Records documenting Pratt, Read and Company; its early competitor and later partner, Comstock, Cheney and Company; and a number of predecessor, subsidiary and related companies. Other topics include the late 19th century African ivory trade and Pratt, Read's production of troop-carrying gliders during World War II.

The papers of architectural historian, author, critic, teacher, and museum director, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, date from 1919-1987 and measure 24.8 linear feet. Almost all of the collection is comprised of Hitchcock's correspondence files relating to academic research, teaching, curatorial interests, and professional associations. Letters are from prominent architectural historians, architects, artists, preservationists, museum directors and curators, and family and friends. Also found are two feet of writings by Hitchcock and others, scattered biographical information, printed material, and photographs of Hitchcock and architecture.

The papers of New York artist, critic, historian, writer, art consultant and curator Walter Pach, measure 20.7 linear feet and date from 1857-1980. The collection documents Pach's promotion of modernism through his role in the landmark 1913 Armory Show, his relationships with artists and art-world figures and his extensive writings on art. Records include biographical material, correspondence with family, friends and colleagues including noted artists, handwritten and edited versions of manuscripts by Pach, diaries and journals, business records, printed material, scrapbooks, sketchbooks and artwork by Pach and others, and photographs of Pach and his family, friends, and colleagues. The collection also includes 12 linear feet of selections from Walter Pach's library.

This accession includes records documenting the production of the Archives of American Art Journal (Volumes 24-26). Materials include Editor's records such as correspondence, publications, notes, grant proposals, agreements, budget summaries, photographs, and reports. Also included in this accession are records which document the administrati...

The Myron Bement Smith collection consists of two parts, the papers of Myron Bement Smith and his wife Katharine and the Islamic Archives. It contains substantial material about his field research in Italy in the 1920s and his years working on Islamic architecture in Iran in the 1930s. Letters describe the milieu in which he operated in Rochester NY and New York City in the 1920s and early 1930s; the Smiths' life in Iran from 1933 to 1937; and the extensive network of academic and social contacts that Myron and Katharine developed and maintained over his lifetime. The Islamic Archives was a project to which Smith devoted most of his professional life. It includes both original materials, such as his photographs and notes, and items acquired by him from other scholars or experts on Islamic art and architecture. Smith intended the Archives to serve as a resource for scholars interested in the architecture and art of the entire Islamic world although he also included some materials about non-Islamic architecture.

Collection consists of approximately 13,500 images (original photographs, copy prints, and film and glass plate negatives) for freight, passenger, private, and street and rapid transit cars manufactured by the Pullman Palace Car Company. The collection contains primarily early railroad Americana, including interior and exterior views of private and business cars as well as passenger and street cars. The collection is an important part of the historical record of the railroad car-building industry as well as the history of architecture and interior design.

Records document Charles Eisler, a Hungarian immigrant who was a skilled mechanic and engineer and his company, Eisler Engineering Company of Newark, New Jersey, which manufactured equipment for producing electric lamps, television and radio tubes, welding equipment and laboratory equipment.

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Stoves and Heating Industry forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

The Archives would like to thank Frederick J. Collier and Martin A. Buzas for their assistance in the transfer of these records to the Archives.

This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.