Talk:Russel Wright

Albert Einstein
THE albert einstein? prominent new york family? einstein hadn't even immigrated to the u.s. when she married wright.the vanderbilts are a prominent ny family. the rockefellers and the roosevelts are prominent ny families. explanation is in order.Toyokuni3 (talk) 22:41, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

It sounds appropriate to remove the word prominent.P. Rollin (talk) 03:17, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Mary Small Einstein's father was Milton Einstein who was born in New York in 1877. He was listed as a merchant living in NY on his passport application and as a manufacturer in NY in the federal census. His father was from Germany and immigrated to New York in the mid 1800s. I don't know if she was related to "THE" Einstein or not, nor if her family was indeed "prominent", however it is certainly possible for a family to become "prominent" over a matter of a few decades or even less. (Sources: Federal Censuses and Passport Application records via ancestry.com.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by MichelleDR (talk • contribs) 00:11, 22 March 2010 (UTC)

Law at Princeton???
How did he study law at Princeton when there is no law school? I should know, as I'm an alum. This needs serious changing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.180.19.159 (talk) 18:01, 14 June 2008 (UTC)


 * interesting. princeton did have a law school and the persistent perception that it still does is sufficient that somebody thought to make an article on it for wikipedia:Princeton Law School. however, it ceased to be in 1852, much too early for wright to have attended.(it apparently only produced 7 graduates.) the 'references' cited here are all but useless. however, i did find a reference at designaddict.com, which does claim that he began law studies at princeton.so at least the writer here didn't make it up out of whole cloth. still a pretty poor level of scholarship and research. see my comment above.Toyokuni3 (talk) 21:30, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Correction from the previous post : I've been in correspondence with a friend (not personally in email contact with primary source) who's indicated that Russel Wright studied at Princeton with the idea of eventually going to law school or at least taking the bar (as back then you didn't need to have a JD to take the bar exam). Thus, he didn't study law at Princeton per se, but studied with the idea of eventually becoming a lawyer. He was married to a Mary Small Einstein.

So I think that clears it all up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.112.38.25 (talk) 18:38, 16 June 2008 (UTC)


 * no it doesn't. she may have been an einstein,(that was already in the article) but the issue of 'prominent new york family' remains.as i commented above, when she married wright, albert einstein was still in germany. moreover,and i'm going out on a limb here, i don't think he ever lived in nyc. i will admit that princeton nj (where he did live) isn't all that far away. perhaps the contention is that the smalls were the prominent family? finally, one of the references listed for this article states that wright went to columbia!Toyokuni3 (talk) 22:56, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Albert Einstein lived in Princeton NJ, not NYC. Where did you read in this article that Albert lived in NYC? Yes, Russel did study Architecture at Columbia, but he also attended several other schools too. Should every school he attended be listed in this article?P. Rollin (talk) 03:17, 31 July 2008 (UTC)


 * i'm 99.9% certain that when i made tht comment there was reference in the article to wright having been entertained in ALBERT einstein's home in nyc. or at least it could be read that way. anyway, it's gone, and so not really worth looking through the history for. Toyokuni3 (talk) 14:46, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Well, it's academic at this point, but Russel and Annie would regularly go to the Einstein's (his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Annie's grandparents, Mary's parents) apartment in NYC for the Einstein's regular Sunday family dinners. They continued to do so for many years, even after Mary died. The Einstein's would normally send their car and chauffeur to Princeton for Albert (Einstein) in order to bring him to these family dinners. At these Einstein family dinners, Albert would regularly entertain Russel, usually unwittingly. Source: Annie Wright. Since this is not published in the various existing books on Russel, then it does not belong in this Wikipedia venue, and that's unfortunate for most anyone interested in Russel Wright. For your reference, the article previously said, "Mary...was a member of the prominent New York family that included Albert Einstein, who often entertained Russel during family gatherings for many years thereafter in New York." Sorry for any unintentional confusion. P. Rollin (talk) 02:17, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

Well, it certainly clears up the law school part; that was my earlier concern.

Ann Wright was adopted.
Ann Wright was adopted and the Wright's only child (son or daughter.) While Mary Wright was her Mother by adoption, this makes it sound like Ann was born to Mary, which is not true. She was two years old when Mary Wright died of breast cancer. Also I've only seen her referred to as Ann in publications. While Annie is a diminutive of Ann and may have been used by the family, I believe it's only proper to use her given name of Ann. There are several sources to confirm what I have just stated, one of which is Albrecht, Donald et al. "Russel Wright: Creating American Lifestyle." 2002. Harry N. Abrams, p.20.Mr. Mel Mac (talk) 11:01, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Ann is not her given name. Ann is her middle name and she goes by the name Annie. Source: Annie Wright. Wouldn't it be more correct to change this article to Russell Wright since that was his given name?P. Rollin (talk) 03:17, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Russel Wright was the spelling that HE used on all his designs, his books and the way he signed his name. Friends knew him by that spelling and his name appears in all the books and articles about him that way. Changing it would only create unnecessary confusion and be improper. The printed references that I've seen refer to the daughter as both Ann and Annie. Thank you for correcting any confusion about her name. (See Albrecht, Donald cited above, but also Kerr, Ann. "Russel Wright Dinnerware." 1985.) Collector Books.)Mr. Mel Mac (talk) 11:15, 19 August 2008 (UTC)Mr. Mel Mac

Melmac History
Melmac History

While Russel Wright was ONE of the first to research melamine dinnerware and actually had his first line, called "Meladur", tested in New York area restaurants around 1947, it was not produced for domestic consumption (home use) until 1949. Melamine dishware was first designed for the Navy during war time in 1943. Sets of Navy surplus were sold to the public in 1945 at war's end. John Hedu's 1946 "Lifetime" line for the Watertown Co. of Watertown, CT. was the first Melmac (melamine dinnerware) designed and sold for domestic use. (See www.plasticliving.com as a source. Christopher McPherson interviewed the designer Jon Hedu before his death and got this information from THE primary source, Jon Hedu, although there are other sources to confirm this.) Joan Luntz, the designer of "Brookpark Modern Design" produced the second line of Melmac for domestic consumption in later 1946 right on the heels of Hedu's "Lifetime". (I have interviewed Joan Luntz and I'm writing a history of Melmac that will include this.) As a matter of fact there were about 14 other lines of Melmac for home use before Wright designed "Residential" in 1953. Overzealous Russel Wright fans keep repeating this misrepresentation that Wright was first, but that doesn't make it so. Also Wright's "Residential" was the most popular Melmac for home use "sold door to door" in the 1950s, not THE most popular of all in the 1950s. (Albrecht, Donald et al. "Russel Wright: Creating American Lifestyle." 2002. Harry Abrams. p. 56 Most Melmac was sold in stores, not door to door, so this is a misleading fact when not clarified (when the "sold door to door" is left out.) Better perhaps, to say something like, "Residential was one of the most popular Melmac lines with gross sales of over $4 million in 1957". (Albrecht, IBID.)Mr. Mel Mac (talk) 11:28, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Aline Bernstein/Russel Wright love affair?
I'd like to see the source for the statement about Aline Bernstein and Russel Wright's love affair. Bernstein had a long love affair with Thomas Wolfe in the 1920s (http://www.mountainx.com/features/2000/0209loveletters.php). Was the affair with Wright concurrent? Also it's been said that Wright was gay, in his later years living openly with his lover Mr. Chapman at Dragon Rock. Russel Wright and Mary Wright always had separate bedrooms and their only child was adopted according to several books. They may have loved each other very much, but wasn't theirs was one of the "marriages of convenience" of the period (pre-Gay Liberation?) Lastly, when I worked for George Cukor in the 1970s and asked him about Russel Wright and the Rochester theatre days, Mr. Cukor said Russel Wright was "one of the pretty, young homosexuals that flock to the theatre. The sobering Great Depression changed everything.  I went to Hollywood to direct and Wright went on to become a famous designer of furnishings." Certainly it's possible that Aline Bernstein and R. Wright had an affair, but I'd like a source and possibly some acknowledgment that Wright was at least bi-sexual.Mr. Mel Mac (talk) 12:04, 28 July 2008 (UTC)


 * since you see3m very knowledgable about his bio, perhaps you could address the issue above; i.e. his relationship, if any, to the 'prominent' einsteins, whoever they were.Toyokuni3 (talk) 17:29, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

From what I've read, I understand that Mary Small Einstein and the famous scientist, Albert Einstein, were cousins (her father being the brother of Albert Einstein's father.)  The Smalls may have been in New York society, I really don't know if they were part of the "400" or not, but it's a stretch to say the Einsteins were a prominent New York family. Being a relative of someone famous doesn't make your family prominent. Usually socially prominent families are long time residents (several generations), often have money or at least a reputation for something outstanding (and not in a scandalous way.) Supreme court judges, presidents, captains of industry, and some college presidents would qualify as socially prominent (they don't have to be wealthy, although they are usually at least "comfortable"), but they are "top" in their field. I should think that the Albert Einstein family was socially prominent in Princeton, but the Small Einsteins of New York were not, unless through the Small family.

This article on Russel Wright suffered from the "undergraduate syndrome", where the writer often feels like hyperbole is justified since the writer holds the subject in great esteem-- the subject has to be the first, the most prominent, heroic and the most famous in every way. While that may have a certain charm, usually the truth is far more interesting. Looks to me like the article has been cleaned up, thanks to everyone who edited it, with the possible exception of the Aline Bernstein/sexuality issue. Perhaps someone will come up with a citation confirming their relationship. If not, after a certain amount of time, I should think that could be edited out of the article.Mr. Mel Mac (talk) 23:39, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Wow, Mr. Mac! Sophomoric simply because it doesn't address your agenda for gay or melmac? Seriously, I would like to find the positive value to your didactic contributions, because there probably is a pony under that pile, unfortunately, I just can't find it yet from your discussion's POV! Please, kindly expand. P. Rollin (talk) 05:14, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

The source for Aline Bernstein statement is Annie Wright. And yes, it was concurrent (for a short period of time) with his marriage to Mary. More shockingly, Mary had a brief "revenge" affair with Thomas Wolfe as well. Source: Annie Wright. If the Aline Bernstein/Russel Wright love affair entry offends, then it would probably be appropriate to remove it completely.P. Rollin (talk) 03:17, 31 July 2008 (UTC)

Excuse me! Back off P. Rollin. Since when is ascertaining the truth about Russel Wright's designs in plastic dinnerware and his sexuality "an agenda"? I was simply trying to correct misinformation or disinformation on this entry. Isn't that what editing Wikipedia is all about? Kindly keep your scatalogical references to yourself, as this is no place for bad temper or personal attacks. The article as written before made Wright sound only heterosexual and quite the womanizer. Also made the daughter sound like a natural born child instead of adopted. Many readers may be interested in the gay side of Russel Wright and the fact that his daughter was adopted. You may not be interested in mid-century melamine dinnerware design, but Wright obviously was (he designed four very successful lines of it) and so are a lot of the readers of any entry on Russel Wright. What was written about this before was not only wrong, but misleading, both about his sexuality and his melamine designs. Lastly, is any of your information about Russel Wright from "Annie" Wright confirmed in any printed verifiable outside sources? Please enlighten us if they are.Mr. Mel Mac (talk) 11:02, 19 August 2008 (UTC)Mr. Mel Mac