Colonial Williamsburg Motor Hotel - Correspondence, press and brochure , 1957

The Sarah Tomerlin Lee and Tom Lee Collection contains correspondence, photographs, publicity materials, newspaper and magazine articles, original writings and project specifications derived from Sarah Tomerlin Lee’s six-decade long career in fashion, advertising and interior design. Materials document her career trajectory from copywriter for magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, to Vice President of Lord & Taylor, to Editor-in-Chief of House Beautiful, and finally to noted interior designer. The collection features business records, project specifications, photographs and correspondence documenting major hotel projects., including The Helmsley Palace in New York City, The Willard Hotel in Washington D.C., The Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia, and many others. The collection also features published writings and speeches that she authored throughout her career, as well as materials related to publications that she authored. Of particular note is an original recording on a 33 1/5 LP of the jingle Lee wrote for the swimwear company, Jantzen, “Just wear a smile…and a Jantzen”. Also of note are the business records, correspondence, and editorial writings from her time as Editor-in-Chief of House Beautiful (1965-1971).

The collection also contains drawings, renderings, photographs, scrapbooks, publicity materials and newspaper and magazine articles documenting the career of Tom Lee (1909-1971), Sarah Tomerlin Lee’s husband, a well-known display, exhibit, set and interior designer active from the 1930s until his untimely death in 1971. The collection features drawings and photographs of window displays that Lee created at such department stores as Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor and Bergdorf Goodman, product designs for companies such as Caron Perfumes, and set designs for theatrical productions, most notably Broadway’s “Louisiana Purchase”. The collection also features drawings, photographs, and various other materials related to his interior design career, projects which included the Park Avenue Savoy Room, Colonial Williamsburg Motor Lodge, the Doral Park Avenue and the Doral Miami Beach, the Royal Theran Hotel, and the Royal Sonets Hotel in New Orleans. Of particular note, the collection contains drawings and photographs of Lee’s designs of the 1947 RCA Exhibition Hall, which marked the first time the American public was introduced to the technology behind and capabilities of the television; the New York City’s 5th Avenue association’s Golden Anniversary parade in 1957 celebrating its 50th anniversary; and his designs for Lever House, which included the well-known and beloved Lever House Christmas Carousel in New York City.