Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Lili Réthi Papers
Rethi, Lili, 1894-1969
NMAH.AC.0749
Archival Resource Key
8 Cubic feet
21 boxes, 8 map folders
1918-1969
Papers document artist and illustrator Lili Réthi who was best known for her drawings of industrial subjects such as bridges, construction scenes and mines.
Some materials in Arabic, German, Greek, French, Persian, and Spanish.
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was bequeathed by Lili Réthi to the United States National Museum (now known as the National Museum of American History) through Herbert G. Fenison in 1971.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1: Biographical Materials, 1928-1968
Series 2: Projects, 1918-1969
Series 3: Exhibits, 1940-1943, 1965
Series 4: Portraits, 1919-1965
Series 5: Illustrated Books, 1916-1969
Biographical / Historical
Lilly (Lili) Maria Réthi (1894-1969) was born in Vienna, Austria to Leopold Réthi (1857-1924), a professor of medicine and Marie née Mauther (1863-1955). Réthi had one sister, Elizabeth "Elsie" (1889-1970). Lili attended the Viennese Kunstschule für Frauen und Mädchen (The Art School for Women and Girls), established in 1897. The school existed until 1945, but it closed to Jewish women artists in 1938, when the school was subordinated to the municipality of Vienna and used to inculcate Nazi ideology. (Ben-Eli, 1999). Réthi learned to sketch the human form at the Vienna Anatomical Institute—training, no doubt, that her physician father encouraged. This training, which sharpened her sense of form and function, helped her later when drawing complicated machinery and illustrating Victor Hecht's book,
Leitfaden der Physikalisch-Therapeutischen, (Guide to Physical Therapy, 1916). Réthi became fascinated with construction at a young age. "When I was a little girl in Vienna, I used to take walks and watch men building houses. I was fascinated by the men working as well as the excitement of watching the building grow." (Constructor, December 1967, page 25) Her burgeoning interest would grow, and she became one of the best-known illustrators of engineering, construction, and industrial sites. She was named a Royal Society of Art Fellow in 1961.
During the inter-war years (1918-1939) Réthi interrupted her academic studies to work across Europe, illustrating sites in Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. The bulk of her work captured coal mines, coal yards, factories, chemical plants, blast furnaces, iron foundries, shipyards, steel production, buildings, aircraft, and bridges.
In 1929, Réthi moved to Berlin where she worked recording engineering projects and was an illustrator for the magazine "Der Bücherkreis" (
Book Circle). She illustrated many of the "Dortmunder Union" activities during this period. The Union, a vertically integrated mining group (mining and iron and steel production), was founded in 1872 and was located in the Ruhr area of Germany. This work for the Union resulted in an exhibition in Berlin at the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (1931) and "Wien- Berlin: Das Gesicht zwei Städte" (Vienna and Berlin: The Face of Two Cities") (1932); at the World Power Conference in Stockholm (1933); and the Technical Museum of Vienna (1934). While in the Ruhr, Rethi documented workers, elevating their significance as subjects in their own right. She recorded the working conditions, many of which depicted harsh and dangerous physical labor. Her published work Germinal (1924) highlighted, through seven lithographs, the terrible conditions in French mines. Her work with the Union provided exposure and elevated her growing artistic status, especially with the Third Reich. With war imminent in Europe, the erosion of her personal rights as a Jewish woman, and a commission invitation by Hermann Göring to create propaganda images for the Nazi Regime, she left for England, never to return to her homeland in Austria.
Her portfolio of work is immense and while she primarily focused on engineering, industrial and construction sites, trade publications, industry magazines and newspapers, she branched into other areas. She illustrated the German version of Upton Sinclair´s
Letters to Judd, an American Workingman (Briefe an einen Arbeiter, Leipzig- Wien, 1932) and was widely published in Austrian, Danish and German newspapers such as Aften-Avisen, Bergland Wien, Børsen, Der Welt Spiegel, Beitbilder, and VDI Nachrichten. Later projects included books, primarily for children, commissions to sketch churches, portraits of individuals, illustrated book plates, pamphlets, and Christmas cards. Catholic entities such as St. John the Divine and the Capuchin Friars in New York, also sought her services to sketch church interiors and illustrate brochures. And, in 1950, Réthi sketched the interior renovation (1948-1952) of the White House during the Truman Administration.
The
Illustrated London News hired Réthi in 1937 to sketch the coronation of King George. While in England, she also created sketches for a booklet issued by the London, North Eastern Railway (L.N.E.R.) posters for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (L.M.S.) and the General Post Office (GPO): Post Office Motor Transport Depot (1937); the Post Office Underground Mail Train (1935); and LMS Crewe Works, Building Coronation Class Engine (1937). The Illustrated London News sent her to the 1939 New York World's Fair where her introduction and love of New York City was launched. Réthi arrived in the United States on March 23, 1939, and became a citizen in 1944.
In the United States, Réthi continued illustrating engineering and construction activities, many of which were major post war projects. Réthi was attracted to the great industrial scene of 1940s America, and New York City provided a fertile location for most of her projects. The first public showing of her work in the United States was at the Architectural League of New York (1940) and her "American Industry at War" exhibit was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1943). She documented some of the most significant projects in North America such as the New York City Pavilion at the World's Fair (1964), the United Nations Building (1949), the Pan Am Building (1962), Pennsylvania Station (1965), and the World Trade Center (1967-1968).
She had commissions from Surveyer, Nenniger & Chênevert (an engineering and construction firm that used her images on company Christmas cards), Sperry Gyroscope Company, U.S. Tobacco Company, Turner Construction, Walsh Construction, Atlas Steel Plant, Bliss Manufacturing, George A. Fuller Company, Standard Chemicals, and the United States Pipe and Foundry Company, to name a few.
Réthi also worked with several book publishers, especially, McGraw-Hill and Harcourt Brace. She illustrated over 40 books, many for children. Her work also appeared on the covers of many trade publications and magazines such as
Pencil Points, Service, Factory, Product Engineering, and the Journal of the American Society of Automotive Engineers. Réthi was one of a few, if not the only female artist who devoted her career to portraying engineering works.
Preferred Citation
Lili Réthi Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2022.
An arrangement scheme for the papers was imposed during processing in the absence of a usable original order. Original file folder titles were retained in most cases.
Related Materials
Materials at the Smithsonian Institution
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Bridges Reference Collection, NMAH.AC.1577
Contains negatives and prints of drawings for the Verranzo-Narrows Bridge, New York, New York
Smithsonian Instituton Archives
Records, circa 1948-1988
Contains documentation about a Lili Réthi exhibit, 1964-1965, curated by the then Museum of the History of Technology.
Archives of American Art
Associated American Artists Records, circa 1934-1983
Includes three file folders in the Series: Artists Files about Lili Réthi.
Materials at Other Organizations
Hagley Museum and Library
Sperry Gyroscope Company Division photographs and films (1986-273)
Contains Lili Réthi graphic arts, 1943, consisting of 24 reproductions.
Scope and Contents
Drawings, sketches, watercolors, biographical material, photographs, printed material, correspondence and books relating to the career of artist and illustrator Lili Réthi. The bulk of the collection consists of originals and copies of Réthi's drawings and sketches for various projects in Europe and the United States.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Artists
Book illustrators
Bookplates
Books -- 20th century
Bridges
Buildings
Christmas cards
Construction
Construction and civil engineering
Drawings -- 20th century
Engineering -- 20th century
Illustrated books, Children's
Illustrators
Newspaper clippings
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 19th-20th century
Transcripts -- 20th century
Women artists -- United States
Watercolor drawings
Biographical Materials
Archival Resource Key
1928-1968
Scope and Contents
Includes magazine and newspaper articles about Réthi and two interviews in German--Voice of America (1964) and Radio Salzburg (1954-1955). Photographs depict Réthi working, mostly on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Additional photographs of Réthi working can be found in Box 4, Folder 19.
Biographical Materials
Archival Resource Key
1935-1968
1
1
Radio Salzburg interview with Lili Réthi
Archival Resource Key
1954-1955
1
2
Photographs of Lili Réthi
Archival Resource Key
1928-1964
1
3
20
4
Photographs of Lili Réthi
Royal Society of Arts, London (membership)
Archival Resource Key
undated
18
1
Projects
Archival Resource Key
1918-1969
Scope and Contents
This series is arranged alphabetically by project and consists primarily of final drawings, both originals and copies. Researchers seeking documentation about New York City projects should also consult the file "New York, New York buildings" (Box 21, Folder 8).
American Heritage
Archival Resource Key
1957
1
4
Aarhus Oliefabrik, Denmark
Archival Resource Key
1935
18
2
Albertina, Vienna, Austria
Archival Resource Key
undated
18
4
American Management Association
Archival Resource Key
1944-1945
1
5
American Petroleum Institute Quarterly
Archival Resource Key
1944 July
1
6
American Society of Civil Engineers
Archival Resource Key
1939-1966
1
7
American Society of Mechanical Engineering
Archival Resource Key
1939
1
8
Army-Navy "E" Award to Contractors for Dry Docks
Archival Resource Key
1943
1
9
Arthur Kill Bridge
Archival Resource Key
1957
1
10
Austria (sketches and drawings of)
Archival Resource Key
1918, 1944, undated
1
11
E.W. Bliss Company, Detroit, Michigan
Archival Resource Key
circa 1950s
18
5
Bookplates (Ex Libris)
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
12
Bookplates (Ex Libris)
British Railway/British General Post Office
Archival Resource Key
1937
1
13
Bristol Laboratories Fermentation Department, Syracuse, New York
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
14
Austrian Roman Catholic clergy
Archival Resource Key
1958
1
15
Baseball stadium, projected design
Archival Resource Key
1954
1
16
Bank of England
Archival Resource Key
1937
1
17
Belgium, blast furnance
Archival Resource Key
1930
1
18
Brooklyn Battery Tunnel construction
Archival Resource Key
1947
1
19
Capuchin Brothers, St. John's Friary, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1938, 1964
1
20
Scope and Contents
Includes copies of the
Capuchin Vocation Grapevine newsletter and brochures illustrated by Réthi.
Castle Clinton National Monument, New York
Archival Resource Key
1953
1
21
Chase Manhattan Bank
Archival Resource Key
1959, 1962
1
22
Christmas cards
Archival Resource Key
1940s
1
23
Church of Maria Treu [Piarist Church], Vienna, Austria
Archival Resource Key
1936
1
24
Clark-Willow Highway Interchange, Cleveland, Ohio (featured in Engineering News Record)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960s
7
The Cloisters (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960s
21
2
"Copper, cheapest and best roofing" (advertisement in German)
Archival Resource Key
undated
21
3
Court House Square, Denver, Colorado
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
25
Court of Seven Seas (trade and cultural center), Santa Cruz, California
Archival Resource Key
1962
1
26
Czechoslovakia
Archival Resource Key
1920s
18
7
Czechoslovakia (Prague sketches)
Archival Resource Key
1927-1929
19
14
Czechoslovakia (Prague sketches)
Archival Resource Key
1927-1929
19
15
Czechoslovakia (Prague sketches)
Archival Resource Key
1927-1929
20
1
Czechoslovakia (Prague sketches)
Archival Resource Key
1927-1929, 1967
20
2
Scope and Contents
Includes a
New York Times article about Prague from 1967.
Danish Government Railways
Archival Resource Key
1935
1
27
Denmark
Archival Resource Key
circa 1930s
1
28
Deutsche Ritterordenskirche [Church of Teutonic Order], Vienna, Austria
Archival Resource Key
1936
1
29
Diocese Utah (stained glass window painting)
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
30
Eagle Pencil Company, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1944
1
31
Eastern Stainless Steel Plant, Baltimore, Maryland
Archival Resource Key
undated
21
5
Encyclopedia Americana
Archival Resource Key
1955
1
32
Engineering Mining Journal (covers)
Archival Resource Key
1944-1945
1
33
Engineering News Record
Archival Resource Key
1940-1941
1
34
Europe (drawings)
Archival Resource Key
1931-1933
2
1
Europe (drawings)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1918-1939
16
Scope and Contents
Drawings consist of newspaper and magazine clippings that commissioned and/or featured Réthi's work. The majority of the materials are from German publications and some depict indivdiuals working. Some drawings depict Chinese and Turkish individuals. See boxes 16 and 17.
Europe (drawings)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1918-1939
17
Europe (drawings)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1918-1930s
18
9
Europe (drawings)
Archival Resource Key
1928-1949
21
10
Factory Management and Maintenance (covers)
Archival Resource Key
1939-1940
2
2
Factory Management and Maintenance (covers)
Scope and Contents
Associated Museum accession numbers: 23279.24; 23279.26; and 23279.44.
Fairy Tales (drawings)
Archival Resource Key
circa late 1920s
2
3
H.K. Ferguson Company
Archival Resource Key
1947-1948
18
11
Flushing Meadow Zoo (Queens Zoo), New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1966
2
4
France (Strasbourg Cathedral)
Archival Resource Key
circa 1930s
2
5
Ford's Theatre, Washington, DC
Archival Resource Key
1965
2
6
George A. Fuller Company
Archival Resource Key
1942-1943
18
12
General Post Office, Post Office Underground Mail Train, London
Archival Resource Key
1 Color lithograph
40 in x 50 in
1935
8
Scope and Contents
Color lithograph depicting a narrow gauge automated mail train at a station. Post Office workers are loading and unloading containers of mail.
Germany (murals)
Archival Resource Key
1930
2
7
Germany (murals)
Germany (drawings)
Archival Resource Key
1920s-1930s
2
8
Scope and Contents
File consists of magazine and newspapers, primarily in German, that published Réthi's work documenting German industrial and construction sites.
Germany (drawings)
Archival Resource Key
2
9
Germany (drawings)
Germinal
Archival Resource Key
18
13
Scope and Contents
Published work "Germinal" (1924) highlighted, through seven lithographs, the terrible conditions in French mines.
Tangermünde, Germany (drawings of buildings featured in Beitbilder)
Archival Resource Key
circa early 1930s
7
Berlin, Germany (drawings of buildings)
Archival Resource Key
early 1930s
7
Gibbs Hill, Inc., Consulting Engineers
Archival Resource Key
1961
19
1
Goethe Haus, Weimar, Germany
Archival Resource Key
1933
2
10
Gowanus Parkway, Brooklyn, New York
Archival Resource Key
1941
2
11
Graf Zeppelin (article about)
Archival Resource Key
1934
21
9
Die Graphischen Künste
Archival Resource Key
1921
21
4
Die Graphischen Künste
Archival Resource Key
1932
21
4
Holland (windmill)
Archival Resource Key
1924
2
12
House of Representatives, underground parking garage, Washington, DC
Archival Resource Key
1966
2
13
Horizon Magazine
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960s
2
14
House of Commons, London, England
Archival Resource Key
1957
2
15
Howrah Bridge, Calcutta, India
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
16
Illustrated London News
Archival Resource Key
1937 May
19
2
Illustrated London News
Archival Resource Key
1937 August
19
3
Illustrated London News
Archival Resource Key
1937 October
19
4
Illustrated London News
Archival Resource Key
1937 December
19
5
Illustrated London News
Archival Resource Key
1939 March
19
6
Illustrated London News
Archival Resource Key
1939 April
19
7
Illustrated London News
Illustrated London News
Archival Resource Key
1949 October
19
8
Industrial Scientific Company
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
17
International Advertising Art
Archival Resource Key
1930, 1933
19
9
Israel
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
18
Scope and Contents
Includes a watercolor and copy print of a map.
Heinrich Jenssen (Chocoladefabriek)
Archival Resource Key
1935
19
10
Florence, Italy
Archival Resource Key
undated
3
1
Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960s
3
2
19
12
Lever Brothers Company
Archival Resource Key
undated
3
3
Lincoln Center Performing Arts Center, New York
Archival Resource Key
1963
3
4
Little Belt Bridge, Denmark
Archival Resource Key
1941
19
13
LMS Crewe Works, Building Coronation Class Engine
Archival Resource Key
1 Color lithograph
40 in x 50 in
1937
8
London North Eastern Railway (brochure)
Archival Resource Key
1937
3
5
Mackinac Bridge, Michigan
Archival Resource Key
undated
3
6
Manicouagan (Manic) Dam, Quebec, Canada
Archival Resource Key
1962-1969
3
7
Maracaibo breakwater, Venezuela
Archival Resource Key
undated
3
8
Maria am Gestade [Mary at the Shore] Church, Vienna
Archival Resource Key
1936
3
9
McGraw Hill Building, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1943
3
10
McGraw Hill Publishing
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960s
21
7
Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (cover)
Archival Resource Key
1943
3
11
Metropolitan Museum of Art (drawings of)
Archival Resource Key
1940s
3
12
Scope and Contents
File includes original pencil sketeches. Associated Museum accession numbers: 23279.28; 23279.29; 23279.30; 23279.31; 23279.32; 23279.33; 23279.34; 23279.35; 23279.36; 23279.37; 23279.38; and 23279.39.
Miraflores Loop, Lima, Peru
Archival Resource Key
undated
3
13
Monorail Project, San Francisco, California
Archival Resource Key
undated
3
14
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
Archival Resource Key
1960
3
15
Mural designs
Archival Resource Key
circa 1940s
3
16
New Eastern Dry Dock, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Archival Resource Key
1942
3
17
New York, New York (buildings and sites)
Archival Resource Key
1940s
21
8
New York Telephone Company, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1962
3
18
New York World's Fair
Archival Resource Key
1963-1965
3
19
Pan Am Building
Archival Resource Key
1962
3
20
Pennsylvania Station, New York
Archival Resource Key
1965
3
21
The Plaza, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
[1940s?]
3
22
Pinto Island Shipways, Alabama
Archival Resource Key
1945
21
9
Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Archival Resource Key
7
Post Office Motor Transport Depot
Archival Resource Key
1 Color lithograph
40 in x 50 in
1937
8
Power (cover)
Archival Resource Key
1940-09
3
23
Product Engineering
Archival Resource Key
1941-1943
3
24
Product Engineering
Scope and Contents
Associated Museum accession number 23279.27.
Radio City Music Hall, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1939
3
25
Red Hill, Hawaii (Pacific Naval Air Base)
Archival Resource Key
1945
3
26
Reichsbrucke Bridge, Vienna, Austria
Archival Resource Key
[1938?]
3
27
Rheinfelden Power Station, Switzerland
Archival Resource Key
1931
3
28
Fred Rudge, Inc., Community Surveyors, Inc.
Archival Resource Key
circa 1960s
3
29
Sealand Terminal, Stein-Davies Corp., Brooklyn, New York
Archival Resource Key
1955
3
30
Service
Archival Resource Key
1946-1949, 1955, 1957
20
4
Simmons Machine Tools Corporation, Albany, New York
Archival Resource Key
1943
20
5
Ships (covers)
Archival Resource Key
1944-1945
3
31
Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc. (covers)
Archival Resource Key
1945-1949
3
32
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal
Archival Resource Key
1945-1949
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1945 April
1
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22845
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
pencil
22 in x 29 in
1945 July
1
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22846
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
pencil
22 in x 29 in
1945 August
1
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22847
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
pencil
22 in x 29 in
1945 September
1
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22848
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
pencil
22 in x 29 in
1945 November
1
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22849
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
pencil
22 in x 29 in
1946 February
1
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22850
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
pencil
22 in x 29 in
1946 March
1
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22851
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
pencil
22 in x 29 in
1946 April
1
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22852
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1946 May
2
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22853
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1946 June
2
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22854
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1946 July
2
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22855
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1946 August
2
Scope and Contents
Accession No.22856
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1946 October
2
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22857
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1946 November
2
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22858
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1946 December
2
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22859
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1947 February
2
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22860
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1947 April
3
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22861
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1947 June
3
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22862
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1947 August
3
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22863
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1947 September
3
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22864
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1947 October
3
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22865
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1947 November
3
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22866
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1947 December
3
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22867
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 January
3
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22868
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 February
4
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22869
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 March
4
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22870
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 April
4
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22871
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 May
4
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22872
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 June
4
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22873
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 August
4
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22874
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 September
4
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22875
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 October
4
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22876
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 November
5
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22877
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1948 December
5
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22878
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 January
5
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22879
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 February
5
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22880
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 March
5
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22881
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 April
5
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22882
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 May
5
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22883
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 June
5
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22884
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 September
6
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22885
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 October
6
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22886
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 November
6
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22887
Society of Automotive Engineers Journal, cover
Archival Resource Key
1 Drawings (visual works)
22 in x 29 in
1949 December
6
Scope and Contents
Accession No. 22888
Spencer, White and Prentis, Inc., Fifty Years of Engineering Accomplishments
Archival Resource Key
1969
4
1
Sperry Gyroscope Company, Inc., Nassau Plant
Archival Resource Key
1943
4
2
Sperry News, Viennese Artist Sketches Nassau Workers at Machines
Archival Resource Key
1943-02-15
7
Standard Chemical Limited
Archival Resource Key
undated
4
3
Steelways
Archival Resource Key
1945-05
4
4
[St. Franzicus?] Franciscan Church, Salzburg, Austria
Archival Resource Key
1938
4
5
St. John the Divine, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1941
4
6
St. Joseph's Cathedral, Hartford, Connecticut
Archival Resource Key
[1950s?]
4
7
St. Michael, Vienna, Austria
Archival Resource Key
1936
4
8
St. Peters Catholic Church, Vienna, Austria
Archival Resource Key
1935
4
9
St. Philip Neri
Archival Resource Key
undated
20
6
St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna, Austria
Archival Resource Key
1936
4
10
Surveyer, Nenniger & Chênevert (Christmas cards)
Archival Resource Key
1940s-1960s
4
11
Mr. and Mrs. [Sźemere?]
Archival Resource Key
20
7
Todd Shipyards Corporation
Archival Resource Key
20
8
TWA Terminal, Dulles International Airport
Archival Resource Key
1961
4
12
United Nations Building, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1949
4
13
Scope and Contents
File includes original pencil sketches. See associated Museum accession: 23279.53
United States Lines
Archival Resource Key
1968
4
14
United States Pipe and Foundry
Archival Resource Key
1940s
20
11
United States Pipe and Foundry
United States Post Office, Chicago, Illinois
Archival Resource Key
[1950s?]
4
15
United States Naval Academy Chapel
Archival Resource Key
1942
4
16
United States Tobacco Company
Archival Resource Key
1952
4
17
Vanguard Construction Corporation, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1947
20
12
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1962-1965
4
18
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York, New York
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York, New York (photographs)
Archival Resource Key
1961-1965
4
19
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York, New York (photographs)
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1960-1964
5
1
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York, New York
Scope and Contents
Includes photographs of Réthi working onsite.
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
20
13
Artist Watches Bridge Grow Up (Verrazano-Narrows Bridge)
Archival Resource Key
1964-07-18
7
Voice of America
Archival Resource Key
1951-1952
5
2
Scope and Contents
Réthi's illustrations are included in the Voice of America pamphlets for July-August 1951 and January-February 1952. The covers feature George Marshall and Ralph Bunche. Editions, in Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Persian and Spanish. A brief biographical sketch of Réthi is included.
Wallace Clark Center, International Management, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
[1960s?]
5
3
West Delaware Water Tunnel
Archival Resource Key
1959
20
14
White House renovation
Archival Resource Key
1952
5
5
Die Woche, Berlin
Archival Resource Key
18
8
World Trade Center, New York, New York
Archival Resource Key
1968-1969
5
6
21
12
Writers Roundtable (brochure)
Archival Resource Key
1964
5
7
Yellow-Tail Dam, Montana (Engineering News Record)
Archival Resource Key
20
15
Miscellaneous and unidentified buildings, Europe and United States
Archival Resource Key
1930s, 1955
Miscellaneous and unidentified buildings, Europe and United States
Archival Resource Key
1955
5
8
Trip to the Baltic Sea
Archival Resource Key
early 1930s
7
Unidentified
Archival Resource Key
20
16
Scope and Contents
Associated museum accession number 23279.10.
Unidentified landscape with river
Archival Resource Key
21
11
Sketches, unidentified
Archival Resource Key
undated
5
9
Scope and Contents
File contains original pencil and water color sketches. Associated Museum accession numbers: 23279.7; 23279.8; 23279.11; 23279.12; 23279.13; 23279.25; 23279.40; 23279.41; 23279.42; 23279.43; 23279.45; 23279.46; 23279.48; 23279.49; 23279.50; 23279.51; 23279.56; 23279.57; 23279.58; 23279.59; 23279.60; 23279.61; 23279.64; and 23279.65.
Drawings made for textbooks
Archival Resource Key
undated
5
10
Drawings for Spanish language publications
Archival Resource Key
undated
5
11
Newspaper clippings (Danish)
Archival Resource Key
1930s
5
12
Newspaper clippings (English)
Archival Resource Key
1932-1964
5
13
Newspaper clippings (German)
Archival Resource Key
1925-1933
Newspaper clippings (German)
Archival Resource Key
1931-1933
5
14
VDI Nachrichten featuring German shipyards
Archival Resource Key
1933-03-29
7
VDI Nachrichten featuring a Technical Fair in Leipzig
Archival Resource Key
1932-03-09
7
Organ of the North German Lloyd Bremen
Archival Resource Key
1925-03-15
7
Exhibits
Archival Resource Key
1940-1943, 1965
Scope and Contents
This series documents through black and white photographs, Réthi's exhibited work in the United States.
American Industry at War Exhibit, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Archival Resource Key
1943
5
15
Architectural League of New York
Archival Resource Key
1940
5
16
Smithsonian , Museum of History of Technology, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Archival Resource Key
1965
5
17
Society of German Engineers
Archival Resource Key
1942
5
18
Scope and Contents
File includes photographs.
Portraits
Archival Resource Key
1919-1965
Scope and Contents
This series consists of portraits Réthi sketched of individuals. Included are her mother, Marie Réthi, and her sister, Elizabeth "Elsie" Gyring Geiringer.
Hans Abel
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
1
Gertrund [Albrecht-Hans?]
Archival Resource Key
1959
6
2
Russell Allen
Archival Resource Key
1939
6
4
Alex [Augsberger?]
Archival Resource Key
1928
6
3
Fritz Augsberger
Archival Resource Key
1924
6
5
John Beach
Archival Resource Key
1941
6
6
Charlie Beichert
Archival Resource Key
1941
6
7
Fritz [Bouegel?]
Archival Resource Key
1927
18
6
Francis Boudy
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
8
W.R. Boyd, Jr.
Archival Resource Key
1944
6
9
Sir Harry Brittain
Archival Resource Key
1937
6
10
Merle Crowell
Archival Resource Key
1939
6
11
H. George Decancq
Archival Resource Key
1965
6
12
Lotte Denniger
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
13
Otto Erich Deutsch
Archival Resource Key
1961
6
14
Pedro Deutsch
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
15
Robert H. Dodds
Archival Resource Key
1965
6
16
Felix
Archival Resource Key
undated
18
10
Elizabeth Gyring Geiringer
Archival Resource Key
1965
6
17
Scope and Contents
Sister of Lili Réthi.
Robert Haas
Archival Resource Key
1933
6
18
Miss H. Hayes
Archival Resource Key
1941
6
19
Cardinal Theodor Innitzer
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
20
Wenzel Jaksch
Archival Resource Key
1927
6
21
Eugen Thilo Landau
Archival Resource Key
1927
6
22
John Leggett
Archival Resource Key
1964
6
23
Eugene Jerome Levy
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
24
Lurie
Archival Resource Key
1936
6
25
F. [Mauedreu-Helffeu?]
Archival Resource Key
1927
6
26
Jan Malypetr (Czech Prime Minister)
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
27
Vilhelm Marstrand
Archival Resource Key
1935
6
28
Ben Moreell
Archival Resource Key
1946
6
29
[P?] Müller
Archival Resource Key
1919
6
30
Mrs. H. Paul
Archival Resource Key
1927
6
31
Abbott Hermann Peidel
Archival Resource Key
1958
6
32
Felise Polaczek
Archival Resource Key
1919
6
33
Bruno [Pouchev?]
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
34
Edmund Prentis
Archival Resource Key
1941
6
35
Marie Réthi
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
36
Marie Réthi
Scope and Contents
Portrait is the mother of Lili Réthi.
Michael [Rauter?]
Archival Resource Key
1930
6
37
[Gevola?] Schatte
Archival Resource Key
1924
6
38
Hugo Schwartz
Archival Resource Key
1931
6
39
Dr. Siebel
Archival Resource Key
1954
6
40
Mrs. Gay Talese
Archival Resource Key
1965
6
41
Bruno Thomas
Archival Resource Key
1921
6
42
Irma Thomas
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
43
Scope and Contents
Nurse.
Rudolph Toucourt
Archival Resource Key
1922
6
44
20
9
Peter Vincentius
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
45
Marianne von Kalker
Archival Resource Key
1927
6
46
Erich von Kunzel-Runtscheiner
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
47
Marianne von Rahleu
Archival Resource Key
1927
6
48
Sidney Wilmot
Archival Resource Key
1941
6
49
H. Wittner and Mrs. Wittner
Archival Resource Key
1920
6
50
[Seycal?] Wolff
Archival Resource Key
1948
6
51
Edward M. Young
Archival Resource Key
1965
6
52
Paul Zsolnay
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
53
Unidentified portraits
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
54
Illustrated Books
Archival Resource Key
1916-1969
Scope and Contents
This series is arranged into chronological order by date of publication. Included is the author and title of each book. Réthi illutstrated over 40 books for 25 different publishing companies including McGraw-Hill Publishers, Harcourt Brace and Company, and Charles Scribner's Sons. Included with some books are book reviews and correspondence between Réthi and the publisher. In some instances, only the book jacket exists.
Hecht, Victor. Leitfaden der Physikalisch-Therapeutischen (Guide to Physical Therapeutician Aftercare of War Wounded)
Archival Resource Key
1916
6
55
Alt-Wiener Kalender
Archival Resource Key
1925
6
56
Budzinski, Robert. Kebr'um
Archival Resource Key
1930
6
57
Jlling, Werner. Utopolis
Archival Resource Key
1930
6
58
Woolf, L.S. Ein Dorf in Djungel
Archival Resource Key
1930
6
59
Sinclair, Upton. Briefe an einen Arbeiter
Archival Resource Key
7
1
United States Naval Dry Dock Construction
Archival Resource Key
1941
20
10
Prentis, Edmund Astley. Prentis Speaking
Archival Resource Key
1943
7
2
Alabama Dry Dock and Shipping Company. Building Tankers
Archival Resource Key
1942-1947
18
3
21
1
Morgan, Alfred. The Boys Book of Engines, Motors and Engines
Archival Resource Key
1946
7
3
Wallace and Clark Company. Biography of Experience, 1920-1946
Archival Resource Key
1946
7
4
Woodbury, David. Builders for Battle
Archival Resource Key
1946
7
5
Chapman, Lucy H. Language Skills Grade Ten
Archival Resource Key
1947
8
1
Réthi , Lili and Frederick L. Rath. Franklin D. Roosevelt's Hyde Park
Archival Resource Key
1947
8
2
Invitation to Reading, Book Two
Archival Resource Key
[circa 1950s]
8
3
Todd, Lewis Paul. Old Ways and New Ways
Archival Resource Key
1954
8
4
Baldwin, James. Favorite Tales of Long Ago
Archival Resource Key
1955
8
5
Brown, Frances Williams. Big Bridge to Brooklyn
Archival Resource Key
1956
8
6
Finnery, Gertrude E. Is This My Love
Archival Resource Key
1956
9
1
Hall, Edna Anne. Adventure at Table Mountain
Archival Resource Key
1956
9
2
Jackson, Shirley. The Witchcraft of Salem Village
Archival Resource Key
1956
9
3
Moran, Eugene. Tugboat the Moran Story (cover only)
Archival Resource Key
1956
9
4
Connolly, Francis X. Saint Philip of the Joyous Heart
Archival Resource Key
1957
9
5
Ince, Elizabeth. St. Thomas More of London
Archival Resource Key
1957
9
6
19
11
Moran, Alfred. The Boys Second Book of Radio and Electronics (cover only)
Archival Resource Key
1957
9
7
Sobol, David. The Double Quest
Archival Resource Key
1957
10
1
Marku, Patricia Maloney. The First Book of the Panama Canal
Archival Resource Key
1958
10
2
Epstein, Beryl. The First Book of Italy
Archival Resource Key
1958
10
3
Moore, Patrick. Isaac Newton
Archival Resource Key
1958
10
4
Pain, Nesta. Louis Pasteur
Archival Resource Key
1958
10
5
Thompson, Blanche Jennings. St. Elizabeth's Three Crowns
Archival Resource Key
1958
10
6
Windeatt, May Fabyan. Mere Marie of New France
Archival Resource Key
1958
10
7
Lobsenz, Norman. The First Book of West Germany
Archival Resource Key
1959
11
1
McKown, Robin. Marie Curie
Archival Resource Key
1959
11
2
Morgan, Alfred. Adventures in Electrochemistry (cover only)
Archival Resource Key
1959
11
3
Norman, Gertrude. Dorothea Lynde Dix
Archival Resource Key
1959
11
4
Sobol, David J. The First Book of Medieval Man
Archival Resource Key
1959
11
5
Turnball, E. Lucia. Legends of the Saints
Archival Resource Key
1959
11
6
Gottleib, Gerald. The First Book of the Mediterranean
Archival Resource Key
1960
11
7
Robinson, Charles Alexander. The First Book of Ancient Greek
Archival Resource Key
1960
12
1
Trease, Gregory. Victory at Valmy
Archival Resource Key
1960
12
2
DeLeeuw, Cateau. The Turn in the Road
Archival Resource Key
1961
12
3
Murray, Don. Man Against the Earth
Archival Resource Key
1961
12
4
Robinson, Charles Alexander. The First Book of Ancient Egypt
Archival Resource Key
1961
12
5
Strousse, Flora. Margaret Haughery Bread Woman of New Orleans
Archival Resource Key
1961
12
6
Harrod, Kathryn. Master Bridge Builders The Story of the Roeblings
Archival Resource Key
1962
12
7
Hume, Paul and Ruth. The Lion of Poland. The Story of Paderewski
Archival Resource Key
1962
12
8
Lin, Beth. Mother Goose Goes to War
Archival Resource Key
1962
13
1
Rich, Louise Dickinson. The First Book of the Vikings
Archival Resource Key
1962
13
2
Robinson, Charles Alexander. Plutarch Ten Famous Lives
Archival Resource Key
1962
13
3
Scope and Contents
Includes original pencil and crayon drawings.
Saucier, Corrine L. Folk Tales From French Louisiana
Archival Resource Key
1962
13
4
Wall, Bernard. A City and a World
Archival Resource Key
1962
13
5
Boetzkes, Ottilie G. Cynthia Explores The West Indies
Archival Resource Key
1963
13
6
Chapman, Lora. Smoky Alias Major
Archival Resource Key
1963
13
7
Froman, Robert. Man and the Grasses
Archival Resource Key
1963
13
8
Hooper, Roberta Anderson. The Bible Story Verse
Archival Resource Key
1963
13
9
Madsen, Eleanor Mogensen. The Sea
Archival Resource Key
1963
14
1
Peck, Anne Merriman. Wings of an Eagle. The Story of Michelangelo
Archival Resource Key
1963
14
2
Kraemer, Lillian Rosa. Walter at the Zoo
Archival Resource Key
1964
14
3
Lampman, Evelyn. Temple of the Sun A Boy Fights for Montezuma
Archival Resource Key
1964
14
4
Madden, Daniel M. Monuments to Glory The Story of Antonio Barluzzi Architect of the Holy Land
Archival Resource Key
1964
14
5
Burton, Marion Sturges. Miss Fairy Queen
Archival Resource Key
1965
14
6
Ivall, Edward L. A Leprechaun Fairy Tale
Archival Resource Key
1965
14
7
Talese, Gay. The Bridge
Archival Resource Key
1965
15
1
Young, Edward M. The Great Bridge
Archival Resource Key
1965
15
2
Hooper, Roberta Anderson. The Bible Story in Verse
Archival Resource Key
1967
15
3
Rich, Louise Dickinson. The Kennebec River
Archival Resource Key
1967
15
4
Ayars, James. The Illinois River
Archival Resource Key
1968
15
5
21
6
Scope and Contents
Original drawings for the book are in Box 21, Folder 6.
Clymer, Eleanor. The Second Greatest Invention Search for the First Farmers
Archival Resource Key
1969
15
6
Unterecker, John. A LIfe of Hart Crane
Archival Resource Key
1969
15
7