Albert Hadley papers, 1947-1999, undated
KA.0017
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit
August 30, 2012
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Kellen Design Archives
2009
66 5th Ave./
lobby level/
New York, NY, 10011
212.229.5942
archivist@newschool.edu
Albert Hadley papers, 1947-1999, undated KA.0017
Table of Contents
Collection Overview .................................................................................................................................. 2
Biographical Note ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Scope and Contents of Collection ............................................................................................................. 3
Organization and Arrangement ................................................................................................................. 4
Administrative Information ....................................................................................................................... 4
Related Materials ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Keywords for Searching Related Subjects ................................................................................................ 5
Collection Inventory .................................................................................................................................. 5
Series I. Student work ......................................................................................................................... 5
Series II. Teaching materials ............................................................................................................... 6
Series III. Lecture notes ...................................................................................................................... 6
Series IV. "Ideas" (booklet) ................................................................................................................. 6
Series V. Notes and writings ............................................................................................................... 7
Collection Overview
Repository
Kellen Design Archives
Creator
Hadley, Albert
Title
Albert Hadley papers
Date [inclusive]
1947-1999
Extent
0.4 linear ft: 1 box
Language
English
- Page 2 -
Albert Hadley papers, 1947-1999, undated KA.0017
Summary
Albert Hadley (1920- ) graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1949
and served on the faculty from 1949 through 1954. Hadley later joined
Dorothy "Sister" Parish to form the interior design firm Parish-Hadley.
The collection (1947-1999) includes correspondence, design and lecture
notes, student work and a mock-up for a booklet.
Return to Table of Contents »
Biographical Note
Albert Hadley was born in 1920 in Springfield, Tennessee. He studied art and design for two years at
Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University) and worked as an assistant to Nashville-based
decorator A. Herbert Rodgers.
Following military service in World War II, Hadley moved to New York where he enrolled in Parsons
School of Design. He was offered a scholarship and completed a three-year course of study in the
school’s interior design department, graduating in 1949. Parsons president Van Day Truex subsequently
hired Hadley as an instructor in the Interior Design Department. Hadley taught at Parsons until 1954, but
maintained what became a lifelong friendship with Truex, who died in 1979.
After a period of self-employment, Hadley joined McMillen, Inc., a prestigious interior design firm under
the direction of Eleanor McMillen Brown. At the time, Hadley was one of the few men ever employed by
the firm. He stayed with McMillen until 1962.
Hadley began working with decorator Dorothy “Sister” Parish in January 1963, following an introduction
by Van Day Truex. Hadley introduced Parish to modernism and complemented her self-taught decorating
methods with his formal design training. In 1964, Parish invited Hadley to become a partner in Mrs.
Henry Parish II, Inc. The decorating firm then became Parish-Hadley. Supported by a team of young
designers, Parish-Hadley built an international reputation with many high-profile clients, including
William and Babe Paley, the Bronfman family, the Gore family, and Brooke Astor. In 1982, ParishHadley, Inc. became Parish-Hadley Associates, Inc. in recognition of the contributions by all of its
designers. Sister Parish died in 1994 and Hadley dissolved Parish-Hadley Associates five years later. He
opened a new business, Albert Hadley, Inc., in 2000.
Albert Hadley was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1986. He holds honorary degrees
from Parsons and from the New York School of Interior Design, and is a fellow of the American Society
of Interior Designers (ASID).
Return to Table of Contents »
Scope and Contents of Collection
- Page 3 -
Albert Hadley papers, 1947-1999, undated KA.0017
The Albert Hadley papers include college notebooks, student assignments and class hand-outs from
his education in the late 1940s and subsequent teaching post at Parsons School of Design (1949-1954);
miscellaneous notes and writings about decorating, design, and the creative process; and lecture notes
written by Hadley in addition to notes taken by him. Also included are a mock-up and correspondence
relating to a 1999 booklet about Hadley's interior decoration projects. Of note are a memorandum
regarding the possibility of Parsons offering a BFA degree independently of New York University in the
1950s and a signed letter from Van Day Truex explaining Parsons School of Design's non-profit status
with regard to financial matters dating to the time immediately prior to his dismissal by the Parsons Board
of Trustees.
The papers document Hadley's educational career and his later role as a frequent public speaker and
commentator. They are of a professional nature and contain no personal materials. The Albert Hadley
papers in the Kellen Design Archives do not contain Parish-Hadley business records. However, his
professional career and his partnership with Sister Parish figure prominently in his lecture notes and
speeches.
Return to Table of Contents »
Organization and Arrangement
Organized in 5 series.
I Student work
II Teaching materials
III Lecture notes
IV "Ideas" (booklet)
V Notes and writings
Return to Table of Contents »
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Kellen Design Archives 2009
Use Restrictions
To publish images of material from this collection, permission must be obtained in writing from the
Kellen Design Archives. Please contact: archivist@newschool.edu.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Transferred from the Office of the Dean, Parsons The New School for Design, 2006.
Return to Table of Contents »
- Page 4 -
Albert Hadley papers, 1947-1999, undated KA.0017
Related Materials
The records of Parish-Hadley Associates, Inc. are held by the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt
Design Museum Library.
Return to Table of Contents »
Keywords for Searching Related Subjects
Corporate Name(s)
• Parish-Hadley Associates.
• Parsons School of Design. Interior Design Dept.
Genre(s)
•
•
•
•
Lecture notes.
Manuscripts.
Speeches.
Student projects.
Occupation(s)
• Interior designers.
Personal Name(s)
•
•
•
•
Baldwin, Billy
Brown, Eleanor McMillen
Daves, Jessica
Parish, Harry, Mrs., II
Subject(s)
• Interior decoration -- Study and teaching -- New York (State) -- New York -- 20th century.
• Interior decorators -- United States -- 20th century.
Return to Table of Contents »
Collection Inventory
Series I. Student work circa 1947
Contains lecture notes, handwritten and typed assignments, and hand-outs created or received by Hadley while he
was a student in the Interior Design Department at Parsons School of Design. Notes are primarily from classes taught
by Robert Castle. Notes taken during "special" lectures include Hadley's impressions of Nancy McClelland, William
- Page 5 -
Albert Hadley papers, 1947-1999, undated KA.0017
Pahlmann, and William Raiser of Raymond Loewy. Field trip reports feature Hadley’s impressions of site visits to
commercial spaces and comments on a production of “Medea” and a showing of Van Day Truex’s work at the Carroll
Carstairs’ Gallery.
Title
Box
Folder
Assignments and book reports
1
1
Class notes
1
2
Field trip reports
1
3
Hand-outs and reading list
1
4
Special lectures
1
5
Series II. Teaching materials 1949-1953
Contains materials related to Hadley’s teaching career at Parsons School of Design. Items include a memorandum,
“A New Plan for Parsons School of Design,” and an open letter to faculty members from President Van Day Truex
regarding the school’s trustees. Faculty lecture notes refer to presentations given by other faculty members and by
visiting critics Eleanor McMillen Brown and Billy Baldwin.
Title
Box
Folder
Albert Hadley lecture notes and manuscripts
1
6-7
Design problems and competition rules
1
8
Faculty lecture notes
1
9
Faculty memoranda
1
10
Series III. Lecture notes circa 1960s-1999
Contains handwritten notes for presentations, opening remarks, and introductions. Hadley is a frequent speaker at
professional and fund raising events for cultural and charitable institutions. These materials collectively provide a sense
of Hadley’s design philosophy and influences. His partnership with Sister Parish and the history of the Parish-Hadley
firm are frequently discussed, as are influential texts and persons, such as Ruby Ross Wood, Van Day Truex, and Edith
Wharton. Of note is a speech to Parish-Hadley staff informing them of the name change to Parish-Hadley Associates,
Inc.
Title
Box
Folder
General, 1978-1999
1
11-13
Introductions
1
14
Design Center of the Americas
1
15
Mint Museum and correspondence
1
16
Text of address by Eleanor McMillen Brown with comments
1
17
Text of commencement address by Jessica Daves to Parsons, 1960 May 1
31
18
Series IV. "Ideas" (booklet) 1999
“Ideas” refers to a booklet produced by the book design firm Joel Avirom, Inc. Series includes a black and white
mock-up and correspondence from Amy Fine Collins, Hadley’s collaborator. It is unclear if this publication was ever
distributed.
Title
Box
- Page 6 -
Folder
Albert Hadley papers, 1947-1999, undated KA.0017
Correspondence
1
19
Mock-up
1
20
Series V. Notes and writings 1992-1997, undated
Contains miscellaneous drafts, short manuscripts, and unidentified fragments by Hadley. "Notes and reminders"
contains ideas, inspirational phrases, short statements, and sketches.
Title
Box
Folder
General
1
21-23
Notes and reminders
1
24
Quotations and items from bulletin board
1
25
- Page 7 -