Thomas F. Googerty Collection

Adhering to many of the tenets of the American Arts and Crafts movement, master ironworker Thomas F. Googerty taught blacksmithing to inmates at the Illinois State Reformatory in Pontiac for nearly four decades, where he conveyed life skills along with craftsmanship, teaching that character, like iron, could be forged and molded for the better. Simultaneously, he was an active artist, exhibiting his ornamental ironwork at such venues as the Art Institute of Chicago and the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, and joining the prestigious Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston. Googerty was also the author of several manuals on forging and ornamental ironwork that remain important texts for modern metalsmithing. Included in this collection are photographs of his ironwork, pen and ink design sketches, technical sketches, and cover design sketches for one of his publications; most of these items date from the early 1900s. View finding aid. Collection access:Collections may be accessed in the Franke Reading Room of the Research Center at The Art Institute of Chicago, by appointment only. For further information, consult the FAQ. Finding aids by subjectBrowse all finding aidsBrowse images and mediaOral histories Contact the Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives:archives@artic.edu