Jerome Strauss Papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-0147

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

These personal papers documenting the activities of a noted glass collector are divided into seven series:

(1) Biographical and Collection Information, 1935-1977

(2) Correspondence, 1930-1978

(3) Scholarship and Exhibitions, 1955-1975

(4) Journal and Magazine Articles on Glass, 1903-1976

(5) Ruth Bryan Strauss Memorial Foundation Records, 1947-1978

(6) Photographs, 1960-1966, Undated

(7) Miscellaneous Materials, Circa 1930-1978

Dates

1903-1978
Majority of material found within 1930-1978

Creator

Strauss, Jerome, 1893-1978 (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection materials are primarily in English, but users will also find French, German, Italian, Dutch, Danish, and Spanish language materials.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for public research. Researchers must make an appointment to view this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

The Copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. The user agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Corning Museum of Glass and the Rakow Research Library against all claims, demands, costs and expenses incurred by copyright infringement or any other legal or regulatory cause of action arising from the use of Library materials.

Biographical / Historical

Jerome Strauss was born in New York, New York to Herman and Matilda Neuberger Strauss in 1893. He was educated at Stevens Institute of Technology (M.E., 1913), and his first positions were with the Metallurgical Department of Illinois Steel Company from 1913 to 1914 and the Western Drop Forge Company from approximately 1915 to 1917. Strauss served in World War I as a Lieutenant in the Ordnance Department, and after the war worked as a materials engineer for the U.S. Naval Gun Factory.

In 1928, Strauss began working for Vanadium Corporation of America as chief research engineer. In 1935 he became vice president of research and development, and in 1946, vice president and technical director. He published extensively on low and high alloy steels and holds a number of patents in the manufacture of low alloy steels. He also provided leadership for the American Section for the International Association for Testing Materials, the American Society for Metals, and the American Standards Association. Later in life he worked as a consultant in Metallurgy at Pennsylvania State College.

Strauss also was a noted glass collector who began collecting in the early 1930s. His first collecting interest was early American pressed glass, but he abandoned that quickly in favor of drinking vessels. Both a scholar and scientist in his amateur study of glass, he not only acquired a significant collection of drinking vessels, but also a research library to accompany the collection. Strauss shared his knowledge generously with other collectors and museums, particularly the Corning Museum of Glass. A large portion of his collection was donated to the Corning Museum of Glass after his death in 1978.

Strauss was married twice. His first wife, Ruth Bryan, died in 1955. His second wife, Mary Lillian Jackson, survived him. Strauss died on September 1, 1978 in Centre, Pennsylvania.