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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: 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
Horizontal rectangle. Architectural ruins, open to the sky, used as setting for the Nativity group, seen near center, middleground. Rays of light rise from the figure of the Child. Shepherd kneels in foreground. Woman with bundle on her head, at right.
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: Collecting Before the Alarm Clock Rings
This month in Cooper Hewitt Short Stories, Caitlin Condell, Associate Curator and Head of Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design at Cooper Hewitt, takes us to Italy to discuss one of the most significant contributions of European drawings in the early days of Cooper Hewitt's collection: the addition of the Giovanni Piancastelli collection.
Read Time
11 minutes
Posted By
Caitlin Condell
Date
June 1, 2017
Calvin S. Hathaway: War Hero and Cooper Union Museum Director
In last month’s Cooper Hewitt Short Story, the exuberant personality of Robert Winthrop Chanler unfolded in a large gift of illustrated books to Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library. May’s Short Story celebrates the curatorial vision that brought a professional edge to the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, that of Calvin Hathaway. Margery...
Read Time
9 minutes
Posted By
Margery Masinter
Date
April 24, 2017
Cooper Hewitt Short Stories: The Fantastic Beasts of Robert Winthrop Chanler
In the last Cooper Hewitt Short Story, we tweeted about birdcages and their passionate collector, Alexander Drake. April’s Short Story—by Stephen Van Dyk, Head Librarian at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Library—confronts birds and beasts not confined to cages, but rather fantastical interiors and the illustrated pages of library books. Margery Masinter, Trustee, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian...
Read Time
9 minutes
Posted By
Stephen Van Dyk
Date
April 3, 2017