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Finding Aid to the Helen Gentry and David Greenhood Papers, 1748-1988 (bulk 1930-1980)
BANC MSS 2007/101
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Helen Gentry and David Greenhood papers
Date (inclusive): 1748-1988
Date (bulk): 1930-1980
Collection Number: BANC MSS 2007/101
Creators:
Greenhood, David
Gentry, Helen, 1897-
Extent:
7 cartons
8.75 linear feet
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
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.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
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.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
[Identification of item], Helen Gentry and David Greenhood Papers, BANC MSS 2007/101, The Bancroft Library, University of
California, Berkeley
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Helen Gentry letter and list : Santa Fe, N.M., to James D. Hart, ALS and typescript (BANC MSS 90/214 c).
David Greenhood correspondence, with Adolph E. Anderson (BANC MSS 89/16 c).
Porter Garnett papers (BANC MSS C-H 118).
William Whittingham Lyman memoirs : typescript (BANC MSS 71/150 c).
Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
Garnett, Porter, 1871-1951
Gentry, Helen, 1897- --Archives
Greenhood, David--Archives
Harter, Evelyn
Lyman, William Whittingham
Gentry Press
Holiday House (Firm)
Authors, American--20th century
Book designers
Women in the book industries and trade
Women printers
Women publishers
Women typographers
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.
No additions are expected.
Processed by Arcadia Falcone in 2010.
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.
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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.