Series 1. ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, 1934-1936, 1942, 1946-1967
Series 2. SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS, 1930-1969.
The Department of Exhibitions was first organized as the Exhibits Section in
1946. Prior to 1946, persons in charge of exhibitions were Assistants to the
Curator of the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration. Alliene E.
Dodge, D. Graeme Keith, James I. Rambo, Everett P. Lesley, Jr., and William R.
Osmun were Assistants, Exhibits Section, during the period from 1946 to 1953.
The Assistants were under the supervision of the Curator, and later, under the
Director. In 1953 the Exhibits Section was redesignated the Department
of Exhibitions, and the title of Assistants was changed to Keepers. Lesley,
Osmun, and Christian Rohlfing held the title of Keepers during the period from
1953 to 1958. The title of Keeper, Department of Exhibitions was changed to
Curator, Department of Exhibitions in 1958. Rohlfing held the title of
Curator, and Edward L. Kallop, who became Associate Keeper in 1957, became
Associate Curator. When Rohlfing became Acting Administrator of the Museum in
1963, the position of Curator remained vacant. The Department was
discontinued as an administrative unit when the Cooper Union Museum transferred
to the Smithsonian Institution in 1968. The Department of Exhibitions
was responsible for the design, preparation, installation, maintenance, and
dismantling of "special" or theme exhibitions of museum and non-museum
collections for the general public, including exhibitions for other branches
of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Sciences and Arts. Box 1 of 18
HISTORICAL NOTE
DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY
Records document, for the most part, the Department under the administration of
Calvin S. Hathaway, Curator, 1946-1951, and Director, 1951-1963. Included is
correspondence of Hathaway with members of the exhibition staff and with
collectors and institutions concerning the exhibits in the museum; exhibit
files, arranged alphabetically by exhibition titles and including photographs,
pamphlets, floor plans, drawings, publicity materials, specimen lists and
descriptions, and correspondence; and annual reports.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
SERIES 1.
ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, 1934-1936, 1942, 1946-1967
| Folders | 1-2 | American Institute of Interior Designers, 1967. Concerning exhibition shown at benefit ball given for Museum. | |
| Folders | 3-16 | Annual reports, 1950-1951 to 1962-1963, 1964-1965 | |
| Folder | 17 | Announcements | |
| Folder | 18 | Antiques magazine booth, 1964. Concerning items loaned to booth at Winter Antiques Show. | |
| Folder | 19 | Appeal, 1962. Requests for contributions to Museum sent from Exhibitions. | |
| Folder | 20 | Art Journal article, 1963-1964. Concerning article by Edward Kallop. | |
| Folder | 21 | Bar Kochba caves, 1962. Concerning possibility of exhibition of archaeological objects. | |
| Folder | 22 | Budgets, circa 1946-1963 | |
| Folder | 23 | Center Gallery, 1962-1963. Concerning renovation of gallery. | |
| Folder | 24 | Charleston Foundation, Historic, 1958. Concerning American Association of Museums meeting and decorating of Russell House. | |
| Folder | 25 | Christmas decoration, 1956 | |
| Folder | 26 | Cooper Union policy, 1962-1963 | |
| Folder | 27 | Current report, 1963-1967. Concerning budget allocations. | |
| Folder | 28 | Entertainment, 1961. Concerning supplies on hand. | |
| Folders | 29-30 | Equipment, 1936, 1952, 1958, 1962, 1967 | |
| Folder | 31 | Exhibitions offered, 1963, 1969 | |
| Folder | 32 | Exhibitions proposed, 1962-1963 | |
| Folder | 33 | Expenditures, 1934-1936 | |
| Folder | 34 | ICOM, 1965 | |
| Folder | 35 | Library Committee, 1962-1963 | |
| Folder | 36 | Lighting, 1953-1956, 1962, 1966. Concerning proposals for exhibition on lighting. | |
| Folder | 37 | Metalwork Gallery, 1962 | |
| Folder | 38 | National Home Fashions League, 1958 | |
| Folder | 39 | Personnel, 1954, 1958-1959, 1964 | |
| Folder | 40 | Photography | |
| Folder | 41 | Plans and measurements, 1962 | |
| Folder | 42 | Plants and greenery, 1962 | |
| Folder | 43 | Poster mailing list, 1958 | |
| Folder | 44 | Procedures for inter-museum loans | |
| Folders | 45-46 | Publicity, 1958, 1963-1965 | |
| Folder | 47 | Reception room. Concerning renovation. | |
| Folders | 48-49 | Schedule, 1953-1958, 1961-1963 | |
| Folder | 50 | Self-evaluation, 1957 | |
| Folder | 51 | Staff meetings, 1958-1959 |
Box 1 of 18 (cont'd)
| Folder | 52 | Age of Enlightenment (Life photographic exhibition), 1947 | |
| Folder | 53 | Age of Exploration (Life photographic exhibition), 1949 | |
| Folders | 54-56 | All That Glisters, 1950 |
Box 2 of 18
| Folders | 1-3 | All That Glisters, 1950 | |
| Folders | 4-11 | Alter Ego - Masks, Their Art and Use, 1951 | |
| Folder | 12 | American Drawings, 1954 | |
| Folder | 13 | American Institute of Architects Centennial Show, 1956-1957. Smithsonian traveling exhibition requested but not shown. | |
| Folder | 14 | Ancient Mexico in Miniature, 1966 | |
| Folders | 15-16 | Architect's Eye, The, 1962 | |
| Folders | 17-20 | Art in the Cooper Union, Parts I & II, 1951-1952 | |
| Folders | 21-23 | Art in the Cooper Union, Part III, 1963 |
Box 3 of 18
| Folders | 1-2 | Art in the Cooper Union, Part III, 1963 | |
| Folder | 3 | Art in Film, 1959 | |
| Folders | 4-6 | Art Sacre, 1952 |
Artist-Craftsmen of New York (annual exhibitions), 1959-1963 [folders 7-15]
| Folders | 7-8 | From Yesterday to Tomorrow, 1959 | |
| Folder | 9 | From Yesterday to Tomorrow - New York Society of Ceramic Arts, 1959 | |
| Folder | 10 | Craftsmen Preview the Sixties, 1960 | |
| Folder | 11 | Current Craft Perspectives, 1961 | |
| Folders | 12-13 | 1962 Annual Exhibition, 1962 | |
| Folders | 14-15 | 1963 Annual Exhibition, 1963 | |
| Folders | 16-23 | Baked Clay: The Service of Man, 1938-1939 |
Box 4 of 18
| Folders | 1-2 | Baked Clay: The Service of Man, 1938-1939 | |
| Folder | 3 | Better Handwriting, A, 1955 (traveling exhibition shown at Museum) | |
| Folders | 4-5 | Birdcages, 1951 | |
| Folders | 6-8 | Buttons, 4001, 1940 | |
| Folder | 9 | China Trade, 1942 | |
| Folder | 10 | Chinoiserie, 1945-1946 | |
| Folder | 11 | Church, Sketches by Frederick Edwin, 1965-1968. Concerning objects loaned to Smithsonian traveling exhibition. | |
| Folders | 12-16 | Collars and Cuffs, 1941 | |
| Folders | 17-19 | Color II, planned for 1964 but never opened |
Box 5 of 18
| Folders | 1-12 | Color II (cont'd) | |
| Folders | 13-16 | Color Photography and Reproduction, 1949 (exhibition of American Museum of Photography) | |
| Folders | 17-22 | Conspicuous Waist, 1952-1953 | |
| Folder | 23 | Contemporary Architecture, 1934 | |
| Folders | 24-27 | Contemporary Book Design, 1949 | |
| Folder | 28 | Contemporary German Drawings, 1948 | |
| Folder | 29 | Cooperana Exhibition, 1949 (exhibition in window of Wanamaker's) | |
| Folders | 30-34 | Creative Arts in Denmark Today, 1962 |
Box 6 of 18
| Folder | 1 | Creative Arts in Denmark Today (cont'd) | |
| Folders | 2-3 | Decorated Book Papers, 1954-1955 | |
| Folder | 4 | De Groot Collection, 1945 | |
| Folder | 5 | Design and Decoration: World Fairs of Yesterday, 1964 | |
| Folders | 6-9 | Design by the Yard, 1956 | |
| Folders | 10-14 | Design by the Yard (cont'd) | |
| Folder | 15 | Design Center, 1958 (exhibition at Design Center including Museum objects) | |
| Folder | 16 | Design in Germany Today, 1960 | |
| Folder | 17 | Designed for the Theatre, 1965 | |
| Folder | 18 | Designers' Repertoire, 1967 | |
| Folder | 19 | Designs for Interiors, 1958-1959 | |
| Folder | 20 | Designs Today, scheduled for 1942 but postponed | |
| Folder | 21 | Dumas, Mary, 1962. Concerning proposed exhibition. | |
| Folder | 22 | East River Savings Bank, 1957 (Cooper Union windows) | |
| Folder | 23 | Ecclesiastical Exhibition, 1931 | |
| Folder | 24 | Electronic abstractions, 1955 |
Box 7 of 18
| Folders | 1-5 | Elements of Design (traveling exhibition prepared for American Federation of Arts), 1957-1964 | |
| Folders | 6-10 | Enamel, 1954 | |
| Folder | 11 | Ends and Beginnings, 1956 | |
| Folders | 12-13 | Ends and Beginnings (cont'd) | |
| Folders | 14-15 | Fans and Fan Designs, 1953 | |
| Folder | 16 | Five Centuries of Drawings (traveling exhibition organized by Museum), 1959-1961 | |
| Folder | 17 | Flower Paintings, 1948 | |
| Folder | 18 | Flower Show, 39th International, 1956 | |
| Folder | 19 | Forum, Cooper Union, 1946-1947 | |
| Folder | 20 | Founder's Day Celebration, 1953 | |
| Folder | 21 | Fountains, 1952 | |
| Folders | 22-24 | Four Continents, The, 1961 | |
| Folders | 25-26 | French Silver, 1934 |
Box 8 of 18
| Folders | 1-2 | French Silver, 1934 | |
| Folders | 3-4 | Fulbright Scholarships and Prix de Rome Awards, 1956 | |
| Folder | 5 | Gazebos, Garden Ornaments, and Grottoes, 1955 | |
| Folder | 6 | German Expressionist Prints, 1951 | |
| Folders | 7-15 | Glass, 2500 F: The Art and Technique of Modern, 1948 | |
| Folder | 16 | Greenleaf Bequest, 1964 | |
| Folder | 17 | Halftone, Diamond Jubilee of, 1958 | |
| Folder | 18 | Hammer Creek Press, 1962 | |
| Folder | 19 | Handweavers, 1963 | |
| Folder | 20 | Handweavers, 1967 | |
| Folder | 21 | Haseltine, W. S., Drawings, 1958 | |
| Folders | 22-26 | Hispano-American Fabrics, 1942 |
Box 9 of 18
| Folders | 1-4 | Hispano-American Fabrics (cont'd) | |
| Folders | 5-7 | Humanities exhibitions, 1938, 1941-1951, 1962. Exhibitions mounted in conjunction with Humanities classes of Cooper Union. | |
| Folders | 8-17 | Humanities exhibitions (cont'd) | |
| Folder | 18 | Ikebana International Display, 1964 | |
| Folders | 19-20 | International Textile Industries Exposition, 1948 | |
| Folder | 21 | Irish Architecture of the Georgian Period, 1961-1962 | |
| Folders | 22-24 | Italian Drawings for Jewelry, 1940 | |
| Folder | 25 | Italian Figure Drawings, 1941 | |
| Folder | 26 | Japan Seminar Program, 1962-1963 |
Box 10 of 18
| Folder | 1 | Japanese Ceramics, Contemporary, 1951 | |
| Folders | 2-3 | Japanese Sword and Its Fittings, The, 1966 | |
| Folders | 4-5 | Kredel-Zapf: Woodcuts, Calligraphy, Illustration and Type Design, 1951 | |
| Folder | 6 | Lace and Embroidery, 1943-1944. Suggestions for Winslow Homer room. | |
| Folders | 7-12 | Lacquer, 1951-1952 | |
| Folders | 13-14 | Leather in the Decorative Arts, 1950-1951 | |
| Folders | 15-22 | Leather in the Decorative Arts (cont'd) | |
| Folders | 23-24 | LENA (Lower Eastside Neighborhood Association) Photography Exhibition, 1959-1960. Includes photographs of Eleanor Roosevelt viewing the exhibition. | |
| Folder | 25 | Life Photographic exhibitions, 1947-1949 | |
| Folder | 26 | Life and Times of Peter Cooper (traveling exhibition), 1950-1961 |
Box 11 of 18
| Folders | 1-3 | Lighting - proposed exhibitions, 1958-1966 | |
| Folder | 4 | Lincoln Exhibit, 1946 | |
| Folder | 5 | Lions to Lapdogs, 1958 | |
| Folders | 6-7 | Made in New York, 1940 | |
| Folder | 8 | Mendelssohn Sketches, Eric, 1963 (Smithsonian traveling exhibition suggested for but not shown at Museum) | |
| Folder | 9 | Modern Decorative Arts of Sweden, 1935 | |
| Folder | 10 | Modern Paintings, 1934 | |
| Folders | 11-17 | Modern Toys, 1948 | |
| Folder | 18 | Morris Society, William, proposed, 1959-1960 | |
| Folders | 19-23 | National Home Furnishings Show, 1950-1952 | |
| Folders | 24-29 | National Trust Preservation: the Heritage of Progress and Method and Style in Restoration, 1961 |
Box 12 of 18
| Folders | 1-2 | National Trust (cont'd) | |
| Folder | 3 | New Landscape in Art and Science, 1959 | |
| Folders | 4-10 | New York Guild of Handweavers, 1956-1960, 1964-1965 | |
| Folder | 11 | New York Society of Ceramic Arts, 1955 | |
| Folders | 12-14 | New York Society of Ceramic Arts, 1956-1957 |
New York State Council on the Arts (traveling exhibition prepared by the Museum), 1962-1964 [Folders 15-18]
| Folder | 15 | The Art of the Loom | |
| Folder | 16 | Color | |
| Folder | 17 | Graphic Arts, the Making of Prints | |
| Folder | 18 | The Marbling of Book Papers | |
| Folder | 19 | New York State Courthouse, 1962 | |
| Folders | 20-25 | New York World's Fair, 1964-1965 | |
| Folders | 26-27 | Nine and Fifty Ways to Do a Room, 1958 | |
| Folders | 28-29 | Nine Lives - The Tale of the Cat in History and Art, 1949 |
Box 13 of 18
| Folders | 1-8 | Nine Lives - The Tale of the Cat in History and Art, 1949 | |
| Folders | 9-11 | Nineteenth Century Jewelry, 1955 | |
| Folders | 12-14 | Package Designers' Council Award Competition, 1956 | |
| Folder | 15 | Paris in New York, 1954 | |
| Folder | 16 | Paris in the Spring, 1947 | |
| Folder | 17 | Peep Show and Toy Theatres, 1954 | |
| Folder | 18 | Perkin Centennial, 1956 | |
| Folders | 19-23 | Picasso, Ceramics by, 1958 | |
| Folder | 24 | Plane Geometry and Fancy Figures, 1959 |
Box 14 of 18
| Folders | 1-6 | Plane Geometry (cont'd) | |
| Folders | 7-8 | Please Be Seated, 1969 | |
| Folder | 9 | President's Installation, 1962 | |
| Folders | 10-17 | Prince Regent's Style, The, 1953 | |
| Folders | 18-19 | Printed Textiles by Four Artists, 1947 |
Box 15 of 18
| Folders | 1-14 | Proposed exhibitions, circa 1934-1963 | |
| Folders | 15-25 | Recent Accessions, 1940-1942, 1946, 1948-1950, 1962, 1966 |
Box 16 of 18
| Folder | 1 | Recent French Posters, 1953 | |
| Folder | 2 | Recent Gifts, 1967 | |
| Folders | 3-8 | Red, Yellow, and Blue, 1943 | |
| Folder | 9 | Rembrandt Van Rijn Etchings, 1956 | |
| Folder | 10 | Residence Lighting Forum, 1957 | |
| Folder | 11 | Roman Letter, The, 1954 | |
| Folders | 12-17 | Santos from Puerto Rico, 1953 | |
| Folders | 18-19 | Schaefer Tankards, 1955 | |
| Folders | 20-26 | Shells and Decoration, 1940 | |
| Folders | 27-28 | Small Theatres, 1935 |
Box 17 of 18
| Folders | 1-2 | Small Theatres, 1935 | |
| Folders | 3-4 | Small Wonders, 1949 | |
| Folders | 5-9 | Small Wonders (cont'd) | |
| Folder | 10 | Sources of Design, 1963 | |
| Folder | 11 | Spring Exhibition, 1936 | |
| Folder | 12 | Stained Glass Panels, 1949 | |
| Folders | 13-17 | Stitches in Time, 1947 | |
| Folders | 18-22 | Street Window, circa 1942-1964 | |
| Folder | 23 | Summer Exhibition, 1941 |
Box 18 of 18
| Folder | 1 | Suspense of Time, 1957 | |
| Folder | 2 | Tassels, Fringes, and Galloons, 1942 | |
| Folder | 3 | Textiles from Egyptian Tombs, 1948 | |
| Folder | 4 | Thanks to Collectors, 1965 | |
| Folder | 5 | Theatre Exhibition, 1942 | |
| Folder | 6 | Thorne Miniature Room, 1943. Proposed plans. | |
| Folders | 7-9 | Threads of History, 1966-1967 | |
| Folder | 10 | Tiles and Faince Stones, 1933 | |
| Folder | 11 | Toiles de Juoy, 1934 | |
| Folders | 12-13 | Toys - European and American, 1936-1937 | |
| Folder | 14 | Trademarks and Graphic Symbols, 1958 | |
| Folder | 15 | Treasures from the Cooper Union, 1967 | |
| Folders | 16-17 | Treasury of Design, 1968 | |
| Folder | 18 | Typography USA, proposed | |
| Folder | 19 | Venetian Villas, 1956 | |
| Folder | 20 | Wallerstein Collection, 1951 | |
| Folder | 21 | Wallpaper Council, 1958 | |
| Folders | 22-24 | Wallpaper Design and Production, 1939 | |
| Folders | 25-26 | Wallpaper Design and Production (cont'd) | |
| Folder | 27 | Wallpaper exhibits, 1930 | |
| Folder | 28 | Wallpaper exhibits for public schools museums program, 1956 | |
| Folder | 29 | Wallpaper Shadow Boxes, 1930 | |
| Folder | 30 | Weaving Books, circa 1956-1957 | |
| Folders | 31-34 | With Hammer and Tongs, 1941 | |
| Folder | 35 | Woodcuts and Engravings, 1961 | |
| Folder | 36 | Wonders of Thread, The, 1964-1965 | |
| Folder | 37 | Woven Textiles, proposed, 1957 |
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Revised: October 11, 2005