GAYTEE STAINED GLASS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT:

An Inventory of Its Oral History Interview and Demonstration with John Salisbury at the Minnesota Historical Society

Oral History Collection

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Gaytee Stained Glass Oral History Project.
	Title:	Oral history interview and demonstration with John Salisbury.
	Dates:	June 4, 2014.
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Oral history interview with John Salisbury, former employee and owner of the Gaytee Stained Glass Studios in Minneapolis. Salisbury discusses the origins of Gaytee and some of their early works, the evolution of the stained glass trade and changes in stained glass over the decades. Other topics include the lasting value of stained glass, memorable projects he worked on, and remembrances of working with independent artists. Also included are discussions of window pieces now in the Minnesota Historical Society collection and a basic glass elements demonstration in the process of leaded glass window-making.
	Quantity:	4 master video files sound, color, MOV (166 GB) and 2 user videodiscs (4 video files): sound, color, MP4 (13.63 GB); 4 3/4 in.
	Location:	OH 148: See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

John Salisbury was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota. He worked for Gaytee Stained Glass Studios from 1968 until his retirement in 2010.

Thomas Gaytee, a native of France, studied stained glass design under Louis Comfort Tiffany in New York and moved to Minneapolis in 1918, intending to work as an agent for Tiffany. Soon, however, he established his own company specializing in religion-themed windows, quickly garnering the contract for windows in the Basilica of St. Mary's in Minneapolis, where he worked closely with architects Fred Slifer and Frank Abrahamson. Gaytee remained as head of the studio until his death in 1936, when he was succeeded by Lee Miller. When Miller retired in 1968, John Salisbury took over and ran Gaytee for more than forty years until selling the business to Al Palmer in 2010. Today, Gaytee's stained glass applications appear in thousands of churches, businesses, and homes throughout the United States and Canada. Among their extensive works are the Boy's Town Chapel (Omaha, Nebraska), Westminster and First Presbyterian Church (Lincoln, Nebraska), Central Lutheran Church (Minneapolis), St. John's Lutheran Church (Chaska), and DePaul Hospital Chapel, St. George's, and St. Wenceslaus Churches, all in St. Louis, Missouri.

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Gaytee Stained Glass Oral History Project, Oral History Interview and Demonstration with John Salisbury. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Location of Master Files:

Digital masters of the video files are maintained on the Society's secure digital collections storage servers and are managed and preserved in accordance with archival best practices.

Accession Information:

Accession number: AV2015.5

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990086483500104294

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION


Location	Disc
OH 148.1	1	John Salisbury interview, 1 video file (38 minutes, 33 seconds): sound, color, MP4 (4.91 GB).
			On disc 1 with John Salisbury stained glass demo.
			Begins with a brief history of Thomas Gaytee, Lee Miller, and Gaytee Stained Glass Studios; stained glass studios and commercial glass studios in Minneapolis; Gaytee stained glass projects around Minnesota, including the Basilica of Saint Mary and many Lutheran churches; Gaytee trademark English seaweed pattern; employees at Gaytee Studios and the evolution of the stained glass trade; Gaytee work in outstate Minnesota and in the Midwest; stained glass community after World War I; changes in stained glass over the decades; working with independent artists; design process; jobs and duties in a shop, and acquiring stained glass skills; talks quite a bit about his own career, how he got interested in stained glass and taking over Gaytee Studios; the lasting value of stained glass; memorable projects; the future of Gaytee Studios; the Minnesota style or Midwest style of stained glass and its popularity; Minnesota and stained glass in homes in the 1920s and 1930s; John's plans for retirement.
			Digital version


Location	Disc
OH 148.2	1	John Salisbury stained glass demo, 1 video file (7 minutes, 31 seconds): sound, color, MP4 (973 MB).
			On disc 1 with John Salisbury interview.
			Demonstration of the basic elements and process of creating leaded glass windows.
			Digital version


Location	Disc
OH 148.3	2	Glass pieces 1, 1 video file (29 minutes, 19 seconds): sound, color, MP4 (3.72 GB).
			On disc 2 with Glass pieces 2.
			Salisbury discusses stained glass pieces that are now part of the Minnesota Historical Society collection: Dennis O'Brian piece; Robert Giles prairie school piece; a piece designed by John Bradstreet and done by Mosaic; window designed by Purcell & Elmslie; fine art stained glass piece by Bill Saltzman; angel panel attributed to Ford Brothers Glass Co. from an unknown church.
			Digital version


Location	Disc
OH 148.4	2	Glass pieces 2, 1 video file (31 minutes, 53 seconds): sound, color, MP4 (4.04 GB).
			On disc 2 with Glass pieces 1.
			Discussion of sample panel for church in South Dakota done by Chester Weston; Gaytee sample panel Landing of St. Louis; Gaytee thistle pattern window from late 1930s and early 1940s; sample panel done by glass painter Mrs. Giles; classic nativity example of Gaytee Studio work from late 1930s; Peter Dohman 1960s abstract piece.
			Digital version

CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: Stained glass industry -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.; Stained glass windows.

Persons:: Salisbury, John, interviewee.; Scher, Adam, interviewer.

Organizations:: Gaytee Studios, Inc.

Document Types:: Oral histories (document genres).

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