with a flock of sheep, are cultivated there to the present time. After the crop year 2001 the Robinson family took the tobacco buyout program offered by the state of Maryland and ceased growing tobacco. Franklin is active in farming and community affairs having served on the vestry of St. Thomas Episcopal Parish, the Board of Directors of the Maryland Tobacco Growers Association (MTGA), the Board of the Production Credit Association, the Boards of three schools, Holy Trinity Day School, Queen Anne School, and Calverton School, and numerous other organizations. Currently the farm consists of approximately 275 acres. In 1981 a state agricultural land preservation district of 222.755 acres was created. This was the first such district in Charles County and one of the first in the state of Maryland.
Via Family
The Via family traces its origins to the colony of Virginia, where the probable progenitor of the line, Amer Via, a French Huguenot, settled in Manakin Town, Albemarle County between 1670-1700. It is impossible to trace the Via line definitively due to the loss of Virginia county records during the Civil War.
The Via family line covered in this collection can be definitively traced to William Via of Fredericksville Parish, Louisa (later Albemarle) County, Virginia. The William Via family lived west of the present day town of Whitehall at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, an area commonly known as Sugar Hollow. William Via III served in the Virginia Line during the Revolutionary War. He married Mary Craig, daughter of Thomas Craig and Jane Jameson, on March 17, 1784. William died on June 27, 1836, in Albemarle County (Rev. War Pension Appl. 6363, National Archives). His son Thomas married Sally, widow Griffin, on January 1, 1811 (Albemarle County Marriage Records). Their son, Hiram Karl Via (1812-1893), married Harriet Ardenia Naylor by license dated March 7, 1836 (Albemarle County Marriage Records).
Hiram and Harriet's son, Robert St. Clair Via (1844-1925), served as a private in Company I, 7th Virginia Infantry of the Confederate States Army (CSA Military Service Records, National Archives). After the war he married his first cousin, Mary Frances Naylor, daughter of Samuel Chapman Naylor and Eliza Jane Gardner, on April 3, 1866 in Rockingham County (Rockingham County, Virginia, Marriage Records). Sometime between 1870 and 1872, they moved to Linn County, Missouri, and settled about seven miles from the town of Bucklin. Their son, Hiram Chapman Via (1872-1933), was born there. In 1893, the family returned to Virginia, and settled on a farm in Greene County near the town of Stanardsville.
Hiram Chapman Via operated a mill as well as a farm. On March 15, 1899, he married Adina Eleanor Eusebia Runkle, daughter of Milton D. L. Runkle and Roberta A. Beadles (Greene County, Virginia, Marriage Records). They had three children: Bernice Olive (1902-1999), Robert Milton (1906-1983), and Deward Daniel (1909-1977).
Robert moved to Washington, D.C.. In December 1927 he began employment with the Capitol Traction Company as a streetcar conductor (Robinson and Via Family Papers). During the early 1930s, Robert rented a townhouse at 715 A St., SE, where he lived with his sister Bernice V. McMullan and her son, William C. McMullan; his brother and sister in law, and his parents. Next door, at 717, lived the Moses Albright family, including Moses's stepdaughter Ida Virginia Woods (1914-2010), daughter of Jesse Lee Woods (1894-1918) and Donna Mae Barker (1896-1928) of Frederick County, Maryland. Robert and Virginia began a courtship and on September 3, 1932 were married in Frederick, Frederick County, Maryland (Frederick County, Maryland, Marriage Records).
After their marriage, Robert and Virginia lived in various locations in the Washington metropolitan area. Their first child, Robert Delano, was born on March 24, 1933, and their second child, Adina Mae, was born on April 12, 1937. Virginia was employed outside the home while her children were in school. Her first job before her marriage had been with Woolworth's in Martinsburg, WV working the candy counter and then before the birth of her son at The Hecht Company on F St. in Washington, D.C.. After her marriage she worked briefly for the United States Postal Service in Capitol Heights, Maryland. Beginning in the 1950s, she worked first at the Hecht Company department store on 7th Street in the District and later for Charles of the Ritz as a receptionist in their beauty salon located in Woodward & Lothrop's F Street store in Washington, D.C.. She also worked as salon manager at the Charles of the Ritz salons in the Woodward & Lothrop stores in Seven Corners, Virginia, and Chevy Chase, Maryland. She retired due to health reasons in 1973.
On September 10, 1941, Robert and Virginia purchased Lot #43 in Woodlane subdivision in Prince George's County. (Book 619, pg. 12, Land Records of Prince George's County) A house was designed for them for this lot by Clyde E. Phillips. They did not construct a home on this property due to the outbreak of World War II. Robert, due to his employment in public transportation, did not serve with the Armed Services in World War II. On October 18, 1946, they purchased approximately thirty acres bordering on Burch's Creek near the towns of Clinton, also know as Surrattsville, and T.B. in Prince George's County from Joseph H. and M. Pauline Blandford. (Book 873, pg. 483, Land Records of Prince George's County) Over the next three years, hiring private contractors, doing work themselves, and with the help of Robert's brother Deward, they built the two story house designed by Phillips in 1941. They moved to the farm from Capitol Heights in 1949. Robert raised hogs, small grains and a crop of tobacco yearly on this farm and also maintained his job with Capitol Transit (formerly Capitol Traction).
In 1954, Robert and Virginia purchased a farm of approximately 150 acres in Island Creek, Calvert County, Maryland. The intention was for Robert and his son to enter into a full time farming operation on expanded acreage. Robert D. Via, known as Delano, graduated from Gwynn Park High School in June 1951. Delano was a part-time farmer and pursued a career as a country and western singer with Bashful Bob and the Rhythm Rangers, he being Bashful Bob. He was employed in various jobs, and began a tour in the Army in 1953. By the time the Via family moved to Calvert County in 1956, he decided to pursue careers other than farming. He eventually traveled and worked in various parts of the United States. He married first Delores Cooper, second Gloria J. Irick, and finally Candice Marinelli in December 1974, they had two children, Robert Marin (1975) and Kirstin Marin (1976).
On June 1, 1956 Robert resigned from his position at Capitol Transit due to health reasons. He and his family moved to the farm in Island Creek, Calvert County where he began full time farming. He and Virginia sold the thirty-acre farm in Prince George's County on June 21, 1956 to Melvin C. and Geraldine H. Rardia. (Book 2003, pg. 564, Land Records of Prince George's County) Virginia continued her employment with Charles of the Ritz. Adina, now a graduate of Gwynn Park High School, was employed by the USAF at Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs, Maryland. They both commuted daily from Calvert County to their places of employment.
Robert farmed in Calvert County, raising hogs, cattle, small grains and tobacco. Over the course of the next twenty-seven years, Robert and Virginia sold smaller parcels off the farm. In 1974, Robert and Virginia built a small retirement home designed for them by Calvert Masonry Contractors. Robert died on December 22, 1983. He was buried beside his daughter Adina in Trinity Memorial Gardens. At the time of Robert's death, the farm consisted of 28.694 acres. In 1998, Virginia deeded the remainder of the farm, then less than six acres, to her grandson, Franklin A. Robinson, Jr. who sold all but a one-acre lot in April 1999.
Virginia continued to live on the farm in Calvert County, maintaining a small herd of cattle. In the fall of 1989 Franklin, Jr. went to live with her. In 1993, the onset of Alzheimer's Disease required her to move to Serenity Farm and take up residence with her granddaughter A. Theresa. Virginia participated in various studies on Alzheimer's Disease conducted by the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland beginning in 1992. She was profiled in the September 1997 issue of Washingtonian Magazine. In October of 1998 she moved to All American Senior Care in Brandywine, Maryland and in 1999 she moved to Morningside, an elderly care facility in Waldorf, Maryland. In 2002, she moved to St. Mary's Nursing Center in Leonardtown, Maryland. The remainder of the farm was sold in 1999 and 2002. She died January 14, 2010 and was buried at Trinity Memorial Gardens in Waldorf.
Adina Mae Via was born April 12, 1937 at the Homeopathic Hospital in Washington, D.C.. Adina grew up in Washington, D.C. attending public schools. She moved with her family to the Burch's Creek farm, Prince George's County, in 1949. She enrolled in the Prince George's County school system, and graduated from Gwynn Park High School in June of 1955. After graduation, she was employed by the USAF at Andrews Air Force Base in Camp Springs.
In July of 1956, she moved with her family to the Via farm in Island Creek, Calvert County. On July 27, 1958 she married Franklin A. Robinson at the Chapel of the Incarnation. They had three children: Franklin Alexander (1959), Robert David (1962) and Adina Theresa (1963). In the fall of 1958, she and Franklin took up residence in the home they had built on Ferndale Farm. She resigned from her position with the USAF in 1959.
On December 14, 1966, at Providence Hospital in Washington, DC, Adina died from complications due to Hodgkin's Disease. She had been battling this disease for many years prior to her death. She was buried in Trinity Memorial Gardens, Charles County.
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
The Maryland Historical Society holds items (costume, farming related implements) related to the Robinson and Via families.
Separated Materials:
Materials at the National Museum of American History
The Division of Work and Industry (Agriculture Collection) holds agricultural implements and artifacts associated with both the Robinson farms and the Via farm; the Division of Home and Community Life holds clothing, textiles (crib quilt), jewelry, cosmetics and Adina M. Robinson's sewing box and dress patterns; (Costume and Textiles Collection). See accession numbers: 1989.0688, 1990.0394, 1991.0010; 1991.0722, 1992.0184, 1992.0283, 1992.0321, 1992.0474, 1992.3106, 1994.0064, 1994.0304, 1997.0327, 1998.0038, 1998.0129, 2001.0196, 2002.0087, 2003.0015, 2005.0009.
Division of Armed Forces History (now Division of Olitical and Military History, National Numismatics Collection) holds the Robert M. Via Trolley Token Collection.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the National Museum of American History, Archives Center, by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., in November 1993.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but negatives and audiovisuial materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Some papers of living persons are restricted. Access to restricted portions may be arranged by request to the donor. Gloves required for unprotected photographs. Viewing film portions of the collection and listening to LP recording requires special appointment. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
The Archives Center does not own exclusive rights to these materials. Copyright for all materials is retained by the donor, Franklin A. Robinson, Jr.; permission for commercial use and/or publication may be requested from the donor through the Archives Center. Military Records for Franklin A. Robinson (b. 1932) and correspondence from Richard I. Damalouji (1961-2014) are restricted; written permission is needed to research these files. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
(news clipping about an exhibition of 19th century French masters at Kraushaar Galleries)
Collection Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. A fragile original scrapbook is restricted. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from Katherine Kaplan Degn, Kraushaar Galleries. Contact Reference Services for more information.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Kraushaar Galleries records, 1877-2006. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Care Fund.
The papers of the prominent New York and Connecticut Weir family of artists measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1809-circa 1961, with the bulk of the material dating from 1830-1920. The papers are a collection of correspondence and photographs that constitute a small but vivid record of the influence and relationships of this family of Hudson River School, landscape, and miniature painters. Correspondence consists primarily of letters to painter John Ferguson Weir when he was director of the Yale School of Fine Arts, with scattered letters to his daughter Edith Weir (Perry), and a small amount of correspondence of Robert Weir, his daughter Carrie M. Mansfield, son-in-law Lewis William Mansfield, and Julia Bayard. Letters to John F. Weir are from many late-19th century artists, as well as actors, poets, lawyers, scholars, and clergymen, often concerning arrangements for visiting lectures at the school. Photographs are of Robert Walter Weir, Susan Bayard Weir, Julian Alden Weir, and artwork.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of the prominent New York and Connecticut Weir family of artists measure 0.8 linear feet and date from 1809-circa 1961, with the bulk of the material dating from 1830-1920. The papers are a collection of correspondence and photographs that constitute a small but vivid record of the influence and relationships of this family of Hudson River School, landscape, and miniature painters. Correspondence consists primarily of letters to painter John Ferguson Weir when he was director of the Yale School of Fine Arts, with scattered letters to his daughter Edith Weir (Perry), and a small amount of correspondence of Robert Weir, his daughter Carrie M. Mansfield, son-in-law Lewis William Mansfield, and Julia Bayard. Letters to John F. Weir are from many late-19th century artists, as well as actors, poets, lawyers, scholars, and clergymen, often concerning arrangements for visiting lectures at the school. Photographs are of Robert Walter Weir, Susan Bayard Weir, Julian Alden Weir, and artwork.
There are approximately 275 letters to John Ferguson Weir, some of which enclose sketches, photographs, and printed writings. The letters of Hudson River School artists including Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Jervis McEntee, and Worthington Whittredge, capture a sense of the intense ties those artists felt to the landscape and to each other. Often the correspondents mention their fellow artists in their letters in personal as well as professional terms, writing of family, friendships, visits to each other's homes, practical arrangements for delivering, retrieving, and exhibiting artwork, and their shared artistic aspirations, successes, and disappointments.
Many of the letters are responses from lawyers, scholars, clergymen, writers, and educators in reply to Weir's requests to speak at the Yale School of Fine Arts. Taken together the letters, which often go beyond routine matters to extend to more personal affairs, reveal the warm esteem in which Weir was held, not only in his capacity as director of the school but as an artist and a friend. The letters, such as those from Laura Hills, Lucia Fairchild Fuller, Adele Herter, and Candace and Dora Wheeler, also document the Weir family's friendships with and encouragement of women artists, at a time of limited support for women in the arts. Also of note are letters from actors Edwin Booth and Joseph Jefferson, who were both friends of John F. Weir.
Letters of Robert Weir and extended Bayard and Mansfield family members relate primarily to family affairs.
Photographs of Julian Alden Weir, Robert W. Weir, and Susan Bayard Weir include professional portraits and candid family shots, as well as photographs of two sketches of Julian Alden Weir and two miscellaneous photos of artwork.
Arrangement:
Due to the small size of the collection, the Weir family papers are arranged as one series.
Biographical / Historical:
The New York and Connecticut Weir family of artists included painter and West Point professor Robert Walter Weir (1803-1889), his sons John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926) and Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919), and granddaughter Edith Weir (Perry) (1875-1955).
Julian Alden Weir was a renowned American Impressionist painter and a founding member of "The Ten," a loosely allied group of American artists dissatisfied with some of the established professional art organizations of the time who exhibited their work as a unified group. He also taught at the Women's Art School of the Cooper Union in New York.
John Ferguson Weir became acquainted with many of the rising young artists of his day when he took a room in the Tenth Street Studio in his early twenties and developed proficiency in landscape and still life painting. Like his brother, he then studied art abroad and returned to become director and later dean of the School of Fine Arts at Yale University from 1869-1913.
John Ferguson Weir married Mary Hannah French in 1866. Their daughter, Edith Weir Perry, was a noted miniature painter who studied under Lucy Fairchild Fuller.
Related Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds the microfilm (Reels 70-71, 125-126, 577) for the Julian Alden Weir papers, 1869-1966, including correspondence (mostly typed transcripts); scrapbooks; photographs; sketches; notebooks and scrapbooks and clippings compiled by Dorothy Weir Young in preparation for her book, The Life and Letters of J. Alden Weir (1960, Yale University Press).
Additional Weir family records are held by the Yale University Archives. The records form part of the material previously lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming by Reverend DeWolf Perry, and described above as separated materials.
Separated Materials:
The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming by Reverend DeWolf Perry. Included on reels 529-531 are correspondence of John Ferguson Weir, much of it with his brother Julian Alden Weir, with his future wife which he wrote while serving in the Civil War, and with artists; 77 letters, 1823-1881, of Robert W. Weir with members of the Congress and War Dept. regarding commissions, and with artists and others, including Horatio Greenough, William Page, Thomas Cole, William Cullen Bryant, and George P. Morris; a pocket diary of John F. Weir, 1860, with occasional poems and sketches; 2 sketchbooks, and 71 drawings, watercolors, and oils by John F. Weir; 3 sketchbooks and 165 original drawings, lithographs, watercolors and oils by Robert Weir; 4 portraits of John F. by others; sheet music with words and lithograph on the cover by Robert; 81 photographs of John and Robert, family, and work; exhibition material of Robert; a list of John F. Weir's paintings with prices; drafts of Robert W. Weir, Artist by Irene Weir (1947); and a typescript of a biography of John F. Weir by his daughter, Edith Weir (Perry); genealogical material; and clippings. Reel 533 includes a typescript of "The Story of My Life: The Inner Life of a Human Soul," by Mary French Weir, ca. 1920 (94 p.), and a typescript of a biography of her mother, Clara Miller-French, ca. 1920 (28 p.). Reel 565 contains family correspondence, 1866-1927, of Mary French Weir; an excerpt from the French family genealogy; and an obituary of Mary French Weir written by her daughter Edith Weir Perry. Reel 936 contains a sketchbook, 1826, by Robert Weir, of figures, statues, and buildings in Rome done while a student. The drawings are in pencil, ink wash, and pen and ink. (111 p.); reel 949 contains three sketchbooks, 1869-1902, by John F. Weir, done in watercolor, pencil and ink wash. (69 p.), of landscapes, figures, and heads of individuals in Italy, Switzerland, Dordricht, Holland, and France.
Loaned materials were returned to the donor and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Provenance:
Photographs were given to the Archives of American Art in 2019 by Mary and John McGuigan, Jr. Letters to John Ferguson Weir were donated by Harold O. Love in 1961. Material on reels 529-531, 533, 565, 936 and 949 was lent for microfilming 1973-1975 by Rev. DeWolf Perry, grandson of John F. Weir. He also donated two photographs in 1975. The donor and date of acquisition of the manuscript draft of Julian Alden Weir's biography are unknown.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Occupation:
Landscape painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Miniature painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
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
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 22.2, 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 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:
Publication and production quality duplication is restricted due to complex copyright, publicity rights, and right to privacy issues. Potential users must receive written permission from appropriate rights holders prior to obtaining high quality copies. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
11.39 Cubic feet (consisting of 25 boxes, 2 folders, 4 oversize folders, 1 map case folder, plus digital images of some collection material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Examinations (documents)
Speeches
Catalogs
Trade catalogs
Reports
Sales records
Trade literature
Print advertising
Business cards
Programs
Training manuals
Invoices
Publications
Business records
Advertising cards
Advertising mail
Certificates
Business ephemera
Manuals
Sales letters
Awards
Dance cards
Business letters
Commercial correspondence
Ephemera
Illustrations
Photographs
Sermons
Letterheads
Advertising
Printed ephemera
Catalogues
Theater programs
Report cards
Receipts
Advertising fliers
Legal documents
Scrapbooks
Correspondence
Lesson books
Periodicals
School records
Date:
1745-1973
bulk 1840-1930
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping 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 note:
Most materials present are records and information related to specific schools and institutions and their operations. There are no complete records for any single organization. K-12 public, private schools are represented, as well as colleges, universities, vocational training, plus home study, correspondence courses, Sunday Schools and some religious instruction. HBCUs are not represented, though there may be a general item or two related to one or more of the HBCU schools. There is a sampling of teaching and learning tools such as workbooks, textbooks, and curriculum guides, plus publications for educators. A portion of the material focuses on administration and the profession of education. Student Services and Engagement covers the social aspects of higher education.
Arrangement note:
Schools is arranged in two subseries.
Institutions
By Name
Administration and Records
Genre
Advertisements
Images
Instruction and Learning: Tools and Resources
Post Family Education Records
Serial Publications for Educators and Administrators
Forms Part Of:
Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.
Missing Title
Series 1: Business Ephemera
Series 2: Other Collection Divisions
Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers
Series 4: Photographic Reference Material
Provenance:
Schools 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:
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.
Certificates -- School attendance -- 1930-1940 -- Illinois
Ephemera
Illustrations
Photographs
Sermons
Letterheads
Publications -- Business
Advertising
Printed ephemera
Catalogues
Theater programs
Report cards
Receipts
Advertising fliers
Legal documents
Scrapbooks
Correspondence
Lesson books
Periodicals
School records
Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Schools, 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).
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
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
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.
The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.
Scope and Contents:
The records of New York City's National Academy of Design measure 92.7 linear feet and date from 1817-2012. The records pertain to all three constituents of the tripartite organization consisting of the Academy, a membership body of artists founded in 1825; the school, founded at the same time to promote arts education; and the exhibition program, inaugurated in 1826. Extensive administrative records include minutes, committee files, director files, annual reports, constitutions, and correspondence and subject files of council officers. Exhibition records, also substantive, date to the Academy's first annual exhibition and include gallery and special exhibitions, as well as exhibitions at the Academy's museum, established in 1979. The collection also includes gifts and funding files, especially relating to endowments and prizes; membership records; National Academy Association records; Ranger Fund assignments; extensive files pertaining to the school's administration, courses of instruction, registrations, and attendance; twenty scrapbooks containing clippings and ephemera; Society of American Artists records; correspondence and ephemera from other organizations; transcripts from oral histories with Academy members; extensive photographic material documenting artists, members, the school, exhibitions, buildings, and artwork created by Academy members; artist files containing correspondence, writings, and sketches from those associated with the Academy; and assorted printed material and ephemera.
The Academy minutes and committee files consist of official, original, and transcribed proceedings for the council, annual, business, and some committee meetings, as well as related correspondence, reports, financial documents, notes, drafts, and ballots pertaining to the Academy's administration and activities from its 1825 founding until 2006. As an organization actively engaged in the development of art and art education in the United States, the Academy minutes and committee files are a valuable resource on subjects and topics in the Academy's history; in particular, its founding, administration, school, and exhibition program.
Director files date from 1942-1990 and document the activities of four of the Academy's chief administrators, including Vernon Porter (1950-1966), Earl Tyler (1966-1967), Alice Melrose (1967-1977), and John H. Dobkin (1978-1990). Items include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and printed material.
Annual reports, dating from 1828-2003, summarize the activities of the Academy over the course of a year, and may include presidents' reports, treasurers' reports, audits of financial operations by public accountants, and printed annual reports containing summaries from multiple council officers. Information pertains to the year's activities including finances, exhibitions, membership, the school, committee activities, awards, and other business.
Academy constitutions date from 1826-2012 and include the printed constitutions and by-laws as well as constitutional proposals. Constitutions and by-laws name the current council officials, professors, academicians, associates, and honorary members, and state the mission and guidelines for operation in regards to membership, officers, annual meetings, elections, school, exhibitions, and how the constitution can be amended or altered. Constitutional proposals contain amendment drafts, alterations, and related correspondence.
Council officer files, dating from 1848-1980, contain the correspondence and subjects files of Academy officers—presidents, vice presidents, corresponding secretaries, and treasurers—concerning all matters of Academy business and operations including membership, gifts and funds, the federal charter, exhibitions, juries, the school, scholarships, committee affairs, anniversaries, publicity, administrative matters, resignations, and relationships with other organizations.
General administrative files date from 1825-1982 and include ledgers, certificates, correspondence, and legal documents pertaining to the Academy's founding, building, financial accounts, art collection, and other administrative matters.
Exhibition files, dating from 1826-2003, document the Academy's long exhibition history and includes annual, gallery, special, and museum exhibitions. Files may include exhibition catalogs, photographs, press clippings, sales records, and correspondence related to jury selection, awards and prizes, and logistical planning. Files pertaining to the Academy's annual exhibitions comprise a bulk of the series. Held since 1826, the Annuals were organized and curated by Academy members, and considered to be an important and sweeping survey of contemporary American art.
Gifts and funding files date from 1860-2009 and include financial documents, ledgers, legal material, and correspondence concerning the bequests, endowments, donations, and other gifts that financed the operations of the Academy and school. A significant number of records pertain to the Abbey Trust Fund and the Archer M. Hunting Fund.
Membership files, 1826-2012, document Academy members, honorary members, fellows, and the nominations and elections whereby members were voted into the Academy. Materials include registers, certificates, nomination ledgers and proposals, candidate biographies, and ballots.
The National Academy Association files date from 1911-1959 and contain a constitution, plan, and agreement, as well as correspondence, meeting minutes, and reports for the Association, incorporated in 1912 with the aim to erect a building shared by several New York art societies. At the time of incorporation, the Association consisted of members from the National Academy of Design, American Water Color Society, American Institute of Architects, Architectural League of New York, New York Water Color Club, National Sculpture Society, Municipal Art Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, Mural Painters, Society of Illustrators, and a number of city representatives and citizens.
The Ranger Fund assignment files, 1919-2008, document the distribution of artworks by living American artists to institutions throughout the United States, in accordance with the will of Henry Ward Ranger. The Ranger Fund was initiated to stimulate public interest in the work of contemporary American painters in 1919, when the Academy received a bequest from Henry Ward Ranger, totaling $400,000. Ranger stated in his will that the capital should be invested and the income used as a purchase fund to facilitate gifts of paintings by living American artists to arts institutions throughout the United States. Files document the assignment of particular works of art to institutions through the official agreement, related correspondence, and in some instances, photographs of the artwork.
Extensive school records, dating from 1826-2008, contain administrative files, enrollment records, course files, student affairs files, and printed material documenting all aspects of the school's activities aligned with the Academy's mission to educate aspiring professional artists. A bulk of this series consists of student course registrations, documented in registers, then on index cards beginning in the 1930s. While information collected varied over the decades, registrations document student names and the year, and may additionally include course name, instructor, and cost.
Twenty Academy scrapbooks document the organization's activities from 1828-1939 and include clippings and ephemera. Three of the scrapbooks are devoted to specific topics, including one for the Society of American Artists, one for both the Society of American Artists and the Society of American Fakirs, and one for the Academy's centennial exhibition.
The Society of American Artists files, 1878-1906, document the formation of the Society as a departure from the Academy in 1877, its independent operations and activities, and its eventual consolidation with the Academy in 1906. The Society's members have included Edwin Abbey, James Carroll Beckwith, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Thomas Eakins, George Inness Jr., John La Farge, Albert Pinkham Ryder, among many others.
Files from other organizations date from 1817-1997 and may include correspondence, ledgers, and printed material. Many of these organizations had business with the Academy, and records pertain to events, meetings, and exhibitions. Notable organizations include the American Academy of Fine Arts, American Federation of Arts, American Watercolor Society, Art Students League, Fine Arts Federation of New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Etching Club, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Salmagundi Club.
Oral history transcripts date from 2002-2007. Eight comprehensive interviews, conducted by Avis Berman for the Academy, are with Academy members and cover all aspects of the artists' lives, including family, early life, beginning career, mentors, contemporaries, influences, patrons, awards, residencies, as well as the artists' relationship with the Academy. The interview transcripts provide first-hand accounts of the organization, particularly from circa 1940 up to the time of the interview. Artists interviewed include Will Barnet, Hyman Bloom, Richard Haas, Ellen Lanyon, Jules Olitski, Bernard Olshan, Paul Resika, and Dorothea Rockburne.
Photographic material, dating from 1845-2010, includes a wide variety of formats and processes including 19th and 20th photographic prints, glass plate negatives, copy prints, contact sheets, slides, and 35mm negatives. Subjects include artists and others associated with the Academy, the school, exhibitions and events, Academy buildings, artwork, and reference photographs. Many 19th century photographs contain descriptive annotations. Supplementary inventories and guides prepared by Academy archivists are scattered throughout the series.
Artist files date from 1826-2004 and include the correspondence, writings, manuscripts, diaries, exhibition catalogs, and clippings of many notable artists involved with the Academy, including Asher B. Durand and Rembrandt Peale. Of particular note are two notebooks Durand gifted to the Academy, both containing notes and sketches from anatomy lectures.
While printed material is scattered throughout, the final series collects a small number of additional announcements, brochures, clippings, illustrations, and other ephemera not filed in other series.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as nineteen series.
Series 1: Minutes and Committee Files, 1825-2006 (11.5 linear feet; Boxes 1-11, BV 100-106)
Series 2: Director Files, 1942-1990 (0.5 linear feet; Box 11)
Series 3: Annual Reports, 1828-2003, circa 2010 (2.1 linear feet; Boxes 11-13, OV 139-142)
Series 4: Constitutions, 1826-2012 (1.1 linear feet; Boxes 13-14)
Series 5: Council Officers, 1848-1980 (4 linear feet; Boxes 14-18)
Series 6: General Administration, 1825-1982 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 18, 126)
Series 7: Exhibitions, 1826-2003, 2008 (14.4 linear feet; Boxes 18-33)
Series 8: Gifts and Funding, 1860-2009 (4.1 linear feet; Boxes 33-37)
Series 9: Membership, 1826-2012 (3.4 linear feet; Boxes 37-39, 127-131)
Series 10: National Academy Association, 1911-1959 (0.4 linear feet; Box 39)
Series 11: Ranger Fund Assignments, 1919-2008 (4.3 linear feet; Boxes 39-44)
Series 12: School, 1826-2008 (28.5 linear feet; Boxes 44-56, 68-99)
Series 13: Scrapbooks, 1828-1939 (4 linear feet; Box 56, BV 107-125)
Series 14: Society of American Artists, 1878-1906 (0.8 linear feet; Boxes 56-57)
Series 15: Other Organizations, 1817-1997 (1.8 linear feet; Boxes 57-59, 131)
Series 16: Oral History Transcripts, 2002-2007 (0.7 linear feet; Box 59)
Series 17: Photographic Material, 1845-2010 (6.1 linear feet; Boxes 60-63, 131-138, OV 143-144)
Series 18: Artist Files, 1826-2004 (3.5 linear feet; Boxes 63-66)
Series 19: Printed Material, 1839-1954 (0.4 linear feet; Boxes 67, 131, OV 145)
Biographical / Historical:
The National Academy of Design (1825- ) based in New York City, is a tripartite organization consisting of a membership body of artists, a school, and an exhibition program. The Academy was founded in 1825 by a group of professional artists with the mission to promote the fine arts in America through exhibition and education. Originally named the New York Drawing Association, the Academy was the first organization in the United States established and managed by professional artists. Samuel F.B. Morse, the Academy's first president, was influenced by the organization of the Royal Academy in London, which was comprised of professional artist members and elected government council, an art school, and a venue for exhibitions. After unsuccessful negotiations to unite with the American Academy of Fine Arts, the New York Drawing Association reformed as the National Academy of The Arts of Design on January 19, 1826. Among the founders were mostly young artists who became prominent figures in American art, including Frederick S. Agate, Thomas Cole, Thomas S. Cummings, Asher B. Durand, John Frazee, Charles C. Ingham, Henry Inman, Gerlando Marsiglia, Samuel F. B. Morse, Samuel L. Waldo, and Charles Cushing Wright.
The first Academy members were elected in January 1826, and levels of membership were established shortly thereafter. Originally there were four levels of Academy membership: associates, academicians, artists, and honorary corresponding members. The category of artists was eliminated in 1829, and the honorary member category, established to recognize American artists living outside New York, distinguished foreign artists, and patrons and friends of the Academy, was eliminated in 1862 (the constitution was not amended with this change until 1896). Since 1869, the residency requirement for election to active membership was eliminated and membership was opened to all American artists. In 1920, the classification of honorary corresponding member was re-introduced to recognize representatives of other national academies. With the 1997 constitution, the honorary corresponding member classification was again eliminated, and in 1994 the associate category was eliminated.
Artists are proposed for membership by academicians through the membership committee and are elected for life by a sixty percent majority, based on recognized excellence and significant contributions to the field. Procedures and rules for nominating and choosing new academicians changed over the years, as detailed in the constitutions. Associates were at one time required to present a portrait of themselves upon election and academicians were required to provide an additional representative work upon election. With the elimination of the category of associate in 1994, only one representative work is currently required. These works of art become part of the Academy's permanent collection.
The original classes of professional artists were painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving. These professional classes were modified over the years. In 1936 the engraving class was made more comprehensive, including all of the graphic arts. Watercolor was added as a class in 1943 and was codified in the 1945 constitution. However, the division into five distinct classes started to create difficulties in how specific works of art were to be categorized. In 1981 the council eased the rules regarding separate media classification so that members could submit a work in any medium to the annual exhibitions regardless of the class to which they had been elected. The constitution of 1994 restated four professional classes—painting, sculpture, graphics, and architecture—which were further reduced in the 2011 constitution to two: visual arts and architecture.
Until 2009, the governing body of the Academy was the council. The seven officers of the council were president, vice-president, treasurer, assistant treasurer, corresponding secretary, assistant corresponding secretary and recording secretary, all of whom were required to be academicians. In 2009, a new constitution provided for a board of governors, replacing the council. The five officers of the board of governors are chair, vice-chair, president, vice-president, and treasurer. Only the offices of president and vice-president are required to be held by academicians.
Central to the Academy's mission, the school began with an anatomy lecture for the New York Drawing Association, delivered by Dr. Frederick G. King in November 1825. The first drawing session took place in November 1826 in the Old Alms House at City Hall Park with two academicians and twenty students. In the school's early years, professional artists met with students to draw from plaster casts of antique sculpture in the academic tradition. Both lectures and studio training were central the school's early curricula. Life classes, the practice of drawing from live models, were introduced in 1837, but only to advanced male students. A life class for women was not instituted until 1857, even though women were allowed membership to the Academy since its beginning. Due to financial difficulties at the Academy, the school was forced to move locations and shut down its operations for extended periods. Mounting dissatisfaction and frustration led several students and Lemuel E. Wilmarth, one of the school's leaders and first full-time professional instructor, to leave the Academy in 1875 and form a new school, the Art Students League. While charging tuition was unpopular, the Academy realized that it was necessary to ensure the school's sustainability, and implemented fee structures with varying success over the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th. Eventually, tuition was established by 1951, when the school was reopened at a new location, 5th Avenue and 89th Street.
Exhibitions have always been an important activity for the Academy, even prior to the opening of the National Academy Museum in 1979. Since 1826, the Academy has held annual exhibitions intended to reflect contemporary art currents in America. Any American artist was eligible to submit work to be reviewed by a jury of selection, comprised of academicians. Throughout the 19th century, the annual exhibitions at the Academy were one of the most significant and influential in the country. The selection process for these exhibitions was a critical topic, at times actively discussed in the press, and continually undergoing modification and change. In addition to the Annuals, the galleries of the Academy were often rented or loaned to outside organizations such as the American Watercolor Society, Audubon Artists, and the National Association of Women Artists. The galleries also mounted special exhibitions curated by its members and hosted a certain number of travelling exhibitions organized by other museums or art organizations. The museum, opened in 1979, hosted and presented major exhibitions, many focusing on historic European subjects.
Official Names of the Academy 1825-2017
1825 -- The New York Drawing Association
1826 -- The National Academy of The Arts of Design
1828 -- The National Academy of Design
1997 -- The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Art
2017 -- The National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design Meeting, Exhibition, and School Locations
1826 -- Old Alms House at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan
1827-1830 -- Chambers Street over the Arcade Baths
1831-1840 -- Corner of Nassau and Beckman Streets, the Mercantile Library on the third floor of Clinton Hall
1841 to 1849 -- 346 Broadway (at Leonard Street), the third and fourth floors of the New York Society Library
1850-1854 -- 663 Broadway, where the Academy erected a suite of six galleries
1855-1856 -- 548 Broadway (over Dr. Chapin's Church)
1857 -- 663 Broadway
1858-1861 -- 10th Street and 4th Avenue, the upper floor of a building
1861-1863 -- 625 Broadway, the Institute of Art
1865-1899 -- 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South)
1899-1940 -- 109th Street and Amsterdam Avenue; exhibition galleries at 215 West 57th Street
1940-2017 -- 1083 Fifth Avenue at East 89th Street
Provenance:
The bulk of the collection was donated by the National Academy of Design in 2018. The trustees' ledger book in series 6 was donated in 1979 by Warder Cadbury of the Adirondack Museum; it is unclear how Cadbury acquired the ledger. Microfilm reels 798-799 containing transcriptions of minutes were given to the Archives by Lois Fink in 1974.
Restrictions:
This bulk of this collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
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.
Function:
Arts organizations -- New York (State)
Art Schools -- New York (State)
Genre/Form:
Drawings
Scrapbooks
Interviews
Citation:
National Academy of Design records, 1817-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Information, Technology and Society Search this
Extent:
5 Cubic feet (22 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Travel diaries
Advertisements
Diaries
Blotters (writing equipment)
Business records
Manuals
Lantern slides
Stock certificates
Stereographs
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Date:
circa 1890s-1969
Summary:
The collection documents the technology of lighting and various business aspects of the General Electric Lighting Division throughout the 20th century and consists of correspondence, bulletins, price lists, business record books, stock certificates, sales and advertising materials, scrapbooks, photographs, and lantern slides.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of approximately five cubic feet of correspondence, bulletins, price lists, business record books, stock certificates, sales and advertising materials, scrapbooks, photographs, and lantern slides. The collection documents the technology of lighting and various business aspects of the GE Lighting Division throughout the twentieth century.
Series 1, Historical Background Materials, 1910-1969, contains documentation on the history of the National Electric Lamp Company and the development of the incandescent lamp. The European Diary of 1928 is a narrative written by three General Electric employees—Samuel Doane, Chief Engineer, Joseph Kewley, Sales Manager, and George Osborn, Sales Manager. This narrative describes their business trip to Europe in the spring of 1928. It contains black-and-white photographs, menus, brochures, maps, postcards, and drawings detailing their travels in Paris, Nice, Milan, Venice, Berlin, Amsterdam, and England. The Record of Accomplishment, 1969, is a chronological listing (time line) of various events and/or accomplishments within General Electric.
Series 2, Executive Records, 1903-1955, consists of correspondence, annual reports, and technical standardization notices. The technical standardization notices were created by the Standardization Committee. This committee made decisions on how to facilitate and increase sales, improve quality, cheapen cost, and further the interests of the members of the Lamp Association. The reports cover a variety of subjects such as packing boxes, felt washers, high candle power lamps, and tabulating machines. Many of the reports contain black-and-white photographs. The Lamp Committee Reports seek to detail the demand for incandescent lamps and their improvements.
Series 3, House Organs, 1919-1959, contains documentation on in-house publications for General Electric. The Stimulator, 1919-1920, promoted "lighting profits and cemented friendliness, cooperation, progress, and quality." The Lamp Letter, 1947-1950, was published by the Lamp Department and dealt specifically with lamp-related issues. The Lamp Department Bulletin, 1947-1950, was produced for GE personnel and dealt with a variety of issues from sales to lamp types to licensing issues. The See Better—Work Better Bulletin, 1959, was published by the Lamp Division as a service to industrial and commercial lamp users.
Series 4, Sales and Advertising Materials, 1910-1955, includes price lists for lamps from both General Electric and other companies, manufacturers' schedules, data books, sales notebooks for sales representatives, and Edison Mazda Lamp advertising cards. The advertising cards are approximately 3" x 6" and are in color. They contain ad slogans such as "His Only Rival," "Satisfied Customer," Edison's Dream Comes True," "Have You Electricity?" and "I like Lots of Light."
Series 5, NELA School of Lighting Records, 1920-1930, documents the school, now known as the GE Lighting Institute, for training sales people and customers in the proper application of various lighting products. The records contain quarterly reports and general and lighting course descriptions.
Series 6, Business and Stock Records, 1890-1912, contains record and minute books and stock certificates from other lamp companies. The record books contain correspondence, resolutions, stockholder information, and committee reports.
Series 7, Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1890s-circa 1950, contains one scrapbook from 1923 with black and white photographs, clippings, correspondence, charts, telegrams, and booklets documenting General Electric's Nela Park location. The photo albums contain black and white photographs of staff, lamps, bulbs, tubing, tabulating, filaments, lead wires, stems, mounts, and lighting installations. The scrapbook and photo albums have indices.
Series 8, Lantern Slides, 1880-1950, consists of glass plates of Edison, images of people in the work place, and lighting equipment.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1, Historical Background Materials, 1910-1969
Series 4, Sales and Advertising Materials, 1914-1953
Subseries 4.1, Miniature Mazda Lamps, 1914-1935
Subseries 4.2, Large Mazda Lamps, 1914-1934
Subseries 4.3, Carbon Lamps, 1915-1922
Subseries 4.4, Miscellaneous, 1914-1953
Series 5, NELA School of Lighting, 1920-1930
Series 6, Business and Stock Records, 1890-1912
Subseries 1, Business Records, 1890-1912
Subseries 2, Stock Records & Certificates, 1890-1912
Series 7, Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1890s-circa 1950
Series 8, Lantern Slides, 1880-1950
Biographical / Historical:
Established in 1911, Nela Park (named for the National Electric Lamp Association) in Cleveland, Ohio, has through the present day served as both administrative headquarters and research laboratory for the development and sale of General Electric's (GE) lighting products. In the years following Thomas Edison's electric lamp invention (1879) many companies began to make and sell lighting devices. A merger of Edison Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric in 1892 created GE, which quickly grew to dominate the market. Westinghouse and several much smaller companies struggled to compete. These smaller lamp companies could not afford engineering and research facilities on a scale comparable with those of General Electric.
The National Electric Lamp Company was organized on May 3, 1901, by Franklin S. Terry (Sunbeam Incandescent Lamp Company), and Burton G. Tremaine, H. A. Tremaine and J. Robert Crouse (all from Fostoria Bulb and Bottle Company and Fostoria Incandescent Lamp Company). Terry suggested that the small companies band together to operate an engineering department, conduct lamp research and development, improve manufacturing methods, and build better lamp-making machinery. He further proposed to raise capital from and share patents with GE. This built upon an earlier organization, the Incandescent Lamp Manufacturers Association, organized by GE in 1896. The new National Electric Lamp Company was a holding company in which—unknown even to many of the smaller companies' executives—GE held a controlling (75%) interest. In 1911, GE's involvement with National became public during anti-trust proceedings. GE then purchased the outstanding stock and absorbed the smaller companies by converting them into divisional units.
Thomas Edison had, in 1882, moved his company's lamp manufacturing operation from the Menlo Park laboratory to a new facility in East Newark (Harrison), New Jersey. Named the Edison Lamp Works, this plant became the main administrative and sales facility for Edison Electric's and later GE's, lamp business. Research moved to Edison's new West Orange laboratory. In 1900, after the merger, GE established a research lab in Schenectady, New York. After forming National, Terry and B. G. Tremaine consolidated the administrative functions of that company in Cleveland and by 1910 were actively seeking space for a new office and laboratory campus. They selected a site along Euclid Avenue that was then on the outskirts of town. This became Nela Park (the "Company" had changed to "Association" in 1906). In addition to the National buildings, GE began moving its directly-owned lamp operations to Cleveland after the 1911 settlement. From 1925 through 1930 the various departments at Harrison moved to Nela Park, with the sales department being one of the last to move. GE's lighting research was carried out at both Nela Park and Schenectady.
A focal-point at Nela Park is the GE Lighting Institute, formerly known as the Nela School of Lighting. Organized by the Illuminating Engineering Section of the Engineering Department in 1921, the Lighting Institute continues to train sales people and customers in the use and proper application of various lighting products.
For additional information about Nela Park, General Electric and the National Electric Lamp Company see:
Arthur A. Bright, Jr., The Electric Lamp Industry, MacMillan, 1949.
Harold C. Passer, The Electrical Manufacturers, 1875-1900, Harvard University Press, 1953.
Leonard S. Reich, "Lighting the Path to Profit: GE's Control of the Electric Lamp Industry, 1892-1941," in Business History Review Vol. 66, pages 305-34.
Hollis L. Townsend, A History of Nela Park: 1911-1957, published by General Electric.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
William J. Hammer Collection (AC0069)
Separated Materials:
The Division of Work and Industry (Electricity-related collections) hold several artifacts. See accession numbers: 33,407; 43,120; 68,492; 232,822; 1997.0388 and 1998.0231.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Division of Information Technology and Society (now the Division of Work and Industry) by Mary Beth Gotti, Manager of the General Electric Lighting Institute on March 22, 2001.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The collection documents the life and career of comedian Imogene Coca.
Content Description:
The collection documents the life and career of comedian Imogene Coca. It includes family documents and photographs, including some from the 19th century; a family history written by Imogene Coca; several photograph albums; several scrapbooks, including such things as articles and clippings, advertisements for shows, notes, playbills, and photographs; correspondence; diaries; scripts; original scores; sheet music; clippings; transcripts of interviews; awards; and miscellany.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series.
Provenance:
Collection donated to the Archives Center in 2019 by Mark Basile.
Restrictions:
Collection is ope 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.
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.
Missing Title
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.
Missing Title
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.
Missing Title
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.
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 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.
Four scrapbooks containing items relating to the Baldwin Locomotive Works, including: blueprints, photographs, examples of company letterhead and blank company forms, clippings and articles, business records such as contracts and specifications, trade literature, and miscellany.
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical/Historical note:
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was started as a sole proprietorship by Matthias W. Baldwin in 1831. The company was the largest railroad engineering plant of its kind in the world. It is now out of business.
Provenance:
Collection donated by James C. Macinnes.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The collection documents Eugen Sandow and other bodybuilders through correspondence and photographs.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains original and copy photographs of Eugen Sandow and other bodybuilders and actors, by well known photographers Warwick Brooks, Napoleon Sarony, Benjamin J. Falk, George Steckel, and others; correspondence with well-known bodybuilders such as Joe Weider and Katie Sandwina; and periodicals and books about Sandow.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into four series.
Series 1: Background Materials, 1894-1958
Series 2: Correspondence, 1902-1954
Series 3: Publications, 1926-03-1955-01
Series 4: Photographs, 1889-1952
Biographical:
Ernest Edwin Coffin (1898-1954) was a California amateur bodybuilder, and weightlifter and collector of bodybuilding memorabilia, especially on the subject of Eugen Sandow. Coffin considered himself the world's expert on "Sandowania" and spent over 40 years writing and collecting memorabilia about Sandow as well as other strongmen such as Joe Weider, Milo Steinborn, and Katie Sandwina.
Born Frederich Muller (1867-1925) in Konigsberg, Prussia, Muller emigrated to England in 1889 and become a citizen in 1906. Muller adopted the stage name of Eugen Sandow and ran several schools of physical culture, performed, lectured, and wrote about strength amd mental and physical health. Sandow toured the United States in 1893 with his manager, Florenz Ziegfeld, the "Follies" showman. Sandow's first American appearance was at the World's Fair in Chicago where he was an instant success. Ziegfeld marketed Sandow as "the perfect man," and "the modern Hercules." Sandow used his popularity to market books, a magazine (Physical Culture), and exercise equipment.
Separated Materials:
Materials in the Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life).
The Division of Culture and the Arts holds hand weights, a cut-out, and a dumbbell belonging to Eugen Sandow. See accession #2001.0179.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Dan Manhart in 2009.
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.
Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland Collection
Author:
Maryland. Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State Search this
Collector:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Medical Sciences Search this
Extent:
0.33 Cubic feet (2 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Maps
Clippings
Patents
Pamphlets
Prescriptions
Paintings
Photographs
Scrapbooks
Notebooks
Correspondence
Certificates
Papers
Diplomas
Place:
Maryland
Date:
1740-1965
Scope and Contents:
18th, 19th, and 20th century material deposited with the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland, chiefly relating to the practice of medicine in the state. Includes correspondence, papers, certificates, diplomas, patents, maps, notebooks, clippings, prescriptions, pamphlets, photocopies of documents, scrapbooks, photographs, and paintings.
Arrangement:
Divided into four series: (1) Correspondence, (2) Biographical, (3) Photographs, (4) Certificates.
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
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.
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-seven 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: Addenda
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 but Series 11 and films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made to view some of the audiovisual materials. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 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.
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.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Cultural History Search this
Extent:
2 Cubic feet (6 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Letters (correspondence)
Advertisements
Design drawings
Clippings
Stereographs
Scrapbooks
Photographs
Date:
1879-1956
Scope and Contents:
Miscellaneous documents, catalogs, scrapbooks, photographs and printed material relating to the carousels and other amusement park rides of the Allan Herschell Company (which earlier in its existence was called the Herschell-Spillman Company and the Spillman Engineerng Corporation).
Arrangement:
1 series.
Biographical / Historical:
Employee of the Allan Herschell Company, which manufactured amusement park rides.
Provenance:
Donated by Francis Misklea in 1974.
Restrictions:
Collection open for research on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Printed advertisements, scrapbooks, correspondence, marketing research, radio commercial scripts, photographs, proof sheets, reports, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, television commercial storyboards, blueprints, legal documents, and audiovisual materials primarily documenting the history, business practices, and advertising campaigns of the Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated. Collection also documents the professional and private lives of the Hills family; insight into the cultivation, production, and selling of coffee; and construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists of printed advertisements, scrapbooks, correspondence, marketing research, radio commercial scripts, photographs, proof sheets, reports, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, television commercial storyboards, blueprints, legal documents, and audiovisual materials. These materials primarily document the history, business practices, and advertising campaigns of Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated. Correspondence, genealogies, and home movies reveal a more domestic and social Hills family while company records document business activities outside of the home. Company records also provide insight into the cultivation, production, and selling of coffee, and the company's technological responses to the changes in the coffee trade, and consumer consumption demands. Of interest is the company's participation in social and cultural events including the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915, and the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939. In addition, the collection includes the company's documentation of the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936. The collection is arranged into thirteen series.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into thirteen series.
Series 1, Hills Family Papers, 1856-1942, undated
Subseries 1.1, Austin Herbert Hills, Sr. Papers, 1856-1875, undated
Subseries 1.2, Austin Herbert Hills, Jr. Papers, 1875-1923
Subseries 1.3, Herbert Gray Hills Correspondence, 1923-1942
Series 2, Background Materials, 1896-1988, undated
Series 3, Coffee Reference Files, 1921-1980, undated
Subseries 3.1, Hills Bros. Coffee Company Literature, 1921-1976, undated
Subseries 3.2, Coffee Industry Literature, 1924-1980, undated
Series 4, Advertising Materials, circa 1890s-1987, undated
Reuben Hills, on one occasion, stated regarding his company's growth; ...success in business is fifty per cent judgment and fifty per cent propitious circumstances." The rise of Hills Bros. Coffee Incorporated from a retail dairy stall in San Francisco's old Bay City Public Market reflects the reality of Reuben's statement. Aided by brother Austin's three years of experience in the retail dairy business the early success of the brothers was in Reuben's own words both circumstance and hard work. When Reuben and Austin began to produce roasted coffee there were at least twenty-five other companies already engaged in some form of coffee production and distribution in San Francisco including, of course, the well-known Folger Company started by William Bovee (which began in San Francisco thirty years earlier). Most of these coffee businesses were started by family groups which contributed to the growth of San Francisco.
San Francisco in the nineteenth century was ripe for the importing and roasting of coffee. The foundation for commercial production of coffee dated back to the 1820s when English planters brought coffee to Costa Rica. By the early 1840s German and Belgian planters followed with coffee plantations in Guatemala and El Salvador, two of the several Central American countries where Hills Bros. would obtain its mild coffee beans. During the Gold Rush (1849) San Francisco rapidly expanded and grew. Coffee was imported and sold, after roasting, to restaurants and hotels. Yankee gold miners and others without equipment to roast and brew their own coffee, populated "coffee houses." In 1873 two brothers, Austin Herbert and Reuben Wilmarth Hills arrived in San Francisco from their home in Rockland, Maine with their father Austin who had come to California some years earlier. Five years later in 1878 A. H. and R. W. Hills established a retail stall to sell dairy products in the Bay City Market under the name of their new partnership "Hills Bros." Their small business expanded in less than four years with the acquisition of a retail coffee store titled Arabian Coffee & Spice Mills on Fourth Street in San Francisco. In two more years (1884) still larger quarters were occupied at Sacramento and Sansome Streets. Soon after this they disposed of their retail dairy business but continued as wholesale distributors of some dairy products including butter. Their coffee was labeled "Arabian Roast"' supported by the now famous trademark design of a man in turban and beard with a flowing yellow gown. This was created by a San Francisco artist named Briggs and since then (1897) has remained as the official trademark of Hills Bros. Coffee - a lasting symbol of coffee quality. Hills Bros. dairy division was eliminated in 1908 after company destruction by the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906. By 1924 all miscellaneous products including tea, had been dropped by the company which from then on referred to itself as "coffee only."
Emphasis on the quality of the finished product has long been a major selling point in the history of Hills Bros. advertising and marketing. The company's desire to keep abreast of technological advances in coffee production is a legacy of Austin and Reuben Hills, and is reflected in the company records, in its advertising and its self-perception. It was probably 1898 when Austin Hills and Thomas Hodge, partners who managed the wholesale dairy product operations were looking for a suitable can for exporting butter that could not be manufactured in San Francisco at that time, decided to consult Norton Brothers, a progressive can manufacture company in Chicago. Whether Austin traveled to Chicago or arranged with his brother Reuben to stop off there in route to New York (where he frequently spent time at the New York Green Coffee Exchange) to present the problem to Norton Brothers, which brother made the actual contact with Norton Brothers is not important today, but the results of that visit were real. Norton Brothers had just received patents on a process for packing foods in vacuum and thought it might solve the butter problem. In short order arrangements were made for shipping cans and machinery from Chicago to San Francisco including agreement for exclusive use on the West Coast for a reasonable period. Thus, Hills Bros. butter became the first known food product to ever be packed in vacuum. Once this started Reuben Hills had the idea that what worked well with butter might also be used for coffee. Experimental vacuum-packing of coffee in butter cans supported the theory that taking the air out of coffee would keep the product fresh for indefinite periods. No time was lost in getting new cans and more machinery and in July 1900 Hills Bros. Coffee as "the original vacuum-pack" was placed on the market. With the advent of this technology Hills Bros. changed the product name from "Arabian Roast" to "Hills Bros. Highest Grade Java and Mocha Coffee" and continued with the new trademark that had been started in 1897. Vacuum-packing extended the shelf life and travel ability of the product, thus new markets, national and international, were opened.
A change in the coffee industry of America was on the way. Hills Bros. remained the pioneer of vacuum-packing for thirteen years until a similar process was adopted by M.J.B., another leading coffee company in San Francisco. Other packers on the West Coast soon followed, but it was not until after World War I that East Coast coffee producers turned to vacuum-packaging.
Production and advertising of coffee continued to change with new technology. In the late 1880s San Francisco coffee importers began to "cup test" coffee beans for quality but the majority still depended on sight and smell. Reuben Hills and a few other coffee personalities in San Francisco are credited with the cup test method of appraising coffee quality. In its new home office and plant opened in San Francisco in 1926, Hills Bros. adopted "controlled roasting" in which coffee was roasted a few pounds at a time, but continuously. Developed in 1923 under the direction of Leslie Hills and Lee Maede, company engineer, "controlled roasting" employed the use of instruments to control the temperature and speed of operations, resulting in perfect roasting control that could not be depended on from batch to batch by even the most experienced coffee roasting expert. In 1914 the partnership known as Hills Bros. was incorporated under the same name. In 1928 a sales organization was formed under the name of Hills Bros. Coffee, Incorporated, but within four to five years the parent company absorbed Hills Bros. Coffee, Incorporated and adopted its name. A second plant was built in Edgewater, New Jersey, completed in 1941 to meet the needs of the increasing growth of areas between Chicago and the East Coast.
During World War II Hills Bros. faced conservation rules restricting use of tin for coffee cans. A timely method of high-speed packing in glass jars by Owens Illinois Glass Company made it possible for Hills Bros. as well as other companies in the industry to continue vacuum-packing during this period. Price control and coffee rationing were other war time necessities to which the industry adjusted.
Hills Bros. Coffee, Incorporated passed out of family ownership in 1976 when the company was purchased by a Brazilian corporation named Copersucar. In 1983 a group of local investors in San Francisco brought ownership back to where it had started and sold the business in 1984 to Nestlé Holdings, Incorporated, (effective January 1, 1985) which handled the acquisition of several companies in the United States for Nestlé S. A. Vevey, Switzerland.
Historical note written by T., Carroll Wilson, company historian and archivist, 1993.
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
NW Ayer Advertising Agency Records, NMAH.AC0059
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, NMAH.AC0060
Princeton University Posters Collection, NMAH.AC0433
Landor Design Collection, NMAH.AC0500
Industry on Parade Film Collection, NMAH.AC0507
Sandra and Gary Baden Collection of Celebrity Endorsements in Advertising, NMAH.AC0611
Fletcher and Horace Henderson Collection, NMAH.AC0797
Division of Cultural History Lantern Slides and Stereographs, NMAH.AC0945
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Records, NMAH.AC1086
Alice Weber Photograph Albums, NMAH.AC1144
Henry "Buddy" Graf and George Cahill Vaudeville and Burlesque Collections, NMAH.AC1484
Division of Cultural History, National Museum of American History
Artifacts include coffee packaging, Golden Gate International Exposition sampling cups and saucers, a bowling shirt, and coffee cans.
Provenance:
These records were donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History by Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Incorporated.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the negatives and audiovisual materials are stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 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.
