Antonin Heythum papers, 1920-1959

Collection Information

Size: 3.7 Linear feet

Summary: Primarily subject files containing letters, photographs, and printed material pertaining to various international expositions and Heythum's teaching activities.

Subject files containing letters, photographs, and printed material for the Industrial Design exposition, 1942-1948; International Exposition in Brno, Czechoslovakia, 1928; Paris Exposition, 1937; Swiss Exposition in Zurich, 1939; San Francisco Bay Exposition, 1939; New York World's Fair, 1937-1940; Cleveland International Exposition, 1941; and the International Exposition in Rome, 1942;

draft manuscripts for books by Heythum and his wife, Charlotta, DESIGN FOR USE and PACKAGING DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS; typescripts, 1941-1942, of essays by Robert M. Hutchins, concerning education and World War II; teaching files containing letters, student reports, photographs, and printed material for the California Institute of Technology, 1942-1945, and Syracuse University, 1949-1958;

photographs, 1920-1936, of Czechoslovakian countryside, people, museums, and expositions; a typescript, "Industrial Design", by Donald Dohner; exhibition catalogs, 1931-1939, for the National Society of Mural Painters members' "portfolio"; Exposition Coloniale Internationale (Paris); Czech art at the American Fine Arts Building (New York); Exposition Internationale de la Technique de L'Eau; Danish Industrial Art; and United Scenic Artists; and miscellaneous display publications and industrial supply catalogs.

Other material includes; 6 undated drafts of letters; a letter, 1935, from Jacques Lambert concerning the Czechoslovakian pavilion at the Exposition de Bruxelles; and a postcard, 1939, from Czechoslovakia.

Biographical/Historical Note

Industrial designer. Czechoslovakian born, Heythum received his degree in Architectural Engineering from the Prague Institute of Technology in 1934. Came to the United States in 1939 to survey the New York and San Francisco World's Fairs and research exhibition techniques. In 1941, Heythum was appointed to the California Institute of Technology to organize and direct the Industrial Design Department. He also taught Design at Columbia University and was a consultant to the firm of Norman Bel Geddes. From 1946 until his death, he was engaged by Syracuse University as head of Industrial Design.

Provenance

Donated 1985 by Arthur Pulos, who succeeded Heythum as head of Industrial Design at Syracuse. Pulos received material in 1956 from Charlotte Heythum.

Language Note

English .