The collection consists of archival materials assembled by National Museum of American History Curator William Lawrence Bird. The materials were used as background research for the publication of his book Holidays on Display (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007), and as exhibit objects for the exhibit by the same name that opened shortly after the museum's architectural renovation (November 2009-September 2010). The materials include advertising and trade literature, especially for department stores and with emphasis on the display of toys; catalogs; photographs and slides; postcards; parade programs; design drawings; correspondence; stock certificates, and miscellaneous items relating to department stores and their displays, parades and the amusement industry.

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.

The records include correspondence, memoranda, announcements, publication contracts, photographs, grant information, lecture agreements, reports, brochures, research materials, resumes, and publication information for the following symposia: Kin and Communities: The Peopling of America; Constitutional Roots, Rights, and Responsibilities; ...

This accession consists of records that document the administrative and professional activities of Virginia Beets, Registrar, 1973-1983; Martha Morris, Assistant Registrar, 1973-1983, Registrar, 1984-1990, and Assistant Director for Collections Management, 1990-1993; and Katherine P. Spiess, Deputy Registrar, 1985-1992, and Acting Assistant Di...

The papers of New York art collector Chester Dale measure 8.4 linear feet and date from circa 1883-2003. Dale amassed one of the world's most complete collections of nineteenth and twentieth century French art, was a collector of eighteenth century American portraitists, and a patron and collector of twentieth American artists including George Bellows and Mary Cassatt. The bulk of the collection dates from 1920 to 1970 and documents Dale's activities through biographical material, correspondence, memoirs and other writings, purchase, sales and estate records, printed material, scrapbooks, and photographs.

These records document the construction of the new National Air and Space Museum (NASM) building, from ground-breaking in 1972 until opening in July 1976. The majority of the records were in the custody of the Building Management Division of the museum, while a smaller amount come from the Smithsonian's Office of Design and Construction. ...

The collection consists of correspondence, invoices, drawings, photographs, and negatives and other printed literature documenting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from its inception in 1827 to its merger with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in the 1960s.

Original song text, music, drawings, correspondence, and other writings by Woody Guthrie; news clippings, articles, correspondence, and business records related to Woody Guthrie. Date span: 1927-1985. Bulk dates: Guthrie song text, writings, and drawings, 1940-1948; correspondence by and to Woody Guthrie, 1944-1951; correspondence regarding Woody Guthrie, 1956-1977.

The records of the Richard York Gallery, a New York gallery specializing in American art from early 1800s to 1950, measure 79.3 linear feet and date from circa 1865-2005, with the bulk of the material dating from 1981 to 2004. Three-fourths of the records are artists' artwork files, documenting the sale and consignment of nearly 6,500 works of art. The gallery's activities are also recorded through correspondence, client files, gallery invoices, inventories, business and financial records, printed materials, scrapbooks, photographic materials of artwork, and estate records for the John Marin estate and Sergio Stella estate (Joseph Stella). An addition of 10.2 linear feet, dated circa 1865 to 2005, includes artists' files arranged alphabetically containing printed material, clippings, exhibition announcements, and scattered correspondence and financial documents.

The papers of Henry Varnum Poor measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1873-2001, with the bulk from the period 1904-1970. Correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material and photographs document Poor's work as a painter, muralist, ceramic artist and potter, architect, designer, writer, war artist, educator and a co-founder of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Also found is extensive information about the design and construction of Crow House, his home in New City, New York, commissions for other architectural projects, and his personal life.