Finding Aid
Submit Reference RequestPrintDownload PDF

Reference Request

* required
Please succinctly provide us with any information pertinent to your inquiry. If you are writing to us about a research request, provide as much detail as possible about the collections in which you are interested (including collection numbers, box numbers, and folder titles).
(if known)

The Smithsonian Institution Archives is using Constant Contact, a third-party contact management software vendor, to manage contacts and send eNewsletters. Please be advised that Constant Contact's Privacy Statement and Terms and Conditions apply to your use of these services. The Smithsonian Institution Archives has access to your name and email address which is subject to our privacy statement.

Finding Aids to Official Records of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 598

Smithsonian Institution. Libraries. Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design Branch

Publications and Reports, 1864-1977

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Smithsonian Institution. Libraries. Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design Branch
Title:Publications and Reports
Dates:1864-1977
Quantity:2.5 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes) (1 document box)
Collection:Record Unit 598
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

These materials were accumulated over time in the branch library of the museum. Most were produced before the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1967, and some predate the establishment of the Museum itself in 1896. The publications include an incomplete series of Cooper Union annual reports beginning with the fifth report published in 1864. The series ends with an excerpt from the Smithsonian annual report for fiscal year 1969, in which the Museum was first listed as a bureau of the Institution. When it became a part of the Smithsonian Institution the museum was renamed the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design and then in 1969 was renamed the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design.

The materials also contain volumes one through three of the Chronicle of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration of the Cooper Union; biographical information about significant figures in the Museum's history; checklists, descriptions, and essays based on the Museum's collections; reports by the Director, Treasurer, and Secretary of the Council for the Cooper Union Museum from 1907 to 1927; texts of talks given at the Museum; and histories of the Museum written by staff members. Some materials date to when the museum was known as the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration.

Descriptive Entry

These materials were accumulated over time in the Library of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum (CHM). Most were produced before the Cooper Union Museum was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in 1968, and some predate the establishment of the Museum itself in 1896. The publications include an incomplete series of Cooper Union annual reports beginning with the fifth report published in 1864. The series ends with an excerpt from the Smithsonian Institution annual report for fiscal year 1969, in which the Cooper-Hewitt Museum was first listed as a bureau of the Institution.

The materials also contain volumes one through three of the Chronicle of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration of the Cooper Union; biographical information about significant figures in the Museum's history; checklists, descriptions, and essays based on the Museum's collections; reports by the Director, Treasurer, and Secretary of the Council for the Cooper Union Museum from 1907 to 1927; texts of talks given at the Museum; and histories of the Museum written by staff members.

Top of Page

Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 598, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Decorative Arts and Design Branch, Publications and Reports

Top of Page

Container List

Series 1

Cooper Union Museum Publications

Box 1

Cards listing publications with references to Cooper Union Museum

Box 1 of 3

Postcards of Cooper Union Museum objects

Box 1 of 3

"Making of a Modern Museum" (by Eleanor G. Hewitt)

Box 1 of 3

Newcomen Society addresses for Peter Cooper and Joseph Henry, 1949, 1956

Box 1 of 3

"In Memoriam" pamphlets for Amy Hewitt Green, John Halstead, Eleanor Garnier Hewitt, Peter Cooper Hewitt, Gerd Muehsam

Box 1 of 3

Cooper Union Museum collection checklists, surveys, and summary catalogues

Box 1 of 3

Cooper Union Museum collection summary catalogues

Box 1 of 3

Cooper Union Museum publications and brochures (2 folders)

Box 1 of 3

Cooper Union Museum press clippings and article reprints (3 folders)

Box 1 of 3

Photos of P. Cooper, A. Carnegie, Cooper Union School and Museum, Carnegie Mansion (all have Cooper-Hewitt Museum neg. numbers)

Box 1 of 3

Account book, 1962-1963 (I)

Box 1 of 3

Series 2

Reports, 1864-1977

Box 1

Art School and Museum Libraries annual reports, 1955-1964

Box 1 of 3

Cooper Union annual reports, nos. 5-47, July 1864-June 1906 (incomplete set)

Box 1 of 3

Box 2

Cooper Union annual reports, no. 48 through first CHM report in FY 1969 Smithsonian Year, June 1907-June 1969 (incomplete set)

Box 2 of 3

Box 3

Data for Cooper Union Review: The Cooper Union Museum, reply to questionnaire presented to the Museum by Dr. James A. Perkins and Mr. Elling Aannestad, March 25, 1953

Box 3 of 3

"Art in Cooper Union" parts 1 & 2, 1951

Box 3 of 3

"Museum Collections on Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Soviet Union in New York State and their Use in Education," by Allan D. Chapman, May 1964

Box 3 of 3

"Address at the Cooper Union Museum" by William M. Ivins, Jr., February 25, 1932

Box 3 of 3

"Clay and Color: The Ceramics of Picasso," A talk given at the Cooper Union Museum by Dr. Paul Zucker, March 27, 1958

Box 3 of 3

Report by Dr. William M. Milliken, Director-Emeritus, Cleveland Museum of Art, on the collections of the Cooper Union Museum, March 30, 1962

Box 3 of 3

"Cooper Union Museum to Cooper-Hewitt Museum," draft of a history of the continuation of "The Making of a Modern Museum," preliminary draft by Alice B. Beer, June 1976

Box 3 of 3

"Cooper Union Museum to Cooper-Hewitt Museum," draft of a history of the continuation of "The Making of a Modern Museum," by Alice B. Beer, March 1977

Box 3 of 3

Chronicle of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration of the Cooper Union, vol. 1, no. 1 (winter 1934-35); vol. 3, nos.1-5 (Oct. 1961-Oct. 1963)

Box 3 of 3

Chronicle of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration of the Cooper Union, vol. 1, 1935-1945, bound compilation plus index

Box 3 of 3

Chronicle of the Museum for the Arts of Decoration of the Cooper Union, vol. 2, 1949-1958, bound compilation plus index

Box 3 of 3

Council for the Cooper Union Museum, reports, Director, Treasurer, and Secretary, 1907-1919

Box 3 of 3

Council for the Cooper Union Museum, reports, Director, Treasurer, and Secretary, 1920-1927

Box 3 of 3

Top of Page