On July 9, the NEH Summer Institute "Teaching the History of Modern Design: The Canon and Beyond," visited Hagley. The teaching summer institute is held for four weeks and educates college faculty from various disciplines about the history of modern design. Drexel University is hosting the institute.
The group of 30 visitors to Hagley consisted of the summer scholars; Institute Director, David Raizman (Drexel); and Regina Lee Blaszczyk (University of Leeds). Dr. Blaszczyk selected Hagley as one of the field trip sites for the Institute and we were pleased to have an opportunity to display our consumer culture and design collections.
The group's field trip to Hagley provided the participants with a first-hand experience in examining materials from Hagley's Library collections. During the tour, the Published Collections showed a varied assortment of materials including trade catalogs, trade journals, and other rare publications related to design . The Audiovisual Collections had items on display that included automobile designs from Raymond Loewy, photographs of the PSFS and Seagram's buildings, as well as items from the DuPont Textile Collection with fashion photography and marketing materials related to synthetic fibers. The Manuscripts and Archives Department displayed materials on topics such as the DuPont Co. and advertising, Charles DeMirjian and Stainmaster marketing, Marc Harrison's Cuisinart, Marshall Johnson and Proctor Silex appliances, Raymond Loewy's design and branding for Rosenthal China, Avon and sales promotion, MCI's television commercials, and color forecasting.
The summer institute also toured Library storage spaces at the Hall of Records and visited the "Unraveling Stories" exhibit at the museum.
Hagley was pleased to be included as one of the field trip sites. For more information on this summer institute, visit Drexel's NEH Summer Institute page, and visit Hagley's website to learn more about Hagley's design collections.
NEH Summer Institute participants viewing items on display in the Copeland Room
Lynn Catanese is the Chief Curator of Library Collections, Manuscripts and Archives Department at Hagley. Kevin Martin is the Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives at Hagley.