• Creator Names American Center for Design.
  • Title American Center for Design records [manuscript], 1927-1994.
  • Physical description
    • 49.5 linear ft. (57 boxes)
    • 7 sound recordings.
    • 1 sound disc : analog.
  • Access and usage restrictions
    • A portion of the collection is unprocessed. Contact research@chicagohistory.org for access to unprocessed portions. Staff will typically respond to your inquiry within two weeks. However, due to the high volume of inquiries and depending upon the nature of your request additional time may be required
    • For listening purposes, it is necessary to use a copy, not the original (and to have a listening copy made if one is not available).
  • Collection summary
    • Correspondence, minutes, financial records, membership surveys and directories, event information, sound recordings, and other records of the American Center for Design, founded as the Society of Typographic Arts in 1927, to promote high standards of design, the education of designers, and public awareness of the role of good design, and to sponsor exhibitions, including an annual Design in Chicago Printing Exhibition, and a printing workshop at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Also present are ACD/STA material collected by Susan Jackson Keig, first woman president of the STA in 1955-1956, when she was Susan Karstrom, including typed reminiscences (from 1989) in which Keig describes STA meetings/field trips in the 1950s-1960s, including one to visit Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957, a 1955 STA news release announcing Susan Karstrom's election as president, seven reel-to-reel audio tapes of STA conferences and discussions (1962-1963), and ACD membership mailings from 1991-1992.
    • Includes phonograph record album, R. Buckminster Fuller thinks out loud, and tape recordings made at STA conferences, including tapes of John Berry and Eric Larabee.
  • Acquisition information Gift of the American Center for Design and the Society of Typographical Arts beginning in 1981 (1994.0023).
  • Location of Other Archival Materials Note Related materials at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, include the Society of Typographic Arts visual materials for 1982-1983 (1984.0118); the Society of Typographic Arts collection of visual materials (1982.0093); the Society of Typographic Arts visual materials primarily from the 1960s (1984.0645); as well as publications of the Society of Typographic Arts and the American Center for Design, cataloged separately.
  • Biographical or Historical Note The Society of Typographic Arts became known as the American Center for Design in 1989. The organization closed in 2002. Later, a successor organization in Chicago resumed use of the name Society of Typographic Arts.
  • Names
    • American Center for Design Archives.
    • Society of Typographic Arts (Chicago, Ill.) Archives.
    • Berry, John, 1950-
    • Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-1983.
    • Keig, Susan Jackson.
    • Larabee, Eric.
    • Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959.
    • International Council of Graphic Design Associations.
    • Berry, John, 1950-
    • Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster), 1895-1983.
    • Keig, Susan Jackson.
    • Larabee, Eric.
    • International Council of Graphic Design Associations.
    • Society of Typographic Arts (Chicago, Ill.)
  • Subjects
    • Design Study and teaching United States.
    • Design United States 20th century.
    • Designers Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Designers United States 20th century.
    • Graphic artists Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Graphic artists United States 20th century.
    • Graphic arts Study and teaching United States.
    • Graphic arts United States 20th century Exhibitions.
    • Printers Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Printers United States 20th century.
    • Printing Societies, etc.
    • Type designers Illinois Chicago 20th century.
    • Type designers United States 20th century.
  • Geographic coverage Chicago (Ill.) Intellectual life 20th century.
  • Genre
    • Audiotapes. aat
    • Correspondence. aat
    • Financial records. aat
    • Lists. aat
    • Membership lists. aat
    • Minutes. aat
    • Phonograph records. aat
    • Surveys. aat
  • Uniform title R. Buckminster Fuller thinks out loud.
  • Geographic name United States Illinois Cook County Chicago.