Original documents and papers generated by William J. Hammer and by various companies and individuals with whom he was associated. Includes material related to the research and inventions of Edison, Bell, Tesla, the Curies, etc.

The papers of arts administrator, museum director, collector, dealer, and editor Charles M. Kurtz (1855-1909), measure 27.74 linear feet and date from 1843-1990 (bulk dates 1884-1909). The bulk of the collection consists of detailed chronological correspondence between Kurtz and his wife and family, friends, colleagues, and business associates that documents many notable exhibitions, galleries, museums, private collections, as well as cities, people, and events of the period. Also found in the collection are Kurtz's diaries, scrapbooks, printed materials, and photographs.

The Library of Congress Copyright Deposit Collection is comprised of 2,335 photomechanical reproductions of works by 741 artists (mostly American). The large-format prints, deposited with the Library of Congress for copyright between 1890 and 1945, represent a broad range of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American art.

The collection documents in photographs, scrapbooks, notebooks, correspondence, stock ledgers, annual reports, and financial records, the evolution of the telegraph, the development of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and the beginning of the communications revolution. The collection materials describe both the history of the company and of the telegraph industry in general, particularly its importance to the development of the technology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The collection is useful for researchers interested in the development of technology, economic history, and the impact of technology on American social and cultural life.

The William J. Rhees Collection consists of the remains of his Manuscript and Newspaper Scrap portfolio files. The dates of the material indicate that Rhees was collecting these papers from the beginning of his tenure at the Smithsonian, but the files were not organized until 1891 when he was appointed keeper of the Archives. The collection ...

Collection consists of records documenting one of the oldest advertising agencies created in Philadelphia. The company then moves to New York and expanses to international markets. During its history NW Ayer & Sons acquires a number of other advertising agencies and is eventually purchased. The largest portion of the collection is print advertisements but also includes radio and television. NW Ayer is known for some of the slogans created for major American companies.

This collection contains a variety of materials documenting the lives and careers of scientists from a wide range of fields, including mammalogy, ornithology, ichthyology, herpetology, botany, entomology, paleontology and geology. Also included are files on conservationists, taxidermists, historical figures, explorers, frontiersmen, and hunter...

The Dorothy Rosenberg Papers include materials collected by Rosenberg both as a consultant researching the history of the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents, 1826-1984, from 1980 to 1984; and also naturally during her tenure as Executive Assistant to Secretary S. Dillon Ripley from 1973 to 1980. The first portion of the papers consi...

The Richard Marchand Historical Postcard Collection contains approximately 1,200 35mm slide reproductions of postcard images depicting early twentieth century architectural and garden views of over 600 private estates throughout the United States. The collection includes views of estates owned by popular movie stars of the 1920s and 1930s, including Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Claudette Colbert and Buster Keaton.

The records of the American Federation of Arts (AFA) provide researchers with a complete set of documentation focusing on the founding and history of the organization from its inception through the 1960s. The collection measures 79.8 linear feet, and dates from 1895 through 1993, although the bulk of the material falls between 1909 and 1969. Valuable for its coverage of twentieth-century American art history, the collection also provides researchers with fairly comprehensive documentation of the many exhibitions and programs supported and implemented by the AFA to promote and study contemporary American art, both nationally and abroad.