Series I: Annual Fair Years, 1808-1930

The material in this subseries relates to the annual fairs of the American Institute. It consists of foldered items as well as bound volumes. The foldered material is organized chronologically. Generally, the same types of records (Vouchers, Judges Reports, and Reports of Managers, etc.) recur for each fair. The titles of the folders were assigned by the American Institute, and all material was kept in its original order. The material relates to the organizational preparations, financial data, and prize and entry information for the annual fairs. The bound volumes consist of Minute Books of various committees, Registers of Premiums, Entries, Judges, Invitations, and Tickets, and Account Books, Receipt Books, and Bank Books.

There is little or no printed material regarding the fairs, and the correspondence relating to them is in the Administrative Subseries. The material in the Annual Fair Subseries contains the following main categories of information.

Business and Financial - The foldered material contains files entitled "Vouchers" for almost every year that a fair was held. The files consist of bills and receipts for payment by the American Institute to individuals and companies that provided services for the fair. The services include construction, concession stands, cleaning, and advertising. In some cases, vouchers pertaining to expenses incurred by specific committees are identified by the names of those committees. For instance, specific folders might be labeled as the vouchers of the Printing and Publication Committee or the Arrangement Committee. Some financial information, specifically, accounts of receipts and expenditures of any given year's fair can also be found within the foldered Reports of the Board of Managers and Finance Committees.

Many bound volumes also contain financial information. There are numerous Account Books, Receipt Books, and Bank Books (see container list for details).

Reports and Minutes - The foldered material contains reports written by the various committees involved in the planning of the annual fairs. The reports and minutes of the Board of Managers detail the expenses and work of each individual committee. The nature of the reports of specific committees, such as the Ticket Committee, the Premium Committee, or the Finance Committee, is generally evident by the name of the committee.

The bound volumes also contain information on the organizing committees. There are volumes of the Minutes of the Board of Managers for almost every year a fair was held. In addition to recording the minutes of the Board of Managers, the volumes contain lists of the members of each of the Fair's committees and record each committee's duties. The Minutes of the Board of Managers also detail the rules and regulations of the Fairs, payment of bills, and the votes on various motions. Minute books also exist for some of the committees for many of the fairs dated between 1840 and 1872. Some of the committees represented in these minute books are the Premium Committee, the Printing and Publication Committee, Committee of Arrangements, Finance Committee, Invitation Committee, Committee on Gas, Light, and Water, Floor Committee, Ticket Committee, Flag Committee, and the Committee on Audit.

Exhibit Entries - There is very little information pertaining expressly to entrants in fairs that were held prior to 1890, but between the years 1890 and 1897, entry forms appear for each exhibitor. These entry forms provide detailed information on exhibitors and their products or inventions. The entry forms list the exhibitors' name and address, the article submitted, the name of the inventor and/or manufacturer, and sometimes provide a description of the exhibit.

The bound Registers of Entries list the name of the entrant, the product or invention being entered, and the entrant's designated number. The registers can be cross-referenced with the "Judges Reports" to locate comments on specific entries.

Judges - In the foldered material, information on judging at the annual fair can be found within the "Judges' Reports." These reports are extensive and cover the vast array of exhibits for almost every year of the Annual Fair. The Judges' Reports are forms in which judges, chosen by the Institute for their expertise in a given field, evaluate exhibits and select prize winners. The reports list entries according to exhibit number and do not identify the name of the person or company exhibiting the product.

The bound volumes also include Registers of Judges for various years between 1842 and 1892. These registers list the judges selected for each department or group category by year. Because the Premium Committee selected the judges for each Fair, the Minute Books of the Premium Committees also provide information on the judges chosen for that particular year.

Premiums - Not much information on premiums is found within the foldered material. Although the Judges' Reports identify the winners of the premiums, the Reports generally do not include lists of the winners. Similarly, the Premium Committee Reports often list a total number of premiums awarded but usually do not include names of specific winners. Only a small number of folders entitled "Medal Awards" that exist for certain years include receipts from winners of premiums for their awards.

The bound volumes contain more material on the premiums awarded. The Registers of Premiums list the prizes awarded at each fair. They include the name of the premium winner, the winner's place of residence, the premium awarded, the category of the award, and sometimes, the winner's signature.

Fair Attendance - Information on fair attendance can be found in the Reports of the Ticket Committees. Most of the reports provide the total number of tickets sold, as well as tickets issued at no charge to members, schools, and guests. Some years also include daily totals of tickets sold. Additionally, the Reports of the Board of Managers often remark on the attendance for an annual fair. Although the reports do not always provide detailed numbers, they will often comment on the attendance of the fair in comparison to last year's figures.

The bound Registers of Invitations list people invited to the Annual Fairs. The invitations generally included government officials, members of the press, clergymen, and other significant people within New York society. Also included is the bound Members' Ticket Register from 1897, which lists the number of tickets given to each member of the American Institute, and the Minutes of the Invitation Committee from 1850 to 1852.

Some items of interest in the Annual Fair subseries include the listing of Samuel F. B. Morse as the winner of a gold medal in 1842 for his display of the telegraph. In 1871, Walt Whitman read a poem at the 40th Annual Fair. Within the material under "Reports and Papers" is a receipt signed by Walt Whitman acknowledging his payment of $157.84, the total representing his travel expenses and honorarium.

Researchers consulting information as it relates to specific annual fairs are encouraged to also consult any pertinent bound volumes (Subseries 3) for the corresponding time period.

The most common types of material in the Administrative subseries are correspondence, reports, accounts, and business and financial papers.

Specific types of material include:

Correspondence - Much of the correspondence has to do with the day-to day business of the Institute, and deals with matters such as proposed members, invited speakers or lecturers, and exchanges of courtesies with other organizations, such as the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Other letters acknowledge honorary memberships, or other courtesies conferred on prominent persons. Former New York Governor Morgan Lewis sends his thanks to the Institute for granting him an Honorary Membership in 1839, as does Governor Charles Evans Hughes in 1908. Lord Lyons, the British Minister to the United States, expresses his appreciation for a multi-volume set of the Transactions of the American Institute sent to him in 1859.

Another major subject of the correspondence concerns the American Institute's annual fairs. Firms and individuals inquired about exhibiting their products or inventions. Some exhibitors sent letters expressing their dissatisfaction at having been passed over for the top prizes. Winners of prizes awarded by the Institute at its Annual Fairs often sent letters of thanks, but on some occasions needed more specific attention. For example, Samuel Colt inquired in 1850 if the Institute would replace medals that had been lost or stolen.

In addition to correspondence from exhibitors and prize-winners, correspondence pertaining to the organization of the fairs appears in the collection. This material concerns such matters as bids for concession stands, space allocation, exhibition venues, the striking of medals to be awarded, and invitations to speakers and guests. Material dated 1859 concerns the fire that destroyed the New York Crystal Palace, an Institute-owned property that served as the venue for its fairs in the late 1850's.

Some of the early correspondence, however, addresses non-administrative matters of interest to the Institute. J. R. Barbour of Massachusetts was one of many correspondents who periodically wrote to the Institute about silk manufacturing. In a series of letters dated 1837, publisher and economist Matthew Carey writes about his publication of a new edition of The Wealth of Nations, and comments on the financial panic of that year. An 1842 letter from U.S. Treasury Secretary Walter Forward answers an Institute inquiry regarding regulations for vessels trading between U.S. and Canadian ports on the Great Lakes. Other letters are from inventors, and concern matters such as technological advances and patent law. An 1836 letter from Charles Goodyear, for example, details the inventor's experiments with rubber.

Business and financial affairs began to figure prominently in the Institute's correspondence in the years after the Civil War. In addition to administrative material dealing with such matters as membership and Institute-sponsored events, papers detailing the Institute's real estate and bond holdings appear in the collection. This material includes leases, contracts, mortgages, insurance policies, and correspondence. Specific subjects include the Institute's plans to purchase the Empire Skating Rink in 1871, and the effects of a proposed subway route on an Institute-owned property at 351 Broadway in 1913.

Reports - Much of the material from the years 1828 to 1928 consists of four types of reports. First, there are reports of the standing committees of the Institute, such as the Finance Committee, Library Committee, and Committee on Membership. Bound volumes of reports of standing committees generally contain transcripts of reports found among the material in folders. Second, there are reports of Committees comprised of persons appointed by the Institute to evaluate new technological processes, machinery, and scientific literature, as well as as legislation. Third, there are reports from the various sections within the American Institute, such as the Farmers' Club, the Photographical Section, and the Polytechnic Section. Fourth, there are reports of committees appointed to examine specific internal affairs of the American Institute.

Standing committees of the American Institute included Finance, Membership, Lectures, Library, Annual Fairs, Elections, Arts and Sciences, Commerce, Agriculture, and Constitution and By-Lawsand their reports reflect committee activity. The reports of the Committee on Elections, for example, include the names of those members nominated for offices in the Institute, and the tallies of votes for each. The Membership Committee recorded the names of proposed members, and the names of the members who sponsored them. Standing Committee reports were submitted annually during the 19th Century. Beginning in the early in 1901, Finance Committee reports were submitted quarterly.

The four standing committees with the most varied tasks were Committee on Manufactures, Arts and Sciences, the Committee on Commerce, and the Committee on Agriculture. In addition to specific reports that the Institute commissioned to evaluate new inventions, the Committee on Manufactures, Arts and Sciences also reported on technological developments. The subjects of the reports include improved railway cars (1842), an airtight coal stove (1846), and a portable steam saw (1857). The Committee on Agriculture reported on cultivation and stock rearing, primarily in the Northeast. Members of the Farmers' Club of the American Institute periodically reported to the Committee on crops and livestock. The Committee on Commerce examined questions such as the relative merits of steam and sailing vessels.

Proposals for new inventions, or new applications for existing ones, were often submitted to the Institute by persons who sought the Institute's support or approval. These proposals were turned over to experts who assessed their utility. Most of these reports are from committees of such authorities, but some reports were submitted by individuals. In an 1846 report, John James Audubon gave his opinion of an ornithology text that the Institute had asked him to critique. In 1850, a committee that included Samuel F.B. Morse evaluated an improvement to telegraphic apparatus. Other reports assessed the feasibility of an elevated railway in New York City (1848), and evaluated an early steam-powered automobile (1856). Committees also returned reports on particular subjects not directly related to specific inventions, but to technological matters in general. Subjects of such reports include the causes and prevention of explosions of steam boilers (1834), a tour of the Singer Sewing Machine plant (1865), and the use of rock salt on roads in the 1860s and its ill effect on horses.

After the Civil War, committee reports on new technologies become less frequent. During this period, the Institute's Polytechnic Section received papers and organized lecture series regarding various inventions and technologies. In some cases, these papers are appended to the reports that the section submitted detailing the proceedings of its meetings. Subjects of these lectures and papers included: underground placement of telegraph wires, raising sunken ships by using air bags, Edison's experiments with electromagnetism, and climatology.

Other reports dealt with the workings of the Institute itself. In 1840, some of the officers of the American Institute were accused of malfeasance. The Institute appointed a committee to investigate the allegations, and in addition to a report on the incident, the collection details of the charges brought against the accused, statements of the accused, and the testimony and affidavits of witnesses. An 1860 internal report details the "Rise and Progress of the American Institute." A report from 1892 recommends that the Institute's Annual Fairs be discontinued, and makes proposals for the future course the Institute generally.

Business and Financial Records - Bound volumes include Treasurer's Accounts, journals, ledgers, cash books, check books, receipt books, and records of members' admission fees and dues. Material in folders includes insurance policies, leases, contracts, bills, receipts, and invoices and "petty cash" vouchers. The bills and receipts include those for rent for the offices of the American Institute, gas and light, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, office furniture, and honoraria for speakers and lecturers.

Minutes - Minutes include trustees minutes and committee minutes. Most of this material is in folders. Most of the minute books contain abstracts of minutes, rather than the minutes themselves.

Membership information - Applications and proposals for membership are included in the foldered material. Among the bound volumes are alphabetical lists of annual members for the years 1831 to 1919 (bulk dates are 1841 to 1897). There is also an undated group of volumes listing the names of Life Members.

Library records - Included are reports of the Library Committee which detail the budget, use, and acquisitions of the Institute's Library. Bound volumesinclude library catalogues, a visitor's register, and a circulation book.

Researchers consulting administrative information are encouraged to also consult any pertinent bound volumes (Subseries 3) for the corresponding time period.