about

Originally founded by Sarah and Eleanor Hewitt at the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration in 1897, Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection has come together through “a wonderful series of happenings” (Eleanor G. Hewitt, The Making of a Modern Museum, 1919). Cooper Hewitt Short Stories highlights important acquisitions to the collection, as well as key figures that contributed these gifts and shaped the museum’s development. Building on the research and storytelling of the blog series Meet the Hewitts, Short Stories reveals the vibrant social circle that enriched Cooper Hewitt’s collection.

Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Erskine Hewitt
In our last Short Story, we perused children’s books by great designers donated by the Kean sisters. This month, staying in the theme of sibling charity, we profile another Hewitt who, in his own way, made a substantial contribution to Cooper Hewitt: Erskine Hewitt! In managing his family’s estates, particularly those of his sisters Sarah...
Read Time
9 minutes
Posted By
Margery Masinter
Date
February 27, 2019
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Sarah & Eleanor, Elizabeth & Lucy
In last month’s Short Story, Josephine Rodgers introduced us to the pastel masterpieces of Carroll Beckwith, as well as his friendship with the Hewitt sisters, through a drawing of a mysterious young woman. This month, Nilda Lopez, Library Technician at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library, illustrates another Hewitt friend, Elizabeth d’Hauteville Kean, through her donations...
Read Time
6 minutes
Posted By
Nilda Lopez
Date
December 3, 2018
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Carroll Beckwith and the Hewitt Sisters
In our most recent Short Story, we looked at the friendship between the Hewitt and Carnegie families, and how those relationships still shape Cooper Hewitt today. This month, a research mystery catches our eye. Recently, curatorial researcher Josephine Rodgers brought our attention to a lovely portrait of a woman given to the museum in 1931...
Read Time
10 minutes
Posted By
Josephine Rodgers
Date
October 10, 2018
Composite image of two photographs. The left, a portrait of Peter Cooper. He is an older man with small glasses and a bushy white beard. He is pictured from the chest up, facing forward, and looking directly into the camera. On the right is a portrait of Andrew Carnegie. Also an older man, Carnegie has white hair and a white, groomed beard and mustache. He wears a three-piece black suit and a bow tie. He is pictured from the chest up, turned in three-quarter view, looking at the viewer.
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: The Hewitts & The Carnegies
In last month’s Short Story, Jodi Rodgers discussed the drawings of Robert Frederick Blum and the purveyance of American drawing through the Cooper Union Museum’s collection. This month, we address the “Who is Cooper?” and “Who is Hewitt?” and “Why Carnegie?” questions that often accompany introductions of Cooper Hewitt’s name and location. We investigate and...
Read Time
11 minutes
Posted By
Margery Masinter
Date
June 5, 2018
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Promoting American Art
In last month’s Short Story, we attended the weddings of Hewitt sister Amy Hewitt Green and that of her daughter Eleanor Margaret Green, who became Princess Viggo of Denmark. This month, researcher Josephine Rodgers discusses the introduction of American drawing into Cooper Hewitt’s collection through the work of Robert Frederick Blum. Margery Masinter, Trustee, Cooper...
Read Time
9 minutes
Posted By
Josephine Rodgers
Date
May 2, 2018
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: A Tale of Two Weddings
On last month’s Short Story, curator Sarah Coffin paraded us through the Gilded Age decadence that led to a substantial gift of decorative arts to Cooper Hewitt’s collection from Annie Schermerhorn Kane. Bells for a Royal Wedding in London will ring in a few weeks. We hope you enjoy our short story on two beautiful...
Read Time
7 minutes
Posted By
Margery Masinter
Date
April 2, 2018
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: A Formidable Inheritance from a Gilded Age
In last month’s Short Story, we feasted on dazzling jewelry designs from Cooper Hewitt’s collection. This month, Sarah Coffin, curator and head of product design and decorative arts, introduces us to Mr. and Mrs. John Innes Kane, donors of some of Cooper Hewitt’s most important decorative art pieces. Margery Masinter, Trustee, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design...
Read Time
11 minutes
Posted By
Sarah D. Coffin
Date
February 28, 2018
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Designs for Jewelry
In last month’s Cooper Hewitt Short Story, we roamed the halls of the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration in 1939, exploring past and present methods of collection display. This month, Julie Pastor, curatorial assistant at Cooper Hewitt, lavishes us with drawings of jewelry, many collected by the Hewitt Sisters, from the holdings...
Read Time
9 minutes
Posted By
Julie Pastor
Date
January 31, 2018
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Cooper Union in Black & White
In last month’s Cooper Hewitt Short Story, wallcoverings curator Greg Herringshaw introduced different styles of wallcoverings collected by the Hewitt sisters that are now housed in Cooper Hewitt’s expansive collection. This month, Forrest Pelsue, publishing master’s fellow in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies at Parsons Paris, takes us on a journey to 1939...
Read Time
9 minutes
Posted By
Matthew Kennedy
Date
January 4, 2018
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Hewitt Sisters Collect Wallcoverings
In last month’s Cooper Hewitt Short Story, we buttoned up with a rousing exploration of the history of the button as illustrated by Cooper Hewitt’s expansive collection. This month, we delve into the uniquely Cooper Hewitt collection of historical and contemporary wallcoverings. Greg Herringshaw, the museum’s curator of wallcoverings, outlines three key areas collected by...
Read Time
8 minutes
Posted By
Gregory Herringshaw
Date
December 6, 2017
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Button, Button, We’ve Got the Button(s)!
In last month’s Short Story, Emily Orr, Cooper Hewitt’s assistant curator of modern and contemporary design, wrote about the history of store window display.  In recognition of National Button Day on November 16, this month’s story celebrates the Cooper Hewitt collection of buttons. Margery Masinter, Trustee, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Sue Shutte, Historian at...
Read Time
7 minutes
Posted By
Margery Masinter
Date
November 1, 2017
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Watch This Window
In last month’s Short Story, Matthew Kennedy paraded us through the theatrical follies of the Hewitts, as well as the vivid and varied theatrical design collection of Cooper Hewitt. This month, Emily Orr, Cooper Hewitt’s assistant curator of modern and contemporary American design,  introduces us to the chic and imaginative world of store window displays...
Read Time
13 minutes
Posted By
Emily Orr
Date
October 4, 2017
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Spotlight on Theater
In last month’s Short Story, Ringwood Historian Sue Shutte cleverly drew parallels between the collections of Ringwood Manor and Cooper Hewitt, giving insight to the Hewitt family’s personal style. In this month’s short story—or more of a collection spotlight—we look at more passions of Sarah and Eleanor and how they emanate through Cooper Hewitt’s collection:...
Read Time
11 minutes
Posted By
Matthew Kennedy
Date
September 6, 2017
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: A Manor of Collecting
In last month’s Cooper Hewitt Short Story, Matthew Kennedy revisited the Ringwood Manor guest books, pulling out delightful images that spoke to the summer season at the Hewitt’s country estate. In this month’s segment, Ringwood Manor historian Sue Shutte explores Cooper Hewitt’s extensive online collection to find enticing parallels to those items found in the...
Read Time
8 minutes
Posted By
Matthew Kennedy
Date
August 3, 2017
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Ringwood Guest Books Revisited
In last month’s Cooper Hewitt Short Story we delved into the expansive drawings collection of Italian artist and collector Giovanni Piancastelli. But now, on to summer… #beachreads Margery Masinter, Trustee, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Sue Shutte, Historian at Ringwood Manor Matthew Kennedy, Publishing Associate, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Two years ago, we wandered...
Read Time
6 minutes
Posted By
Matthew Kennedy
Date
July 6, 2017