Includes: All in the Family, The Asphalt Jungle (theme by Duke Ellington), Bewitched, and two Coca Cola commercials.
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
The Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
United States of America -- Wisconsin -- Walworth County -- Lake Geneva
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes a worksheet, garden plans, plant lists, and a photocopy of an article about the garden.
General:
Built in 1898 on the shores of Lake Geneva as a summer home for a New York City family, Flowerside Inn once employed up to 15 gardeners to maintain its extensive formal landscaping. The current owners purchased the property in 1976, and, after restoring the house, turned to the gardens, which had suffered from years of neglect. All that remained were the stately maples that shaded the home from the summer sun, while a weed-ridden lawn marched to the lakeside door and broken black asphalt greeted the drive door. With the help of a nationally renowned landscaping firm and the personal knowledge of the owner, who is active in the Lake Geneva Garden Club, the entire grounds have been landscaped with native species and more modern hybrids bred to withstand harsh winter winds and searing summer sun. The lake to the south is now fully exposed with a shoreline of flag iris, roses and daylilies combined with hosta and astilbe where the tree shade blocks the sun. A pier house, dragged one winter onto the shore, is now an attractive shoreside gazebo. The kitchen bay window looks out on a rose garden and birdbath.
The drive entrance on the north side of the home has been curved to lead gently to the front door and paved with bricks reflecting the brown tones of the landscaping. The edges have been planted with hawthornes, hosta, daylilies, coneflowers, hydrangeas, roses, liatris, daisies, peonies, azaleas, sedum, and other perennials, supplemented with annuals left over from the planting of window boxes that line the second story windows and the front entrance. An antique English garden wagon sits on the drive loaded with pots of annual flowers. There is variety in both color and green plant material throughout the growing season. A rambling perennial bed provides cut flowers, and the recently added "deer garden" provides a protected environment in which the owner can grow roses and lilies together with bellflowers, coreopsis, zinnias, sunflower, and vegetables without the fear of the deer. She built a "tennis court" which has a 10.5 foot black-clad chain link fence (too high for the deer to jump), and covered the fence with annual and perennial vines. Fencing continues underground for 18 inches, so even the little wild folk are denied the garden greens for their salad. Recent acquisitions include a 1900s gazing ball, marble statues of the four seasons, and a bench beneath an arbor.
Persons and firms associated with the garden include: Simeon B. Chapin (former owner, ca. 1896); William Trinke (former owner, ca. 1952); Benjamin H. Marshall (architect, 1896 and 1906); James Nagle (architect, 1999); and The Brickman Group (landscape designers, 1993-1997).
Related Materials:
Flowerside Inn related holdings consist of 1 folder (17 35 mm. slides)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Isaac Motte Dart House (Charleston, South Carolina)
United States of America -- South Carolina -- Charleston -- Charleston
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets and photocopies of articles.
General:
Most gardens in Charleston, South Carolina's historic district are small pocket gardens: this property has a half-acre divided into seven distinct garden rooms in addition to the 1806 Federal style house and the 1823 Gothic Revival style brick carriage house. When the current owners found this property in 1993 both buildings were derelict and nothing remained of the historic garden which was an asphalt parking lot. After the buildings were restored the owners removed the asphalt and underlying cobblestones, brought in topsoil and compost, and installed boxwood and other hedges and picket fencing painted dark green to divide the property into garden rooms. Although influenced by French and Baroque styles the formal structure predominantly resembles Italianate style gardens, with a color palette of green and white with accents in pink and purple from azaleas, camellias, crape myrtles and roses. Walkways are comprised of dark gray crushed slag, old bricks found on the property and elsewhere are stood on end and used as edging, and a brick Gothic style folly used as a garden shed was built.
The long driveway is the main axis, comprised of two cobblestone runways set in St. Augustine grass with globe-shaped boxwood hedges on either side. A formal parterre garden is along one side (opposite the main house) with two beds in the shape of Celtic crosses, a repeating shape in other garden rooms. There are Luytens benches at either end, and a hedge of alternating holly and cypress along the property line. The next room is known as the sitting garden where there is another Luytens bench under an arbor of confederate jasmine, a wall sculpture of Bacchus and a table and chairs for dining. In the back corner of the property there is a shade garden with tropical plants in a looser, less rectilinear style than the other rooms with irregular bluestone paving. The car park garden at the end of the driveway has the Gothic folly, brick edging and wrought iron gates with the same quatrefoil design as the carriage house.
The carriage house faces the formal garden which has four quadrants edged in boxwood, each with a standard bay tree, with a circular bed of crossed boxwood hedges in the center. The rose garden, outlined with boxwood, is in the shape of a teardrop or paisley motif and has a 19th century Celtic cross used as a trellis for noisette roses. The herb garden with remnants of the brick wall of the historic kitchen outbuilding is tucked between the carriage house and the main house.
Persons associated with the garden include: John Harleston (former owner, before 1795); John Rutledge (former owner, circa 1795); Isaac Motte Dart (former owner, 1801-1815); Edward Washington North (former owner, 1824-1845); members of the Simons family (former owners, 1845-1859); American Missionary Association (former owner, 1930-1950); Palmer College (former owner, 1954-1973); Historic Charleston Foundation (former owner, until 1993); Richard Marks (conservator of the house, 1993-1996); Eugene Gaillard Johnson (landscape designer, 1993- ).
Related Materials:
Isaac Motte Dart House related holdings consist of 1 folder (28 digital images)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- South Carolina -- Charleston Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Ohio -- Wood County -- Bowling Green
Date:
2000 Sep.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia County -- Philadelphia
Date:
1998 May.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Gardens -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia County -- Philadelphia
Date:
1998 May.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Gardens -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Aspen Farms Community Garden (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia County -- Philadelphia
Date:
2004 Sep.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia Search this
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
New Jersey Woodland Property (Princeton, New Jersey)
United States of America -- New Jersey -- Mercer County -- Princeton
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets and write-ups of the property's planting scheme.
Varying Form:
Frog Pond
General:
The New Jersey Woodland Property comprises 3.5 acres, a Colonial Revival house designed by architect Rolf W. Bauhan (1892-1966) in 1959, and ten distinct garden areas that the owner has been developing since 1981. Among the first area encountered is wooded lot bordered by preserved open space, a spring-fed pond, a swimming pool, and a graceful curving entry with bluestone steps and mature rhododendron and mountain laurel. Problems to overcome included a huge native deer population, undeveloped areas where invasive plants thrived, heavy clay soil, a cinder block retaining wall near the swimming pool, and the competing roots and canopies of mature trees that had to be accommodated in the landscape designs. The owner undertook a three-year course of study at the Barnes Arboretum, installed a six-foot tall deer fence around the property, and found the right plant for the right place, taking into account light, soil conditions and terrain. The style of the gardens is naturalized, with different species intermingling, rather than formally planted garden beds.
The entry courtyard was improved by replacing black asphalt with stone pavers, installing a brick retaining wall and piers, and planting bulb, perennial and shrub gardens under existing trees. The front path to the main entrance of the house is a bluestone walkway bordered by rhododendron and mountain laurel under planted with hosta, tiarella, euonymous and other ground covers. The pool terrace is in full sun, and features a 50-year-old wisteria that wraps around the house, Chippendale style gates lead to the pool, and vistas of the other gardens, pond and woodlands due to its higher elevation. Dwarf conifers are planted under the overhanging roof.
A perennial garden that replaced grass on the south side of the house was the owner's first project, with stone retaining walls defining the space. The eastern border of the property features unusual rhododendron. `The cryptomeria garden is a small woodland screen that features naturalized plantings. The woodland garden was designed with a meandering stone path and beds of naturalized perennials and shrubs but the soil was poor and needed yearly additions of leaf compost. A tennis court and outdoor room were installed in 1987 near Stony Brook and the designated open space. The banks of the pond created from a spring by the previous owners are accessible for bass fishing, with the outer perimeter planted in trees and shrubs that screen the property from the street.
Persons associated with the garden include Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Stanley (former owners, 1959-1981); Rolf W. Bauhan (architect, 1959); Robert S. Bennett (architect, 1997, 2008); David M. Lenker (landscape architect, 1959); Doerler Landscapes (landscape architect, 1973, 1975); S. Lawrence Bencze (landscape architect, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995); Barbara J. Olejnik, CLA (landscape architect, 2000-2002); Ann Mallory (sculptor of "Forest Pool"); Roger Ditarando (sculptor of "Bird's Nest"); Charlotte Calwell Stokes (sculptor of "Francis of Assisi")
Related Materials:
New Jersey Woodland Property related holdings consist of 1 folder (25 digital images)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- California -- Santa Barbara County -- Santa Barbara
Date:
1970
General:
East balcony of front patio.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- New York -- Nassau County -- Locust Valley
Scope and Contents:
The folders include worksheets, site plans (one with a plant list), photocopies of an article about the garden, and additional information.
General:
Lying on 3.2 acres adjacent to a marsh and creek, this site is highlighted by a Japanese-influenced 40' x 80' iris garden that also includes features of a cottage garden in keeping with its location by a low, rambling house. Designed in the early 1980s by Nancy B. Taylor of the landscape architecture firm Innocenti & Webel, the garden replaced what was formerly an asphalt driveway. Running the length of the garden are a dry riverbed and path, accented by two small bridges. Although there is no actual water in the garden, the use of different plants helps to simulate that effect. In addition to this garden, the site includes more natural areas with marsh and water views, as well as a swimming pool and herb garden.
Persons and firms associated with the property include Nancy B. Taylor (landscape architect, 1981); Mr. and Mrs. C. Gachot (former owners, 1956-1981); and Innocenti & Webel (landscape architects, 1981).
Related Materials:
Goose Chase related holdings consist of 2 folders (18 35 mm. slides (photographs))
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- California -- Los Angeles County -- Pasadena
Casa Favorita (Pasadena , California)
Scope and Contents:
18 digital images (2019) and 1 file folder.
General:
The half-acre property had a 1924 salmon colored Italian revival style house with three mature live oaks and tapestry hedges when the current owners moved there in 1996. They enclosed the front courtyard with matching stucco walls and wrought iron gates, changed the hardscape from asphalt to decomposed granite, and re-routed the walkway to the front door to showcase a live oak. Forest green is used as an accent color on shutters and large ceramic jars, and salmon-colored azaleas were planted in the foundation beds. Azalea standards, a matching climbing rose, and a collection of pink zonal geraniums in terra cotta pots create a unified palette in the front garden. Formal parterres were built along one side of the house and planted with pastel-colored hybrid tea and floribunda roses and lavender, with a fountain and small stone bench. On the same axis and through a small gate there is another set of four parterres planted with daffodils, delphinium or zinnia in season with a second fountain in the center.
More potted zonal geraniums are displayed on a low wall at one end of the pink stone terrace, succeeded by a patch of lawn and another live oak and sitting area. A 60-foot long vegetable garden for heirloom tomatoes at the back of the property has been replaced by a bocce ball court. A swimming pool was built with concrete planters at the corners for lemon and orange trees in keeping with the Mediterranean style. A salmon colored loggia with comfortable seating has been added along the side of the pool where there is a small waterfall. A shady side of the garden has a large mirror with ornamental banana plants, clipped boxwood, potted plants and two small statues. The owners named their property Casa Favorita honoring Mexican tradition.
Persons associated with the garden include: Hannah Nevin Shaw and Major Roy A. Shaw (former owners, 1923-1958); James Drake MacNeil (former owner, 1958-1968); Phillip Cushing McGrath (former owner, 1968-1996); James R. Shoch and Elena Miller Shoch (owners, 1996- ); Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury (architects, 1924); James J. Yoch (1938-2018) (landscape designer, 1996-1997); Thomas Batcheller Cox (landscape designer, 2007-2012).
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Henry Shaw was in business at 17, retired at 40 a very wealthy man. He built a country house, Tower Grove in 1849. In 1853, Henry Shaw decided to create a botanical garden at Tower Grove that would be given to the citizens of St. Louis. In 1858 the main part of the 79 acre garden plans had been completed. In 1881 and 1882, the Linnaean House, designed simular to a European orangery and housed displays of camellias. Seiwa-En means Garden of pure harmony and peace.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.0 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects.
Scope and Content Note:
The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.0 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects.
Biographical and family material consists of awards, resumes, identification documents, and other documentation of McCoy's personal life. Included are a transcript of a 1984 interview of McCoy by Makoto Watanabe and material relating to her friend, Theodore Dreiser.
Correspondence focuses on her personal relationships with family, friends, and lovers, and general correspondence relating primarily to her work as a writer. McCoy's personal correspondence is valuable to researchers who are interested in her personal life, her struggles as a young writer, and the way in which her family, friends, lovers, mentors, and colleagues helped to shape her work and career. As documented in this correspondence, her life offers a glimpse into twentieth-century American social and political history, especially the radical leftist movements of the 1920s and 1930s. Researchers interested in the roots of feminism in the United States should also find these papers useful in documenting the life of a creative and productive woman who was successful in a field then almost entirely dominated by men. Correspondents of note include her husband Berkeley Tobey, lovers Geoffrey Eaton and Albert Robert, writers Ray Bradbury and Theodore Dreiser, and artists and architects, such as Dorothy Grotz, Craig Ellwood, A. Quincy Jones, Hans Hollein, and J. R. Davidson. General correspondence is primarily with researchers, professors, architects, publishers, and professional organizations.
Personal writings include McCoy's diaries, notebooks, and memoirs, and writings by others including friends, lovers, and colleagues. Also included are drafts of McCoy's fictional works, both published and unpublished, including short stories, teleplays, and novels.
The collection contains in-depth documentation of McCoy's pioneering study of the modernist work of twentieth-century architects in Southern California. The bulk of her papers consist of her writing files for books, exhibition catalogs, articles, and lectures on architecture. Because many of the architects about whom McCoy wrote were her contemporaries, she developed personal relationships with several of them through her research and writing. Her writing files include drafts, notes, research material, photographs, and correspondence. McCoy also traveled extensively, particularly in Italy and Mexico, and wrote about architecture, craft, and culture in those countries. Project files document McCoy's other activities related to architectural history, such preservation projects, juries, grants, the Dodge House Preservation Campaign and related film project, her work for the Society of Architectural Historians and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), and her work at the UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning, compiling a slide library and cataloging the Richard Neutra's papers. McCoy also maintained architect files which may contain correspondence, notes, photographs, research material, interview transcripts, about architects and their works. Among these extensive records, the files documenting the careers of R. M. Schindler, Irving Gill, Richard Neutra, and Juan O'Gorman are particularly rich.
Printed material in this collection documents McCoy's career as well as her personal interests. Included are books, clippings, magazines, newsletters, press releases, as well as publications arranged by subject such as architecture, art, Italy, and Mexico. McCoy also collected literary and leftist publications. The small amount of artwork in this collection consists of artwork sent to her by friends, including a drawing of her by Esther Rollo and etchings by various artists including Thomas Worlidge.
There are personal photographs of family and friends and of McCoy at different times in her life, as well as photographs gathered during the course of her research on architecture. Found here are photographs of architects and their works, including a large number depicting the work of Gregory Ain, Luis Barragan, J. R. Davidson, Irving Gill, Bernard Maybeck, Juan O'Gorman, R. M. Schindler, and Raphael Soriano. Many of these photographs were taken by notable architectural photographers Julius Shulman and Marvin Rand. Also found are photographs of architecture designed for the Case Study House program of Arts & Architecture magazine; exhibition photographs, primarily for the exhibition "Ten Italian Architects" in 1967; and other research photographs primarily documenting architecture and craft in other countries and the history of architecture in California. This series also includes approximately 3,600 slides of architecture.
Audio and video recordings include a videocassette of McCoy's 80th birthday party and 55 taped interviews with architects, people associated with architectural projects, and artists.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 10 series:
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical and Family Material, 1881-1989 (boxes 1, 48; 0.6 linear feet)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1896-1989 (boxes 1-6, 4.9 linear feet)
Series 3: Personal Writings, 1919-1989 (boxes 6-14; 8.1 linear feet)
Series 4: Architectural Writings, 1908-1990 (boxes 14-24, 42, 49, 50; 10.2 linear feet)
Series 5: Projects, circa 1953-1988 (boxes 24-26, 47, FC 53-56; 2.5 linear feet)
Series 6: Architect Files, 1912-1990 (boxes 26-28, 42; 2.2 linear feet)
Series 7: Printed Material, circa 1885-1990 (boxes 28-31, 42; 2.9 linear feet)
Series 8: Artwork, 1924-1967, undated (box 31; 0.4 linear feet)
Series 9: Photographs and Slides, circa 1876-1989 (boxes 31-38, 41-46, 51; 8.3 linear feet)
Series 10: Audio and Video Recordings, 1930-1984 (boxes 38-40, 47; 2.5 linear feet)
Biographical Note:
Esther McCoy (1904-1989) is remembered best for her pioneering work as an architectural historian, critic, and proponent of Southern California modern architecture of the early to mid-twentieth century. McCoy was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. Although her professional interests ranged from writing fiction to studying the folk architecture and crafts of Mexico, McCoy achieved her most notable success for her numerous articles, books, and exhibitions about Southern California architecture and the architects associated with the modernist movement.
Born in Arkansas in 1904, Esther McCoy grew up in Kansas and attended various schools in the Midwest. In 1926 she left the University of Michigan to launch a writing career in New York, where she moved in avant-garde literary circles and conducted research for Theodore Dreiser. She began writing fiction in New York and continued to write after moving to Los Angeles in 1932, working on short stories, novels, and screenplays. She published numerous short stories between 1929 and 1962, with works appearing in the New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, and university quarterlies. Her short story, "The Cape," was reprinted in Best Short Stories of 1950. Many of the novels that she wrote from the mid-1960s through the 1980s were related thematically to architects and architecture.
During the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, McCoy participated in the politically radical movements of the period and wrote for leftist publications. Her interest in the lowcost housing projects of modern architects was prompted by one of her articles about slums for Epic News. During World War II she entered a training program for engineering draftsmen at Douglas Aircraft and in 1944 was hired as an architectural draftsman for the architect R.M. Schindler. As she became increasingly interested in modern architecture and design, she combined her two major career interests and began to focus her energies on architectural research, writing, and criticism. Her first article on architecture, "Schindler: Space Architect," was published in 1945 in the journal Direction.
McCoy began writing about architecture in earnest in 1950 as a free-lance contributor to the Los Angeles Times. From then until her death in 1989, she wrote prolifically for Arts & Architecture magazine, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Architectural Record, L'Architectura, Zodiac (Italy), Progressive Architecture, Lotus (Italy), and Architectural Forum. In addition to her numerous articles, McCoy wrote several books on Southern California modern architecture and architects. Her first major work, Five California Architects, published in 1960, is now recognized as a classic work in modern architectural history. It promoted a serious study of modern architecture in Southern California and introduced to the world several leading California architects and their work: Bernard Maybeck, Irving Gill, Charles and Henry Greene, and R.M. Schindler. That same year, she published another important book focusing on the work of the California architect Richard Neutra. Other books by McCoy include Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses (1962), Craig Ellwood (1968), Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys (1979), and The Second Generation (1984).
In addition to these books, McCoy organized and wrote catalogs for several significant exhibitions focusing on contemporary architects. Her first was the R.M. Schindler Retrospective, a 1954 exhibition at the Landau Art Gallery in Los Angeles. Her other exhibitions and accompanying catalogs include Roots of California Contemporary Architecture, 1956, Los Angeles Municipal Art Department; Felix Candela, 1957, University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Irving Gill, 1958, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Juan O'Gorman, 1964, San Fernando Valley State College; and Ten Italian Architects, 1967, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Moreover, McCoy contributed numerous essays to other exhibition catalogs and publications, lectured at the University of Southern California, participated in preservation projects, organized tours for the Society of Architectural Historians, and contributed to a number of documentary films. Her energy and interests also led her to catalog and transcribe Richard Neutra's papers at the University of California Los Angeles Archives.
McCoy received national recognition from the American Institute of Architects for her seminal and prolific work in the field of Southern California modern architectural history and criticism. Her interests, however, were not exclusively bound to California. She traveled the world and was interested in both Italian and Mexican architecture as well as the folk art and crafts of Mexico and South America. She made five extended trips to Italy during the 1950s and 1960s, publishing regularly about the architecture there and curating the exhibition Ten Italian Architects. She was a contributing editor to two Italian journals, Zodiac and Lotus, and was awarded the Star of Order of Solidarity in 1960 by the Republic of Italy for her research and writing.
Esther McCoy died of emphysema on December 30, 1989, at the age of eighty-five. Her last contribution was an essay for the exhibition catalog Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study House. The show opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles one month before her death.
Missing Title
1904 -- Born November 18 in Horatio, Arkansas. Raised in Kansas.
1920 -- Attended preparatory school at Central College for Women, Lexington, Missouri.
1922-1925 -- College education: Baker University, Baldwin City, Kansas; University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; University of Michigan.
1924 -- Visited Theodore Dreiser in Michigan.
1926-1938 -- Began writing in New York City.
1926-1938 -- Researched and read for Theodore Dreiser.
1926-1938 -- Worked for editorial offices and publishers.
1926-1938 -- Traveled to write in Paris (1928), Key West, Florida (1930), and Los Angeles, California (1932-1935).
1938 -- Moved to Santa Monica, California.
1941 -- Married Berkeley Greene Tobey.
1942-1944 -- Employed as engineering draftsman at Douglas Aircraft.
1944-1947 -- Worked as architectural draftsman for R.M. Schindler.
1945 -- Began architectural writing career.
1950 -- Wrote script for film Architecture West.
1950 -- Joined editorial board of Arts & Architecture.
1950-1968 -- Worked as free-lance writer for the Los Angeles Times.
1951-1955 -- Traveled to, researched, and wrote about Mexico and Mexican art and architecture.
1954 -- R.M. Schindler Retrospective exhibition at the Landau Art Gallery, Los Angeles.
1956 -- Roots of California Contemporary Architecture exhibition, Los Angeles Municipal Art Department.
1957 -- Felix Candela exhibition, University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
1958 -- Irving Gill exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Traveled to Italy.
1959-1968 -- Contributing editor to Italian periodicals Zodiac and Lotus.
1960 -- Five California Architects (New York: Reinhold).
1960 -- Richard Neutra (New York: G. Braziller).
1960 -- Awarded Star of Order of Solidarity by the Republic of Italy for reporting on arts and crafts in Italy.
1962 -- Death of Berkeley Greene Tobey.
1962 -- Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses (New York: Reinhold) (reprinted as Case Study Houses, Los Angeles: Hennessey and Ingalls, 1978).
1963 -- Resident Fellow at Huntington Hartford Foundation.
1964 -- Juan O'Gorman exhibition, San Fernando Valley State College, Northridge, Calif.
1965 -- Consultant for the California Arts Commission.
1965-1966 -- Wrote and produced the film Dodge House.
1965-1968 -- Lecturer at University of California at Los Angeles, School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
1966 -- Resident Fellow at MacDowell Colony, New Hampshire.
1967 -- Ten Italian Architects exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
1967 -- Honorary Associate of the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
1967 -- Regents' Lecturer at University of California, Santa Barbara.
1968 -- Craig Ellwood (New York: Walker).
1968 -- Distinguished Service Citation from the California Council of AIA.
1969-1970 -- Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
1969-1989 -- Contributing editor of Progressive Architecture.
1971-1978 -- Graham Foundation Grants.
1974 -- Regents' Lecturer at the University of California,Santa Cruz.
1979 -- Vienna to Los Angeles: Two Journeys (Santa Monica, Calif.: Arts & Architecture Press).
1979 -- Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.
1981 -- Los Angeles Chapter Women's Architectural League Honorary Member.
1982 -- Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Modern and Contemporary Art Council Award for Distinguished Achievement.
1983 -- Home Sweet Home: The California Ranch House exhibition at California State University.
1984 -- The Second Generation (Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books).
1985 -- American Institute of Architects, Institute Honor.
1986 -- High Styles exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
1987 -- Vesta Award for outstanding scholarship.
1989 -- Award from the Historical Society of Southern California.
1989 -- Award from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
1989 -- Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study House exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Died in Santa Monica, California, December 30.
Related Material:
Also in the Archives of American Art are eight sound cassettes of a transcribed interview with Esther McCoy conducted by Joseph Giovannini, June 8-November 14, 1987.
Provenance:
The collection was given to the Archives of American Art by Esther McCoy in 1986. Before her death in 1989, McCoy assisted in the organization and identification of the papers. Original pre-print film elements for Dodge House 1916 were donated to the Archives of American Art by the Academy Film Archive in 2018.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment. Use of audiovisual recordings without access copies requires advance notice.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Architectural historians -- California Search this
Esther McCoy papers, circa 1876-1990, bulk 1938-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art.
Baekeland, L. H. (Leo Hendrik), 1863-1944 Search this
Collection Creator:
Baekeland, L. H. (Leo Hendrik), 1863-1944 Search this
Extent:
1 Item (6.9" x 4.5".)
Container:
Box 18, Folder 5
Type:
Archival materials
Biographies
Diaries
Place:
Yonkers (N.Y.) -- 1900-1910
Date:
1910 February 1-1910 May 31
Scope and Contents:
Inscription on flyleaf: "Journal from February 1, 1910 to May 31, 1910."
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
