Helen Gentry and David Greenhood papers, 1748-1988, bulk 1930-1980

Summary

Creators:

Greenhood, David Gentry, Helen, 1897-

Abstract:

The Helen Gentry and David Greenhood Papers, 1748-1988 (bulk 1930-1980) contain materials relating to Gentry's career as a printer and designer, and Greenhood's work as a writer.

Extent:

7 cartons 8.75 linear feet

Language:

Collection materials are in English

Background

Scope and content:

The Helen Gentry and David Greenhood Papers, 1748-1988 (bulk 1930-1980) contain materials relating to Gentry's career as a printer and designer, and Greenhood's work as a writer. The Helen Gentry Papers comprise Gentry's personal and professional correspondence, mock-ups and notes for her printing and design projects, and records from her work with Holiday House. Her writings include published articles and speeches. The collection also includes awards, reviews, programs, and publications related to Gentry's work, as well as her small collection of fine printing specimens and ephemera. Projects represented span her early work as Helen Gentry Press, her designs for major New York publishing houses, her contributions to Holiday House, and her later freelance work from New Mexico. The David Greenhood Papers primarily consist of correspondence and writings, including many unpublished drafts of novels, poems, and other works. The collection also includes material related to Greenhood's editorial work at Holiday House, and papers from Porter Garnett and W. W. Lyman.

Biographical / historical:

Helen Gentry

Helen "Billy" Gentry (1897-1988) was a printer, book designer, and typographer. Born in California, she attended the University of California, Berkeley. She trained in fine bookmaking and printing at the Grabhorn Press in San Francisco -- where she was not allowed to do presswork, as Ed Grabhorn did not think it was a suitable job for a woman -- and further developed her skills working for a grocery store printing plant. In 1930, she started her own press, becoming one of the first contemporary women printers to do all aspects of the work herself. In 1934, she moved with her husband David Greenhood to New York, where she did design work for Simon and Schuster and other publishing houses, including designing the classic 1953 Harper & Brothers edition of the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. In 1935, she co-founded Holiday House with Vernon Ives and Ted Johnson, devoted to publishing well-designed children's books in fine bindings. Her work was often included in the American Institute of Graphic Arts' fifty best-designed books of the year, and appeared in an AIGA solo show in 1939. In 1963, Gentry moved with her husband to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she continued to work as a freelance designer.

David Greenhood

Clarence David "Clink" Greenhood (1895-1983) wrote fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for adults and children, as well as editing books for Holiday House. Born in Buffalo, New York in 1895, he moved to California in 1912 and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1922. At Berkeley he met Helen Gentry, and the pair married in 1923. Together they wrote Chronology of Books & Printing (published by Gentry Press in 1933, republished by Macmillan in 1936). His published works include Poems, et cetera and The Master Apprentice (both Gentry Press, 1934); The Hill (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1943); Down to Earth: Mapping for Everybody (Holiday House, 1944; revised and republished by University of Chicago Press as Mapping, 1964); Love in Dishevelment (Creative Age Press, 1948); Watch the Tides (Holiday House, 1961); and The Writer on His Own (University of New Mexico Press, 1971). He also published several articles for children under the pseudonym Mark Sawyer.

Acquisition information:

The Helen Gentry and David Greenhood Papers were given to The Bancroft Library by Rita Gentry on December 18, 2006. Additions were made in 2010.

Physical location:

Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.

Rules or conventions:

Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

Website