Scope and Content Note

The papers of ceramist William Daley measure 26.3 linear feet and date from 1905-2016 (bulk 1951-2001). The collection documents Daley's career as both artist and teacher through biographical information, correspondence, exhibition files, project files, material on workshops, seminars, and lectures, teaching files, artist files, reference files, printed material, photographs, financial files, and artwork.

Biographical files encompass items from Daley's early life including family, education, and military materials, as well as files on awards he has earned, and interviews he has given during his career. Correspondence includes general correspondence with family, friends, artists, colleagues, and schools, as well as named files on correspondence with galleries, organizations, and individuals. The largest series in the collection, Exhibition Files, spanning a fifty year period, contain materials on group and solo exhibitions in which Daley participated, and also includes Auction Files and Exhibition Juror Files. Project Files contain materials related to public and private commissions.

Workshops, Seminars, and Lectures, documents the numerous events at which Daley taught or spoke on topics of art, ceramics, and/or education. Many of these topics are also found in Writings, which include drafts of writings by Daley and others. Within this series Daley's personal address lists and calendars are also found. The Teaching Files provide insight into Daley's teaching methods, primarily at the Philadelphia College of Art, from materials such as curriculum plans, lesson notes, and assignments. Also within this series are general teaching notes which contain many hand drawn diagrams. The Artist Files that Daley created house materials concerning artists who were friends, former students, co-workers, and colleagues. Daley also compiled Reference Files containing materials on various topics for use in teaching and projects. Topics include the art of various countries, formulas and tables for ceramics, essays on art and education, and other general subjects. Printed Material provides information, primarily on ceramics, through press clippings, exhibit announcements, catalogs and journals, as well as other miscellaneous materials. Also found are reviews of Daley's work. While photographs are included throughout the collection, the Photographs series contains additional photographs of Daley in the studio or in the classroom, as well as photographs of artwork by others. Also found in the collection are copies of drawings Daley completed throughout his career.

There is an 11.1 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2022 that includes project, exhibition and book files; photographs and slides of works of art, Daley and events; printed material; writings; awards and honors; lectures; drawings; kiln logs; notebooks; audio cassettes, CDs and DVDs; files on artists and miscellany regarding William P. Daley. Materials date from circa 1959-2016.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into fourteen series. Each series is arranged either in rough chronological or alphabetical order.

Biographical Note

Born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, in 1925, William P. Daley developed an interest in art at an early age, and was encouraged by his parents William and Alice. In 1943 Daley finished high school and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. When the war ended, he returned home, and with the help of the G.I. Bill, completed a B.S. in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art, and a M.A. from the Teachers College at Columbia University. While at the Massachusetts College of Art he met and married fellow student Catherine Stennes. They had three children together, Barbara, Charlotte, and Thomas.

Originally intending to focus on painting, Daley discovered his love for ceramics while in art school. Much of his early work after graduation consisted of architectural and sculptural commissions. From 1961 to 1965 he held teaching positions as a ceramics instructor at the University of Northern Iowa, State University of New York at New Paltz, Philadelphia College of Art and Design, and the State University of New York at Fredonia. In 1965 he settled in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania and returned to the Philadelphia College of Art and Design, University of the Arts. There he taught in both the Industrial Design and Craft Department until his retirement from the college in 1990. When not teaching in the classroom, and even after retirement, Daley traveled extensively giving workshops and lectures at art centers, high schools, colleges, and universities. He has won several awards for teaching in the arts, including the College Art Association of America Distinguished Teaching of Art Award in 1991.

Daley became an active member of the crafts movement in Philadelphia, co-founding the Philadelphia Council of Professional Craftsmen. The Helen Drutt Gallery opened in Philadelphia in 1974 and gave Daley his first one man show there. Later, the gallery would become Daley's primary dealer. A self-proclaimed "mud man" and maker of "cosmic pots," Daley has focused throughout his career on the issues of the ceramic vessel, using drawings to explore his ideas. In 1994 the Renwick Gallery held a retrospective entitled, "William Daley: Ceramic Works and Drawings" which featured thirty years of his work. William Daley continued producing new work until his death in 2022.