Related Resources

This section provides pointers to collections and other resources that have related or similar content to the John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive.

Collections that are related or similar to the John Margolies Roadside America Archive in terms of provenance or subject matter are listed below.

Collections in the Prints & Photographs Division

John Margolies Roadside America ephemera collection (catalog record)
Includes more than 3,800 items relating to American travel and tourism, including postcards, pamphlets, brochures, catalogs, travel logs, advertisements, photographic prints, maps, and sheet music. Available by advance appointment.
Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection (summary & search)
Documents many American sites, including tourist destinations, resorts, and views along railroad lines. Photographs in the collection were reproduced extensively in tourist ephemera and published in formats including color photochrom prints, postcards, and albums. See also the summary catalog record.
Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives (summary & search)
The FSA/OWI collections form an extensive pictorial record of American life between 1935 and 1944. Associated photographers dedicated significant time to the documentation of vernacular architecture in the regions of the country in which they were assigned. Subjects include signage and graphic architectural elements, roadside scenes, and sites like tourist courts and camps. See also the color portion of the collection. and the summary catalog record.
Carol M. Highsmith Archive (summary & search)
Includes numerous examples of roadside architecture across the United States, photographed by Highsmith 1980s-2020s. See also the summary catalog record.
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey (summary & search)
The collections document achievements in architecture, engineering, and landscape design in the United States and its territories through a comprehensive range of building types, engineering technologies, and landscapes, including examples as diverse as the Pueblo of Acoma, the Golden Gate Bridge, windmills, one-room schools, motels, and movie theaters. See also the summary catalog record.
Vergara Photograph Collection (collection overview)
The Camilo J. Vergara Photograph Collection contains work created over 40 years (1970-present). Portions of the collection depict signage, murals, gas stations, fast food restaurants, churches, and other vernacular architecture in urban environments. See also the research guide, African American Communities in America's Cities: Photographs by Camilo J. Vergara,

Collections in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division

United States Work Projects Administration Records - Federal Writers' Project (catalog record)
The Federal Writers’ Project was a New Deal jobs program that was part of the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1940. Well over one-half of the materials in this record group pertain to the American Guide, the sobriquet for the critically acclaimed state guides. See also the finding aid for the records.

Collections in the Library of Congress American Folklife Center

The collections, which include extensive audiovisual documentation of traditional arts, cultural expressions, and oral histories, offer researchers access to the songs, stories, and other creative expressions of people from diverse communities. The documentation sometimes includes vernacular architecture created and maintained by members of those communities.

Online Collections and Presentations
The American Folklife Center provides online access to selected portions of the collections. Browsing these may give a sense of the types of vernacular architecture featured in the collections. Online content may include audio samples of music and stories, digital images of rare letters and photographs, and video clips.

An institution with major holdings of materials by John Margolies is listed below.

John Margolies Roadside America Collection at the Henry Ford Museum External
Photographic prints, ephemera, and a series of postcards of African-American businesses published by the Dexter Press.
John Margolies Roadside America Transparencies at the Henry Ford Museum External
The Henry Ford Museum holds an additional 1,500 Roadside America slides by John Margolies.
Miscellaneous Documents from John Margolies at the Museum of Modern Art External
Correspondence and ephemera collected by John Margolies between 1968 and 1974.

These resources may assist in researching and exploring the context of the images found in the John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive. The book titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog in cases where the book is included in the catalog,

About John Margolies

New York Times
Call Number: AP2 .N48
Published/Created: June 3, 2016
See article by Margalit Fox, "John Margolies, Photographer of Whimsical Architecture, Dies at 76," published June 3, 2016.

By John Margolies

Books

The End of the Road by John Margolies; C. Ray Smith (Editor); Ivan Chermayeff (Illustrator)
Call Number: TR659 .M37 1981b
ISBN: 0140058400
Published/Created: 1981-05-28
Fun along the Road by John Margolies
Call Number: E169.Z82 M3655 1998
ISBN: 0821223518
Published/Created: 1998-06-01
Home Away from Home by John Margolies
Call Number: TX909 .M319 1995
ISBN: 0821221620
Published/Created: 1995-09-01
Miniature Golf by Nina Garfinkel; Maria Reidelbach; John Margolies (Photographer)
Call Number: GV987 .M37 1987
ISBN: 0896596842
Published/Created: 1987-08-01
Recollectibles delight popular culture collectors and graphic designers with their interesting design and intriguing subjects. Each book has a unique and engaging cover that is sure to charm people everywhere.
Pump and Circumstance by John Margolies
Call Number: TL153 .M36 1993
ISBN: 0821219952
Published/Created: 1993-11-01
Resorts of the Catskills by Gallery Association of New York State Staff
Call Number: NA730.N42 C377 1979
ISBN: 0312677510
Published/Created: 1979-12-01
Roadside America architectural relics from a vanishing past by John Margolies, photographer. ed. Jim Heimann, introd. C. Ford Peatross and Phil Patton.
Call Number: (not in LC)
Published/Created: Kӧln: Taschen, 2010.
See the U. S. A. by John Margolies; Eric Baker Design Associates Staff
Call Number: G155.U6 M329 2000
ISBN: 0811822729
Published/Created: 1999-11-01
Signs of Our Times by John Margolies; Emily Gwathmey
Call Number: E169 .M324 1993
ISBN: 1558592091:
Published/Created: 1993-01-01
This is an illustrated, survey of the best in America outdoor signs, ranging from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Ticket to Paradise by John Margolies; Emily M. Gwathmey
Call Number: PN1993.5.U6 M26 1991
ISBN: 0821218298
Published/Created: 1991-11-01

Articles

Progressive Architecture
Call Number: NA1 .P7
See articles by John Margolies: “Now, Once and For All, Know Why I Did It,” Progressive Architecture 61 (Sep., 1970): 118-23.; Margolies, John. “Roadside Mecca in California –The Madonna Inn,” Progressive Architecture 54 (Nov., 1973): 124-129.

Roadside America Photographs by John Margolies in the Library of Congress

Prints & Photographs: Ask a Librarian