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Guide to the Scripps College Press Collection
D1941.1
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Title: Scripps College Press
Creator:
Scripps College
Dates:
1941-2004
Quantity: 9 cubic feet
Repository:
Claremont Colleges. Library.
1090 Columbia Avenue
Claremont, California 91711
Abstract: The Scripps
College Press Collection contains academic records,
administrative records, correspondence, financial material,
and publications and printings created since the press’
inception. The collection covers the years 1941 to 2004 with
the bulk of the material ranging from 1941 to 1985.
Collection Number: D1941.1
Language:
English
Physical Location: Ella Strong Denison
Library
This collection is open for research with permission from
Ella Strong Denison Library staff.
All requests for permission to publish must be submitted
in writing to Denison Library.
Related Materials at Ella Strong Denison Library
Title: Scripps College Fine Arts Foundation
Collection
Oversize material is located in boxes 9 and 10.
Scripps College Press Collection. Ella Strong Denison
Library, Scripps College, Claremont,
California.
Deposited by Denison Library as part of the Scripps
College Archives between 1941 and1970, and between
1979 and 1986.
Preliminary arrangement by library staff. Processed by
History Associates Incorporated, 2005.
No addition to the collection is anticipated.
Scripps College Fine Arts Foundation Collection.
Administrative History of Scripps College Press
The Scripps College Press, originally named the Hartley Burr
Alexander Press in honor of the Scripps philosophy professor
(1927-1939), was established in 1941. The Class of 1941
instigated its establishment by donating the press as part
of their class gift. They also managed to convince Frederick
W. Goudy, renowned type designer, to create a unique type
for exclusive use by the Press. Catherine Coffin Phillips,
author, printer, and grandmother of one of the graduating
seniors, Pat Morrison, agreed to underwrite the cost
($500.00) of Goudy designing a typeface for the colleges
use. This was an excellent coup by the graduating class
considering Goudy had previously designed a type for the
University of California for which he had charged $10,000.
Now the Class of 1941 needed to locate a press. In response,
Los Angeles printer Ward Ritchie generously donated his
Washington hand press upon which to print, and room was made
in the basement of the art building. In September of 1941,
Goudy returned to the campus to dedicate the first use of
the type.
The first printing course was taught by Ward Ritchie who, between
1942 and 1946 volunteered as a printing teacher at Scripps.
These courses were taught to small classes without credit as
an extracurricular activity. In the fall of 1946, Joseph
Arnold Foster came to Scripps to teach humanities, American
literature, and printing, and continued to teach printing,
with an emphasis on book design, until his retirement in
1971. Foster had a high level of technical ability, having
studied with Porter Garnett at the Carnegie Institute of
Technology’s Laboratory Press, one of the greatest teaching
presses in the 1930’s and 1940’s. He was, therefore, also
extremely knowledgeable of types and ornaments, and added
many new typefaces and printing ornaments to the original
collection of Goudy type, considerably enlarging the range
of the students’ work. It was at this time that the name of
the press was changed from the Harley Burr Alexander Press
to the Scripps College Press, and when it was moved from the
art building to Balch Hall.
Due to funding difficulties the printing program was cancelled, and
the press equipment was moved from the print shop, which had
been built south of the library in 1965, and placed in
storage. Over the next decade, the equipment was utilized
for printing special projects for the college. Since the
College was unable to underwrite the costs of the printing
program, it was up to Robin Trozpek and Judy Harvey Sahak to
instigate a fundraising campaign. In the following months,
Robin Trozpek, Assistant to the President and former student
of Joseph Foster, and Judy Harvey-Sahak, Librarian at
Denison, raised enough money to teach printing for one year
(from day one Scripps College Press had a strong tie to
Denison Library, which today holds many of the handmade
broadsides and books created by students at Scripps
College). The letters of appeal, which were sent to
approximately 500 potential donors, resulted in raising
about one-third of the $16,000 needed. The remaining amount
needed was donated as an anonymous gift by one alumna, and
the Press re-opened in 1979.
In December 1979 a search committee for a new master printer was
formed. Christine Bertelson, owner of the Rara Avis Press,
who studied with Elliot Offner (Rosemary Press), Leonard
Baskin (Gehenna Press), and Walter Hamady (The Perishable
Press) was offered the position. In the fall of 1980,
Scripps Press reclaimed the print shop south of the Library.
From 1980-1982 the typography course was offered on a
not-for-credit basis, with some students arranging
independent projects with individual faculty in other areas.
The course was then offered for credit through the Art
department following an academic review in the spring of
1982. Christine Bertelson continued teaching until September
1985, at which time Susan King, bookmaker, author, and owner
of Paradise Press in Los Angeles, became a one year
temporary replacement. Bertelson decided to remain in St.
Louis, working as a reporter for the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, so in the spring of 1986 a search was
undertaken for a new master printer. Kitty Maryatt, a
Scripps Alumna and owner of the Two Hands Press, took over
as master printer and is currently Director of Scripps
College Press. Two books are produced each year by the
Typography class, and individual students produce books as
independent study projects each semester.
At the Press, students designed, printed, and illustrated their own
writings as broadsides and books, using handset type, relief
printmaking processes, and letterpress equipment. Basic
bookbinding and papermaking techniques were also
incorporated into the program. Students were also given the
opportunity to produce collaborative pieces with the Master
Printer. Secrets of Art and Nature (1981), was created by
students and the Master Printer, featuring woodcuts by a
Scripps graphics professor. A limited edition of four poetry
broadsides including work by major contemporary poets Seamus
Heaney and Adrienne Rich was created in 1984. Images of
Women, Ellen Browning Scripps, was designed and produced in
celebration of the founder’s 150th anniversary and
distributed to Scripps students. Color Book and Color Poster
(1987) provided additional opportunities for collaboration.
With the reestablishment of the Press in 1980, the Goudy Lecture
Series was instituted as an integral aspect of the program.
Bibliophiles, scholars, and book lovers throughout the
community were invited to the campus. In the period between
1980 and 1987, the list of Goudy lecturers includes some of
the most accomplished and well-known book artists in the
country. These book artists include: publishers and
printers, such as David Godine, Ward Ritchie, and Charles
Seluzicki; book binders Johanna Goldschmid and Hedi Kyle;
printers and book artists Walter Hamady and Claire Van
Vliet; papermakers Bob Serpa and Timothy Barrett and paper
scholar Leonard Schlosser; illustrator Barry Moser; and Fine
Print editor Sandra Kirshenbaum. Postcards and posters
announcing the Goudy Lectures were printed at the Press.
In 1987-1988 an extensive review of the Press and its program was
undertaken. The outside evaluator, Kathleen Walkup from
Mills College, made several recommendations, including:
providing more long-range budgetary and staff support for
the Press; clarifying the position of the Press and its
faculty within the Scripps infrastructure; and
re-establishing the Goudy Lecture Series. As a result of the
review, the faculty position was increased to half-time, the
Goudy Lecture Series was re-established, and a budget was
established. In 1994 the Press was moved to the new Millard
Sheets art building.
Scope and Contents of the Records
The Scripps College Press Collection contains academic records,
administrative records, correspondence, financial material,
and publications and printings documenting the history of
the Scripps College Press. With the exception of a few
photographic prints in the photographic material series, and
videotapes located in the topic files series, this
collection consists largely of textual records. Textual
record types primarily include correspondence, newspaper
clippings, reports, notes, financial statement, and
publications and printings printed both at Scripps College
and at other printing presses.
The largest series in the collection is Series 10, Publications
and Printings,' which consists of booklets, broadsides, and
other material related to printing at Scripps College. Other
large series include Series 2, Academic Records, and Series
7, the Goudy Lecture Series.
The collection is organized into 10 series:
- Series 1: Academic Program, 1971-1994, .5 cubic feet
- Series 2: Administrative Records,1939-2002, .75 cubic feet
- Series 3: Correspondence, 1908-1994, .5 cubic feet
- Series 4: Equipment and Supplies, 1944-1996, .25 cubic feet
- Series 5: Financial Records, 1978-1992, .25 cubic feet
- Series 6: Fundraising, 1979-1992, .15 cubic feet
- Series 7: Goudy Lecture Series, 1980-2001, 1.5 cubic feet
- Series 8: Master Printer Series, 1980-1999, .25 cubic feet
- Series 9: Photographic Material, 1965-1992, .15 cubic feet
- Series 10: Publications and printings, 1941-2003, 5.5 cubic feet
- Series 11: Topical Files, 1940-1975, .5 cubic feet
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Scripps College
Press--Archives.
Scripps College
(Claremont, Calif.)--Archival resources.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Correspondence.
Photographs.