Title: Dorothy Dignam Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1907-1962 (bulk 1918-1955)

Creator:

• Dignam, Dorothy, 1896-1988

Call Number: U.S. Mss 19AF; PH 2240

Quantity: 3.0 c.f. (2 archives boxes and 3 flat boxes) and 25 photographs

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Dorothy Dignam, one of the first women copywriters in the advertising business, chiefly consisting of examples of her work for the McJunkin and Vanderhoff advertising companies of Chicago and N.W. Ayer & Son, of Philadelphia and New York City. Clients include the Ford Motor Company, Marshall Field & Company, and Cannon Mills. The advertising dates from Dignam's early career, and it reflects her specialization in women's products and advertising addressed to women. Also included are educational materials and radio scripts about women by Dignam and other members of the Philadelphia Club of Advertising Women; materials she prepared as head of the Defense Committee of the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) during World War II; materials for Advertising Careers for Women (1939), a book edited with Blanche Clair; and other materials. The photographs are portraits and images used for Ford Motor Company advertising and for AWNY Defense Committee advertising.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0019af

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The daughter of J.B. Dignam, a pioneer advertising agent in Chicago, Dorothy Dignam was exposed very early to the field in which she was to make her career. For her father's fashion journal, Dignam's Magazine, Dorothy wrote a children's column, “Cousin Dorothy,” when she was twelve years old.

After working for the Women's Press and the Chicago Herald from 1917 to 1918, she entered the advertising field. During the next ten years, Dignam wrote advertising copy for Vanderhoof and Company, and McJunkin Advertising Company, both Chicago firms. In 1929 she joined the staff of N.W. Ayer in Philadelphia, moving to the firm's New York office in 1939.

Dignam worked in advertising when there were few women in the profession. She was one of the first women to be employed in designing and composing advertising from a woman's point of view to appeal specifically to women. In particular, she worked extensively in areas such as cosmetics, clothing and textiles, and home appliances. In 1927 she went to Europe, visiting the trade fairs and surveying the general household situation and the possible market for American appliances. While in Europe, she was a correspondent for five American trade journals. During the 1930s, when significant numbers of women began to drive, the Ford Motor company hired Dignam to create advertising slanted for women, including preparation of a special driving manual.

In 1939 Harper's published Advertising Careers for Women, which Dorothy Dignam edited in conjunction with Blanche Clair. The book consisted of lectures presented to the Philadelphia Club of Advertising Women. Dignam also wrote the chapter on women's employment in advertising for How to Be a Successful Advertising Woman, a book published in 1948 for the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY). This book was based on lectures delivered as part of a class for prospective members of the profession sponsored by AWNY. In 1949, Dignam collaborated with Mary Lewis on The Marriage of Diamonds and Dolls, a History of Bridal Customs, 1947.

Dorothy Dignam retired in 1962 and died on March 10, 1988 in Houston, Texas.

The collection is entirely concerned with Dorothy Dignam's professional career. Not long after donating her advertising papers to the Wisconsin Historical Society, Dignam established a second collection at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College. The finding aid for the Schlesinger collection suggests that collection includes professional writings and information on her involvement with the Advertising Women of New York as well as her personal papers.

The Dignam papers at Wisconsin form two series: ADVERTISING and SUBJECT FILES.

The bulk of the ADVERTISING series consists of samples of advertising for magazines and newspapers, proofs, client presentation booklets, and notes. It is thought that the samples represent campaigns for which Dignam was responsible, at least in part, but may also include examples about which she only wished to comment. This is certainly the case for the early Ayer advertising for women's products which were designed by men. It is probably also the case for her scrapbook of early corset advertising which contains ads for several manufacturers.

Although there are no office files and little documentation concerning the development of particular advertising campaigns, several files include internal office memoranda, occasional letters, and explanatory notes prepared by Dignam at the time of donation that shed light on campaign development. The advertising primarily dates from Dignam's career in Chicago and Philadelphia. Because of this, the majority of the represented clients were regional rather than national. Important exceptions are the Ford Motor Company, for which she created special material for women during the late 1930s; Marshall Field & Company, for which she focused on the store's textile line; and the Cannon Mills Company, a manufacturer of sheets, towels, and hosiery. The majority of the ads concern products such as cosmetics, clothing, textiles, and household appliances for which women were the target consumer. One of the most unusual of her early clients was Commonwealth Edison for which she wrote copy to advertise appliances sold in the company's store. It was this experience with household appliances that led to her 1927 trip to Europe to survey the prospects there for increased use of appliances. Reports concerning her European observations, particularly in Germany and Sweden, are included in the SUBJECT FILES. The series also includes magazines published by McJunken, Dignam's employer, aimed at electric and gas utilities.

The alphabetically-arranged SUBJECT FILES contain material related to professional organizations, speeches and writings, and biographical information. The biographical information is a scrapbook that dates primarily from 1917 to 1927. In addition to biographical clippings, the scrapbook contains publicity she prepared for the Chicago Boys Club and samples of her writing for the Chicago Herald. The files on the Advertising Women of New York, which Dignam joined about 1939, the year she moved to New York City, include correspondence and public service ads she created as head of the AWNY World War II Defense Committee, and reports prepared as an instructor for the club's survey of advertising classes, 1947-1955. There is also background for these talks about the prospects for women's employment in advertising. One of her lectures, along with the lectures of other members of the club, appeared in How to be a Successful Advertising Woman. A copy of this book is included in the papers. Files related to the Philadelphia Club of Advertising Women document its early consumer clinics and radio programs it sponsored about prominent women. In addition, there is publicity for the book, Advertising Career for Women, edited by Dignam and Blanche Claire that included talks by members of the club on professional development. This book is not part of the collection, however. Also here are printed articles that appeared with Dignam's byline.

The visual materials included in the Advertising and Subject Files series consist of portraits of Dignam, photographs used to illustrate public service advertising produced by the AWNY World War II Defense Committee, and Ford Company photographs featuring early model Ford automobiles with costumed models as passengers, some juxtaposed with 1939 Fords.

Advertising Women of New York Records (U.S. Mss 19AF)

Dorothy Dignam Papers at Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute (A-114)

Acquisition Information

Presented by Dorothy Dignam, New York, New York, 1959-1966.

Processing Information

Processed by Janice O'Connell, August 28, 1964.

U.S. Mss 19AF	Series: Advertising
Box   5 Folder   1	“Dorothy Dignam, Her Book, 1919-1926” Note: Rit and other Sunbeam Chemical Company products, Hickory Personal Products, Curtiss Candy Company, Lura Soap, Olivilo, and Carnation Milk.
Box   3 Folder   1	Apartment Selection Service
Box   3 Folder   2	Armand Cosmetics, “Clothes by Paris, Complexion by Armand,” 1930
Box   3 Folder   3	Berkshire Hosiery, 1935
Box   3 Folder   4	Bunte Cough Drops, 1919-1920
Box   3 Folder   4	Cocoa, undated
	Cannon Mills Company
Box   3 Folder   5	Sheets and towels, large format ads and proofs, circa 1939
Box   1 Folder   1	Small format ads
Box   3 Folder   6	Hosiery ads, 1938
Box   1 Folder   2	Carnation Milk, recipe booklet, 1915
	Commonwealth Edison Electric Shops
Box   1 Folder   3	Small format advertising
Box   3 Folder   7	Large format advertising
Box   3 Folder   8	“The New Dignity of Thrift” campaign brochure
Box   5 Folder   2	Corsets, various manufacturers, 1920-1922
Box   1 Folder   4	Crispo Biscuits, 1921
	Crown Rayon Yarn, Viscose Company
Box   1 Folder   5	Brochures
Box   3 Folder   9	Large format ads
Box   1 Folder   6	Delicine Lotion
Box   1 Folder   7	Diamonds (DeBeers?), 1948-1952
Box   3 Folder   10	Donnelly Soap, Graham Brothers Soap Company
Box   3 Folder   11	Edgewater Beach Hotel, 1926-1927
Box   3 Folder   12	Endocreme
Box   1 Folder   8	Everfast Fabrics, circa 1931
	Ford Motor Company
Box   1 Folder   9	Correspondence and memoranda, 1936-1938
Box   1 Folder   10	Ford Times articles by Dignam, 1937-1939
Box   1 Folder   11	Women drivers advertising campaign, 1935-1937
Box   3 Folder   13	Large format ads
PH 2240	Photographs
U.S. Mss 19AF Box   1 Folder   12	Garda Cosmetics, Watkins Company
Box   3 Folder   14	Grennan's Cook Book Cake, 1931
Box   1 Folder   13	Hamilton Beach
Box   1 Folder   14	Hebe milk product recipe booklet
Box   4 Folder   1	Hickory Personal necessities, A. Stein Company, 1924-1927
Box   1 Folder   15	KVP paper
Box   1 Folder   16	Kellogg's All-Bran
Box   5 Folder   3	Kopper's Philadelphia Coke (coal)
Box   4 Folder   2	Leonard Refrigerator Company, 1928
Box   4 Folder   3	Lloyd Baby Carriages
Box   1 Folder   17	Lura Cosmetics
Box   4 Folder   4	McCall's Magazine
Box   1 Folder   18	McJunkins Electric Supplement, 1921-1922
Box   1 Folder   19	McJunkin's Gas Service Bulletin, 1921-1922
Box   1 Folder   20	McJunkin's, Miscellaneous proofs
	Marshall Field & Company
Box   1 Folder   21	Correspondence and memoranda, circa 1933
Box   4 Folder   5	General textile ads
Box   4 Folder   6	Beau Monde silks, circa 1933
Box   4 Folder   7	Elizabeth Hawes and Fashion Field Fabrics, 1933
	Miscellaneous ads
Box   1 Folder   22	Small format ads
Box   4 Folder   8	Large format ads
Box   4 Folder   9	C.C. Mitchell investments
Box   4 Folder   10	Nadine cosmetics, 1924-1926
	National Jewelers Association, “Gifts that Last” campaign
Box   1 Folder   23	Brochure
Box   4 Folder   11	Large format ads
Box   4 Folder   12	Nisley Shoes
Box   4 Folder   13	Ontra Cafeteria, circa 1926
Box   1 Folder   24	Palmer Comfortables, circa 1930
Box   1 Folder   25	“Peter Porker” recipe campaign
Box   4 Folder   14	Pillsbury
	Proctor Automatic Appliances
Box   1 Folder   26	Brochures
Box   4 Folder   15	Large format ads
	Seraceta Fabric, Viscose Company
Box   1 Folder   27	Ayers program statement, New Yorker ads, and brochure, circa 1933
Box   4 Folder   16	Large format ads, circa 1933
Box   4 Folder   17	Simplicity Patterns
Box   4 Folder   18	Stetson Shoes for women
Box   4 Folder   19	Window Shade Institute
	Series: Subject files	⇧
	Biographical information
Box   5	Clipping scrapbook, “The Development of a Copywriter,” 1918-1959
Box   1 Folder   28	Clippings, and interview about Digman's Queen Victoria collection
PH 2240	Informal portraits of Dorothy Dignam
U.S. Mss 19AF Box   1 Folder   29	Dignam's notes about Historical Society donation, 1959-1962
Box   1 Folder   30	Miscellaneous correspondence
	Advertising Women of New York (AWNY)
Box   1 Folder   31	History by Dignam
	Advertising survey class, Lecture on employment opportunities
Box   1 Folder   32	1942, 1948-1950
Box   2 Folder   1-3	1951, 1953-1955
	World War II Defense Committee
Box   2 Folder   4	Correspondence, 1941-1942
Box   2 Folder   5	General material
Box   2 Folder   6	Nutrition campaign
PH 2240	Photographs for public service campaigns
U.S. Mss 19AF Box   2 Folder   7	Artwork, undated
	Ayer & Son
Box   2 Folder   8	Philadelphia branch brochure, 1929
Box   4 Folder   20	Large format ads for women's products designed by men
Box   4 Folder   20	“Mind the Fashion,” poster for exhibit at Ayer Galleries in Philadelphia
Box   2 Folder   9	Donner, Vyvyan, fashion scripts for television, circa 1944-1945
	German/Swedish appliance usage
Box   2 Folder   10	Reports, 1927-1933
Box   2 Folder   11	Correspondence with Hilde Zimmerman, 1929-1930
	Philadelphia Club of Advertising Women
Box   2 Folder   12	General information
	Advertising Careers for Women
Box   2 Folder   13	Promotion, 1939
Box   2 Folder   13	Related interview, 1934
Box   2 Folder   14	Consumer clinics, 1937
Box   2 Folder   15	Radio scripts about famous women
Box   2 Folder   16	Anty Antique/Mary Modern script, circa 1934
Box   2 Folder   17	Port Jervis, New York, World War II community action manual, 1942
Box   2 Folder   18	Vanderhoff Company, miscellaneous files
	Speeches and writings
Box   2 Folder   19	Articles with Dignam's byline
Box   2 Folder   20	How to Be a Successful Advertising Woman / edited by Mary Margaret McBride, 1948, with chapter by Dignam
Box   2 Folder   21	“How to Land that Advertising Job,” by Dignam, 1949