The Brannock Device Company began with the 1925 invention of the Brannock Device, a tool to measure foot length and width at the same time, by inventor and businessman Charles F. Brannock. Early in his career Brannock worked as a shoe salesman at the Park-Brannock shoe store, and in 1962 he became the CEO of the company. This collection documents both the Park-Brannock store and the Brannock Device. Materials in The Brannock Device Company Records, 1925-1998, include of correspondence, design drawings, United States and foreign patents and trademarks, advertisements, product information, sales records, photographs, and a film strip documenting the invention, promotion, and sale of the Brannock Device as well as the concurrent development of Park-Brannock as a leading shoe store in Syracuse, N.Y.

The records of the Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art measure 265.8 linear feet and date from 1883-1962, with the bulk of the material dating from 1885-1940. The collection includes extensive correspondence between the museum's founding director, John Beatty, and his successor, Homer Saint-Gaudens, with artists, dealers, galleries, collectors, museum directors, representatives abroad, shipping and insurance agents, and museum trustees. The collection also includes Department of Fine Arts interoffice memoranda and reports; loan exhibition files; Carnegie International planning, jury, shipping, and sale records; Department of Fine Arts letterpress copy books, and a copy of the original card catalog index to these records.

The Rockwell Kent papers measure 88.0 linear feet and date from circa 1840 to 1993 with the bulk of the collection dating from 1935 to 1961. The collection provides comprehensive coverage of Kent's career as a painter, illustrator, designer, writer, lecturer, traveler, political activist, and dairy farmer.

Science Service was founded in 1921 by newspaper publisher Edward Willis Scripps (1854-1926) and the zoologist William Emerson Ritter (1856-1944) as a news service for the purpose of disseminating information on scientific progress to the public, and to "present facts in readable and interesting form." The Science Service Astronomy and Astronautics files in the National Air and Space Archives consists of papers, news releases, articles, newspaper and magazine clippings, and technical papers pertaining mainly to astronomy and astronautics and dating from the late 1920s through the early 1970s.

Frank A. Taylor (1903-2007) was a Curator of Engineering and Industries and an administrator at the Smithsonian. He was born in 1903 in Washington, D.C., where he grew up. Taylor began his career at the Smithsonian in 1922 as a Laboratory Apprentice in the Division of Mechanical Technology of the United States National Museum (USNM). After ...

This collection consists of historical files on FI, its predecessors, and subsidiaries. The material consists primarily of historical/public relations material, including photographs and brochures, but also includes significant amounts of business records for FEAC, Kreider-Reisner, Hiller, Republic, Ranger, Stratos, and Swearingen. The collection also documents Fairchild's joint ventures with Fokker, Pilatus, and other aircraft manufacturers. The material also includes an extensive negative collection as well as film and videotape libraries.

Sam DeVincent loved music and art and began collecting sheet music with lithographs at an early age. Series 4: Songwriters: A "songwriter" for this series is defined as a composer, a lyricist, or both. An overview to the entire DeVincent collection is available here: Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music.

Clement Melville Keys (1876-1952) was a financier and corporate organizer who promoted aviation through the post-World War I decade. In 1916 he came to the aid of the financially-troubled Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Co. and was made an unsalaried vice president. Keys accompanied the American Aviation Mission to Europe in 1919, returning to purchase a controlling interest in Curtiss in 1920. He remained president of Curtiss until the 1929 merger with Wright Aeronautical Corp. to form Curtiss-Wright Corporation, whereupon he became president of the new company. In 1931, however, Keys resigned as chairman of T&WA following a bitter struggle for control of the airline. Mental collapse followed and Keys surrendered all his remaining aviation interests and left Curtiss-Wright in 1933.

These records originated mostly in the office of the Head Curator of the Department of Engineering and Industries, under Carl W. Mitman and Frank A. Taylor, but include records of several other curators, primarily Smith Hempstone Oliver and Paul E. Garber. The records include general correspondence, memoranda, and administrative files concerni...

The papers of abstract artist Alice Trumbull Mason date from 1921 to 1977 and measure 1.3 linear feet. The collection documents her career as a painter, particularly her role as one of the founders of the American Abstract Artists group, through biographical materials; correspondence with family, friends, fellow artists, art galleries, museums, and organizations; writings and notes, including notebooks of poetry and other creative writings; a small amount of printed material; photographs of Mason, friends, and her artwork; and original artwork, including five sketchbooks.