Inside Herman Miller's Vast Archives
The company's Michigan headquarters holds a treasure trove of design history
Herman Miller archivist Amy Auscherman.
The popular image of the archivist, if you’re even familiar with it, is someone rifling through boxes of files day in and day out, huddled in the corner of a museum library, or tucked away in a basement digitizing records. To some extent, this can be true; but for Amy Auscherman, corporate archivist at Herman Miller, that’s just a fraction of the work she does on any given day at one of the most-recognized manufacturers of office and home furnishings.
“I know of no other furniture company that has a collection like this, that is a great storytelling tool but then also it works for the company still,” Auscherman says.
Auscherman, who arrived at Herman Miller’s Zeeland, Michigan, headquarters in 2014 after working in the archives of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, speaks of the company’s history as if she’s been studying it for far longer than three years. She explains that she’s a "straight-up knowledge worker," doing a lot of research for other people in the company. ("I’d say to people that I’m the de facto corporate historian, as well,” she explains.) She also defies the traditional notion of what an archivist might embody—for one, she does a little bit of everything around the company.
A history of chairs displayed against one wall.
The archival department reports through their branding department, and Auscherman is truly the face of the archives when it comes to getting the word out. “I feel like the first couple of years of my job has been doing PR for the archives department,” for both internal and external contacts, she says. She’s chatted Eames lounge chairs on Vice with Tyler, the Creator, has talked through the craze about midcentury design with Curbed, and her Instagram account is considered one of the best to follow for design by Fast Company.
Fabric swatches.
Stored sketches.
Herman Miller’s archive is interestingly situated at the intersection of business, art and design, and history. "The collection is so unique for a corporate archive from an art history/design history perspective, but then it also does have those elements of business history," Auscherman explains. For this reason, it’s an active archive that can be used beyond scholarly work to, say, inform reissuing a piece of furniture, illuminate a particular past business decision in regard to the company’s unique view of workers, or educate designers working with the company on a new product.
Auscherman pulling early plans from filing drawers.
Auscherman’s days are never routine, but one might consist of selecting archival furniture to display in rooms at Marigold Lodge, where guests of the company can stay while they visit; giving tours for customers to help them understand the company’s story and values; consulting for the legal department; assisting the media relations team; or facilitating use of the collection with outside institutions and working with scholars from around the globe.
An early advertisement for an Isamu Noguchi table.
As might be expected with a 100-year-old company whose employee numbers hover around 8,000, it’s a job in and of itself to create awareness around the need for archiving across teams. “So much of what is generated now is digital,” Auscherman says, when in the past there were paper records of correspondence, design specs, and advertising, and physical photographs or drawings. She encourages designers and project managers across Herman Miller to save things they think are important, or that produce "aha" moments, because while it might not seem important to save now, it will be several years down the road.
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Wow! What a great read. Thanks for sharing this interesting story.