Abstract Wallace McMahon Mitchell was born on October 9, 1911 in Detroit, Michigan to Arthur Z. and Edith McMahon Mitchell. He was a respected painter, textile designer, geometric abstractionist, and a Cranbrook Academy of Art (CAA) graduate student (’35). He later served at the Academy as a painting, and arts and crafts instructor; registrar; director; and then president until his death in 1977. The collection contains the papers of Mitchell and his family during his years at Cranbrook. Included are...

Abstract Eliel Saarinen, along with his wife Loja, son Eero, daughter Pipsan, and son-in-law J. Robert F. Swanson, founded a creative tradition at Cranbrook that endures to this day. The Saarinens' fame and design philosophies attracted many of the brightest talents in the architectural, design, and planning fields to study at Cranbrook or to work for their businesses --- known variously as Saarinen and Swanson; Saarinen and Saarinen; Saarinen, Swanson, and Saarinen; Swanson Associates; and Eero...

Abstract Astrid Sampe studied at the Higher Industrial Art School of Stockholm and as an exchange student at the Royal Academy of Art in London. Her career spanned many decades starting in 1935, and encompassed being head of Nordiska Kompaniet (NK), being appointed "Royal Designer, Hon.RDI of the Royal Society of Arts and, in 1951, wove the first fiberglass fabrics. This collection comprises correspondence reflecting the romantic attachment between Eero Saarinen and Astrid Sampe, as well as her role...