Repository

Heinz History Center

Title

Ralph Whitehead Papers and Photographs

Creator

Whitehead, Ralph

Collection Number

MSS 925

Extent

5 linear feet (4 boxes)

Date

1870-1967

Abstract

Ralph Whitehead of Wilkinsburg, Pa., was an advertising and public relations specialist for Kaufmann's department store in Pittsburgh. The Ralph Whitehead Papers and Photographs contain 9 scrapbooks that document the advertisements he made for Kaufmann's between 1937 and 1940, correspondence between family members, and photographs depicting several generations of Ralph Whitehead's family.

Language

The material in this collection is in English.

Author

The guide to this collection was written by Nick Hartley.

Sponsor

This collection has been made accessible as part of an NHPRC-funded Basic Processing grant.

Publisher

Heinz History Center

Address

1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

Ralph Carroll Dalbey Whitehead was born on December 5, 1911 in Wilkinsburg, Pa., to Margaret Dalbey and Theodore Whitehead, an electrical engineer at Westinghouse. After graduating from Peabody High School in 1929, Whitehead attended Colgate University, where he studied English Literature and edited the Colgate Banter, the university's humorous newspaper. Whitehead graduated from Colgate in 1933 and, after a two-year teaching fellowship at the University of Alabama, began a career in advertising and public relations. He served as the advertising manager for the men's wear division of Kaufmann's department store in Pittsburgh, the executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities, and the trade practices manager for the Better Business Bureau of Pittsburgh. After obtaining a master of letters degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1942, Whitehead joined the United States Navy, serving as a lieutenant commander for the duration of WWII.

Scope and Content Notes

The Ralph Whitehead Papers and Photographs contain 9 scrapbooks of advertisements Whitehead created for Kaufmann's from 1937 to 1940, many of which appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, and Kaufmann's brochures; genealogical notes and lineage charts; copies of a resume Whitehead created for an unidentified advertising job; copies of reports he wrote for the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities and the Better Business Bureau of Pittsburgh; and photographs of Whitehead and his family. Also included in the collection is correspondence between Ralph Whitehead's grandparents, Matilda and Enoch Dalbey (1870-1875); his parents, Margaret and Theodore Whitehead (1910); and correspondence between Whitehead and his cousins, Caroline and Shirley Cain (1957-1961).

Box 1 contains school papers, including Linden School newsletters from 1924, two issues of Peabody High School's newspaper, The Civitan, and an undated essay entitled "Hamilton and the Constitution"; family correspondence; legal documents, including Whitehead's will and the wills of his grandparents, Enoch and Matilda Dalbey; professional documents, including a resume and business reports; and photographs of Whitehead and his family.

Box 2 contains three family photograph albums (1922-1945); two leather-bound notebooks listing visitors of the funerals of Ralph Whitehead's parents; a lineage chart; and two scrapbooks of Kaufmann's advertisements.

Box 3 contains seven scrapbooks of Kaufmann's advertisements.

Box 4 contains eight oversized photographs (including five portraits of Ralph Whitehead), genealogical notes and charts, and an obituary for Ralph Whitehead's grandfather, Daniel Whitehead.

Conditions Governing Access

None.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift from Marilyn Magnus in 1990.

Archives accession # 1990.0117

Preferred Citation

Ralph Whitehead Papers and Photographs, 1870-1967, MSS 925, Library and Archives Division, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Nick Hartley on 03/01/2013.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Separated Materials

The museum department maintains one wedding dress (1910) and five World War II U.S. Navy uniforms associated with this collection.

Subjects

Corporate Names

• Kaufmann's Department Store

Personal Names

• Whitehead, Ralph

Geographic Names

• Wilkinsburg (Pa.)

Other Subjects

• Advertising--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh.

Container List