series 3 - Historical photographs

Identity area

Reference code

US NNFIT SC.FITA.0.3

Title

Historical photographs

Date(s)

  • 1944-1989, bulk 1950s-1970s (Creation)

Level of description

series

Extent and medium

4 linear feet (62 folders)

Context area

Name of creator

(1944-)

Administrative history

The Fashion Institute of Technology was the brainchild of the educator Mortimer C. Ritter and the menswear manufacturer Max Meyer. The school opened in 1944 on the top two floors of the High School of Needle Trades. By 1951, there was enough support for the institute as well as students enrolled to warrant a degree program at FIT. That year, the school was granted the right to award an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree. FIT received accreditation in 1957 and introduced a variety of courses, including Liberal Arts. During the 1960s, the curriculum grew to include interior design, advertising, and photography as subjects taught at the school. The following decade saw the school expanding to provide Bachelor's (in 1975) and Master's (1985) degree's, after years of lobbying State University Board of Education. FIT can boast about being the first to offer unique degrees in fields taught no where else in the U.S., such as Toy Design and Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design. There are 48 degree programs in total at FIT as of October 2020.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

The departmental source of these photographs is undocumented.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

A collection of photographs documenting the Fashion Institute of Technology from its founding to the late 1980s.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Permanent

Accruals

System of arrangement

Chronological by year and month when information is available. Otherwise organized by program. The collection is broken down into two subseries: Fashion Institute of Technology historical photographs and Construction documentation.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Access is open to researchers by appointment at the Fashion Institute of Technology Library, Department of Special Collections and College Archives. If you have any questions, or wish to schedule an appointment contact us at fitlibsparc@fitnyc.edu or call (212) 217-4385.

Conditions governing reproduction

The Department of Special Collections and FIT Archives does not own copyright for all material held in its physical custody. It is the researcher's obligation to abide by and satisfy copyright law (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#108) when copying or using materials (including digital materials) found in or made available from the department. When possible, the department will inform a researcher about the copyright status of material, the researcher's obligations with regard to such material, and, wherever possible, the owner or owners of the copyrights. Any and all reproduction of originals is at the archivist's discretion.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

The Library of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Department of Special Collections and FIT Archives, 27th St. at 7th Ave., NY, NY , USA, 10001

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Level of detail

Full

Dates of creation revision deletion

Arrangement, description, and/or archival processing by J.E. Molly Seegers, 2016
Additional description, and/or archival processing by Allyn Young and Samantha Levin, 2019

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Archivist's note

    Arrangement, description, and/or archival processing by J.E. Molly Seegers, FIT, NY, NY, USA.

    Archivist's note

    Many photographs in this collection are duplicates of images in the SEC photograph collection (US.NNFIT.SC.FITA.5.2.4.etc.).

    Accession area