Kiplinger Washington Collection

The Kiplinger Washington Collection includes nearly 4,000 rare maps, prints, photographs and paintings of Washington. It was the largest privately held collection of Washingtoniana when it was displayed in the offices of The Kiplinger Washington Editors near Lafayette Square. Donated to the DC History Center in 2011, with the earliest pieces dating from the late 17th Century, the Kiplinger Washington Collections is an important visual resource documenting the history of the capital city and its evolving cityscape.

The Kiplinger Washington Collection Finds a New Home: The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Receives 4,000 Images Documenting the City's History
This Washington History article explores the history of the Kiplinger Washington Collection.
Kiplinger Washington Collection (KC)
This collection consists of artwork, maps, prints, photographs, books, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and ephemera relating to Washington, D.C. (considered Series I: Collections; search KC in the object ID field across all catalogs to see records for individual artworks and individually cataloged titles; search KCvf for pamphlets and published material arranged by subject). The collection also comprises curatorial files; correspondence; exhibit files; and other administrative files. These are considered Series II: Collection Records (search KCms).

The materials represent more than two centuries of the city's evolution, some predating L'Enfant's 1791 city plan. The collection comprises of iconic images of D.C. as well as the scenes of daily life in the city. Willard Kiplinger was particularly interested in the rapidly changing streetscape of the city and actively collected images of what he called "Vanishing Washington." He commissioned local artists such as Caroline Beane, Audrey Preissler Roll, Paul Hoffmaster, Theodore Hancock, Leo Herschfield, Helen Durston, Kingsley Gibson, and Lily Spandorf to create paintings, etchings, and drawings of local landmarks.

The collection also contains nearly 2,500 photographs from the Civil War to the present including mediums such as stereoviews, cartes de visite, and silver gelatin prints. They include photographers such as Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, Underwood and Underwood, Volkmar Wentzel, James Meek, and Joseph Baylor Roberts. In the mid-twentieth-century William Barrett took hundreds of photographs documenting city blocks and buildings as part of the Vanishing Washington project.

See the below for more information on accessing specific segments of the Kiplinger Washington Collection.

Kiplinger Washington Collection maps, prints, broadsides, and artwork
Prints, lithographs, paintings and other artwork that is part of the Kiplinger Washington Collection. The focus is almost exclusively the built environment. This series includes materials collected by the Kiplingers as well as commissioned by them.
Object IDs reflect a cataloging system devised by a former curator of the collection. Object IDs begin with KC followed by a 4-digit number. The number indicates the order in which the item came into the collection/was cataloged. In addition, the object ID sheds light on the type of material:
PR indicates a print
PT = painting
DR = drawing
MP = map
BS = broadside
The F and U formerly indicated whether the item was framed or unframed; however, many items have since been deframed without the object ID changing.
Kiplinger Washington Collection Barrett collection
William Edmund "Bill" Barrett (1927-1997) graduated from Georgetown University in 1951 and launched his career as a freelance architectural photographer in 1961. Washington-area clients included the National Capital Planning Commission, Octagon House, Decatur House, the Junior League, the National Park Service and Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. The Barrett images in the Kiplinger Washington Collection are all cataloged online and are all street scenes in the 1960s. The object IDs reflect a cataloging system devised by a former curator of the collection. Object IDs begin with KC followed by a 4-digit number. The number indicates the order in which the item came into the collection/was cataloged. In addition, the object ID sheds light on the type of material and creator: PH indicates photograph; WB is for William Barrett. The physical prints are arranged by square, reflecting Barrett's systematic method of documenting the built environment.
Kiplinger Washington Collection Vertical Files
Rather than the traditional vertical files, which are usually clippings from a newspaper, the vertical files in the Kiplinger Washington Collection are intact, often rare publications. This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.
Kiplinger Washington Collection Curatorial Files
This series includes
Subseries A: Object Records, arranged sequentially by KC object ID (eg KC1956; KC4034).
Subseries B: Artist Files comprise correspondence between artists and Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., as well as internal correspondence regarding purchases and commissions. Arranged alphabetically by artist.
Subseries C: Art Source Files comprise correspondence and other records between dealers and Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.
Subseries D: Use Files comprise loan and order records. Arranged chronologically.
Subseries E: Exhibit Files comprise exhibit catalogs. Arranged chronologically by exhibit.
Subseries F: Research Files comprise subject-based research materials. Arranged by alphabetically by subject.
Subseries G: Cataloging Files comprise cataloging record files, conservation files, and exhibition preparation documents. Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Subseries H: Slide Files comprise one set of copy slides of the entire collection arranged by object ID, and one set of copy slides arranged by subject.
Access to this some portions of this series is restricted; please consult with staff.

Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. donated the bulk of the Kiplinger Washington Collection to the DC History Center. However, the company also decided to separately donate discrete portions of the collection to repositories where the items better suited their respective collecting missions, including the National Portrait Gallery, National Press Club, George Washington University, President Lincoln's Cottage, and Mount Vernon.