Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Thomas Adrian Fransioli, 1981 April 21. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Topic:
Architects -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
Interview of Thomas Adrian Fransioli, conducted April 21, 1981, by Robert F. Brown for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Wenham, Massachusetts.
Fransioli speaks of his upbringing in Seattle, Washington; training and friendships at architectural school at the University of Pennsylvania; working in North Carolina, Virginia, Philadelphia, and Cleveland as an architect, interior designer, and draftsman; his commission for a grand country house in Virginia, 1932-1934; his work for John Russell Pope on the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; work in photographic reconnaissance for the U.S. Army during World War II; visiting Hiroshima after the atomic bomb; his training at the Art Students League; his paintings of cityscapes and houses; the promotion of his career by Margaret Brown of Boston; and influences upon him. Fransioli also recalls Charles Klauder, Margaret Brown, Carl Feiss, Otto Eggers, John Walker, David Finley; and others.
Biographical / Historical:
Thomas Adrian Fransioli (1906- 1997) was an architect and painter from Massachusetts. He was born in Seattle, Washington.
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.
Topic:
Architects -- Massachusetts -- Interviews Search this
This subseries primarily contains letters concerning McCoy's career in architectural history and criticism. Her career in fiction writing is covered to a lesser degree. Among the correspondents are researchers, writers, professors, architects, art professionals, publishers, and professional associations. Topics covered include research and writing projects, Los Angeles area preservation and restoration projects, and grant projects.
Major correspondents in this series include the American Institute of Architects, the Graham Foundation, City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board, Domus Magazine, Los Angeles Times, editor Monica Pidgeon, architectural critics Reyner Banham, David Gebhard, William Jordy, Robin Middleton, Allan Temko, and Nathan Shapira, and architects J. R. Davidson, Craig Ellwood, Joseph Giovannini, Hans Hollein, A. Quincy Jones, and Bruno Zevi. Also found is extensive correspondence with the University of California, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. Correspondence for 1959 contains a letter from Albert Camus requesting McCoy's assistance with helping Spanish refugees, and correspondence for 1989 contains photographs of Esther McCoy and others at the Athenaeum at Caltech for the third annual gala of the Historical Society of Southern California.
See Appendix for a list of selected correspondents from Series 2.3.
Arrangement note:
Material is arranged chronologically. The bulk of McCoy's correspondence with architects is arranged in Series 6: Architect Files. Additional correspondence pertaining to specific projects can be found in Series 4: Architectural Writings and in Series 5: Project Files. Correspondence in this series complements the files found in these other series and they should be consulted together for a better understanding of McCoy's career.
Appendix: Selected Correspondents from Series 2.3:
Abbot, Mary Squire (McIntosh and Otis, Inc.), 1949, 1950, 1953, 1957
Adahura, Yuki, 1942
Adams, Christopher, 1962
Albinson, Don, 1989
Alexander, Christopher, 1965
Allen, Albert, 1968
Amantea, Kirjah, 1982
Ambre, Reuth, 1986
American Academy in Rome, 1970
American Federation of Arts, 1966
American Film Institute, 1975
American Institute of Architects, 1959, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989
American Institute of Interior Designers, 1974
Anderson, Sherwood, undated
Andrews, Wayne, 1983
Architecture -- , 1985
Architecture in Australia, 1974
Architectural Forum -- , 1965, 1966, 1968
Architectural History Foundation, Inc., 1982, 1983, 1984
Architectural Publishing Co., 1967
Architectural Record -- , 1959
Archive of Women in Architecture, 1975
Archives of American Art, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989
Graham Foundation for Studies in the Fine Arts (Carter Manny), 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, undated
Granger, Kathleen, 1981
Gray, Paul, 1977
Greenbaum, Katherine, 1980
Greene, Herb, 1971, 1972, 1976, undated
Greenhill, Nigel, 1973
Gregory, Dan, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987
Guss, Jack, 1961
Hall, Milly, 1970, 1976, 1977
Hanks, David, 1986
Harnish, John, 1960
Harper and Row, 1979
Harper's Bazaar -- , 1951, 1952, 1961
Harris, Robert, 1981, 1982
Harvard Architecture Review -- , 1977, 1979
Harvey, Harold E., 1972, 1973
Haupt, Peter, 1967
Hayden, Dolores, 1984, undated
Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, 1967, 1969
Hernandez, Diana, 1976, undated
Herron, Ron, 1969
Hess, Alan, 1985
Hillyer, Elinor, 1949
Hinerfeld, Susan and Robert, 1984
Hines, Tom, 1971, 1975
Historical Society of Southern California, 1988, 1989
University of California, Santa Barbara, 1966, 1969, 1972, 1982, 1987
University of California, Santa Cruz, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1979
University of Cambridge, Department of Architecture, 1975
University of Oklahoma, 1949, 1985
University of Pennsylvania, 1984
University of Southern California, 1970
University Press of Kentucky, 1974
University Prints, 1957
University Women's Club, 1972, 1975, 1983
Vaccarino, Donna, 1989
Van Doren, Phyllis, 1984
Veret, Jean-Louis, 1960
Ventre, Francis T., 1985
Veronesi, Giulia, 1966, 1974
Via -- , 1976
Victor Gruen Foundation for Environmental Planning, 1972
Victor, Michael, 1983
Voelcker, John, 1968
Von Breton, Harriette, 1969
Von Eckardt, Wolf, 1981, 1983, 1984
Vreeland, Thomas, 1965, 1969, 1974, 1984
W. W. Norton and Co., 1966
Walker Art Center, 1975
Walker, Derek, 1982
Walker, Sam, 1985
Walton, Billy, 1986
Ward, Robert and Sandra Williams Photography of Architecture, 1977, 1978
Ward, Robertson, 1981
Wasserman, Steve, 1984, 1985, 1986
Waugh, Arthur B., 1959
Wayne, June, 1981, 1985
Weirick, James, 1970, 1974
Weiss, Peggy, 1982, 1984
Wemple, Emmet L., 1974, undated
Western Association of Art Museums, 1967
Wicks, Ebba L., 1949
Wight, Frederick S., 1966
Wilk, Christopher, 1987
William Morris Agency, 1957
William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1950
Williams, Alexander Kruse, 1985
Williams, Wayne R., 1952, 1953, 1972
Wills, David, 1969
Wilson, Forrest, 1972, 1975, 1983,1987
Wilson, Richard Guy, 1981
Winslow, Carleton Monroe, 1969, undated
Winter, Bob, 1964, 1975, 1976, undated
Woman's Building, 1987
Woman's Day -- , 1957
Women's Architectural League, 1981
Wood, Donna, 1981
Woodbridge, Sally, 1977, 1982
Woollen, Evans, 1983, 1984
Wright, Eric Lloyd, 1984
Writers Guild of America, West, 1967, 1969
Wurster, William, 1964
Zevi, Bruno, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1965, 1974
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Collection Citation:
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.
