William E. Katzenbach papers
name: label: Creator
content: Katzenbach, William
label: Names
content: Katzenbach, Lois
topic: label: Occupation
content: Architects -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Designers -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Design -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Decorative arts -- New York (State) -- New York -- Exhibitions
label: Topic
content: Wallpaper -- Design
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Papers were donated in 1974 by William E. Katzenbach. Microfilmed material was donated 1983-1984 by Katzenbach's widow, Lois Katzenbach, and microfilmed in 1987.
creator: label: Creator
content: Katzenbach, William
setName: label: See more items in
content: William E. Katzenbach papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of William E. Katzenbach measure 4.2 linear feet and date from circa 1840-1975. They illustrate his career through correspondence, exhibition files, personal business records, printed and photographic material, and artwork.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: William E. Katzenbach (1904-1975) was a designer and lecturer who worked mainly in New York. 


Katzenbach was born in Union, New Jersey on August 30, and grew up in Summit, New Jersey. In 1939, he moved to New York City, and lived in Palisades, Rockland, New York in 1945. Katzenbach attended Princeton and Oxford Universities, and in 1928 he cofounded Katzenbach and Warren Incorporated, where he produced wallpaper. The company was the sole licensed manufacturer of Colonial Williamsburg representative wallpapers. He and his wife, Lois Carrell, also wrote two books together titled The Practical Book of American Wallpaper (1951) and Cooking Plain and Fancy for Family and Friends (1966). Katzenbach was also coordinator of the Decorative Arts Exhibition Program of the American Federation of Arts.


Katzenbach died on December 25, 1975 in Oak Bluffs, Dukes, Massachusetts at the age of seventy-one.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.2 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1840-1975
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.katzwill
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection consists of six series.

Series 1: Correspondence, circa 1963-1971 (1 Linear foot: Box 1)

Series 2: Exhibition Files, circa 1963-1971 (.8 Linear feet: Box 2)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, circa 1962-1970 (.4 Linear feet: Box 2 and BV 6)

Series 4: Printed Material , circa 1934-1975 (1.3 Linear feet: Boxes 3-4)

Series 5: Photographic Material, circa 1840-1970 (.1 Linear feet: Box 5)

Series 6: Artwork, circa 1945-1960 (.6 Linear feet: Box 5 and RD 7)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: This collection was processed, and a finding aid prepared, by Allessandra Liberati in 2023.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels 3891 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The William E. Katzenbach papers measure 4.2 linear feet and date from circa 1840-1975. Correspondence is with colleagues, family, and friends. Exhibition files includes materials related to two exhibitions by Katzenbach Threads of History and Please Be Seated. Included are correspondence with sponsors, craftsmen, the textile and furniture industries, and museums as well as forty photographs of the exhibits, business records, and printed materials. Personal business records include a set of biographical notes, meeting minutes for the Advisory Board of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design, two scrapbooks of textile samples, and financial records for sales. 


Printed material includes exhibition catalogs, copies of the monthly publication Appalachia, materials related to the Appalachia region, and material regarding the American Federation of Arts and The Decorative Arts Exhibition Program. Photographic material includes photographs of Worthington Whittredge and one of his wife, Euphemia Foote Whittredge, five photographs, including one color transparency, of William and Lois Katzenbach and their children and photographs of exhibitions.  Artwork includes four silkscreened samples of wallpaper with artwork designed by Alexander Calder, Henri Matisse, Roberto Matta, and Joan Miro, as well as a roll of wallpaper samples by Katzenbach.