Everett Dwight Graff

Background

Graff was born on August 7, 1885 in Clarinda, Iowa, the son of Valentine Graff, the proprietor of a successful clothing and dry-goods business and a state legislator, and of Nancy Elizabeth Fairley.

Education

After attending public schools in Clarinda, Graff entered Lake Forest College in Illinois, from which he graduated in 1906.

Career

Graff joined Joseph T. Ryerson and Son, a steel company, around 1906, with which he remained for his entire business career, being named president in 1937. In 1935, Ryerson merged with Inland Steel Company, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Inland. Graff was a director of both Ryerson and Inland until his retirement in 1952. His home contained works of art and a major collection of Western Americana. These two interests led Graff to serve as trustee and president of both the Art Institute of Chicago (1954-1958) and the Newberry Library (1952-1964). Graff would probably be remembered only by his family and friends were it not for a passion for books that resulted in the establishment of the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana at the Newberry Library. As a book collector he had high standards. While he relied heavily, especially at first, on the great Americana book dealer Wright Howes, his acquisition files are a roster of Americana dealers from coast to coast. Between 1940 and 1950, while still engaged in the steel business, Graff took brief book-hunting trips with Howes. They sought books in Illinois and Iowa, as far south as Mexico, and in the Pacific Northwest. Howes frequently placed advance advertisements in local newspapers along the way so the book dealer and book collector could pursue their respective interests. Graff's contribution to the Newberry was not limited to his bequests of his collection and of a fund to maintain it. He used his leverage to further the general interests of the library as well. Under his leadership the Newberry declined an invitation to merge with the University of Chicago; thus it remained independent and on Chicago's Near North Side. It was also under his leadership that the library, in 1959-1962, modernized its facilities, adding air-conditioning and fireproofing to protect the collections. Full of energy and of plans for the library, at age seventy-eight, Graff continued his activities even after a serious stroke. He died on March 11, 1964, in Rome, en route home from Greece. Until his death he worked with Colton Storm on the catalog of his collection, which was published in 1968.

Achievements

• Graff is most remembered as an ardent collector of books.

Membership

President of Joseph T. Ryerson and Son (1937); president of the Art Institute of Chicago (1954-1958); president of the Newberry Library (1952-1964)

Connections

Graff married Verde Alice Clark on November 19, 1918; they had three children.

Father:

Valentine Graff

Mother:

Nancy Elizabeth Fairley

Spouse:

Verde Alice Clark

Friend:

Wright Howes

He was an American book dealer.

References

• A Pretty Fair View of the Eliphent: Ten Letters Written During His Trip Overland From Groveland, Illinois, To California in 1849 and His Adventures in the Gold Fields in 1849 and 1850
• Fifty Texas Rarities: The Clements Library, V46
• A Catalogue of the Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana