J. Walter Thompson Company. New York Office.

The J. Walter Thompson Company was founded in New York, N.Y., in 1864, and is one of the world's largest advertising agencies.

The J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT), founded in 1864, is one of the oldest and largest enduring advertising agencies in the United States. The Research Department was responsible for undertaking market research projects and disseminating research information, primarily for JWT's New York Office.

In 1927 the New York office of the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) moved from 244 Madison Avenue to the Graybar Building at 420 Lexington Avenue. The event provided Helen Lansdowne Resor an opportunity to create a showcase in JWT's new corporate headquarters. She commissioned Norman Bel Geddes to design a lecture hall and hired numerous interior designers (among them Elsie de Worl) to decorate specific offices. Additionally, she commissioned Samuel Yellin to create iron grill-work for the executive wing and moved an entire Colonial kitchen to serve as a private dining room.

Lansdowne Resor wished to improve not only the visual appeal of the offices but also the intellectual and cultural environment. Therefore she commissioned noted historian Lewis Mumford to compile a list of three thousand books to be purchased for the use of company employees. Mumford was likely chosen because of his views on the study of civilization; Mumford emphasized the importance of the study of the interrelationships between social, economic and artistic events. He applied this approach in particular to the study of America's history and as a result is largely credited with the re-discovery and renewed appreciation of our popular cultural heritage.

Mumford solicited input from a variety of sources: existing book lists; outside experts; employees' recommendations; as well as his own choices. He divided the books into three general categories: Science, Arts, and Ideologies. Sub-categories were included under each general heading.

The project of physically collecting the individual volumes fell to Fanny Bell of the Research Library. Bell was charged to supply the volumes as quickly and cheaply as possible, which Bell began to do in February 1927. In April 1927 she discovered Dauber and Pine Bookshops, a used book dealer on Fifth Avenue. For the next six years, Dauber and Pine was the primary supplier for the library. By 1930 books began to disappear from the collection. The last survey, taken on October 23, 1967 listed 44 remaining titles. Sometime later the collection was dispersed. Materials in this collection comprise all the volumes that remain of the library.

[Notes derived from those written by JWT Archives staff.]