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Helen Gentry Printing Collection

 Collection
Identifier: AC 567

Scope and Content

Collection of personal documents and papers; printing catalogs; drawings; newspaper clippings; miscellaneous ephemera, and the business and personal correspondence of Helen Gentry, the Gentry Press, and the Amaranth Press.

Dates

  • 1939-1976

Language of Materials

English

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Copy Restrictions

Limited duplication of print materials allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Biography

Helen "Billy" Gentry (1897-1988) was a printer, book designer, and typographer. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, and trained in fine bookmaking and printing at the Grabhorn Press in San Francisco. At the time Gentry was barred from doing press work because of her gender, however, in 1925 she became one of the first contemporary women printers when she started Gentry Press along with her brother Bruce Gentry, and husband David Greenwood. In 1934, Gentry and her husband David moved to New York where she designed work for Simon and Schuster, Harper & Brothers, and other publishing houses. In 1935, Gentry along with Vernon Ives and Ted Johnson founded Holiday House which produced well-designed children's books in fine bindings. In 1963, Gentry and her husband moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she continued to work as a freelance designer, while publishing work under her own imprint. Gentry's work was often included in exhibitions by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, where in 1939 she was given a solo exhibition, as well as the San Francisco Public Library, The Bancroft Library, Scripps College and the Santa Fe Public Library.

Extent

2 Linear Feet

Separated Materials

Photographic materials transferred to Palace of the Governors Photo Archives.
Title
Guide to the Helen Gentry Printing Collection, 1939-1976
Status
Approved
Author
Processed by Laura Kohl
Date
© 2013
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is inEnglish

Revision Statements

  • Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.

Repository Details

Part of the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library Repository

Contact:
Fray Angélico Chávez History Library
New Mexico History Museum
113 Lincoln Ave
Sante Fe NM 87501 USA
(505) 476-5090