Video, Photographs of Cooper Union Museum Galleries, 1939

These photographs were taken after both Sarah and Eleanor died (Eleanor in 1924 from pneumonia and Sarah in 1930) and after their brother Erskine bequeathed 3,300 objects to the museum in 1938.

Without access to European interiors and collections, the best way for 20th-century American designers and decorators to learn the history and traditions of their profession was by visiting a museum like the one at Cooper Union.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Sarah & Eleanor Hewitt: Designing a Modern Museum.