Descriptive Entry

These records include Division of Graphic Arts records dating from its establishment, including the work of curators Sylvester Rosa Koehler, Jacob Kainen, and Peter C. Marzio. Also included are lecture notes and papers of curators Ruel P. Tolman, Kainen, and Marzio; inventory lists of Graphic Arts objects; working outline for The Steam Engine in the Graphic Arts exhibition; loans and grants files; correspondence, newspaper clippings, and biographical information pertaining to acclaimed painter and etcher Charles W. Dahlgreen; Do It the Hard Way: Rube Goldberg and Modern Times exhibition records; photographs of exhibitions in the Hall of Graphic Arts; and planning files for the Hall of News Reporting.

Historical Note

From 1969 to 1971, the Division of Graphic Arts was part of the Division of Graphic Arts and Photography, which reported to the Department of Applied Arts in the National Museum of History and Technology (NMHT). When the photography section was separated from the Division in 1972, to become the Division of Photographic History, a Division of Graphic Arts was re-established in NMHT. The Division of Graphic Arts remained under the Department of Applied Arts until 1977, after which it began reporting to the Department of Cultural History. The Curators and staff during these years included Eugene H. Ostroff, Curator, 1966-1971; Peter C. Marzio, Associate Curator, 1971-1975, and Curator, 1976-1978; and Elizabeth M. Harris, Assistant Curator, 1966-1970, and Associate Curator, 1971- .