business
Build your legacy by opening a file in the Tile Heritage Foundation Archives
By Lesley Goddin, Editorial Director and Senior Writer
As you are developing your businesses, growing your skills and expanding into new levels of craftsmanship and artistry, do you know there is an opportunity to enshrine your stellar work in the historic registry of tile at the Tile Heritage Foundation? And it’s free.
The Tile Heritage Foundation (THF), currently located in Healdsburg, Calif., was established as a member-supported, not-for-profit organization by Joe Taylor and Sheila Menzies in 1987. THF’s sole purpose is to protect and preserve the history of the American tile industry. As such, it is a custodian of the history of tile in the U.S. and maintains a massive collection of historic tile samples, publications, rare books, vintage architectural renderings, historic marketing materials and resources.
(l. to r.) Joe Taylor and Sheila Menzies established The Tile Heritage Foundation (THF) in 1987.
In fact, THF’s Historic Tile Collections currently consist of 4,167 individual tiles representing 48 American tile companies, including substantial numbers of Batchelder, Malibu, Handcraft, Muresque, and Solon & Schemmel tiles from California, as well as select rare examples of embossed tiles by Low, Providential, International Tile & Trim and Owen & Pierce from the Northeast, and many more, all donated to the Foundation. Think of it as a living, growing, changing repository of the history of our trade and craft – and a resource for restoration work and information on historic tiles, and tile installations of yesteryear, today and the future. And it’s a collection that you can be part of.
Each company in the Historic and Contemporary archives is carefully filed onsite at Healdsburg, Calif.
Tile Heritage Foundation encourages manufacturers, studios, distributors, dealers, contractors, the design community, tile installers, and other tile-related support industries to establish a THF Archive File. This file is a storehouse of materials related to your company’s history including photography, promotional materials, correspondence, awards, commendations, recognitions and other important items of interest. In addition to promotional information you may have on your website or on social media, these materials, samples and documents will be kept safe for posterity, and become part of a body of work that forms the legacy of those in the tile industry. And the archive confers third-party legitimacy in marketing and proposals for new work. As LATICRETE’s Ron Nash, the newest THF Board member, recently said, “You aren’t just building a shower, you are building a legacy.”
Periodicals hold the stories of the industry and provide visual stimulus to enhance tile design and promotion, then and now. THF has a complete set of TCNA Handbook issues, 1964 to 2024.
Select access to the THF Finding-Aid Index is in the works
Currently, the archives are physical documents, files and tile samples housed in the Tile Heritage Foundation Archives & Library in Healdsburg, Calif. There is also a digital image library and a physical library of tile-related books.
This summer, THF plans to create access to some parts of the Tile Heritage “Finding-Aid Index” that includes aspects of Historic and Contemporary archived company listings. The THF Finding-Aid Index has been multiple years in development and references what is contained in the files. The hundreds of documents themselves and materials listed in the index can be accessed by request or reviewed in person with an appointment to do research in the THF Archives.
The Tile Heritage Archives Finding-Aid Index is designed as publicly-shareable information, and a list of the Historic and Contemporary archived listings can be downloaded here:
https://www.tileheritage.org/pdfs/HistoricArchived FilesFINAL.pdf and https://www.tileheritage.org/pdfs/Contemporary ArchivedFilesFINAL.pdf.
There are over 450 historic companies listed and 700 entries for contemporary companies.
Two select images from the Claycraft Pottery Yosemite series, archived at Tile Heritage Foundation.
The Archives contain a plethora of vintage architectural renderings, like this submission from James Lee and Rick and Richard Baratta, for the inclusion of tiles - many still in dire need of conservation.
How do I open a file?
The first step to open an archival file is to contact THF at foundation@tileheritage.org, or call 707-431-8453.
Here are the kinds of information that are accepted for a THF Archival File:
- Digital and hard copy photography that is accompanied by digital metadata, such as what the image is (installation, mosaic, handmade tile, tile line or collection, etc.), installation location, project name, dates, materials, craftspeople, artisans, artists and support staff involved.
- Documents, company records,news clippings, job records, tear sheets, advertising, published data originals or copies must be submitted in hard copy and categorized in chronological order where possible.
THF archivists Jim Hamilton and Jenny Meeker classify the material in each company’s file folder, arranging information by category and chronologically. Information is then entered into the Finding Aid index, readily accessible and available to the public on request.
John Cox, owner of award-winning, NTCA Five-Star Member Cox Tile in San Antonio, joined THF in June. Over the years, he had been encouraged to join by Joe and Sheila, and by fellow NTCA Past President Martin Brookes. Finally he decided, “It’s time.”
Cox is assembling materials about his projects, company, and service to and affiliation with NTCA to create his own file in the archive, spurred on by his passion for the industry and his desire to add his information to help make the industry better. “It’s about the industry and trying to better the industry,” he said. “That’s what I’ve always tried to do.”
THF Archivists Jenny Meeker and Jim Hamilton classifying materials chronologically and by category.
This archive service is open to the greater tile community – THF members and non-members alike – at no charge. Utilize the free resources of the Tile Heritage Foundation to hold your valuable company records for posterity. Visit https://www.tileheritage.org/pdfs/You-Are-Invited.pdf. Tile
Heritage will willingly guide you. Contact them at foundation@tileheritage.org or 707.431.8453. To find out more about THF’s overarching mission, resources, and publications, visit www.tileheritage.org.