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  2. Dorothy Liebes papers, circa 1850-1973, bulk 1922-1970
  3. Series 11: Photographic Material , circa 1875, circa 1897-circa 1970

Dorothy Liebes papers, circa 1850-1973, bulk 1922-1970

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Series 11: Photographic Material , circa 1875, circa 1897-circa 1970
2 Linear feet
Boxes 17-19, 36, OVs 38, 40-41

This series is arranged as 5 subseries:
  • 11.1: Personal and Professional Photographs of Liebes, circa 1920s-circa 1970
  • 11.2: Photographs of Liebes in Studio, circa 1920s-circa 1960s
  • 11.3: Photographs of Liebes and Family and Friends, circa 1875, circa 1897-circa 1970
  • 11.4: Photographs of Designs by Liebes, circa 1920s-circa 1970
  • 11.5: Photographs of Artwork by Others and Other Subjects, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
The bulk of this series has been digitized. For the photos of unidentified children, friends, and family groups, travel snapshots, and labeled negatives in subseries 11.3, only representative samples of the images have been digitized. Duplicates and versos with no annotations have not been digitized.

11.1: Personal and Professional Photographs of Liebes, circa 1920s-circa 1970

Subseries includes early studio portraits of Liebes beginning circa 1920, and professional portraits, including some taken for publicity in items such as brochures, magazines, and industry publications, at all stages of her career. Additional professional portraits picturing Liebes in her studio and at her loom can be found in Series 11.2.
Description Container
Dorothy Liebes, circa 1920s
17
1
Dorothy Liebes, circa 1930s
17
2
Dorothy Liebes, circa 1930s
40
1
Dorothy Liebes, circa 1940s
17
3
Dorothy Liebes, circa 1940s
40
2
Dorothy Liebes, circa 1940s-circa 1950s
17
4
Dorothy Liebes, circa 1950s-circa 1970
17
5
Dorothy Liebes, Color Transparency, circa 1940s-circa 1950s
17
6

11.2: Photographs of Liebes in Studio, circa 1920s-circa 1960s

This subseries includes pictures of Liebes at work in her studio, often with other weavers such as her studio staff, or with other groups such as people participating in the American Red Cross Arts and Skills workshop. Photos of Liebes with weavers include images taken at her first studio on Powell Street in San Francisco; Liebes with Ernst Spense in the Goodall Pilot shop; Liebes with weaver Louise Fong and child; and a visit of people from the National Home Fashions League to Liebes's studio in 1961. The series includes photographs by Esther Born, and a photograph by Irving Penn of Liebes with weaver Elsa Gullberg and Ahmedabad industrialist and philanthropist, Gautam Sarabhai.
Description Container
Liebes and Arts and Skills Workshops, American Red Cross, 1940s
17
7
Liebes and Arts and Skills Workshops, American Red Cross, circa 1943-circa 1945
40
3
Liebes in Studio/at Loom, circa 1920s-1940s
17
8
Liebes in Studio/at Loom, circa 1930s-circa 1940s
40
4
Liebes in Studio/at Loom, circa 1940s
17
9
Liebes in Studio/at Loom, circa 1950s-circa 1960s
17
10
Liebes in Studio/at Loom, Color Transparencies, circa 1950s
17
11
Liebes in Studio/at Loom, Negatives, circa 1950s
17
12
Liebes with Weavers, circa 1940s
17
13
Liebes with Weavers, circa 1940s
40
5
Liebes with Weavers, circa 1940s-circa 1960s
17
14
Liebes with Weavers, circa 1940s-circa 1960s
17
15
Liebes with Weavers Elsa Gullberg and Gautam Sarabhai, by Irving Penn, circa 1946
17
16

11.3: Photographs of Liebes and Family and Friends, circa 1875, circa 1897-circa 1970

This subseries consists of photos of Liebes with family, friends, colleagues, and various other groups; travel snapshots; and a set of labeled negatives documenting primarily family and friends at get-togethers and on trips.
Family photos include Wright family studio portraits, including portraits of Liebes's grandparents and wedding portraits of her parents, family group photos from Liebes's infancy to adulthood, and portraits of other close family members.
Events and parties are mostly unidentified but picture Liebes at industry events and parties including formal dinners, award ceremonies, lectures, and other events. Many individuals pictured with Liebes are unidentified, but include Rene d'Harnoncourt, Harry duPont, textile designer and colleague of Liebes Tammis Keefe, Mabel Shoenburg, and Elmer Ward, president of Goodall Fabrics.
Group photos are generally unidentified but appear to be primarily friends and extended family, and include a few formal group photos such as a photo of the Society of Industrial Designers Annual Dinner in 1948. Labeled negatives are similar in content to the bulk of the group photos and have been arranged according to the titles they were given prior to donation.
Photos of Relman Morin include Associated Press assignment photos, including prints picturing him with Robert Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Portraits of friends include professional portraits given to Liebes by friends and colleagues, many of whom signed their portraits, including clothing designer Bonnie Cashin, Princess Elizabeth de Croy, Florence Gardner, Tammis Keefe, Brock Pemberton, Daren Pierce, Hal Riegelman, Swedish textile designer Astrid Sampe, and David T. Williams.
Three folders of photographs, contact sheets, and negatives are of trips to Taliesin West picturing Liebes with Frank Lloyd Wright, Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, Relman Morin, and others. One series of snapshots appears to show Liebes at Taliesin with Peter Grimm. Grimm was president of the New York Chamber of Commerce from 1946-1948, and his letters to Liebes in Series 5: Subject Files, as well as other photos of Grimm and Liebes in this series, indicate a close relationship.
Travel snapshots include Liebes on a trip to Hawaii, and photos taken at the 1937 International Exposition in Paris. The Paris photos are notable in that they document the Swastika flags of Nazi Germany flying over many of the scenes and facing the flags of the Soviet Union across pavilion grounds.
Description Container
Children, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
17
17
Children, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
17
18
Children, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
17
19
Events and Parties, circa 1940s-circa 1960s
17
20
Events and Parties, circa 1940s-circa 1970
17
21
Events and Parties, 1940-1964
17
22
Events and Parties, Color Photos and Transparencies, circa 1950s
17
23
Events and Parties, Negatives, circa 1940s-circa 1950s
17
24
Events and Parties, Sutter Street Studio Garden, circa 1940s
17
25
Events and Parties, Sutter Street Studio Garden, Negatives, circa 1940s
17
26
Family, circa 1875, circa 1897-1898
17
27
Family, circa 1907-1920s
17
28
Family, circa 1930s-circa 1950s
17
29
Grimm, Peter, and Others, circa 1940s
17
30
Grimm, Peter, and Others, Negatives, 1941-1942
17
31
Groups, Society of Industrial Designers Annual Dinner, 1948
38
5
Groups, Various, circa 1930s-circa 1940s
17
32
Groups, Various, circa 1930s-circa 1950s
17
33
Groups, Various (Duplicates), circa 1930s-circa 1970
17
34
Labeled Negatives, "Allan and Bogie, Palmer and Harry, Los Angeles", 1941
17
35
Labeled Negatives, "Berkeley weekend, Peter and Billy", 1942
17
36
Labeled Negatives, "Bill's Ranch", 1944
17
37
Labeled Negatives, "Dorothy and Cynthia at Barbara Burke's", 1942
17
38
Labeled Negatives, "Family", 1939
17
39
Labeled Negatives, "Family in Berkeley", 1940
17
40
Labeled Negatives, "Family in Berkeley" , 1942
17
41
Labeled Negatives, "Greer and Lucy" , 1940
17
42
Labeled Negatives, "Helen and Fij Ross" , 1939
17
43
Labeled Negatives, "Jane, Dorothy, and Cynthia at Monterey", circa 1940s
17
44
Labeled Negatives, "Louise at Mother's" , circa 1940s
17
45
Labeled Negatives, "New York" , 1944
17
46
Labeled Negatives, "Peter and Dorothy at Yosemite" , 1942
17
47
Labeled Negatives, "Spring, 1942" , 1942
17
48
Labeled Negatives, "Spring Trip East" , 1942
17
49
Labeled Negatives, "Summer, 1940" , 1940
17
50
Labeled Negatives, "Summer, 1941 ?? Hornbrook" , 1941
17
51
Labeled Negatives, "Woods at Fisherman's Wharf" , 1940
17
52
Lasserre, Juliette photo of Jean ? , circa 1950s
Photo shows weaver demonstrating haute lisse (vertical warp tapestry weaving)
17
53
Morin, Relman (Pat) , circa 1930s-circa 1960s
17
54
Morin, Relman (Pat) with Others, circa 1940s-circa 1960s
17
55
Morin, Relman (Pat) and Others, Negatives, circa 1940s-circa 1950s
17
56
Portraits of Friends, Men, circa 1920s-circa 1950s
17
57
Portraits of Friends, Women, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
17
58
Portraits of Friends, Women, 1934-circa 1940s
41
1
Portraits of Unidentified Men, circa 1920s-circa 1950s
17
59
Portraits of Unidentified Men, circa 1930s-circa 1950s
17
60
Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright , 1947
40
6
Taliesin West with Frank Lloyd Wright and Others, circa 1947-circa 1950s
17
61
Taliesin West with Frank Lloyd Wright and Others, Negatives, 1947-circa 1950s
17
62
Travel Snapshots, circa 1920s-circa 1940s
17
63
Travel Snapshots, circa 1920s-circa 1940s
17
64
Travel Snapshots, Color Transparencies, circa 1950s-circa 1960s
17
65
Travel Snapshots, Hawaii, 1939
17
66
Travel Snapshots, International Exposition in Paris, 1937
17
67
Travel Snapshots, Negatives, circa 1940s
17
68
Travel Snapshots, Negatives, circa 1940s
17
69
Unidentified and Duplicate Negatives, circa 1940s
18
1
Unidentified and Duplicate Negatives, circa 1940s
18
2
Unidentified and Duplicate Negatives, circa 1940s
18
3
Unidentified and Duplicate Negatives, circa 1940s
18
4

11.4: Photographs of Designs by Liebes, circa 1920s-circa 1970

This subseries contains photographs of a few Liebes exhibition installations at various venues, garments made from Liebes fabric, and interiors and window displays featuring textiles by Liebes. Photographs, negatives, and color transparencies document the range of her carpets and rugs, pillows and upholstery fabric, draperies and blinds, and other textiles pictured in the homes of actor Edward G. Robinson and architect Samuel Marx, the offices of the San Francisco Mayor, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Honolulu, the Plaza Hotel and the United Nations headquarters in New York City, and many other locations.
Also found is an album of photos by Hedrich-Blessing Studio in Chicago of interiors featuring Liebes textiles. Photographers featured in this series include Richard Averill Smith.
Description Container
Exhibition Installations, circa 1939-1970
18
5
Exhibition Installations, Negatives, circa 1940s-circa 1960s
18
6
Garment Fabrics, circa 1939-circa 1964
18
7
Home Interiors, circa 1930s-circa 1950s
18
8
Home Interiors, circa 1930s-circa 1950s
18
9
Home Interiors, circa 1930s-circa 1950s
18
10
Home Interiors, circa 1930s-circa 1950s
41
2
Home Interiors, Color Transparencies, circa 1950s-circa 1960s
18
11
Home Interiors, Negatives, circa 1930s-circa 1950s
18
12
Home Interiors, Edward G. Robinson Home (and Robert Stanton Home), circa 1940s
Some images of window draperies in this folder were identified as Robinson's home, due to notations on the versos of some the photos; however, images may in fact be of Robert Stanton's home in Pebble Beach, decorated by Frances Elkins who also decorated Robinson's home.
18
13
Home Interiors, Samuel Marx Home, Photograph Album, circa 1950s
36
2
Hotels and Lounges , circa 1939-circa 1952
18
14
Hotels and Lounges, circa 1940s-circa 1950s
41
3
Hotels and Lounges, Color Transparencies, circa 1950s-circa 1960s
18
15
Hotels and Lounges, Santa Barbara Biltmore, circa 1930s-circa 1940s
18
20
Offices and Showrooms, circa 1939-circa 1957
18
16
Textiles, circa 1940s-circa 1960s
18
17
Textiles, circa 1940s-circa 1960s
18
18
Textiles, circa 1940s-circa 1967
18
19
Textiles, Color Slides, circa 1950s-circa 1960s
19
1
Textiles, Color Transparencies, circa 1950s-circa 1960s
19
2
Textiles, Negatives, circa 1950s
19
3
Window Displays, circa 1950s-circa 1960s
19
4

11.5: Photographs of Artwork by Others and Other Subjects, circa 1930s-circa 1960s

Found here are of photos of artwork, including paintings, sculpture, and tapestries by others such as Cunliffe, Leger, Murany, and Picasso, and photos of textiles by Geraldine Funk.
Other subjects documented here include a photo of New York City by Irving Kaufmann, and several photographic portraits of women including one by Man Ray and one entitled "Woman with Calla Lillies" by Consuela Kanaga.
Miscellaneous photos include photos of a Paramount Pictures studio, a woman with a kudzu vine growing into her house, and two photos of a dog.
Description Container
Artwork, Miscellaneous Interiors, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
19
5
Artwork, Miscellaneous, Negatives, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
19
6
Artwork, Paintings, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
19
7
Artwork, Sculpture, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
19
8
Artwork, Tapestries, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
19
9
Artwork, Textiles Designed by Geraldine Funk, circa 1950s-circa 1960s
19
10
Other Subjects, Miscellaneous, 1940s
19
11
Other Subjects, Miscellaneous, Negatives, circa 1940s
19
12
Other Subjects, New York City by Irving Kaufmann, undated
41
4
Other Subjects, Photographic Portraits of Women, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
19
13
Other Subjects, Photographic Portraits of Women, circa 1938-circa 1950s
Includes "Woman with Calla Lillies" by Consuela Kanaga and a portrait by Man Ray
41
5
Other Subjects, Photographic Portraits of Women, Duplicates, circa 1930s-circa 1960s
19
14

Make a Request

  • To request an appointment to view materials, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reading Room" button. Please note, you will receive the full box.
  • To request reproductions, make your selections using the checkboxes and click the "Reproduction" button.