Armand G. Winfield Papers
name: label: Donor
content: Winfield, Armand G.
label: Names
content: Affordable House (Norwich, Conn.)
label: Names
content: California. Department of Industrial Relations. Committee on Attitude Response and Evaluation
label: Names
content: Cooper-Hewitt Design Archive
label: Names
content: New Mexico. Corrections Dept.
label: Names
content: New York World's Fair (1939-1940 : New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Society of Plastics Engineers
label: Names
content: United Nations Industrial Development Organization
label: Names
content: Winfield Fine Art in Jewelry (Firm)
place: label: Place
content: Developing countries
label: Place
content: Midland (Tex.)
label: Place
content: Scott Air Force Base (Ill.)
topic: label: Occupation
content: Consultants
label: Occupation
content: Industrial designers -- United States
label: Occupation
content: Plastics designers -- United States
label: Topic
content: Architecture and society
label: Topic
content: Architectural design
label: Topic
content: Engineers -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Housing
label: Topic
content: Mechanical engineering and engineers
label: Topic
content: Plastics in building
label: Topic
content: Plastics industry and trade -- Sources -- History -- 20th century -- United States
label: Topic
content: Plastics -- Research
label: Topic
content: Plastics as art material
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: All materials were donated to the museum by Armand G. Winfield in 1992. Transferred to the Archives Center in 2012.
creator: label: Donor
content: Winfield, Armand G.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Armand G. Winfield Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection documents the career of plastics pioneer Armand G. Winfield primary focusing on his work with the Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere, Incorporated (CARE) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
bioghist: label: Biographical
content: Armand Gordon Winfield was a plastics engineer born to Benjamin Lionel [Weinfeld] Winfield (1894-1970) and Helen Oscar Winfield (December 14, 1896-July 1985) on December 28, 1919, in Chicago, Cook, Illinois. He contributed to the field of plastics and its various uses through his work as a researcher, educator, inventor, and international consultant.  Winfield held several faculty positions and served as a lecturer at colleges and universities.  He wrote an astonishing number of publications and papers, obtained patents and trademarks, was the recipient of many awards, and was retained as a consultant for international organizations. Following a lifetime of accomplishments and honors Winfield died on August 18, 2009, at the age of eighty-nine in Albuquerque, Bernalillo, New Mexico.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 18 Cubic feet (22 boxes, 2 mapcase folders, 1 film)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1959-1998, undated
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1271
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Agreements
label: Type
content: Blueprints
label: Type
content: Builder's models
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Design patents
label: Type
content: Drawings
label: Type
content: Invoices
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Reports
label: Type
content: Samples
label: Type
content: 16mm motion picture film
label: Type
content: Sketches
label: Type
content: Stage designs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Collection is arranged in five series.

Series 1: Biographical and Professional Materials, 1959-2002, undated

Series 2: Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere, Incorporated (CARE), 1972-1974, undated

Series 3: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), 1974-1978, undated

Series 4: Samples, 1960-1977, undated

Series 5: David Podell Photographs, 1960-1977
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist, 2025.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Agreements
label: Genre/Form
content: Blueprints
label: Genre/Form
content: Builder's models
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence
label: Genre/Form
content: Design patents
label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
label: Genre/Form
content: Invoices -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Reports -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Samples -- 1920-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: 16mm motion picture film
label: Genre/Form
content: Sketches
label: Genre/Form
content: Stage designs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Collection documents Winfield's work in the plastics field and includes correspondence, invoices, sketches, contracts and agreements, research materials, brochures, photographic materials, drawings, patents, reports, a workbook, draft reports, booklets, film, models, and plastic samples.  The materials relate to the design process and use of plastics through the work of Winfield as a consultant, inventor, and experimenter. It includes Winfield's work in the plastics field as it relates to architecture, building, and design.  In addition, there is a small amount of biographical information relating to Winfield.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution


Leo H. Baekeland Papers, NMAH.AC.0005

J. Harry DuBois Collection on the History of Plastics, NMAH.AC.0008

Celluloid Corporation Records, NMAH.AC.0009

Albany Billiard Ball Company Records, NMAH.AC.0011

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Plastics, NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Plastics

Recollections of Leonard Becker, NMAH.AC.0248

Earl S. Tupper Papers, NMAH.AC.0470

Iowa Button Industry Collection, NMAH.AC.0504

Formica Collection, NMAH.AC.0565

Ann and Thomas Damigella Collection, 1951-1997, NMAH.AC.0583

Aladdin Industries, Incorporated Records, NMAH.AC.0844

Nordic Ware Records, NMAH.AC.0980

Plastics Pioneers Association Interviews, NMAH.AC.1235

Dr. Robert H. Ivy Papers, NMAH.AC.1411

National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution


Frances Cooke Macgregor Papers, NAA.1994-16

Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution


Helen Treadwell Papers, 1910-1971, AAA.treahele

Dorothy Paris Papers, 1917-1979, AAA.paridoro

Other Repositories


Armand G. Winfield Papers, 1957-1991, Syracuse University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center 

Armand G. Winfield Papers, 1921-1991, MSS-538-BC, University of New Mexico (UNM), Library Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections


Armand Winfield Collection, 1943-2003 (bulk dates: 1939-1940), Collection number 0045, Catalog number CHCU 110371, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, National Park Service