Parsons Institutional Collections
The Parsons Institutional Collections contain records, photographs, print, audiovisual, exhibition catalogs, student work, and other materials produced within Parsons' academic and administrative departments. Constituting Parsons' institutional memory, the collections both embody and track the history of the school from its founding in 1896 through the present.
BROWSE COLLECTIONS BY TITLE AND CREATOR
A
Academic Departments, Programs and Schools
Academic Departments, Programs and Schools: General
1917-2009 (bulk 1975-2005), 26 linear ft
Summary
Contains materials created by academic departments of Parsons The New School for Design. Includes materials originating from overseas facilities and affiliate schools, such as Otis Art Institute (California), Parsons Paris, and Altos de Chavon (Dominican Republic).
Fashion Design Dept.
1947-2008, 148 linear ft
Summary | Collection Guide | Collection Guide (PDF)
Contains the records of the Fashion Design Department of Parsons The New School for Design. Records include course syllabi and descriptions, look books, clippings scrapbooks, student work, and annual fashion benefit planning records, photographs, and programs.
Product Design Dept., records of Richard Yelle, chairman
1986-1997, 6.6 linear ft
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Produced during Richard Yelle's term as department chair of Product Design (as well as its predecessor names: Clay, Fiber, Metal Design; Clay, Metal, Textile Design; and Clay, Metal, Textile, and Product Design). Includes administrative records, information regarding competitions and exhibits, student work, course descriptions, evaluations, and curriculum development materials. Also includes examples of Yelle's professional work, and a poster for an exhibit by Constantin Boym.
Administrative and Other Offices
Administrative and Other Offices
1909-2007 (bulk 1973-1999), 63 linear ft
Summary
Predominantly comprised of records produced by the Development Office, these papers document fund raising initiatives, special programs, events, and alumni reunion plans. Other offices represented in this group are Admissions, Career Services, Public Relations, and Publication Design. Also includes publications put out by the Student Council in the 1970s and 1992.
Alumni Association
Alumni Association Files
1920-1970, 16 linear ft., 10 scrapbooks
Summary
Contains correspondence, financial records, minutes, photographic materials, printed materials, clippings scrapbooks, and subject files documenting the organization from its founding in 1952 until 1970, when Parsons School of Design became affiliated with the New School for Social Research. The records also include documents generated by earlier alumni associations that the Alumni Association incorporated into its working files.
Audio and moving images
Oral History Projects (audio recordings)
1994, 2010-2011, 30 interviews
Summary
Consists of oral histories conducted with Parsons faculty members, staff, and alumni. Transcripts and digital audio files are available on site at the Kellen.
D
Deans, Presidents, and Executive Offices
Records of Vice Dean Lesley Cadman
circa 1982-1991, 3 linear ft
Summary
Consists of records created and received by Lesley Cadman, vice dean of Parsons School of Design, 1981-2007. Contains subject files on committees, departments and programs, policies, events, individuals, and general administrative issues.
Records of President Sterling A. Callisen
1955-1963, .8 linear ft. : 2 boxes
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Consists of records created and received by Sterling A. Callisen, President of Parsons School of Design from 1959 until 1963. Previously, Callisen served on the Parsons School of Design Board of Trustees. Contains correspondence, minutes, reports, proposals, and financial records on administrative matters.
Records of Dean David C. Levy
1956-88 (bulk 1970-1988), 7 linear ft
Summary
Consists of records created and received by David C. Levy, dean of Parsons School of Design, 1970-1989. Prior to becoming dean, Levy had served as assistant director (1961-1962) and then director (1963-1968) of Admissions. In 1968 he was appointed vice president of Parsons and, in 1970, after successfully brokering the affiliation of Parsons and the New School for Social Research, Levy became dean of Parsons. His papers contain correspondence, reports, proposals, and subject files on issues including accreditation, affiliate schools, academic departments, and general administrative issues.
Records of Dean Charles S. Olton
circa 1989-1997, 6.4 linear ft
Summary
Consists of records created and received by Charles S. Olton, Dean of Parsons School of Design from 1989 until 1997. Contains subject files on committees, departments and programs, events, individuals, international projects, and general administrative issues.
Records of President Francis A. Ruzicka
1953-1970, 1.2 linear ft. : 3 boxes
Summary | Collection Guide | Collection Guide (PDF)
Consists of records created and received by Francis A. Ruzicka, President of Parsons School of Design from 1963 until his resignation in 1969. Contains correspondence, financial records, handwritten notes, minutes, and reports, primarily circulated between President Ruzicka and the Parsons School of Design Board of Trustees.
E
Events and Lectures (audio recordings)
Events and lectures (audio recordings)
1963-2003
Summary
Audio recordings of public programs and lectures presented at or in connection with Parsons. Speakers include practicing photographers, fashion designers, stylists, graphic designers, and interior designers, among others. Some of the events documented include: the Mary Largent Brandt Memorial Lecture featuring textile designer Dorothy Liebes (1963 or 1964); a press conference announcing Parsons' merger with The New School, 1970; the New York Times Photographic Workshop (1983); the Focus Photography Lecture Series (1982-1985), and the Henry Wolf Lecture Series (1998), featuring talks by Ivan Chermayeff, Milton Glaser, and Henry Wolf. Also includes recordings of Parsons' Fashion Design Department critic sessions featuring talks by a host of well-known fashion designers (1994 and 1995).
P
Photographs and Slides
Parsons photographs
1926-2003, 3.2 linear ft
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Includes 1,425 photographs documenting Parsons student and campus life, including exhibitions, award and fashion shows, guest lectures, field trips, and campus construction projects. (Inventory available -- contact the Kellen Archives.)
Printed material, Graphics and Ephemera
Admissions catalogs and program information materials
1896-2009 (bulk 1913-2007), 14.7 linear ft
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Consists of general course catalogs and print publicity for Parsons, including catalogs for overseas and affiliate schools, continuing education and AAS programs. Materials for the years 1896-1912 consists primarily of photocopies of print advertisements for the Chase School of Art (which became the New York School of Art, and was later renamed Parsons). The oldest original catalog in this group is a 1913 catalog for a summer session held in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
Course descriptions
1984-2006, 1.7 linear ft
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Consists of photocopied course description packets produced by the Registrar's Office for classes offered at Parsons The New School for Design. Packets contain information regarding class schedules, instructors, credit hours, degree requirements, and curriculum.
Events and programs
1926-2007 (bulk 1950-2007), 2.1 linear ft
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Contains ephemera documenting events sponsored by Parsons administrative offices and academic departments, such as commencement ceremonies, dedications, exhibitions, lectures and symposia, open houses, and receptions. Examples of materials include announcements, fliers, invitations, and programs.
Exhibitions
1964-2006 (bulk 1980-2006), 3.1 linear ft
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Contains printed materials related to exhibitions held at, sponsored by, or produced in cooperation with Parsons The New School for Design. Materials include catalogs, invitations, and announcements. Although the series contains documentation on exhibitions held in the 1960s and 1970s, the bulk of materials relates to events from the 1980s onwards. For student and faculty exhibitions sponsored by specific academic departments, see Academic Departments, Programs and Schools files.
Handbooks and orientation materials
1968-2007, 4.2 linear ft
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Contains handbooks and guides issued by the administration of Parsons The New School for Design to familiarize faculty, students, and students' families with school regulations, policies, and procedures. Also includes materials designed to acquaint students with aspects of living and studying in New York City.
Periodicals
1940-2008, 3.8 linear ft
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Contains periodicals and serial publications produced by administrative offices and academic departments of Parsons The New School for Design, and The New School of which Parsons has been an affiliate since 1970. Periodicals here were primarily produced from the 1970s through 2008, the majority of titles representing short run and one-off publications.
Posters
1927-2006 (bulk 1956-2006), 22 linear ft [236 posters]
Summary | Collection Guide | Collection Guide (PDF)
Contains posters created for academic departments and administrative offices of Parsons The New School for Design, including promotional posters for summer sessions and study abroad programs, recruiting by specific departments, and publicity for exhibitions, public programs, and internship fairs. With the exception of a 1927 poster advertising a dance, the series does not contain any material created prior to 1956.
R
Reference collections
Designer Files
circa 1994-2008, 2.2 linear ft.
Summary | Collection Guide | Collection Guide (PDF)
The Designer Files were assembled by Archives staff between approximately 1994 and 2008 from a variety of sources (on occasion new files continue to be added). Subjects are typically Parsons graduates, visiting critics, lecturers, or faculty. Folder contents may include clippings, ephemera, slides, and such printed materials as business cards, postcards and pamphlets.
New York School of Art Reference Index (1896-1912)
compiled 1996-2006, 1.1 linear ft
Summary | Collection Guide | Collection Guide (PDF)
Compiled by Kellen Design Archives staff, this index lists publications that discuss the New York School of Art and artists associated with the school either as students or instructors between the time of its founding in 1896 until 1912. Photocopies of the relevant pages from the indexed publications are available upon request.
Parsons Table research files
1923-2006, 0.4 linear ft
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The Parsons Table research files consist primarily of work conducted and assembled by the director and staff of the Kellen Design Archives in 2002 to support a Parsons' Design and Management Department project in which students would construct and market a version of the Parsons Table. Archives staff prepared a questionnaire for alumni to gather information about the origins of the table and its design. Several responses include sketches of the table. While furnishing no conclusive evidence, these files will be useful to researchers investigating the history of the table, its relationship to the school, and the stories that have been told about it. The Parsons Table was reportedly designed at the Paris Ateliers, the precursor to Parsons Paris, sometime in the 1920s or 1930s. A modernist design, the chair is characterized by its straight, clean lines and square legs, in which the legs are the same width as the tabletop. French designer Jean-Michel Frank (1895–1941) is often identified as the creator of the table. Frank served as a critic in the Paris Ateliers, and one hypothesis suggests that he had students follow the simple table design as part of a classroom project in furniture construction.