American Printing History Association records, 1972-2018
Summary Information
Abstract
At a Glance
- Call No.:
- MS#1458
- Bib ID:
- 6766907 View CLIO record
- Creator(s):
- American Printing History Association
- Repository:
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Physical Description:
- 24.4 linear feet (23 document boxes, 14 flat boxes, 5 record storage cartons, and 1 card file box)
- Language(s):
- English .
- Access:
- You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
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This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Description
Summary
The APHA records document the activities of the national organization and its local chapters, and include annual reports, brochures, bylaws, budgets, clippings, correspondence, financial reports, legal documents, lists of officers and members, memoranda, minutes, notes, press releases, programs, and speeches.
The records of the national organization include documentation of annual conferences, annual meetings, awards, the board of directors, bylaws, committees, conferences, finance, meetings, membership, publishing efforts, and special projects. The chapter records are incomplete. There are no records related to the Chesapeake chapter, and with the exception of the New York and Philadelphia chapters, documentation is limited to newsletters and information on the founding of each chapter. The records of the New York Chapter are the most extensive, and include announcements, bylaws, correspondence, financial records, meeting materials and minutes, lists of members and officers, and press releases.
The documentation of APHA is incomplete and haphazard. A filing system was created for existing records in 1981; as a result, most of the organization's early records were organized and preserved in the archives. The lack of a documentation system thereafter has created inconsistency and gaps in coverage of the organization's activities. As a whole, documentation is best for 1974-1988, although presidential records provide some documentation for the late 1990s.
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Series I: Organizational Files, 1974-2010
This series contains files related to organizational functions and issues, arranged alphabetically by topic. It includes files on annual conferences, annual meetings, awards, the board of directors, bylaws, committees, finance, membership, and special projects. There is additional material related to these organizational activities in Series II: Presidents' Files and Series V: General Files. The records include annual reports, brochures, bylaws, budgets, clippings, correspondence, financial reports, membership lists, press releases, programs, and speeches.
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Series II: President's Files, 1972-2017
This series consists of files donated by several APHA presidents. As whole, these records are incomplete. The records in the collection document not only the activities of the president and the board of directors, but also the founding of APHA. The records include bylaws, correspondence, minutes, reports, and files on chapters, conferences, membership, and projects. Although Catherine Brody served as a president and vice-president of APHA, the bulk of her files were related to her work as the editor of the APHA newsletter and are filed elsewhere in the collection.
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Series III: Chapters, 1975-2001
This series contains material related to the establishment and activities of local chapters. The records include announcements, bylaws, correspondence, financial records, lists of members and officers, meeting materials, minutes, newsletters, and press releases.
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Series IV: Publications, 1975-2002
This series contains records related to the publication of APHA's journal, newsletter, and other publications. The majority of the records consist of correspondence and editorial files related to submissions to the newsletter or the journal, but there is also some material related to book reviews, copyright, finances, printing, and proposed projects.
APHA's main publications, the APHA Newsletter and Printing History, are separately cataloged and filed with the Graphic Arts book collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
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Series V: General Files, 1974-1998
This series contains material that was specifically saved or filed for the APHA archives, but left in unsorted general files. Many of these files appear to have been kept by the secretaries of the board, and the records in these files are roughly chronological in arrangement. The series contains a wide variety of records including announcements, brochures, correspondence, lists of officers, memoranda, minutes, programs, and material related to annual meetings, the board of directors, chapters, committees, conferences, elections, and meetings.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in 6 series.
- Series I: Organizational Files, 1974-2010
- Series II: President's Files, 1972-2017
- Subseries II.1 J: Ben Lieberman, 1972-1987
- Subseries II.2: Martin Hutner, 1983-1998
- Subseries II.3: Anne Anninger, 1998-2000
- Subseries II.4: Paul Romaine Files, 2008-2017, undated
- Subseries II.5: Catherine Tyler Brody Files
- Subseries II.6: Irene Tichenor Files, 1974-2008
- Series III: Chapters, 1975-2001
- Subseries III.1: General Files, 1975-2010
- Subseries III.2: New York Chapter Files, 1976-2010
- Subseries III.3: Other Chapter Files, 1975-2010
- Series IV: Publications, 1975-2002
- Subseries IV.1: Catherine Brody, 1975-1985
- Subseries IV.2: Printing History, 1978-2009
- Subseries IV.3: Other Publications and Projects, 1975-2010
- Series V: General Files, 1974-1998
- Series VI: Archived Web Site, 2013-present
Using the Collection
Restrictions on Access
Rbml Advance Appointment
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); American Printing History Association Records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Related Materials
The two major publications of APHA, Printing History and the APHA Newsletter, have been separately cataloged as part of the Graphic Arts book collection of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
The J. Ben Lieberman Papers at the University of Delaware. Lieberman was the founder and first president of APHA
The American Printing History Association Collection, circa 1974-1983 at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The collection contains bylaws, membership directories and information, flyers, conference notices and programs, and other mailings relating to activities of APHA, including the Southern California Chapter. These mainly consist of items sent to Hobart Skofield, an APHA member.
Accrual
Additions are expected
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Ownership and Custodial History
The archives of the American Printing History Association (APHA) were originally housed at the Columbia University School of Library Service, starting in the early 1980s.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Source of acquisition--Several gifts of material have been made over many years.
About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processing Information
The APHA records were organized into a filing system by Carol Reid Briggs in 1981; this material makes up most of Boxes 1-4. Her research on the founding and organizational structure of the organization was also used as a source for the organizational history in this finding aid. Additional processing work was completed student assistants and by Patrick Lawlor Catherine Carson Ricciardi (1994) and (2008-2009, 2013, 2017).
Finding aid written by Catherine Carson Ricciardi in June 2008.
Finding aid updated by Catherine Carson Ricciardi in December 2009, September 2013, and December 2017.
Collection is processed to folder level.
Revision Description
2008-11-07 File created.
2008-11-14 xml document instance created by Patrick Lawlor
2009-05-07 xml document instance edited by Catherine N. Carson
2009-12-16 xml document instance edited by Catherine N. Carson
2012-5-03 Subseries II.4 and II.5 added by Carrie Hintz
2013-09-16 xml document instance edited by Catherine Carson Ricciardi
2014-11-07 xml document instance edited by Catherine Carson Ricciardi
2017-03-30 web archive series added by Jane Gorjevsky
2017-12-08 xml document instance updated by Catherine Carson Ricciardi
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Biographical / Historical
The American Printing History Association (APHA) was founded as the result of a proposal published by Walter Kubelius in his column"The Printing Whirl" in the 1971 issue of "Printing Impressions". Kubelius proposed that an American Printing Historical Society should be founded to foster scholarship and to serve as a forum for the exchange of knowledge. At the time, it was thought that the society should be developed as an American chapter of the Printing Historical Society, which represents all aspects of the printing arts and industry worldwide. Although J. Ben Lieberman pursued this objective, it was ultimately decided that it would be too difficult to fit the new society's aims within those of the larger organization, and APHA was founded as a independent organization in May 1974.
APHA established an organizational structure that would serve its goals. There were four main components - the membership, local chapters, trustees and officers, and committees. APHA wanted to have a broad membership, and with it local chapters to organize ongoing activities. Committees would be used to handle specialized programs, and a national board of trustees and officers would serve to coordinate the local chapters and to pursue national and international projects that could not be handled at the chapter level.
APHA has four main organizational objectives: 1. To encourage the study of printing, especially American printing, in its whole range. 2. To produce and promote publications, exhibitions, conferences, lectures, and other functions so that information is exchanged. 3. To foster the development and maintenance of libraries and museums for the preservation of materials that relate to printing history. 4. To cooperate with others to recognize the central importance of printing to humanity.
Subject Headings
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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