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Creator:

United Telegraph Workers.  Search this

Western Union Telegraph Company  Search this

Extent:

452 Cubic feet (871 boxes and 23 map folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Administrative records

Articles

Books

Clippings

Contracts

Drawings

Photographs

Patents

Newsletters

Photograph albums

Scrapbooks

Specifications

Technical documents

Date:

circa 1820-1995

Summary:

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

Scope and Contents:

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

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into twenty-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.

Topic:

Communications equipment  Search this

Communication -- International cooperation  Search this

Electric engineering  Search this

Electric engineers  Search this

Electrical equipment  Search this

Electrical science and technology  Search this

Telegraphers  Search this

Telegraph  Search this

Genre/Form:

Administrative records

Articles

Books

Clippings

Contracts

Drawings

Photographs -- 19th century

Patents

Photographs -- 20th century

Newsletters

Photograph albums

Scrapbooks -- 19th century

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Specifications

Technical documents

Citation:

Western Union Telegraph Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0205

See more items in:

Western Union Telegraph Company Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8b72e8493-288c-4bd0-84d5-011155da30a7

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0205

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-12-02T20:55:53.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianAmHistory

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianAmHistory

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_1t0nTCBG7jY

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2010-12-14T18:38:50.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianAmHistory

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianAmHistory

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_7e522NK7gcM

Creator:

National Museum of American History  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2010-12-14T18:28:32.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

American History  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianAmHistory

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianAmHistory

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_r46zXIN3Nus

Creator:

Smithsonian Channel  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2015-06-05T04:00:00.000Z

YouTube Category:

Entertainment  Search this

See more by:

smithsonianchannel

Data Source:

Smithsonian Channel

YouTube Channel:

smithsonianchannel

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_Eqf8YmwqqHA

Creator:

Human Studies Film Archives  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2018-05-31T22:05:37.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Anthropology  Search this

See more by:

HSFAFilmClips

Data Source:

Human Studies Film Archives

YouTube Channel:

HSFAFilmClips

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_X6jp0gcMebU

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Names:

IBM (International Business Machines)  Search this

Xerox Corporation  Search this

Extent:

3.21 Cubic feet (consisting of 7 boxes, 3 oversize folders.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Advertising

Advertisements

Catalogues

Advertising fliers

Advertising mail

Sales letters

Print advertising

Invoices

Ephemera

Commercial catalogs

Printed materials

Printed ephemera

Publications

Sales catalogs

Photographs

Business records

Advertising cards

Sales records

Mail order catalogs

Business letters

Printed material

Reports

Commercial correspondence

Correspondence

Trade cards

Business ephemera

Catalogs

Business cards

Trade literature

Letterheads

Trade catalogs

Receipts

Periodicals

Manufacturers' catalogs

Illustrations

Date:

1833-1975

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Office Equipment 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:

The collection includes devices and systems such as typewriters, calculation machines, mimeographs and copiers, punches and canceling machines, coin counters, telephonics, addressing and indexing systems, recording and message transmission, stamping, perforating, records storage and files, and also some consumable products like fasteners, ledgers, erasures. A few product samples are present.

Some product information contains suggestions and information on good business business practices or increasing efficiency and accuracy in the office or workplace environment.

A small amount of material related to furnishings, such as desks, bookcases, lockers, and trade show displays is present.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into three subseries.

Business Records and Marketing Materials

Genre

Subject

Brand Name Index:

The following is a list of brand names for various office equipment and related names that appear on this list is a compilation of those found on materials in the vertical document boxes. It is not a complete list of all the brand names for office equipment. The list is intended to assist researchers locate desired materials when only the brand name is known.

Brand Name Index

Efficiency -- Watson Mfg. Co.

Flatpakit -- American

Multigraph -- American Multigraph Sales Co.

Portland -- Southworth Machine Co.

Wiz -- American Sales Book Co.

Y & E -- Yawman & Eube Mfg. Co.

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:

Office Equipment is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Rights:

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

Topic:

Mail-order business  Search this

Mail-order business -- Catalogs  Search this

Punched card systems -- Machinery  Search this

Filing cabinets  Search this

Furniture  Search this

Information display systems  Search this

Typewriters -- 1890-1900  Search this

Office equipment and supplies  Search this

Office equipment and supplies industry  Search this

Office equipment and supplies industry -- United States  Search this

Printing machinery and supplies  Search this

Patents  Search this

Display of merchandise  Search this

Sound recording machines  Search this

Retail trade  Search this

Bookkeeping  Search this

Calculators  Search this

Accounting -- Data processing  Search this

Sales accounting -- 19th century  Search this

Pneumatics  Search this

Telephone answering and recording equipment industry  Search this

Account books  Search this

Consumer goods -- Catalogs  Search this

Business  Search this

Typewriters -- 1880-1910  Search this

Magnetic recorders and recording  Search this

Typewriters  Search this

Merchandise displays  Search this

advertising -- Business ephemera  Search this

Genre/Form:

Advertising

Advertisements

Catalogues

Advertising fliers

Advertising mail

Sales letters

Print advertising

Invoices

Ephemera

Commercial catalogs

Printed materials

Printed ephemera

Publications -- Business

Sales catalogs

Photographs

Business records

Advertising cards

Sales records

Mail order catalogs

Business letters

Printed material

Reports

Publications

Commercial correspondence

Correspondence

Trade cards

Business ephemera

Catalogs

Business cards

Trade literature

Letterheads

Trade catalogs

Receipts

Periodicals

Manufacturers' catalogs

Illustrations

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Office Equipment, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Office

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Office Equipment

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8a014f2d6-ae66-4884-a2d4-47a74284270b

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-office

Collection Creator:

Davies, R. E. G. (Ronald Edward George)  Search this

Container:

Box 157, Tape 2

Type:

Archival materials

Audio

Date:

1996 December 20

Scope and Contents:

Miami, Florida via telephone by Michael Bitsoff, Dallas, TX

Collection Restrictions:

No restrictions on access.

Collection Rights:

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Collection Citation:

R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0604, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection

R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection / Series 4: Oral History / Audio Cassettes

Archival Repository:

National Air and Space Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/pg29fe810bb-2bde-40a9-a1ee-a3b17a386fe4

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nasm-xxxx-0604-ref3338

Collection Designer:

Eng, Miu, 1955-  Search this

Container:

Box 1, Folder 2

Type:

Archival materials

Date:

1975 May-June

Scope and Contents:

This issue of Eastern Wind includes cover art designed by Miu Eng, news of an Asian-American studies course dropped at University of Maryland, and a history of Koreans in Washington, D.C.

Collection Restrictions:

Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at ACMarchives@si.edu

Collection Rights:

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

Collection Citation:

Miu Eng Eastern Wind collection, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Miu Eng.

See more items in:

Miu Eng Eastern Wind Collection

Miu Eng Eastern Wind Collection / Series 2: Newsletters

Archival Repository:

Anacostia Community Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa745823f94-f6e3-4e89-9d77-da7aa6ce7c54

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-acma-06-102-ref5

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

4.58 Cubic feet (consisting of 10 boxes, 1 folder, 3 oversize folders.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Technical reports

Business cards

Business letters

Manufacturers' catalogs

Advertisements

Business ephemera

Advertising cards

Receipts

Invoices

Printed material

Sales letters

Commercial catalogs

Trade cards

Technical manuals

Publications

Legal documents

Trade catalogs

Printed ephemera

Trade literature

Sales catalogs

Manuals

Printed materials

Catalogues

Advertising mail

Print advertising

Catalogs

Correspondence

Ephemera

Reports

Advertising

Business records

Sales records

Illustrations

Letterheads

Advertising fliers

Date:

1790-1965

bulk 1840-1945

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:

Materials in this category document the commercial lumber trade of both raw and finished material by producers, dealers, and wholesalers. The application of lumber in residential and commercial building is well-represented, as well as other uses such as infrastructure use in railroad ties, telephones, and marine building.

Documents include receipts and invoices, correspondence, a lumber account book, advertisements, association documents, business cards, caricature, images, import/ export documents, legal documents, patents, preservation, price lists, product samples, publications, shipping and receiving documents, and trade literature.

No extensive runs or complete records exist for any single company or brand, and there is no detailed information for any single subtopic though some publications may provide general and historical overviews of a person, company, or facet of industry.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into three subseries.

Series 1: Business Records and Marketing Material, 1790-1930

Series 2: Genre, 1848-1952

Series 3: Subject, 1876-1965

Business Records and Marketing Material

Genre

Subject

Partial List of Company Names:

Alcott, C.W. & Son Lumber Dealers, New York

Allen, Gillingham & Company, Lumber Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Allen & Knight Lumber Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Allston

American Hard Wood Manufacturing Association

American Hoist and Derrick Company, Saint Paul, Minnesota

American Lumber & Manufacturing Company

American Tie & Timber Company Incorporated

American Vulcanizing Wood & Lumber Company

American Wood Carbolizing Company , New York

Anderson & Ailing

Archibald Lumber & Tie Company

Arlington Lumber Company , Condon, Oregon

Armsby, Morse & Company , Lumber Dealers, Millbury, MA

Arnold, Folsom & Company , Commission Lumber Dealers, Albany, New York

Atlantic Lumber Company, Buffalo, NY

Atwater, W.H.

Atwood & Company, J.B.

Auger & Son, Quebec

Ayers, Dr. A.B.,

Backus & Brother, Lumber Manufacturers & Whole Dealers, Detroit, MI

Barlett Brothers Mfg. Company, Roby's Corner, NH

Barnes, Lawrence Lumber Company , Burlington, Vermont

Baxter, G.S. & Company, Lumber Manufacturers and Shipping, Jacksonville, Florida

Baxter, George S.

Bearden, R.B., St. Louis, MO

Beecher & Sillimand, Albann, NH

Bell brothers Timber Dealers, NY

Bender, Wendell

Bennet & Company , Wholesale Lumber

Bennet, Ray H. Lumber Company, North Tonawanda, NY

Bennet & Dimon, Manufacturers and Wholesale Dealers in Lumber, Niles Valley, PA

Bigler & Son's Saw Mills, Timber and Lumber Dealers, New York, NY

Bingham, Herbert S., Wholesale Lumber, Scranton, PA

Binkley & Nielson Timber Company, Niagara Falls, NY

Birch, S.M., Wholesale Lumber Merchant

Blakeslee, Charles L. Lumber Mfg. Co., Albany, NY

C.L. Blakeslee & Son Mfg. Co., Albany, New York

Blakeslee Lumber Co., Albany, NY

Bliss, J.A., Mfg. & Dealer in Lumber, Tonawanda, NY

Boyd, Herbert A., Huntington, West Va.

Brown, Bowman & Bledsoe, Lumber, Baltimore, MD

Buell, Guy I., Spring Hope, NC

Burgoyne, C.R., Pensacola, Florida

Burton, B.P., Wholesale Lumber Commission Merchant, Philadelphia, PA

Butler, J.H. & Brother Inc., Yonkers, NY

Cameron & Hawn, General Lumber Dealers, Albany, New York

Carolina Lumber Mfg. Co., Greenville, SC

Carr Lumber Company, Pisgah Forest, NC

Cate, L.G., Manufacturer of Lumber, Jacksonville, Florida

Chicago Car Lumber Co., Manufacturers and Wholesalers of Lumber, Chicago, IL

Chicago House Wrecking Co. (Harris Brothers Co.), Chicago, IL

Clark & Smith Saw Mill, Boston, MA

Clifford, S.L., Lumber Manufacturers, North Haverhill, N.H.

Clark & Sumner, Wholesale Lumber Merchants, Albany, New York

Consolidated Lumber Co., Savannah, Georgia

Converse, A. Place Lumber Company, Manufacturers, Wholesale, and Retail Dealers in Lumber, Dover, NH

Coolbaugh, C.C. & Son Co., Philadelphia, PA

Cornplanter Lumber Company, The, Buffalo, New York

Crane, W.B. and Co., Hardwood Lumber, Timber, and ties, Chicago, IL

Crane, Dr. H.A., Lumber & Timber Dealer

Curtis Moldings and Trim, Clinton, Iowa

Cutter, H. & Co., Mahogany & Fancy Wood Dealers

Cutting, Frank A., Hemlock Bark Dealer, Boston, MA

Cypress Lumber Co., The, Boston, MA

Dalton & Kibber, Dealers in All Kinds of Lumber, Albany, NY

Dart & Brothers, Rough and Dressed Lumber, Buffalo, NY

Deacon, H.R., Wholesale and Retail Lumber Yard, Philadelphia, PA

Deep River Lumber Corporation, Norfolk, VA

Deering, Rufus & Co., Lumber Dealers, Portland, Oregon

Deimel, H.A. Lumber Dealer, Herkimer, NY

Demeritt & Burnham, Wood and Lumber Dealers

Dexter & Noble, Manufacturers of Lumber, Elk Rapids, MI

Dickinson Bros., Ridgway, Pa

Dodd, C.H., DeRidder, LA

Dodge & Bliss Company, Manufacturers and Dealers in Lumber, Jersey City, NJ

Douglass, John & Sons, Wholesale Lumber Merchants, Albany, NY

Douglass, Saxe & Co., Wholesale Lumber Commission, Albany, NY

Downer & Kellogg, Dr., Dealers in Rough and Dressed Lumber, Utica, NY

Duker, Otto & Co., Steam Planning Mills & Lumber Yards

Dunham, Greene & Co., Commission Lumber Merchants, Albany, NY

Eagle Square Manufacturing Co., South Shaftsbury, Vermont

Earle, T. & O.K., Building and Finishing Lumber, Worchester, MA

Easton, C.P., Wholesale dealer in Lumber, Albany, NY

Eccleston Lumber Co. Manufacturers, New York, NY

Elias, G. & Bros., Timber and Lumber, Buffalo, NY

Eschenbach, John N., Lumber Company, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Este, Charles, Lumber Merchant, Philadelphia, PA

Etter, Siple & Carmany's, Steam Saw Mills, Dauphin, PA

Fee, Frank F., Dermott, Arkansas

Fogg, Ezra D., Lumber Commission Merchant, Providence, RI

Forest Lumber Co., Pittsburgh ~ Philadelphia, PA

Gage, Dr. C. & J.C., Manufacturers and Dealers in Wood and Lumber, Fisherville, NH

Ganahl, John J. Lumber Co., St. Louis, MO

Garret and Edward Green, New York

Garrison, S.B., Steam Mill and Lumber Yard, Camden, NJ

Gaskill, J.W. & Sons, Lumber commission Merchants, Philadelphia, PA

Gibsons' Albany Steam Planning and Saw Mills, Albany, New York

Gratwick, William H. & Co., Wholesale Lumber Merchants, Albany, NY

Grayson & Cain, All Kinds Hardwood Lumber, Washington, DC

Green, Charles S., Manufacturers of Hemlock and Hard Wood Lumber, Roaring Branch, PA

Grieme, H.C. Co., Lumber Brick and Building Material, Amsterdam, NY

Griffin Lumber Company, Wholesale Lumber and Retail, Sandy Hill, NY

Hallam Lumber Company, Wholesale Georgia Long Leaf Pine, Macon, Georgia

Hamm, C.H. & Co., Manufacturers of and Dealers in all kinds of Long and Short Lumber, Boston, MA

Hanna, C.W. & Co., Dover, Kentucky

Harbert, Russell & Co., Lumber Merchants, Philadelphia, PA

Harriman, Abel H. and Co., Manufacturers of Hogshead Shooks, Bridgton, Maine

Harrisburg Car Company's Saw Mill and Lumber Yards, Harrisburg, PA

Harrington, F.C., Dealer in Lumber, Philadelphia, PA

Harrod & Fernald, Boston, MA

Hartmann-Sanders Co., Chicago & New York

Hartough, P.C. & Co., Timber Dealers, New York, NY

Hawley, F.B., Albany, New York

Hawley, F.B., Albany, New York

Hawley, H.Q. & Co., Dr., Albany, New York

Headlam, Wm. & Sons, Albany, New York

Heinemann, B. Lumber Co., Wausau, Wisconsin

Henry & Carter, Commission Lumber Merchants, Albany, NY

Higbie, Douglas & co., Commission Lumber Dealers, Albany, NY

Hiram Hill, Hard wood Lumber Dealer, Providence, RI

Hines, Edward Lumber Co., Chicago, IL

Hoagland, George A., Wholesale Lumber Dealers, Omaha, NE

Houtz, D.K. & Co., Wholesale and Retail Lumber Merchants, Philadelphia, PA

Hughes Bros. & Co., Pine Lumber & Shingles, Lapeen, MI

Hunsicker, Henry A., Lumber Merchant, Philadelphia, PA

Hunter, Dexter, Lumber Merchant, Albany, NY

Hunter, Gilbert & Son, Lumber Merchants, Albany, NY

Hutton & Bourbonnais Co., Manufacturers of Lumber, Hickory, NC

Hutton, William, Dr., Lumber Dealer, Rondent, NY

Insuliter, The, Minneapolis, Minnesota

International Lumber and Development, Philadelphia, PA

Kraetzer-Cured Lumber Co., Moorehead, Mississippi

Kramer, H. & Bro., Lumber, Shingles, Flooring, Maria Stein, Ohio

Jones, R.T. Lumber Co., North Tonawanda, NY

Jackson, J.C. & Co., Lumber and Timber, Lockport, NY

Janney, Samuel S., Lumber Merchant, Philadelphia, PA

Johnson & Sons, Lumber Commission Merchants, Baltimore, MD

Jones, R.T. Lumber Co., North Tonawanda, NY

Joslin, John H., Eastern and Western Lumber, Providence, RI

Lesh & Matthews, Warsaw, Indiana

Levering, W.A. Lumber Commission Merchant, Philadelphia, PA

Lieberman, Loveman & O'Brien, Manufacturers of Rough and Dressed Lumber, Nashville, Tennessee

Lloyd, William m. & Co., Lumber dealers, Philadelphia, PA

Long Bell Lumber Co., Kansas City, MO

Loud's, H.M. Sons Co., North Tonawanda, NY

Loyal Lovejoy & Co., Lumber Dealers, Boston, MA

Lumber-Trade-Journal, New Orleans, LA

Lumbermen's Rail and Equipment Bureau, Chicago, IL

Luther, T.C., Forest Products and Wholesalers

Lyons Lumber Company, Lyons, Iowa

Marquette-Bailey lumber Company, Lumber Manufacturers, Lock Haven, PA

Maule & Brothers, Dr., Lumber Merchants, Philadelphia, PA

Maule & Donohue, Dr., Lumber Dealers, Philadelphia, PA

McClave Brothers, Lumber Dealers, New York, NY

McClave, E.W. & Co., Dealers in Yellow Pine, New York, NY

McCullough & bro., Dealers in Lumber, Coal and Lime, Hills Landing

McKee, W.I. Lumber Co., Manufacturers and Wholesalers, Quincy, IL

McLean, John S., New York, NY

Mead, Dunham & Co., Commission Lumber Merchants, Albany, NY

Menzies, William Timber Dealer, New York

Menzies, Viele & MAther, New York

Merchants Mutual Building Material Assn., New York

Millard Lumber Co., New York

Millard's, W. Sons Wholesale Lumber Dealers, New Hamburgh, NY

Millener, J.H. & Co., Manufacturer & Dealer of Building Timber, Tonawanda, NY

Modoc Lumber Co., Chiloqin, Oregon

Montgomery & Co. Lumber Manufacuters, Grand Rapids, MI

Moore, David Com. Lumber Merchants & Co., Newburgh, NY

Moore & McClung Retail and Wholesale Dealers, Newburgh, NY

Moore, R.H. & Zimmerman Lumber Dealers, Albany, NY

Morse and Company Wholesale and Manufacturers, Bangor, Maine

Morse, Wm. B. & Co., Pine and Hemlock Lumber, Rochester, NY

Morton, Black & Bro., Coal and Lumber Merchants, Chester Dock, PA

Mueller, Charles of Lumber, Lath, Davenport, Iowa

Munson, J.L. Lumber Dealer, Chapinville, NY

New England Baled Shavings Co., Albany, NY

Niedermeyer-Martin Lumber Co., Portland, Oregon

Northwestern Compo-Board Co., Minneapolis, Minn.

Park & Nelson Wholesale and Manufacturing, Redwing, Minn.

Patterson, J.E. & Co. Lumber dealers, Pittston, PA

Pease Co., The, Cincinnati, Ohio

Peckham, Wolf & Co., Wholesale and Retail Manufacturers, Schenectady, NY

Potter, James A. Retail Dealer, Providence, RI

Rathbun, Joshua & Co., Albany, NY

Reeves, Ward S. Lumber Dealer, Astoria, LA City

Remsdells & Co., Lumber Dealers, Savannah, NY

Riley, Thomas R., Dr., Lumber dealer, Washington, D.C.

Ruggles White Pine Co., Inc., Boston, MA

Salisbury & Co., Commision Wholesale Merchants, Albany, New York

Scott, Alexander & Son, Lumber Dealer, Concordville, PA

Shepard, Dave & Co. Whalesale Lumber Dealers, Burlington, Vermont

Shryock, Thom Wholesale Lumber, Baltimore, MD

Simons & Griswold Lumber retail & Wholesale Dealers, Albany, NY

Skillings, D.N. & Co., Lumber Dealers, Boston, MA

Skillings, Whitney Bros. & Barnes, Boston, MA & Albany, NY

Slocum, H.W., Lumber Retail Dealer, Providence, RI

Slocum, J.L. , Lumber Dealers, Providence, RI

Snoqualmie Falls, Lumber Co., Snoqualmie Falls, Washington

Southern Cyress, Jacksonville, Fla.

Steam Saw Mills, Winsted, Wisconsin

Stetson & Pope Timber Dealers, Boston, MA

Stetson & Post Lumber Co., Seattle, WA

Streight, A.D. Wholesale Dealer and Manufacturers of Lumber, Indianapolis, Ind.

Sullivan, C.F. Pacific Coast Lumber, Buffalo, NY

Sumner & Hascy , Commission Lumber Merchant, Albany, NY

Taylor & Mendenhall

Taylor, William Lumber Dealers, Troy, NY

Taylor & Crate Lumber Dealers, Buffalo, NY

Titcomb, F.W. Wholesale Manufacturer, Houlton, Maine

Thomas & Hyatt Commission Lumber Merchants, Albany, NY

Thompson, Benj. & Co., Wholesale Dealers, Charlestown

Thomson, L. & Co., Wholesale Lumber Dealers, Albany, NY

Timber Engineering Company

Timber Structure Inc.

Towner, B.A. & Son, Wholesale Lumber Dealers, Albany, NY

Upson Company

Towner, J.O. & Co., Wholesale Lumber Dealers, Albany, NY

Trask & Clark Wholesale Dealers, Woonsocket

Tucker & Kelly , Wholesale Lumber Dealers, Albany, NY

Turck, William Wholesale & Retail Lumber Co.

Uhler, Peter Timber Manufacturer, Easton, PA

United States Gypsum Company

United States Plywood Co.

Vandemark, S. & Sons

Vanderbilt & Hopkins, Dealers and Manufacturers of Lumber

Vanderbeek & Sons

Vandenburg, H.L. & Co.

Valley Tie & Timber Co.

Veneer Assn.

Virginia Tie & Lumber Co., Virginia

Vose, Rodney, Lumber Merchant & Forwarder

Ward, J.C. & Son

West Coast Lumberman's Assn., Seattle, Washington

Weyerhaeuser Forest Products

White, John T. & Son, Philadelphia, PA

White, Loveland, & Co.

Whitney, Baxter D. & Son, Inc., Wichendon, MA

White Pine

Whitney, C.D. Jr. & Co., Wholesale Lumber Dealers, Albany, NY

Williams, C.P. & Co., Wholesale Lumber Dealers, Albany, NY

Williams, J.J. & F.H., Lumber Merchants, Philadelphia, PA

Williams, R.D. & J.J. , Lumber Merchants, Philadelphia, PA

Williamsport & Philade Lumber Co., Philadelphia, PA

Williamstown and Redfield, Railroad & Forest Co.

Wisconsin Valley Lumbermen's Association

Wood, Joshua Lumber Co., New York

Wood Preserving Co., New York

Yellow Pine Commission Lumber De3alers, Brooklyn, NY

Yellow Pine Manufacturers' Association, St. Louis, MO

Young, A., & P.B. Wholesalers and Retail Dealers, Hiram, Maine

Young, B.E. & Co. Lumber Dealers, Annandale, NJ

Youngs & Corley Lumber Dealers & Box Makers, New York

Zellerbach Corp.

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Lumber Trade and Industry is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Rights:

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

Topic:

Sales promotion  Search this

Patents  Search this

Wood  Search this

Periodicals  Search this

Sawmills  Search this

Lumber trade -- 19th century  Search this

Logging  Search this

Manufacturing  Search this

Consumer goods -- Catalogs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Technical reports

Business cards

Business letters

Manufacturers' catalogs

Advertisements

Business ephemera

Advertising cards

Receipts

Invoices

Printed material

Sales letters

Commercial catalogs

Trade cards

Technical manuals -- 20th century

Publications

Legal documents

Trade catalogs

Printed ephemera

Trade literature

Sales catalogs

Manuals

Printed materials

Catalogues

Advertising mail

Print advertising

Catalogs

Correspondence

Publications -- Business

Ephemera

Reports

Advertising

Business records

Sales records

Illustrations

Letterheads

Advertising fliers

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Lumber Trade and Industry, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Lumber

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Lumber Industry and Trade

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8a8a7cc07-6fc0-4a2c-8432-79a4ab6aab3a

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-lumber

Pilot:

Amelia Earhart  Search this

Manufacturer:

Lockheed Aircraft Company  Search this

Materials:

Fuselage: wooden monocoque

Wings: wooden cantilever

Dimensions:

Wingspan: 12.49 m (41ft.)

Length: 8.38 m (27ft. 6in.)

Height: 2.49 m (8ft. 2in.)

Weight: Empty 748kg. (1,650lbs.)

Gross: 1,315-1,450kg. (2,900-3,200lbs.)

Type:

CRAFT-Kites

Country of Origin:

United States of America

Date:

1927-1929

Credit Line:

Gift of the Franklin Institute

Inventory Number:

A19670093000

Restrictions & Rights:

CC0

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv908b322a7-9925-4071-b2b2-26a162dc0fce

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19670093000

Publisher:

National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center  Search this

Language:

English

Object type:

Lesson Plan

Topic:

Inventors  Search this

Scientists  Search this

Invention  Search this

Innovation  Search this

Telegraph  Search this

Grand trunk railroad  Search this

Menlo Park  Search this

Phonograph  Search this

Telephone  Search this

Arc light  Search this

Motion picture  Search this

Kinetograph  Search this

Kinetoscope  Search this

Battery  Search this

Typical age range 8-10  Search this

Typical age range 10-12  Search this

Typical age range 12-14  Search this

Typical age range 14-16  Search this

Typical age range 16-18  Search this

Educational alignment:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.4

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.K.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.1.10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.1.4a

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.3

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.5

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.2.4a

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4a

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.4.4a

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.3

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.10

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.5.4a

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.3

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.7.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.8

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.8

Data source:

SI Center for Learning and Digital Access

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:SCLDA_1022

Created by:

Unidentified  Search this

Subject of:

Paul Robeson, American, 1898 - 1976  Search this

José Ferrer, Puerto Rican, 1912 - 1992  Search this

Uta Hagen, German, 1919 - 2004  Search this

Margaret Webster, American, 1905 - 1972  Search this

James Monks, American, 1913 - 1994  Search this

Medium:

ink on paper

Dimensions:

H x W: 11 7/8 x 9 in. (30.2 x 22.9 cm)

Type:

theater programs

Place used:

New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America

Date:

1930

Topic:

African American  Search this

Tragedy (Theatre)  Search this

Credit Line:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Kayla Deigh Owens

Object number:

2011.45.105

Restrictions & Rights:

No Known Copyright Restrictions

Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

See more items in:

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Classification:

Memorabilia and Ephemera

Movement:

Harlem Renaissance (New Negro Movement)

Exhibition:

Taking the Stage

On View:

NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 054

Data Source:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd57cd3b5ab-8cb8-450a-ac1a-fe8edceb15f1

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmaahc_2011.45.105

Collector:

Whitehead, Henry Preston, 1917-2002  Search this

Extent:

156.91 Linear feet (178 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pamphlets

Sound recordings

Clippings

Memorabilia

Newspapers

Photographs

Books

Brochures

Date:

1843-2010

bulk 1940-1986

Summary:

The papers of historian Henry P. Whitehead measure 156.91 linear feet and date from 1843 to 2010 (bulk 1945-1986). The collection documents Whitehead's careers, as well as his family and personal life. The collection also includes the personal papers of Tomlinson D. Todd, Elizabeth B. Delaney and the Howard Theatre Foundation. The combined collection is comprised of black theatrical memorabilia; materials relating to civil rights activities in the District of Columbia; and the African American experience in general. Included are playbills, sheet music, admission tickets, newspapers, magazines, books, photographs, clippings, flyers, brochures, pamphlets, sound recordings, research files, and other material.

Scope and Contents note:

The papers of historian Henry P. Whitehead measure 156.91 linear feet and date from 1843 to 2010 (bulk 1945-1986). The collection includes the personal papers of Henry P. Whitehead, Tomlinson D. Todd, Elizabeth B. Delaney and the Howard Theatre Foundation. The collection is divided into four series.

Series I focuses on Whitehead and includes papers dating from 1843 to his death in 2011. This series includes biographical material including a large amount of appointment books, identification and membership cards, resumes, certificates, and personal and family material. There is a limited amount of correspondence, which focuses on his personal relationships with family, friends, and general correspondence relating primarily to his work as a local historian.

Also found within Whitehead's papers are countless records from his time employed by the Washington DC government. Materials include memoranda, notes, research material, handbooks, guides, manuals, affirmative action info and records, affirmative action plans, promotion recommendations, recruitment plans and summaries, personnel files (complaints), civil actions and reports related too Whitehead's 37 years of government employment. It reflects the activities of numerous departments, primarily in regards to employment and affirmative action.

There are also a number of files that document Whitehead's involvement in numerous community organizations. Among the organizations in which Whitehead was involved include U Street Festival, Lincoln Corporation, and the U Street Theater Foundation. The papers of the U Street Foundation document the production and establishment of the annual U Street Festival. The Lincoln Theater Foundation and the U Street Theater Foundation papers document the efforts to reopen the Lincoln Theater. Also included are Whitehead's research on the Lincoln as well as old Lincoln Theatre programs. Additionally found within this series are documents and clippings on the economic development within Washington DC particularly in the Shaw/U Street location.

The majority of this series consists of printed material. Printed material in this series includes books, clippings, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, press releases, sheet music, programs as well as promotional material for several Washington DC theaters and organizations. There is a large quantity of theater programs dating from 1900-1986. The majority of the clippings and magazines are theater related topics, coupled with a miscellaneous selection of clippings on topics that presumably captured Whitehead's attention.

Research, notes and writings include a large amount of scrapbooks compiled by Whitehead of mostly photocopied clippings documenting Washington DC history, African American theater history, and general African American history. Five scrapbooks were compiled by an unknown source and were previously housed in the New York Public Library collection. Two scrapbooks are about general theater history one about Frances Starr and one about Margaret Anglin. There is also one scrapbook pertaiing to Mae Hall. Also included are a large amount of research notes and notebooks along with general miscellaneous notes.

There are several photographs of African Americans in the performing arts as well as images of Washington DC and several unidentified men, women, and children.

Audio recordings include 23 cassette from the Alexandria Church of God.

The remainder of the collection consists of the papers of Tomlinson D. Todd, Elizabeth B. Delaney, and those about the Howard Theatre.

The Howard Theatre papers are arranged in Series II and include documents relating to the Washington DC historic Howard Theatre and date from 1910 to 1986. The papers in this series predominantly document the Howard Theatre Foundation's efforts to reestablish and run the Howard Theatre in which Whitehead was the vice president. Records include business correspondence, founding documents, photographs, memoranda, press releases, member lists, financial records, clippings, and scrapbooks of clippings pertaining to the organization and theatre.

The correspondence in the collection include a handful of letters from the Washington DC government along with individuals and organizations. Also included is a large amount of interoffice memoradums.

Administrative records include lawsuits, resolutions, meeting minutes, grant proposals, press releases, memoranda, member lists, studies and reports.

Financial records include check stubs, receipts, invoices, bank statements, expenses, and contribution lists. Printed material includes original and photocopied clippings relating to the history and coverage of the foundation activities. Mostly promotional material as flyers, brochures, and press releases along with programs. In particular two 1920 Howard Theatre programs.

The scrapbooks of original and photocopied clippings compiled by Whitehead chronicle the history of the theatre and coverage of the foundation activities.

There are three VHS cassette featuring Whitehead discussing the Howard Theatre. Also found in series 2 are numerous stock investment record books belonging to A.E. Lichtman one of the early managers of the Howard Theatre. In addition early correspondence between Lichtman and the Rex Amusement Company concerning operational management issues of the Howard Theatre.

The Tomlinson D. Todd papers are arranged in Series III and date from 1902-1986 they include organization files, collected printed materials, subject files, and personal papers.

The collection includes materials relating to organizations in which there was a relationship to Todd's work and in which he had an interest primarily during the 1940s and 1950s, organizations include the National Negro Congress (ca, 1946-1947); the Congress for Industrial Organizations (1943-1947); National Council of Negro Women (1947-1949); Committee for Racial Democracy in the Nation's Capital (1947-1948).

The subject files include documents from three of Todd's organizations; Institute on Race Relation, Club Internationale, and his radio program "Americans All". As well as printed material from Todd's alma mater Lincoln University.

The largest subject file is "Americans All" which includes radio scripts as well as audio recording of a few programs and public service announcements. Also found are several black and white photographs of Todd at the radio studio. Printed materials include newspapers, leaflets, convention proceedings, and flyers, There are a large amount of programs ranging from church worship to convention as well as performance. Also present is a small amount of personal papers, including resumes, certificates, admission tickets, family documents, and travel ephemera from his all expense paid trip to Nigeria.

There are a few photographs of Todd at functions and with notable individuals as well as some family, friends and travel.

Elizabeth's B. Delaney papers are arranged in Series IV and date from 1874-1973.

The papers primarily document her involvement in four organizations, the Grand Oder of Odd Fellow of Kentucky, the Order Eastern Star Kentucky, the State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs of Kentucky and the National Association of Colored Women. There is a small amount of printed material belonging to her son primarily the Alpha Phi Alpha material and Gospel Choral Sheet Music, and books.

The Scrapbook was complied by Whitehead consisting of photocopied clipping documenting the life of Elizabeth B. Delaney.

Arrangement note:

This collection is arranged into four series:

Series 1: Henry P. Whitehead papers Series 2: Howard Theatre Series 3: Tomlinson D. Todd Series 4. Elizabeth B. Delaney

Biographical/Historical note:

Henry Preston Whitehead Jr., was a native of Columbus Ohio. A graduate of Ohio State University, where he also attended law school and was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Mr. Whitehead discovered Washington's "Black Broadway" in 1940, when he was a soldier in town on a weekend furlough. As he served in the Army in the South Pacific during World War II. Prior to moving to Washington DC Henry P. Whitehead worked for five years as a liquor inspector. Mr. Whitehead moved to Washington D.C. in 1949 and worked for the Post Office before working for the District of Columbia government where he stayed 21 years. He led several equal employment initiatives during the 1960s and 1970s, and was last employed as associate director of the District's Office of Human Rights. In 1980 after putting in 37 years of government service Mr. Whitehead retired. Mr. Whitehead was an historian who led efforts to restore Washington's U Street cultural corridor and achieved recognition as an authority on and collector of black theatrical memorabilia. Mr. Whitehead worked to promote and preserve the city's rich African American cultural heritage.

Mr. Whitehead, served as the chairman and president for 10 years of the Howard Theater Foundation Inc., which he helped establish. There he led the effort to include Howard Theatre in the National Register of Historic Places.

Similarly he was an active member of the U Street Festival Foundation. He was an adviser to the Kennedy Center, Anacostia Museum, and other Smithsonian Institution units and contributed materials to their exhibitions. He was also a consultant to historical documentaries broadcast on public television and radio, including PBS's "Duke Ellington's Washington." His writings included "Remembering U Street," a book used for annual festivals in the historic area.

Mr. Whitehead was also the founder and board member of the Lincoln Theatre Foundation.

Henry P. Whitehead Jr. died on January 8th 2002 at the age of 84.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Anacostia Community Museum on September 1, 2005 by Michael A. Watkins.

Restrictions:

Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.

Rights:

The Henry P. Whitehead collection is the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. Rights to work produced during the normal course of Museum business resides with the Anacostia Community Museum. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.

Topic:

Howard Theatre (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

African Americans  Search this

National Negro Congress (U.S.)  Search this

National Council of Negro Women  Search this

Radio broadcasting  Search this

African American neighborhoods  Search this

African American musicians  Search this

Genre/Form:

Pamphlets

Sound recordings

Clippings

Memorabilia -- 20th century

Newspapers

Photographs

Books

Brochures

Citation:

Henry P. Whitehead collection, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Michael A. Watkins.

Identifier:

ACMA.06-042

See more items in:

Henry P. Whitehead collection

Archival Repository:

Anacostia Community Museum Archives

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa751389911-f3d5-474b-82b4-126047b9cc46

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-acma-06-042

Artist:

Grace Wells Parkinson  Search this

Medium:

Bust, Amelia Earhart

Dimensions:

3-D: 24.1 x 24.1 x 35.6cm, 10.7kg (9 1/2 x 9 1/2 x 14 in., 23 5/8lb.)

Type:

ART-Sculpture

Country of Origin:

United States of America

Date:

1948

Credit Line:

Gift of Amelia Earhart Post 678, American Legion Auxiliary

Inventory Number:

A19500108000

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9b0032470-e1e0-4b84-be4f-e8e0aee03838

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_A19500108000

Materials:

paper, cardstock, canvas, paint

Dimensions:

3-D: 13.7 x 3.8 x 20cm, 0.5kg (5 3/8 x 1 1/2 x 7 7/8 in., 1lb.)

Type:

LITERATURE AND RESEARCH-Books (under Library)

Credit Line:

Lent by Dorothy Cochrane

Inventory Number:

I20211460001

Restrictions & Rights:

Usage conditions apply

See more items in:

National Air and Space Museum Collection

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv90a2f16d9-b76e-469a-84f9-715ec6ed6503

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nasm_I20211460001

Creator:

Parsons, Betty  Search this

Names:

Betty Parsons Gallery  Search this

Bess, Forrest, 1911-1977  Search this

Congdon, William, 1912-1998  Search this

Pollock, Jackson, 1912-1956  Search this

Reinhardt, Ad, 1913-1967  Search this

Rothko, Mark, 1903-1970  Search this

Extent:

61.1 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Date:

1916-1991

bulk 1946-1983

Summary:

The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection.

Scope and Content Note:

The Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers measure 61.1 linear feet and date from 1916 to 1991, with the bulk of the material dating from 1946-1983. Records provide extensive documentation of the gallery's operations from its inception in 1946 to its closing in 1983 and of the activities of Betty Parsons as one the leading art dealers of contemporary American Art in the latter half of the twentieth century, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Over one third of the of the collection is comprised of artists files containing correspondence, price lists, and printed materials. Additional correspondence is with galleries, dealers, art institutions, private collectors, and the media. Also found are exhibition files, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales records, stock inventories, personal financial records, and photographs. Betty Parsons's personal papers consist of early curatorial files, pocket diaries, personal correspondence, and evidence of her own artwork, including sketchbooks, and files documenting her personal art collection. Personal papers also include personal photographs.

Artists files, the largest and most extensive series, consist of a wide variety of documents, including biographical materials, correspondence with or related to the artist, exhibition catalogs and announcements, sales and expense invoices, clippings, price lists, and photographs of the artist, exhibitions, and artwork. The files reflect Parsons's close personal relationships with certain artists, particularly Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and Barnett Newman. Extensive documentation is also found for Forrest Bess, William Congdon, Paul Feeley, Thomas George, Alexander Liberman, Seymour Lipton, Richard Pousette-Dart, Jesse Reichek, and Jack Youngerman. Historians and researchers will find these files to be an invaluable resource both in tracing Betty Parsons's role in promoting Abstract Expressionism and researching individual artists.

Exhibition files primarily document the gallery's infrequent group or themed exhibitions. Of particular note are the files on The Ideographic Picture, which was organized by Barnett Newman and included his work, as well as that of Pietro Lazzari, Boris Margo, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Theodoros Stamos, and Clyfford Still. Price lists, artist biographies and exhibition schedules are housed in the general exhibition files. Loan exhibition files provide documentation of artwork borrowed by other galleries or institutions for exhibitions, as well as shows outside of the gallery that were organized by Betty Parsons. Also found are gallery exhibition guest books, and announcements and catalogs.

Gallery correspondence is primarily with galleries and dealers, museums, arts organizations, and collectors. Scattered letters from artists are also found, although the bulk of the artists' correspondence is filed in the Artists Files. Also found here are memoranda and letters between Betty Parsons and her staff that contain detailed information concerning Parsons's schedule and gallery activities. Similar correspondence is found amongst the correspondence files within the series Betty Parsons papers.

Appraisal and conservation files include correspondence, appraisal invoices, forms, and appraisal requests and other information from the Art Dealers Association of America, and conservation invoices and reports. The majority of the appraisal records contain information about the specific works of art, including artist, title, date, current owner and the estimated value at the time of the request. Conservation records document conservation treatments undertaken by outside conservators to gallery stock.

Sales, purchases, stock and inventory are well documented in the sales and inventory records. The records provide detailed information about individual sales, prices of individual pieces of artwork, consignments, and loans. Most sales records also include detailed information about the buyer and are a valuable resource for provenance research. Files documenting the general administration, routine business operations, and financial transactions (not individual sales) of the gallery are housed in the general business and financial records. These records include ledgers, receipts, tax records, and banking records. There is some limited information about works of art scattered amongst the receipts and in the "in/out slips" files. Legal records house general legal documents and those concerning specific lawsuits. Of particular note is the file detailing the lawsuit between Betty Parsons and Sidney Janis over the fifth floor of 24 West 57th Street.

The remainder of the collection consists of Betty Parsons's personal papers which document her career prior to opening her own gallery, her work as an artist, and her personal art collection.

Some information about Parsons's work prior to opening her own gallery is found in the early curatorial files she retained from her curatorial and administrative work at the Wakefield Gallery and the Mortimer Brandt Gallery. Clippings, correspondence, announcements, exhibition lists and exhibition files are found. For both positions, she kept only the exhibition files for a small group of exhibitions organized around a specific theme, the most notable being the exhibition of Pre-Columbian Sculpture at the Wakefield Gallery.

Biographical materials include copies of her biography, family genealogies, photographs of Parsons, interviews with Colette Roberts and WYNC radio, memberships, photographs, and ephemera, including a collection of programs and invitations from events that she attended. Throughout her life Parsons gave generously of her time to various cultural and charitable institutions and was awarded for her contributions. There are also a number of files that document her speaking engagements, her participation as a juror in numerous juried exhibitions, charitable work, and awards that she received.

Parsons's personal correspondence files reflect how deeply Parsons's life was intertwined with the gallery. There are letters from museum directors, dealers, artists seeking representation, and personal letters from artists with whom she had close personal relationships, most notably Larry Bigelow, Alexander Calder, William Condon, and Ad Reinhardt. There are also letters from the English artist Adge Baker, with whom Parsons was romantically involved. Correspondence also includes several files of postcards and Christmas cards.

Pocket diaries and engagement calendars, spanning from 1933-1981, record social engagements, meetings, vacations, and telephone numbers. Also found are circa two linear feet of notebooks and sketchbooks, many of which are annotated with addresses, poetry, journal entries, and other observations of people, places, and travels. Writings by others include writings about Betty Parsons or the Betty Parsons Gallery, such as Lawrence Alloway's unpublished typescript titled "An American Gallery" and other topics.

Printed material consists of exhibition announcements and catalogs, art magazines, and newspaper and magazine clippings about Betty Parsons, her family and acquaintances, artists, and other art related topics, coupled with a miscellaneous selection of clippings, and a video recording, on topics that presumably captured Parsons's attention.

Personal art work records document Betty Parsons's career as an artist through inventories, group and solo exhibitions files, price lists, appraisals, sales and consignment invoices. Photographs are primarily reproductions of her works of art, although there are scattered photographs of exhibition installations.

Betty Parsons's private art collection files document her extensive personal collection of art that included works by Jackson Pollock, Agnes Martin, Romare Bearden, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, in addition to Amlash sculpture from ancient Persia and primitive sculpture from New Hebrides. These files include inventories, lists, exhibition records, sales and purchase invoices, and photographs. There are also files for donations and loans from Parsons's personal collection to museums and fund raising auctions for several non-profit institutions.

Finally, the personal financial records provide information about the Parsons's family finances and her personal financial success as an art dealer. In addition to her own investments, Parsons inherited shares in family investments through the estates of her parents, J. Fred Pierson, Jr. and Suzanne Miles Pierson, and younger sister, Emily Rayner. Real estate files include correspondence, utility bills, receipts, area maps, and land plots for houses in Sheepscot, Maine and St. Maartens, Netherlands Antilles. Tax returns, ledger worksheets, receipts, banking statements, deposit slips, and cancelled checks are among the other financial records.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as seven series. Many of the series are further divided into subseries.

Missing Title

Series 1: Artists Files, 1935-1983 (19.4 linear feet; Boxes 1-18, 51, 55-56, OVs 53, 65)

Series 2: Exhibition Files, 1941-1983 (2.9 linear feet; Boxes 18-21, 51, 55, OVs 54, 66)

Series 3: Correspondence Files, 1941-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 21-24, 52, 56)

Series 4: Appraisal Files, 1954-1983 (0.7 linear feet; Box 24)

Series 5: Sales and Inventory Records, 1946-1983 (3.9 linear feet; Boxes 25-28, 51)

Series 6: General Business and Financial Records, 1946-1983 (9.3 linear feet; Boxes 28-38, 51, 56)

Series 7: Betty Parsons Personal Papers, 1916-1991 (21 linear feet; Boxes 38-51, 55-64, OVs 65-67)

Historical Note:

Betty Parsons (1900-1982) was one of the leading art dealers in New York City specializing in modern art, particularly the work of the Abstract Expressionists, and an abstract painter and sculptor in her own right. She opened Betty Parsons Gallery in 1946 at 15 E. 57th St., later moving to 24 W. 57th St.

The history of the Betty Parsons Gallery is inextricably bound to the life and experiences of its founder. Betty Parsons was born Betty Bierne Pierson on January 31, 1900 in New York City. She enjoyed a privileged childhood, which included vacation homes in Newport and Palm Beach. Her only formal education was a five-year stint at the prestigious Chapin School from 1910-1915, where she met many of the women who would become life-long friends and supporters. In the spring of 1920, she married Schuyler Livingston Parsons from one of New York's oldest families. The marriage ended after only three years and the couple traveled to Paris where they could obtain a divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. She retained her married surname and purchased a house on the rue Boulard in Paris, where she remained for ten years, pursuing studies in painting and sculpture.

Financial constraints forced Parsons to return to the United States in 1933. She first traveled west to California, but it was her return to New York in 1935 that marked the start of her career as an art dealer. Her first opportunity to connect with the New York art world came after a successful exhibition of her watercolors at the Midtown Galleries where the owner, Alan Gruskin, noted Parson's faithful and wealthy group of supporters and offered her work installing exhibitions and selling paintings on commission. Her work for the Midtown Galleries led to a second position in the Park Avenue gallery of Mary Sullivan, one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art. Here, Parsons learned the business of running a gallery. By 1940 Parsons was ready to take on more independent responsibility and agreed to manage a gallery within the Wakefield Bookshop. In this job, she exercised full curatorial control by selecting artists and organizing exhibitions. She championed then unknown contemporary American artists and the gallery's roster soon included Saul Steinberg, Hedda Sterne, Alfonso Ossorio, Joseph Cornell, Walter Murch, and Theodore Stamos. Although the majority of the exhibitions were solo shows, there were a few group shows and themed exhibitions, such as Love in Art (1941) and Ballet in Art (1942). Under Parson's direction, the gallery hosted an important exhibition of Pre-Columbian sculpture, curated by Barnett Newman.

When the owners of the Wakefield Bookshop decided to close the gallery late in 1944, Mortimer Brandt, a dealer who specialized in Old Master paintings and drawings, offered her a position as head of the newly created contemporary section of his gallery. Many of the artists who had shown with Parsons at the Wakefield Gallery followed her to her new gallery, where they were joined by Ad Reinhardt, Boris Mango, and Hans Hofmann. While the exhibitions garnered attention from the press and the interest of contemporary artists, the contemporary section was not a financial success and Brandt opted to close his gallery in 1946.

Using $1000 of her own money and an additional borrowed $4000, Parsons sublet the space that previously housed Mortimer Brandt's contemporary section, on the fifth floor of 15 East 57th Street, and opened the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In many respects the early years of the Betty Parsons Gallery were the most vital, as it was during the period of 1947-1951 that the gallery became linked with the Abstract Expressionists and the history of post-WWII American Art. In an unpublished history of the gallery, noted art critic Lawrence Alloway stated that the significance of the gallery's early exhibitions ranks with Durand-Ruel's Impressionists exhibitions or Kahnweiler's shows of the Cubists. Betty Parsons Gallery quickly became one of the most prestigious galleries in New York City associated with new American Art of all styles. Her close friend Barnett Newman organized the gallery's inaugural exhibition of Northwest Coast Indian Art and he soon began to exhibit his own work at the gallery. When Peggy Guggenheim's Art of This Century Gallery closed, Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, and Mark Rothko joined Parsons' growing stable of artists. Although Parsons continued to promote and exhibit many of the artists whom she had previously discovered, these four artists dominated this period. Newman, Pollock, Still, and Rothko worked closely together, holding themselves apart from the other artists somewhat. They were actively involved in the curatorial process and often hung their own shows. For these artists, the exhibition itself was an artistic act of creation.

Parsons provided a supportive environment and allowed her artists enormous freedom in planning and designing their exhibitions. She was not, however, an aggressive salesperson. During this early period the gallery ledgers document sales to an impressive array of museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as important collectors such as Edward Root and Duncan Phillips. Nevertheless, the art that the gallery promoted was not yet widely accepted. Sales were few, prices were low and the business would not turn a profit for several years. Meanwhile, there was mounting pressure from Pollock, Newman, Still, and Rothko to drop some of the other artists from Parsons' stable and focus all resources on them. They wanted to be promoted to a larger audience and have their work sold at higher prices, but Parsons enjoyed discovering new artists and did not want to be restricted in this endeavor. The year 1951 marks the last time that Pollock's drip paintings or the monumental works of Newman, Rothko or Still were shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

In the following years the Betty Parsons Gallery continued to attract a diverse group of talented artists. Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Tuttle, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jack Youngerman had their first New York exhibitions at the Betty Parsons Gallery. Parsons opened Section Eleven in 1958, a short-lived annex to the main gallery, so that she could promote younger, less well-known artists. It closed in 1960 due to the administrative difficulties in running two essentially separate galleries.

In 1962, Sidney Janis, another prominent art dealer, started proceedings to evict Parsons from the floor that they shared on 15 East 57th Street. The Betty Parsons Gallery moved to 24 West 57th Street in 1963, where it remained until it closed in 1983, following Parsons' death the preceding year. Throughout the gallery's history, Parsons continued to promote faithful artists such as Hedda Sterne and Saul Steinberg, who had been with her from the beginning and to seek out new talent, both for her main gallery and for other venues, such as the short-lived Parsons-Truman Gallery, which she opened in 1974 with former Parsons Gallery director Jock Truman to show works on paper by emerging artists.

In addition to being an art dealer, Betty Parsons was a respected artist and collector. With her connoisseur's eye and connections, Parsons amassed an impressive private collection of art. She bought her first piece while an art student in Paris in the 1920s, a small gouache by Zadkine, but did not begin acquiring works in earnest until she was established as an art dealer. Partial inventories of her personal collection show that the majority of her collection contained works by artists associated with the gallery. Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin, and Kenzo Okada were among the artists represented. Many were gifts from the artists, such as an ink drawing by Jackson Pollock, inscribed "For Betty." Selections from her collection appeared in small museums across the United States, including a traveling exhibition organized by Fitch College, New York, in 1968. In her role as a promoter of contemporary American art, Parsons lent generously from her collection, particularly to the federal Art in the Embassies Program. Throughout her life she also donated works to a variety of museums, most notably, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark.

Parsons frequently claimed that her desire to pursue a career as an artist stemmed from a visit to the Armory Show when she was thirteen. In her late teens, after pressuring her father for art lessons, she studied with the sculptor Gutzon Burglum of Mount Rushmore fame. In Paris, she continued her studies first with Antoine Bourdelle, whose sculptures she had admired at the Armory Show, and later with Ossip Zadkine. The first exhibition of her work, figurative watercolors and sculptures, took place in Paris in 1927. As she matured as an artist, her art became more abstract. Her late works were painted wood sculptures that she pieced together from wood that she found near her studio in Long Island. Parsons's work was exhibited in more than thirty solo exhibitions, including, Betty Parsons; Paintings, Gouaches and Sculpture, 1955-1968, at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. During her lifetime, she would not allow her works to be shown in her own gallery. Shortly after she died of a stroke in 1982, In Memoriam, Betty Parsons: Late Sculptures, opened at the Betty Parsons Gallery.

Related Material:

Also found in the Archives of American Art are oral history interviews with Betty Parsons, June 4-9, 1969, by Paul Cummings, and June 11, 1981 by Gerald Silk.

Separated Material:

Some of the material originally loaned for microfilming in 1968 and 1969 was not included in later donations and can be viewed on microfilm reels N68/62-N68/74 and N69/105-N69/106. Loaned materials are not described in the container listing in this finding aid.

Provenance:

The gallery donated some records in 1974, many of which had been loaned earlier for microfilming. The bulk of the collection was donated in 1984 and 1986 by William Rayner and Christopher Schwabacher, executors of the Estate of Betty Parsons. Additional material was donated by William Rayner in 1998 and Christopher Schwabacher in 2017. Additional material was donated in 2018 by the Lee Hall estate via Carolyn Crozier and Deborah Jacobson, co-executors. Hall was Parsons's biographer and had the material in her possession at the time of Parsons's death. An additional photograph of Parons and Marie Carr Taylor by Henri Cartier-Bresson was donated in 2021 by Mary Carpenter, who inherited the photograph from her mother, Nan Thorton Jones, who received it as a gift from Taylor.

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.

Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.

Rights:

The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Occupation:

Gallery owners -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

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

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

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

Topic:

Women art dealers  Search this

Women artists  Search this

Abstract expressionist  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sketchbooks

Interviews

Video recordings

Drawings

Citation:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers, 1916-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation.

Identifier:

AAA.parsbett

See more items in:

Betty Parsons Gallery records and personal papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/mw956c1036f-b673-4dc1-8c1b-cde0bd641c60

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-parsbett

Associated person:

Weber  Search this

Measurements:

overall: 2 3/4 in x 1 1/2 in x 2 3/8 in; 6.985 cm x 3.81 cm x 6.0325 cm

Object Name:

Socket with Switch

lamp socket

telephone receiver

Other Terms:

Socket with Switch; Components; Power and Lighting; Power and Lighting

Date made:

ca 1895

Credit Line:

from International Business Machines, Inc., William J. Hammer Collection

ID Number:

EM.320752

Catalog number:

320752

Accession number:

241402

See more items in:

Work and Industry: Electricity

Data Source:

National Museum of American History

GUID:

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-63c4-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:nmah_712226

Former owner:

Ifill, Adrena  Search this

Collection Creator:

National Museum of African American History and Culture (U.S.)  Search this

Extent:

4 Video recordings

2 Sound recordings

Type:

Archival materials

Video recordings

Sound recordings

Date:

circa 1990

Scope and Contents:

The Ifills of Washington, DC Home Videos and Audiotapes contain foootage of youth cheerleading and basketball, a fashion show fundraiser, and sound recordings of telephone voice messages. Additionally, there is footage of an infant originally captured on film, but subsequently transferred to VHS.

Collection Restrictions:

Collection is available online for open research.

Collection Rights:

The Great Migration Home Movie Study Collection is a product of and owned by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution.

Copyright for all works are retained by the creators of the original analog materials.

The contents of the Great Migration Home Movie Project are made available to the public for the purposes of education and scholarly research. The home movies digitized through the project are not available for commercial licensing. Educational and scholarly use may be considered on an individual basis.

Topic:

Cheerleading  Search this

Basketball  Search this

Fashion  Search this

Infants  Search this

Telephone answering and recording apparatus  Search this

Collection Citation:

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts. Supported by the Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History.

Sponsor:

This project receives support from the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts and from the Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History at the National Museum of African American History and Culture Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

See more items in:

Great Migration Home Movie Study Collection

Archival Repository:

National Museum of African American History and Culture

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/io3e2ffffd0-bea4-4c51-968c-d1892d7fa2ac

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-nmaahc-sc-0001-ref677

Creator:

National Air and Space Museum  Search this

Type:

Symposia

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2012-12-05T19:34:40.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Aeronautics;Flight;Space Sciences  Search this

See more by:

airandspace

Data Source:

National Air and Space Museum

YouTube Channel:

airandspace

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_vVsn524ZinE