Martha J. Crawford Design Papers

Martha J. Crawford, 1925-1994, was an architectural interior designer of Waukesha, Wisconsin. She attended Vassar College (1943-1945), graduated from Parsons School of Design with an interior design degree (1948), and was an alumna of the Columbia School of Architecture (1953).

For 10 years Crawford worked in New York City with firms such as Eleanor Lemaire and Associates, Amos Parrish & Company, Beeston and Patterson, and Welton Becket and Associates holding titles including Assistant Interior Designer, Head of Color and Décor Department, Contract Interior Designer, and Construction Coordinator. In 1958, Crawford opened her own firm Martha Crawford and Associates specializing in the design of commercial interiors. Following 1966, she was a contract interior designer in Florida, Virginia, Washington, D.C, and Wisconsin. Her long and active career included design projects for many major American department stores: Neiman Marcus; B. Altman & Company; Macy's; Bamberger's; Kresge; and Heironimus in Roanoke, Virginia. In 1975, Crawford retired to Waukesha, Wisconsin.

She designed numerous residential interiors as well as interiors for offices, showrooms, restaurants, hotels, banks, schools, and hospitals. In addition, Martha Crawford was a writer, studied poetry, and completed at least two novels. She was also an artist and among her papers are numerous watercolors and pastels.