Al Lathrop (Library Manuscripts) reports that the Andersen Library has acquired the collection of Don Harley, a graduate of the University. After resigning from Brown & Bigelow in the early 1950s, Harley ran an industrial design company in the Twin Cities for the next four decades.

The company created an amazing array of products, Lathrop writes, "including thermostats, ashtrays, toys, ballpoint pens, computer cases, clock cases, desk calendars, glassware, key cases, the toilet facility for the first space station, a helmet for the army, and a host of other things." Harley documented his projects with stunning colored-pencil renderings and working drawings that are almost all dated. Approximately 90% of the renderings have been photographed and exist on 35mm slides.

Lathrop said he was interested in acquiring the collection "because it would support the work of students and faculty in industrial and product design, interior design, architecture (marginally), as well as historians or artists who are interested in seeing how styles changed over a period of about 4 decades. It is truly an amazing collection."