The ArtCenter Archives acquired the papers of George Jergenson, a 1935 alumnus and former chair of Industrial Design from 1947-1969. Jergenson was instrumental in establishing the Transportation Design major at ArtCenter in 1948 with Strother MacMinn and John Coleman. From 1937-1947 Jergenson worked at General Motors in the Styling Division. While at GM, Jergenson worked on the team that designed the Opel Kapitan and the Train of Tomorrow. At ArtCenter, Jergenson not only led the Industrial Design department, but also taught many classes and was part of the group that visited Japan in 1956 that led to the first Japanese exchange students at ArtCenter.

The collection contains over thirteen linear feet of records related to Jergenson’s life and his time with General Motors and ArtCenter, including autobiographical scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, films, and artwork. It is exciting to have such an extensive collection that is beneficial for anyone studying industrial design during that period and the history of Transportation Design at ArtCenter.

We will be processing it and digitizing portions in the near future so that we can make it available for research. A special thanks to Jerg Jergenson, George’s son, for this wonderful donation and addition to our archives.

Image caption: A.K. Ragheb [PROD 1951] at work on a model of a car with George Jergenson supervising, circa 1950 (2004.23.124). Copyright ArtCenter College of Design