Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Preliminary to the Armand G. Winfield Papers

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1271
Creators:
Winfield, Armand G.
Dates:
1960 - 1980
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
18 Cubic feet
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The eleven boxes contain documentation relating to project files including business correspondence, invoices, sketches, contracts and agreements, research materials, brochures, photographs, slides and models.
This collection, which includes some biographical material and which is specifically related to the design process and to the use of plastics, is interesting because it sufficiently covers the work of this inventor and experimenter. This collection includes Winfield's work in plastics in conjunction with architecture, building and design.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Armand G. Winfield, pioneering plastics researcher and consultant. Throughout the past fifty-six years Winfield has done extensive research and development in the areas of plastics in architecture and building, art, museum work, industry (applications engineering), and low cost housing for developing countries. In addition, he has worked in the entertainment field on the application of plastics for stage sets and amusement parks. His career is documented in over 300 published articles, chapters and books on plastics and other subjects, almost 90 of which are concerned with plastics in building and architecture.
Armand G. Winfield has been involved professionally in the plastics and business fields since 1939. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 1941 and did graduate work at the University of New Mexico, the State University of Iowa and at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He began his career in museum work using synthetic lattices and acrylics for the preservation of specimens. His interest shifted to the plastics materials in the mid-1940s, and he invented the first mass-producible process for embedding specimens in acrylics. As a principal in Winfield Fine Art in Jewelry in New York City, he conducted precursory work for the electronics encapsulation field and pioneered biological, medical and art embedments in the United States.
Professor Winfield has been on the teaching faculties of Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa. (Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship: 1939-1941); Harris Teachers' College (1950) and Washington University School of Engineering (1956) in St. Louis, Mo.; Yale University Art School (1960-1961) in New Haven, Conn.; Pratt Institute Industrial Design Department (1964-1970) in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Visiting Critic in Architecture (Plastics), The College of the City of New York (1968-1969), New York, N.Y.; Adjunct Professor of Plastics Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell (1978-1981), Lowell, Mass.; and Research Professor Mechanical Engineering (Plastics), the University of New Mexico (Appointed 1993), Albuquerque, N.M. He has also been an invited lecture at over 40 other colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.

Administration

Author
Archives Center Staff
Immediate Source of Acquisition
All materials were donated to the museum by Armand G. Winfield in 1992. Transferred to the Archives Center in 2012.
Processing Information
Collection is unprocessed.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
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.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Preferred Citation
Armand G. Winfield Papers, 1960-1980, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Plastics in building Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Midland (Tex.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Plastics industry and trade -- Sources -- History -- 20th century -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Plastics as art material Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Industrial designers -- United States Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Scott Air Force Base (Ill.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stage designs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Plastics -- Research Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sketches Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Plastics designers -- United States Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Blueprints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Builder's models Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Design patents Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New Mexico. Corrections Dept. Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
California. Department of Industrial Relations. Committee on Attitude Response and Evaluation Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United Nations Industrial Development Organization Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Society of Plastics Engineers Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Winfield Fine Art in Jewelry (Firm) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Affordable House (Norwich, Conn.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-3270
Fax Number: Fax: 202-786-2453
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