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Creator:

Architectural League of New York  Search this

Names:

American Institute of Architects  Search this

National Sculpture Society (U.S.)  Search this

Gilbert, Cass, 1859-1934  Search this

Extent:

114.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Annual reports

Photographs

Minutes

Lantern slides

Date:

1880s-1974

Summary:

The records of the Architectural League of New York measure 114.9 linear feet and date from 1880s-1974 (bulk 1927-1968). The League's mission "to advance the art of architecture" is documented through administrative and business records, committee records and officers' files, exhibition files, records of functions and events, correspondence, publicity files, photographs, lantern slides, and 16 scrapbooks.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of the Architectural League of New York measure 114.9 linear feet and date from 1880s-1974 (bulk 1927-1968). The League's mission "to advance the art of architecture" is documented through administrative and business records, committee records and officers' files, exhibition files, records of functions and events, correspondence, publicity files, photographs, lantern slides, and scrapbooks.

League records prior to 1927 are limited in the collection and are mostly found among Administrative Files. The administrative files include a nearly complete collection of annual reports from 1889-1932 and various meetings minutes from 1889 through the mid-20th century. Also found is a history of the League written by founding member Cass Gilbert, documentation of the changes of the League Constitution and By-Laws during the first half of the 20th century, and other administrative records.

Over a third of the collection are records from committees, including voluminous records of the Executive Committee, Current Work Committee, House Committee, Finance Committee, Membership Committee, and Scholarships and Special Awards Committee. In addition, there are scattered records for minor committees. Materials include correspondence, meeting minutes, election ballots, financial records, membership records, documents related to awarding scholarships and awards, and other administrative and organizational committee records. Found is the original 1889 agreement between the Architectural League, the Art Students League, and the Society of American Artists to build the American Fine Arts Society building. Throughout the collection, but especially in the Membership Committee subseries, the records provide a glimpse into the struggles the League faced during the Depression through World War II to maintain dues-paying members.

Officers' Files includes collated records of the League Executive Secretary and Secretary, as well as correspondence of the League President and Treasurer. Materials found here are not comprehensive; similar materials can be found throughout the collection.

Financial records such as bank statements, correspondence, and ledgers; insurance correspondence and policies; and legal correspondence, are found in the Business Records series. This series does not include records prior to 1926.

Exhibition files provide detailed documentation of the exhibitions sponsored by, or held at, the League primarily from the 1930s to the early 1970s. Records related to the League Annual Exhibition, the National Gold Medal Exhibitions, and the 1939 World's Fair in New York are found here, as well as exhibition files arranged chronologically by exhibition date and miscellaneous administrative files. Materials include administrative files, applications, correspondence, printed materials, publicity files, and other records related to organizing and managing exhibitions. The files of the Exhibition Committee are also found here.

Other series which document activities held by, or held at, the League include Functions and Events series and Publicity Files series. Found is correspondence, printed materials, press releases, schedules, and other administrative documents created in organizing events such as dinners, lectures, receptions, balls, and outings. The Records of Other Organizations includes records relating to organizations that had business with the League, often regarding events, meetings, and exhibitions held at the League. Represented here are some records of the American Institute of Architects (A.I.A.) and the National Sculpture Society (N.S.S.).

Correspondence includes miscellaneous correspondence arranged alphabetically by subject or name, and collated correspondence arranged chronologically. Most of the chronological correspondence appears to be Secretaries' files. The materials in the Miscellaneous series seem to have been separated from their original files, or were never filed properly. Therefore, materials and contents are similar to those found in other series, such as correspondence, administrative records, some financial records, and handwritten notes.

Black and white photographs, a handful of colored photographs, nearly 350 lantern slides, and negatives of exhibitions, buildings, events, and portraits are found in the Photographic Materials series.

Sixteen scrapbooks include eight scrapbooks of clippings from 1880s-1960s, and seven scrapbooks of notices and printed materials from 1925-1930. Also found is a scrapbook of signatures of event attendees, a clippings scrapbook compiled by Hamilton M. Wright, and a scrapbook of the Archeological Institute of America.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 12 series:

Series 1: Administrative Files, 1889-1969 (Boxes 1-10, OV 116; 9.7 linear feet)

Series 2: Committee Records, 1887-1974 (Boxes 10-54, 110, 114, OV 116; 44.7 linear feet)

Series 3: Officers' Files, 1900, 1923-1970 (Boxes 54-58; 3.9 linear feet)

Series 4: Business Records, circa 1926-1972 (Boxes 58-62, BVs 129-144; 7.35 linear feet)

Series 5: Exhibitions, 1887-1972, bulk 1930s-1960s (Boxes 62-83, 111, OVs 117-119; 21.85 linear feet)

Series 6: Functions and Events, 1909, 1931-1973 (Boxes 84-93, OV 120; 9.35 linear feet)

Series 7: Publicity Files, 1922-1972 (Boxes 93-95, 111; 2.5 linear feet)

Series 8: Records Relating to Organizations, 1908-1968, bulk 1930s-1960s (Boxes 95-101; 6.1 linear feet)

Series 9: Correspondence, 1929-1970 (Boxes 101-103, OV 120; 1.85 linear feet)

Series 10: Miscellaneous, circa 1936-1968 (Boxes 103-104; 1.3 linear feet)

Series 11: Photographic Materials, 1896-1960s (Boxes 105-108, 112, OVs 121-128; 4.3 linear feet)

Series 12: Scrapbooks, 1880s-1960s (Boxes 108-109, 113-115, BVs 145-148; 2.2 linear feet)

There are frequently similar and related materials in multiple series, as is indicated in the series' descriptions. The records may originally have been arranged by file owner (committees, secretary, etc.), then by League season (roughly May - April). Most series include a handful of folders in which the original folder title indicates the file owner and League season (i.e. Secretary 1938-1939).

Historical Note:

Modeling the organization's name after the Art Students League of New York, the Architectural League of New York was founded in New York City in 1881 by a group of architects who wished to gather and discuss architecture and its relationship to the arts. The group elected D.W. Willard as the first President of the League and they began gathering regularly to discuss and critique each other's sketches and hold competitions. The organization grew quickly and soon the League rented a room in a building on 14th Street between University Place and Fifth Avenue.

However, by the mid-1880s the founders and more active League members left New York, and membership began to falter. The League was reorganized in 1886, expanding membership beyond professional architects, and incorporated in 1888 with 166 members. In 1889, the League joined with the Art Students League of New York and the Society of American Artists to form the American Fine Arts Society. Thus, in 1892 the three organizations were able to erect a building at 215 West 57th Street where the League remained until 1927 when it moved to 115 East 40th Street.

The League was run by the Executive Committee and its officers, elected every two years. The beginning of each League season kicked off with an annual dinner in the spring. The League also formed numerous committees to organize activities and manage administrative tasks. Noteworthy committees include the Current Work Committee, House Committee, Finance Committee, Exhibition Committee, Membership Committee, and Scholarships and Special Awards Committee.

The League's interdisciplinary approach to architecture and the arts was expressed through sponsored forums and discussions with architects and artists. From the League's beginning, the Current Work Committee was established to organize educational forums for members. Recognition of achievement was awarded by an Annual Exhibition from the late 1880s until 1938. In 1950, the League began awarding the annual National Gold Medal Exhibition in various fields, including landscape architecture, engineering, and sculpture. Additionally, the League awarded numerous other scholarships each year. Architects, artists, and arts-related organizations could also rent space in the League building to hold meetings, discussions, and exhibitions.

The League admitted its first female member in 1934. Notable members of the League included Arnold W. Brunner (President, 1903-1905), Cass Gilbert (President, 1913-1915), Philip Johnson, Robert A.M. Stern, and Russell Sturgis (President, 1889-1893).

The Architectural League of New York continues to provide educational opportunities and scholarships to students and professionals.

Background information was gathered from a written history of the League by Cass Gilbert found in this collection and the Architectural League of New York website (http://archleague.org/category/archive/history-archive/).

Related Material:

Among the holdings of the Archives of American Art are several collections that contain Architectural League of New York records. The American Federation of Arts records, 1895-1993, include a significant amount of League records related to national awards programs and lantern slides from the "New Horizons in America" lecture series.

Provenance:

The Architectural League of New York records were donated in several installments from 1967-1980 by the Architectural League of New York.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment.

Rights:

The Architectural League of New York records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Architecture  Search this

Associations, institutions, etc.  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks

Annual reports

Photographs

Minutes

Lantern slides

Citation:

Architectural League of New York records, 1880s-1974, bulk 1927-1968. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund

Identifier:

AAA.archleag

See more items in:

Architectural League of New York records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-archleag

Creator:

American Academy in Rome  Search this

Names:

American Academy in Rome  Search this

American School of Architecture in Rome  Search this

American School of Classical Studies in Rome  Search this

Aldrich, Chester Holmes, 1871-1940  Search this

Boring, William, 1859-1937  Search this

Breck, George, 1863-1920  Search this

Dinsmoor, William B.  Search this

Egbert, J. C. (James Chidester), 1859-1948  Search this

Ely, Theo. N.  Search this

Faulkner, Barry, 1881-1966  Search this

Guernsey, Roscoe  Search this

Hewlett, James Monroe  Search this

Kendall, William M.  Search this

La Farge, C. Grant (Christopher Grant), 1862-1938  Search this

Marquand, Allan, 1853-1924  Search this

McKim, Charles Follen, 1847-1909  Search this

Mead, William Rutherford, 1846-1928  Search this

Millet, Francis Davis, 1846-1912  Search this

Morey, Charles Rufus, 1877-1955  Search this

Mowbray, H. Siddons (Harry Siddons), 1858-1928  Search this

Platt, Charles A. (Charles Adams), 1861-1933  Search this

Pope, John Russell, 1874-1937  Search this

Roberts, Laurance P.  Search this

Smith, James Kellum, 1893-1963  Search this

Stevens, Gorham Phillips, 1876-  Search this

Vedder, Elihu, 1836-1923  Search this

Vitale, Ferrucio, 1875-1933  Search this

Ward, John Quincy Adams, 1830-1910  Search this

Extent:

65.9 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Date:

1855-2012

Summary:

The records of the American Academy in Rome measure 65.9 linear feet and date from 1855 to 2012. The collection documents the history of the institution from its inception in 1894 as the American School of Architecture in Rome, through the end of World War II, and chronicles the contributions the academy has made to America's cultural and intellectual development. Nearly one-half of the collection consists of an unprocessed addition received in 2014 containing records that mostly post-date World War II and include correspondence and subject files of officers and executives based in the New York office of American Academy in Rome.

Scope and Content Note:

The records of the American Academy in Rome measure 65.9 linear feet and date from 1855 to 2012. The collection documents the history of the institution from its inception in 1894 as the American School of Architecture in Rome, through the end of World War II, and chronicles the contributions the academy has made to America's cultural and intellectual development. Nearly one-half of the collection consists of an unprocessed addition received in 2014 containing records that mostly post-date World War II and include correspondence and subject files of officers and executives based in the New York office of American Academy in Rome.

Items predating the 1894 founding of the American School of Architecture in Rome are personal papers and memorabilia of individuals associated with the institution.

Series 1: Predecessor Institutions, is composed of the records of the American School of Architecture in Rome, 1894-1898, and the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, 1895-1913. Records of the American School of Architecture in Rome include records of its Managing Committee, correspondence, financial records, and printed matter. Among the Managing Committee's records are notes and correspondence relative to the founding of the institution, minute books and reports; also, legal documents including records concerning its dissolution prior to being reorganized as the American Academy in Rome. Correspondence is mostly that of Vice President Charles F. McKim who handled administrative matters. Financial records include capital stock certificates, invoices and receipts. Printed matter consists of scholarship competition announcements.

Records of the American School of Classical Studies in Rome include records of its Managing Committee, Committee on Fellowships, publications, printed matter, and treasurers' records. The Managing Committee's records consist of the proposed resolution concerning its merger with the American Academy in Rome. Committee on Fellowship records are comprised of correspondence, reports, and fellowship applications. Publications records include correspondence and invoices. Printed matter includes general information, annual reports of the Managing Committee and Director, annual reports of the Committee on Medieval and Renaissance Studies, fellowship applications and examination questions, and the proposed consolidation agreement. Treasurers' records include the files of Alex. Bell and Willard V. King. Bell's sparse records consist of a budget, receipts for salary payments, an invoice, canceled checks, and correspondence. King's files, while more substantial than those that survive from Bell's tenure, are quite incomplete. They include correspondence, banking records, budgets and financial statements, investment records, invoices, and receipts for salaries and expenses.

Series 2: Board of Trustees Records, is comprised of legal documents, minutes, and reports; records of Trustee committees; records of officers; and records of individual Trustees. Legal documents, 1897-1926 and undated, consist of by-laws and amendments, certificate of incorporation, and constitution and amendments. Minutes and reports of the Board of Trustees, 1897-1947 and 1957, including those of its annual meetings, are carbon copies rather than the official minute books, and are incomplete. Reports of officers are incomplete, as well. Also included are reports of Officers'/Trustees' visits to Rome, and reports of the Director and Secretary in Rome submitted to the Board of Trustees.

Records of Trustee committees, 1905-1946 and undated, consist of reports and/or minutes arranged alphabetically by committee; these, too are incomplete, with many committees represented by a single report. Committees represented are: Building Committee, Carter Memorial Committee, Endowment Committee, Executive Committee, Finance Committee, Library Committee, McKim Memorial Committee, Nominating Committee, Committee on Publications. Committee on the School of Classical Studies records consist of its own minutes and reports, reports of its Advisory Council and the Jury on Classical Fellowships. Committee on the School of Classical Studies also include reports of officers and staff of the School of Classical Studies to the Committee on the School of Classical Studies as follows: Director, Professor in Charge, Annual Professor, Director of the Summer Session, Professor of Archaeology, Curator of the Museum, Editor, Librarian, and Committee on the Welfare of Women Students. Committee on the School of Fine Arts records consist of its own minutes and reports, reports of its Special Committee on the Plan and Expense of a Department of Music in the School of Fine Arts, and report of Fine Arts Program, Triptych Project with the Citizens Committee for the Army and Navy, Inc.; also, reports of officers and staff of the School of Fine Arts to the Committee on the School of Fine Arts as follows: Director, Professor in Charge, Associate in Charge, Annual Professor, Professor in Charge of the Department of Musical Composition. In addition, there are minutes and/or reports of the Committee of Twelve and Subcommittee of Five and the Special Committee on Villa Aurelia.

Records of Officers. 1898-1957 and undated, consist mainly of correspondence files and reports, with large numbers of transcriptions and carbon copies. Included are records of: Presidents Charles F. McKim, William R. Mead, Charles A. Platt, John Russell Pope, and James Kellum Smith; Vice Presidents Theodore N. Ely, George B. McClellan, and Henry James; Secretaries H. Siddons Mowbray (Secretary/Treasurer), Frank D. Millet, C. Grant La Farge, William B. Dinsmoor, and H. Richardson Pratt; and Treasurers William R. Mead, William A. Boring, Leon Fraser, and Lindsay Bradford Office files of President Mead, Secretaries Millet and La Farge, and Treasurer Boring are the most complete; files of other individuals, the Vice Presidents in particular, are often quite sparse.

Records of individual Trustees, 1902-1946 and undated, consist of material relating to official Academy business that was created or maintained by each in his capacity as trustee. (Note: many of these individuals also served as officers or staff of the Academy, and their records documenting those functions will be found in the appropriate series.) Included in this subseries are the records of: Chester H. Aldrich, Gilmore D. Clarke, James C. Egbert, Barry Faulkner, Allan C. Johnson, William M. Kendall, C. Grant La Farge, Edward P. Mellon, Charles Dyer Norton, Charles A. Platt, John Russell Pope, Edward K. Rand, John C. Rolfe, James Kellum Smith, S. Breck Trowbridge, Ferruccio Vitale, John Quincy Adams Ward, Andrew F. West, and William L. Westerman. These records tend to be sparse; files maintained by James C. Egbert, Barry Faulkner, Allan C. Johnson, and Ferruccio Vitale are notable exceptions.

Series 3: New York Office Records, consists of records of staff, rosters, printed matter, photographs, personal papers, Association of Alumni of the American Academy in Rome, and miscellaneous records.

Records of staff, 1919-1950 and undated, include the office files of Executive Secretaries Roscoe Guersney, Meriwether Stuart, and Mary T. Williams; Librarian George K. Boyce; and Endowment Fund Campaign Secretaries Phillilps B. Robinson and Edgar I. Williams.

The rosters, 1895-1939 and undated, are printed forms completed by fellows and students, with occasional attachments (usually correspondence or photographs). Included are the rosters of the School of Fine Arts, School of Classical Studies, and School of Classical Studies Summer Sessions.

Printed matter, 1905-[1981?] and undated, has been classified as Academy produced and produced by others. Items produced by the Academy, 1905-[1981?], include general information including act of incorporation and by-laws, fundraising brochure, constitution, Directory of Fellows and Residents, histories of the institution, newsletter of the Director, and printed items relating to special events. Printed matter specifically relating to the School of Classical Studies includes annual announcements, the consolidation agreement, a directory, fellowship announcements and applications, lecture announcements, newsletters, and brochures about summer sessions. School of Fine Arts printed matter includes annual announcements, concert programs, exhibition checklists and catalogs, fellowship announcements and application forms, history, and newsletters.

Printed matter produced by others, 1905-1940 and undated, consists of three scrapbooks of news clippings and photographs compiled by the American Academy in Rome, extensive clipping files, and articles from miscellaneous publications. All of these items are about the American Academy in Rome, or by or about individuals associated with the institution. Also included is a poster for Leave Courses offered at the Academy for U. S. servicemen.

Photographs, 1891-1941 and undated, are organized into the categories of works of art, people, buildings, places, events, and miscellaneous. Works of art are by visiting students and fellows, Frank D. Millet, collaborative problems, Rome Prize Competitions in Architecture, Rome Prize Competitions in Landscape Architecture, and Prix de Rome Competition exhibitions. Photographs of people are both of individuals and groups; among the groups are summer school students and fellowship winners.

Buildings depicted are American Academy properties. Among them are the "New Building," including interior and exterior construction views; studios; and Villas Aurelia, Mirafiore, and Richardson. Also included is a group of photographs of Academy architecture students measuring buildings in Rome and Florence. Places pictured are views of the Academy property and surrounding areas.

Photographs of events include cricket games, Thanksgiving and Fourth of July dinners, Architectural League exhibition, and inauguration of the Manship Fountain. Miscellaneous photographs are of an architectural drawing for a proposed building.

Personal Papers, Memorabilia, and Ephemera, 1855-1923 an undated, were donated to the American Academy in Rome or otherwise left on its premises. None are official records generated by the institution. Included are: Ernest Lewis' photograph album/scrapbook; Allan Marquand's papers; Charles F. McKim's memorabilia, photographs, printed matter, and artifacts; Charles R. Morey's correspondence; and Elihu Vedder's Bible.

Records of the Association of the Alumni of the American Academy in Rome, 1913-1945 and undated), consist of a small number of scattered records including correspondence, fellows' war/government service information (compiled by Sidney Waugh), membership lists, and a newsletter.

Miscellaneous records, 1899-1926 and undated, are writings and architectural records. Writings consist of published and unpublished manuscript material about the American Academy in Rome and its history, and article by H. Siddons Mowbray advising on ornamentation, and text and illustrations for the Art and Archaeology issue on the Academy. Also included are fragments of unidentified letters. Architectural records [oversize] include property and floor plans of Villas Aurora, Chiaraviglio, Ferrari, and Ludovisi.

Series 4: Rome Office Records, consist of records of staff and personal papers. Records of staff, 1903-1947 and undated, include the office files of Directors H. Siddons Mowbray, George Breck, Jesse Benedict Carter, Gorham Phillips Stevens, James Monroe Hewlett, Chester H. Aldrich, Amey Aldrich [Acting Director, very briefly, perhaps unofficially], Charles R. Morey, and Laurance P. Roberts; and records of two members of the School of Fine Arts faculty, Frank P. Fairbanks, Professor of Fine Arts, and Felix Lamond, Professor of Music. Records of Carter, Stevens, Hewlett, and Aldrich appear to be fairly complete; records of early directors are sparse; those of Morey and Roberts appear to be missing significant portions; and those of Professors Fairbanks and Lamond consist of a few scattered items.

Also surviving are the personal papers of Director Gorham Phillips Stevens, 1912-1931 and undated), consisting of correspondence, financial records, and documentation of professional and charitable activities.

Series 5: Unprocessed Addition to the American Academy in Rome Records was received in 2014 and consists of 31.6 linear feet of the New York office's records for officers, directors, and executives.

Arrangement:

It was obvious that before they came to the Archives of American Art the records had been rearranged more than once, and in such a way that materials from many different departments had been intermingled. In keeping with archival theory and practice, the records were organized to reflect the structure and operation of the institution that created the records, making them more understandable and accessible to a wide variety of researchers.

In general, the records of each officer and staff member are arranged alphabetically, with general correspondence preceding the alphabetical sequence; arrangement within each file is chronological, unless noted otherwise.

Records of the American Academy in Rome are organized into five major series. Each series, except series 5, is divided into several subseries, with the arrangement described in detail in the series descriptions.

Series 1: Predecessor Institutions, 1894-1913 (box 1; 0.88 linear ft.; Reels 5749-5750)

Series 2: Board of Trustees Records, 1897-1957, undated (boxes 1-17, 35, 37; 15.25 linear ft.; Reels 5750-5777)

Series 3: New York Office, 1855-circa 1981, undated (boxes 17-32, 36; 15 linear ft.; 5777-5795)

Series 4: Rome Office, 1903-1943, undated (boxes 32-34; 3 linear ft.; 5795-5800)

Series 5: Unprocessed Addition to the American Academy in Rome Records, 1933-2002 (boxes 35-103; 31.6 linear ft.)

Historical Note:

While in Chicago to advise and work on the fine arts section of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, architects Charles F. McKim, Daniel Burnham, and Richard Howland Hunt, painters John La Farge and Frank Millet, and sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Daniel Chester French, among others, met regularly. From their collaborative experience and discussions came the idea for an American school for artists in Europe. Charles F. McKim was especially enthusiastic. He strongly believed that collaborative experience should be available to future American artists, and perceived a real need for an American school in Europe--preferably in Rome, the very best place to study art, in his opinion.

By March of the following year, McKim was busy devising plans for the school and persuading like-minded architects and artists to assist. He proposed to finance the school by convincing institutions with traveling scholarships in the arts to send those students to Rome. Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, and the Rotch Scholarship fund readily agreed to the scheme, and in ensuing years many others followed suit. In October, 1894, the American School of Architecture in Rome opened temporary quarters in the Palazzo Torlonia. The school consisted of its Director, Austin Lord, three fellows, and a visiting student; its "library" contained but one volume.

A move to the larger, more suitable Villa Aurora occurred in July 1895. Rent from two subtenants (the newly established American School of Classical Studies in Rome and the British and American Archaeological Society Library in Rome), along with a personal contribution from McKim, made this financially feasible.

The American School of Architecture in Rome was incorporated in the State of New York, 1895, and 10 shares of capital stock were issued. Despite substantial fundraising efforts in Chicago, New York, and Boston, severe financial problems continued. The American School of Classical Studies in Rome vacated the Villa Aurora in 1896--and with it went a sizeable portion of the School of Architecture's income. McKim frequently made up the deficit from his own pocket.

Eventually, it was decided that the American School of Architecture in Rome must be reorganized along the lines of the French Academy and that national sponsorship needed to be obtained through an act of Congress. In June of 1897, the American School of Architecture in Rome voted to dissolve itself and create the American Academy in Rome. The new institution would assume all assets and obligations, fellowships in painting and architecture were to be added to the program, and its Board of Trustees would include architects and artists. The Academy is not a school. Its fellows and visiting students, already professionally trained, go to Rome for further development and for collaboration and association with others. In the words of Director Gorham Phillips Stevens: "The object of the American Academy in Rome is not to afford opportunities for a few individuals to perfect themselves for the practice of their chosen professions. The ideal is to create an atmosphere in which a limited number of carefully selected artists and scholars may develop that synthesis of intellectual culture which will make them worthy to preserve and continue the great traditions of the past in order that the standard of art and literature may be handed on from year to year, constantly strengthened and improved."

Beginning in 1901, bills to make the American Academy in Rome a "national institution" were introduced in Congress on several occasions. A hearing was finally scheduled in 1905, and a revised bill that prohibited government funding and specified that U.S. officials may not be Trustees was signed into law. Serious efforts to create an Endowment Fund and secure better quarters were associated with the movement to obtain status as a national institution. The Academy was successful in meeting all of these objectives. In 1904, the Academy moved to the Villa Mirafiore (also known as Villa Mirafiori), which it soon purchased and renovated. The Endowment Fund raised well over a million dollars. Donors of $100,000 to the Endowment Fund, designated "Founders" of the American Academy in Rome, were: The Carnegie Foundation, Henry C. Frick, Harvard College, Charles F. McKim, J. P. Morgan, Sr., J. P. Morgan, Jr., The Rockefeller Foundation, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., William K. Vanderbilt, and Henry Walters. Other categories of donors were "Incorporators" (a new Act of Incorporation was required at the time the American Academy in Rome was chartered as a national institution) and "Life Members."

The American School of Classical Studies in Rome, which had been established by the Archaeological Society in 1895 and during its first year shared the Villa Aurora with the American School of Architecture in Rome, entered into a consolidation agreement with the American Academy in Rome in 1911. Their merger went into effect on the last day of 1912, and ever since, the American Academy in Rome has consisted of the School of Fine Arts and the School of Classical Studies, administered by a common director. The School of Classical Studies is composed of fellows and visiting scholars who are graduate students, secondary teachers, or professors engaged in research in the areas of archaeology, ancient art, philology, and humanistic studies. Women were a part of the School of Classical Studies from its beginning, but were not permitted to participate in the School of Fine Arts until well after World War II. Beginning in 1923, the School of Classical Studies instituted Summer Sessions which appealed to secondary teachers, and attracted an enrollment that was largely female.

Originally, the School of Fine Arts offered fellowships in architecture, painting, and sculpture. Fellowships in landscape architecture were added in 1915; in 1920, a Department of Music was established, and along with it fellowships in musical composition. Fellowships in art history were established in 1947. Unmarried men under age 30 were eligible to compete for the fine arts fellowships awarded annually (except for landscape architecture, awarded every third year); the duration of fellowships ranged from one to three years at various points in the institution's history. In residence along with fellows of the American Academy in Rome, might be holders of various traveling scholarships: the McKim Fellowship, the Columbia Traveling Scholarship, the Perkins Scholarship, the Robinson Traveling Scholarship (Harvard), the Rotch Scholarship, the Julia Appleton Scholarship, the Traveling Scholarship and Stewardson Memorial Scholarship (University of Pennsylvania), the Cresson Scholarship (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts), the Drexel Institute Traveling Scholarship, the Lazarus Scholarship (Metropolitan Museum of Art), the Lowell Scholarship (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and the Rinehart Scholarship (Peabody Institute, Baltimore). Visiting students, who remained for a much briefer period than fellows or recipients of various traveling scholarships, were admitted to all lectures and granted use the library, but resided elsewhere. The Academy opened an Atelier in downtown Rome for visiting students in 1927, which operated until financial considerations forced its discontinuation seven years later.

As the merger was being planned, J. P. Morgan, Sr., who was interested in both the American Academy in Rome and the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, began buying properties on the Janiculum, adjacent to Villa Aureilia. Villa Aurelia, built on the summit of the Janiculum in 1650, had been bequeathed to the American Academy in Rome in 1909 by Clara Jessup Heyland. Complications surrounding the gift of Villa Aurelia--including the will being contested by Mrs. Heyland's brother, and problems with unsettled tax assessments--were overcome in the interest of acquiring the outstanding building and its extensive grounds. Not long before his death in 1913, Morgan donated his neighboring land, and the American Academy in Rome continued to expand its Janiculum holdings through purchases and gifts from others. Morgan also agreed to provide a loan for construction of a new building. This building, designed by McKim, Mead, and White and known as the Main Building or Academy Building, opened in 1915; it served as the fellows' residence and work area, and included room for the library, offices, and space for exhibitions and other public events.

During World War I, the American Academy in Rome managed to remain open, although no new fellows arrived during the war years and the number of resident fellows and staff dwindled considerably. Most who remained were involved in some type of civilian war work, often with the Red Cross. In fact, Villa Aurelia was rented by the Red Cross in Italy for office space, and the Main Building was offered as a convalescent hospital, but the war ended before it could be put to that use.

After Italy declared war on the United States in 1941, the American Academy in Rome closed for the remainder of World War II. Those who had been awarded fellowships in classics just prior to the Academy's closing were given the option of using their stipends for study at home or waiting until conditions permitted travel to Rome. A very reduced staff stayed to care for the property and continue library cataloguing, coping with often severe wartime shortages of food and fuel. In addition, there were financial hardships. When bank accounts of enemy aliens were frozen and it was no longer possible to transfer funds from the United States, the Swiss Legation and Vatican arranged for loans to keep the Academy and its staff afloat. Funds that would have been awarded to new fellows during this period were put to use in other ways. In 1943, the American Academy in Rome made a grant to the Citizen's Committee for the Army and Navy, Inc. for competitions to award commissions to artists and art students throughout the country, funding more than 100 triptychs for chapels, as well as murals, medals, and sculpture. Seniors in American colleges and universities were eligible to compete for several scholarships for graduate work in classical studies awarded by the American Academy in Rome.

In 1945, the Academy was the site of Leave Courses on various aspects of Italian culture offered to servicemen. From the end of the war until the Academy reopened at the start of the 1946/47 academic year, G.I. Fellowships were offered to discharged soldiers wishing to study at the Academy, making the institution eligible to receive surplus equipment and rations. During this time intensive planning was underway for administrative changes and new programs.

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1893 -- While in Chicago to collaborate on the fine arts section for the World's Columbian Exposition, architects Charles F. McKim, Daniel Burnham, Richard Howland Hunt, painters John La Farge, and Sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and Daniel Chester French, among others, met regularly and from their collaborative experience and discussions came the idea for an American school in Europe.

1894 -- American School of Architecture in Rome opened in temporary quarters at the Palazzo Torlonia with Austin Lord, Director, three fellows, and a visiting student.

1895 -- Villa Aurora leased with 2 subtenants, the American School of Classical Studies and the British and American Archaeological Society Library in Rome American School of Architecture incorporated and 10 shares of capital stock issued (2 each to McKim and Hunt, and 1 to Burnham, Kendall, Schermerhorn, Boring, Garland, and Dill) McKim visits Rome.

1896 -- Metropolitan Museum of Art, administrator of Jacob H. Lazarus Scholarship for the study of mural painting, agrees to send the winner to Rome American School of Classical Studies in Rome vacates Villa Aurora.

1897 -- American School of Architecture in Rome dissolved and reorganized as the American Academy in Rome; the assets (including the lease on Villa Aurora) of the American School of Architecture in Rome were transferred and its program expanded to include fellowships in painting and sculpture Samuel A. B. Abbott appointed first Director Rome Prize discontinued (for 9 years) due to lack of funds.

1898 -- Incorporated in New York State; trustees begin to focus on raising an endowment.

1904 -- Move to Villa Mirafiore (also known as Villa Mirafiori); occupied until 1914.

1905 -- Chartered by the Congress of the United States; a bill signed by President Roosevelt made the American Academy in Rome a national institution (receiving no government funding and barring U.S. officials from acting as Trustees).

1906 -- Purchase of Villa Mirafiore finalized; renovations begun.

1909 -- Villa Aurelia bequeathed to the Academy by Clara Jessup Heyland (used until 1932); there were protracted problems surrounding the acquisition of the property including a brother who contested the will and unsettled taxes.

1911 -- School of Classical Studies in Rome (established by the Archaeological Institute of America in 1895) and the American Academy in Rome announce their consolidation [the merger became effective on the final day of 1912].

1912 -- Lands on the Janiculum adjacent to Villa Aurelia, recently acquired by J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr., transferred to the American Academy in Rome.

1913 -- American Academy in Rome now consists of the School of Fine Arts and the School of Classical Studies. New York office moves to the Architect's Building, 101 Park Ave., remaining at this location until 1973. By this date, largely through the generosity of J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr., nearly all of the land bounded by Via Angelo Masina, Via Giacomo Medici, Via Pietro Riselli, and the Aurelian Wall on the Janiculum had been purchased and many improvements made to the properties near the Villa Aurelia. Construction begins on the new Academy building designed by McKim, Mead, and White and situated on the grounds of Villa Aurelia; financed through a loan from J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (after Morgan Sr.'s death, his son offered to cancel the loan at an amount equal to funds raised by the Academy for the purpose).

1915 -- First Fellowship in Landscape Architecture established; opening of new Academy building housing the fellows' residential quarters, work areas, library, offices, and spaces for public programs.

1917 -- Villa Aurelia rented to the Red Cross for office space, and the new Main building was slated to become a convalescent hospital, but the war ended before it could be put to use.

1919 -- New York office reorganized by Roscoe Guernsey, executive secretary; sale of Villa Mirafiore; Academic Council established in Rome.

1920 -- Department of Music and Fellowship in Musical Composition established.

1923 -- School of Classical Studies establishes summer sessions, largely attended by teachers.

1926 -- Second Fellowship in Landscape Architecture funded by Garden Club of America (later permanently endowed).

1927 -- Academy opens an Atelier in downtown Rome, providing studios for visiting students (operated until 1934).

1929 -- First Thomas Spencer Jerome lecturer appointed.

1941 -- Academy closes for duration of World War II; a skeletal staff remain behind to care for the property and continue library cataloguing; Italy declares war on the United States.

1942 -- After transfer of funds from the U.S. proved impossible and enemy aliens were prohibited from withdrawing their own funds from Italian banks, the Swiss Legation and Vatican offered assistance to the Academy by providing loans.

1943 -- Academy grant to Citizen's Committee for the Army and Navy, Inc., funded hundreds of triptychs; murals, medals, and sculptures also commissioned Academy awards scholarships in classical studies at American colleges and universities.

1945 -- "Leave courses," held at the Academy, consisting mainly of lectures by distinguished scholars still in Rome, instituted for U.S. servicemen.

1946 -- Regular program resumes at the start of the academic year.

1947 -- Fellowship in the History of Art established.

1965 -- Loan of printed matter for microfilming by the Archives of American Art (reels ITRO 2-3 and 11-13).

1973 -- New York office moves to American Federation of Arts building, 41 East 65th St. (until 1993).

1982 -- Gift of New York office records to the Archives of American Art.

1990 -- Gift of Rome office records to the Archives of American Art.

1993 -- New York office moves to Metropolitan Club, 7 East 60th St.

Related Material:

Papers of a number of former fellows, trustees, and other individuals associated with the American Academy in Rome are among the holdings of the Archives of American Art.

Chaloner Prize Foundation records, 1915-1974 (microfilm reels 5664-5669) were received with the American Academy in Rome records. They have been arranged and described as a separate collection.

Valentine, Lucia and Alan Valentine. The American Academy in Rome, 1894-1969. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1973.

Separated Material:

The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels ITRO 2-3, and ITRO 11-13) including annual reports, exhibition catalogues, a history of the American Academy in Rome, the American Academy in Rome at the World's Fair, and the Golden Gate Exposition and newsletter. Loaned materials were returned to the lender and can be found at the American Academy in Rome, Italy. This material is not described in the collection container inventory.

Provenance:

The material on reels ITRO 2-3 and ITRO 11-13 were lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming by the American Academy in Rome in 1965. Records of predecessor institutions, the Board of Trustees, and the New York office, including photographs and personal papers, were donated in 1982 by the Academy president, Calvin G. Rand. In 1990, Rand also gifted the Rome office records and the personal documents of Gorham Phillips Stevens. An addition of New York office records was donated in 2014 by the Academy director, Adele Chatfield-Taylor.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. research center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

Rights:

The American Academy in Rome records are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Topic:

Architecture -- Study and teaching  Search this

Architecture, Classical -- Study and teaching  Search this

Art -- Study and teaching  Search this

Art schools -- Italy -- Rome  Search this

Genre/Form:

Photographs

Citation:

American Academy in Rome records, 1855-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.ameracar

See more items in:

American Academy in Rome records

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-ameracar

Landscape architect:

Wheeler, Perry H., 1914-1989  Search this

Photographer:

Stengle, James M., Dr.  Search this

Creator:

University of Georgia  Search this

Garden Club of America  Search this

Emory University  Search this

American Society of Landscape Architects  Search this

Names:

Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington, Va.)  Search this

National Arboretum (U.S.)  Search this

Washington National Cathedral (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Bonnet, Henri, Ambassador  Search this

Bonnet, Henri, Madam  Search this

Estes, Billie Sol  Search this

Harriman, Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward, 1920-1997  Search this

Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912-  Search this

Mellon, Paul  Search this

Mellon, Paul, Mrs.  Search this

Mesta, Perle Skirvin, 1889-1975  Search this

Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929-1994  Search this

Palmer, Bertha Honoré, 1849-1918  Search this

Truman, Margaret  Search this

Extent:

25.75 Cubic feet

3,958 Photographic items

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Lists

Awards

Certificates

Invoices

Negatives

Correspondence

Clippings

Photographs

Invitations

Slides (photographs)

Photographic prints

Plans (drawings)

Place:

Canada

White House (Washington, D.C.)

Africa

Europe

Caribbean

South America

West (U.S.)

Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)

Date:

1880-1984

bulk 1950-1965

Summary:

The Perry H. Wheeler Collection includes the design, client and business records of Perry H. Wheeler, a landscape architect best known for his work on numerous townhouse gardens in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., during the 1960s as well as the redesign of the White House Rose Garden in collaboration with Rachel Lambert ('Bunny') Mellon during the Kennedy administration.

Scope and Contents note:

The Perry H. Wheeler Collection includes the design, client and business records of Perry H. Wheeler, a landscape architect best known for his work on numerous townhouse gardens in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. during the 1960s as well as the redesign of the White House Rose Garen in collaboration with Rachel ('Bunny') Lambert Mellon during the Kennedy adminstration. The collection includes photographic images, plans, drawings, client correspondence, plant lists, invoices, newspaper and magazine clippings, certificates, awards, and invitations. The bulk of the collection and most of the professional papers date from about 1950 to 1965 and relate to various garden design projects by Wheeler, many of them located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Of particular note are documents for Wheeler's public design work including the White House grounds, Washington National Cathedral, U. S. National Arboretum, President John F. Kennedy's gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery, and the British and Cambodian Embassies in Washington, D.C. Noteworthy correspondents include President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Ladybird Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, and Margaret Truman.

There are also over 3,000 35mm slides dating from the 1950s and 1960s that document Wheeler's personal travels to Europe, Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the American West.

Biographical/Historical note:

Perry Hunt Wheeler (1913-1989), a Georgia native, began his higher education at Emory University, going on to graduate from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1937. Immediately afterward Wheeler enrolled in Harvard University from which he earned a graduate degree in Landscape Architecture in 1938. After graduation, Wheeler collaborated on garden projects in Atlanta, Georgia with fellow landscape architect Helen Hawkins Clarke. During World War II, Wheeler moved to Washington, D.C. to serve under the Office of Civilian Defense and the Office of Strategic Services Camouflage Division. Following the war, Wheeler worked at Garden House a Georgetown shop where he advised homeowners on tasteful garden design, accessories, and furnishings. By 1948 Wheeler had established a landscape architecture practice in Washington, D.C. His practice grew via word of mouth through Washington's social circles and through a shared office with landscape architect Rose Ishbel Greely, and later with architect Gertrude Sawyer.

In 1947, he formed a 'bachelor household' in Georgetown with James Snitzler. Later, at the invitation of Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon, he and Snitzler created a second home outside of Washington called "Spring Hill" on property owned by Mellon. Shortly after Snitzler's death in 1968, Wheeler moved permanently to Middleburg, Virginia and continued to travel, lecture, and consult with clients. Wheeler semi-retired in 1981 to 'Budfield,' a property in Rectortown, Virginia where he passed away in 1989, leaving his estate to his partner, James M. Stengle.

Wheeler is best known for his work on private gardens in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood. He frequently employed the use of intricate brickwork, low-maintenance planting, and simple water features in creating his charming and functional designs. His most noteworthy commissions outside the private realm include collaboration with Bunny Mellon on the White House Rose Garden, designing a Garden Club of America-commissioned gazebo and its surroundings for the U.S. National Arboretum, and plantings for the National Cathedral and President John F. Kennedy's gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery.

Provenance:

Gift from the estate of James M. Stengle, 1993.

Restrictions:

Access to original images 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.

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.

Topic:

Presidents -- United States  Search this

Landscape architects  Search this

Presidents' spouses -- United States  Search this

Gardens -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this

Genre/Form:

Lists

Awards

Certificates

Invoices

Negatives

Correspondence

Clippings

Photographs

Invitations

Slides (photographs)

Photographic prints

Plans (drawings)

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Perry H. Wheeler collection.

Identifier:

AAG.WHE

See more items in:

Perry H. Wheeler collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aag-whe

Creator:

Sears, Thomas Warren, 1880-1966  Search this

Sears & Wendell  Search this

Olmsted Brothers  Search this

Harvard University  Search this

American Society of Landscape Architects  Search this

Donor:

Tibbetts, Eleanor Sears  Search this

Tibbetts, Eleanor Sears  Search this

Extent:

44.5 Cubic feet (4,317 glass negatives. 363 film negatives. 182 glass lantern slides. 12 photograph albums. 56 plans and drawings. 3 monographs. )

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Negatives

Blueprints

Albums

Plans (drawings)

Lantern slides

Date:

1899-1964

Summary:

The Thomas Warren Sears Photograph Collection documents examples of the design work of Thomas Warren Sears (1880-1966), a landscape architect and amateur photographer from Brookline, Massachusetts. Sears, who was based for most of his career in Philadelphia, designed a variety of different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments located primarily in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. In addition to some of Sears' design work, images in the collection document Sears' domestic and foreign travels, design inspirations, and family. The collection includes over 4,800 black and white negatives and glass lantern slides dated circa 1899 to 1930. While most images show private and public gardens, there are a significant number of unidentified views and views photographed in Europe during two trips he took there in 1906 and 1908. Few images are captioned or dated. In addition, there are over 50 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and 3 monographs by or about Sears.

Scope and Contents note:

The Thomas Warren Sears Photograph Collection documents examples of the design work of Thomas Warren Sears (1880-1966), a landscape architect and amateur photographer from Brookline, Massachusetts. Sears, who was based for most of his career in Philadelphia, designed a variety of different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments located primarily in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. In addition to some of Sears' design work, images in the collection document Sears' domestic and foreign travels, design inspirations, and family. The collection includes over 4,800 black and white negatives and glass lantern slides dated circa 1899 to 1930. While most images show private and public gardens, there are a significant number of unidentified views and views photographed in Europe during two trips he took there in 1906 and 1908. Few images are captioned or dated. In addition, there are over 50 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and monographs by or about Sears. Several of the glass lantern slides are duplicates of glass plate negatives in the collection. They apparently were chosen by Sears to illustrate some of his best design work, perhaps for lecture or client purposes.

In addition, there are 56 plans and drawings, most notably for Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland and Reynolda in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They range in date from 1917 to 1937 and from 1955 to 1964. Sears photographed some of his early plans; they are included in with the photographic images. Sears also photographed a handful of design plans by landscape architect Sibley Coslett Smith who practiced in Providence, Rhode Island; Sears and Smith shared the same business address there.

The Thomas Warren Sears Collection does not fully document the extent of Sears' design work. The use of glass plate negatives—which make up the bulk of the Thomas Warren Sears Collection—as a photography medium waned sometime during the first quarter of the twentieth century. As a result, the images in the Sears Collection capture examples of Sears' early to mid-career design work but they do not include jobs designed by Sears during the latter half of his design career.

Arrangement note:

The glass plate negatives were originally housed in numerous cardboard boxes manufactured for the sale of undeveloped glass plate negatives. Sears annotated the outside of the boxes with project or client names and/or locations, but the contents do not always match these labels. In addition, because very few of the glass plate negatives and lantern slides were labeled or captioned, it is not always evident where one job ended and another began if multiple projects were stored in the same carton. As a result, there are many instances in the Sears Collection where images have been inadvertently mislabeled because their identification is not apparent. Misidentified images are subject to correction as their proper identification is discovered. Each project has been assigned its own unique AAG job number based on its geographic origin. Those groups of images that have not been identified as to their location have been assigned a project number starting with 'SRS.' The collection is arranged into 3 series: 1) Photographic images (including glass plate negatives, film negatives, glass lantern slides, and photograph albums) 2) Plans and Drawings 3) Monographs

Biographical/Historical note:

Thomas Warren Sears was born in 1880 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1903 and Bachelor of Science degree in landscape architecture from the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard in 1906. Sears was an amateur photographer who won awards for his photography while at Harvard. In 1915 his images were published in the monograph, Parish Churches of England. After graduation he worked for the firm of Olmsted Brothers Landscape Architects for two years and then briefly practiced in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1913, Sears established a landscape design office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he spent the remainder of his professional career. Sears at one point was in a professional partnership; some of his design plans list the firm name of Sears and Wendell. He was made a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1921.

Sears designed many different types of landscapes ranging from private residences, schools, and playgrounds to parks, cemeteries, and urban housing developments. His designs were primarily located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. Just a few of his private landscapes include Marengo in Easton, Maryland; Sunnybrook, the Isaac H. Clothier, Jr. estate in Radnor, Pennsylvania; and Balmuckety in Pikesville, Maryland. In 1915, Sears started work on Reynolda, a country estate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He generated design plans for the property intermittently over the next two decades. Reynolda's formal gardens, greenhouses, and acres of fields and woodlands subsequently became part of Wake Forest University.

During World War I, Sears designed Army camps in Battle Creek, Michigan and Spartanburg, South Carolina. He also helped lay out Langley Field, at that time an experimental aviation field in Hampton Roads, Virginia. In the 1940s, Sears designed the amphitheater at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania for concerts, outdoor performances, and other special events. During that decade he also worked on Colonial Revival gardens at Pennsbury, William Penn's country estate in Bucks County, Pennsylvania located by the Delaware River. Sears retired in 1964 and died in 1966.

Related Archival Materials note:

The Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project (PAB), administered by The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, includes references to design projects by Sears.

Harvard University's Loeb Library includes a number of images by Sears, some of them documenting gardens that he designed.

Harvard University's Fine Arts Library, Special Collections includes a collection of photographs and negatives of English parish churches by Sears, c. 1908. Some of the images were published in the monograph, Parish Churches of England.

The Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina includes plans by Sears of Reynolda in its Estate Archives.

Provenance:

Gift of Eleanor Sears Tibbetts, Sears' daughter, to the Horticulture Services Division (later Smithsonian Gardens) in 1992.

Restrictions:

Access to original images 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.

Rights:

For information or study purposes only. 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.

Topic:

Photographers  Search this

Landscape architects  Search this

Gardens -- United States  Search this

Gardens -- Switzerland  Search this

Gardens -- Scotland  Search this

Gardens -- Italy  Search this

Gardens -- Germany  Search this

Gardens -- France  Search this

Gardens -- England  Search this

Genre/Form:

Negatives

Blueprints

Albums

Plans (drawings)

Lantern slides

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection.

Identifier:

AAG.SRS

See more items in:

Thomas Warren Sears photograph collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aag-srs

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2011-12-09T16:50:21.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_0hLfn71WyG0

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-05-09T00:11:20.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_5K_LVkcVq-g

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2020-11-12T16:49:54.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_FKO8wNFDPmI

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2015-10-29T23:35:36.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt__8bdV3-tYIE

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2019-12-05T19:00:13.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_l9eo_F4L7B0

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

Conversations and talks

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2013-06-03T22:27:17.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_orbRNNebPE4

Creator:

National Museum of the American Indian  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2018-06-14T20:49:49.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Native Americans;American Indians  Search this

See more by:

SmithsonianNMAI

Data Source:

National Museum of the American Indian

YouTube Channel:

SmithsonianNMAI

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_el2fIAisJe8

Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Names:

New York Flower Show  Search this

Extent:

37,000 Slides (35mm slides)

33 Linear feet ((garden files))

3,000 Lantern slides

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Slides

Lantern slides

Plans (drawings)

Brochures

Articles

Correspondence

Clippings

Slides (photographs)

Date:

circa 1920-present

Summary:

This collection contains over 37,000 35mm slides, 3,000 glass lantern slides and garden files that may include descriptive information, photocopied articles (from journals, newspapers, or books), planting lists, correspondence, brochures, landscape plans and drawings. Garden files were compiled by Garden Club of America (GCA) members for most of the gardens included in the collection. Some gardens have been photographed over the course of several decades; others only have images from a single point in time. In addition to images of American gardens, there are glass lantern slides of the New York Flower Show (1941-1951) and trips that GCA members took to other countries, including Mexico (1937), Italy, Spain, Japan (1935), France (1936), England (1929), and Scotland.

A number of the slides are copies of historic images from outside repositories including horticultural and historical societies or from horticultural books and publications. The GCA made a concerted effort in the mid-1980s to acquire these images in order to increase its documentation of American garden history. Because of copyright considerations, use of these particular images may be restricted.

Biographical/Historical note:

The Garden Club of America was established in 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the Garden Club of Philadelphia and eleven other garden clubs met to create a national garden club. Its purpose is to foster the knowledge and love of gardening and to restore and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and gardening and conservation efforts. The GCA was incorporated in Delaware in 1923, with its headquarters established in New York City. Today, local clubs are organized under twelve regional zones. The GCA continues its tradition of hosting flower shows and publishing material related to gardening in the United States.

The GCA's glass lantern slides were used by The GCA for presentations and lectures about notable gardens throughout the United States dating back to colonial times. An effort was made in the late 1980s, in preparation of the 75th anniversary of the Garden Club of America's founding, to collect the disbursed slides. These slides were to eventually form the Slide Library of Notable American Parks and Gardens. The informational value of this collection is extensive since a number of images of the more than 4,500 gardens represented show garden designs that have changed over time or no longer exist. While the majority of images document a range of designed upper and upper-middle class gardens throughout the U.S., the scope of the collection is expanding as volunteers photograph and document contemporary gardens including community and vernacular gardens.

The gardens illustrate the design work of dozens of landscape architects including Marian Coffin, Beatrix Farrand, Lawrence Halprin, Hare & Hare, Umberto Innocenti, Gertrude Jekyll, Jens Jensen, Warren Manning, the Olmsted Brothers, Charles Platt, Ellen Biddle Shipman, and Fletcher Steele. Because of their proximity to the gardens, works of notable architects and sculptors may also be featured in the images.

Restrictions:

Access to original images 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.

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.

Topic:

Gardens -- France  Search this

Gardens -- Italy  Search this

Gardens -- Japan  Search this

Gardens -- Mexico  Search this

Flower shows  Search this

Gardening -- United States -- societies, etc  Search this

Gardens -- England  Search this

Landscape architecture  Search this

Gardens -- United States  Search this

Gardens -- Spain  Search this

Gardens -- Scotland  Search this

Genre/Form:

Plans (drawings)

Brochures

Articles

Correspondence

Clippings

Lantern slides

Slides (photographs)

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aag-gca

Provenance:

The Garden Club of Philadelphia  Search this

Collection Creator:

Garden Club of America  Search this

Type:

Archival materials

Place:

Aspen Farms Community Garden (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia County -- Philadelphia

Scope and Contents:

The folder includes a work sheet, a detailed description of the garden, copies of articles and awards, and an abbreviated garden plan.

Varying Form:

Aspen Farms Community Garden

General:

This 28,362 square-foot site dates to 1975 and was established under the sponsorship of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's community vegetable garden program (the forerunner of Philadelphia Green, created in 1978). The garden, located over the stream bed of Mill Creek, formerly held a row of residences on Aspen Street and a dry cleaning company, which were demolished in 1965. The initial garden size was 3,600 square feet. The society's program supplied turkey-wire fencing, soil, tools, seeds, and technical assistance to a group of 10 people. In each of the next two years, the garden doubled in size with Philadelphia Green assistance. By 1979, the garden filled the entire lot of more than 28,000 square feet. In 1980, the garden underwent its first renovation when Philadelphia Green sponsored the development of a central walkway with planting beds and benches. In 1983, the Penn State Cooperative Extension Service's Urban Gardening Program sponsored a wood frame greenhouse. The most significant improvement to the garden occurred in 1988-89 when it was the focus of a design project jointly sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, the West Philadelphia Partnership, and Philadelphia Green. During that time, the garden received a new chain link fence, several newly constructed raised beds with new plantings, and a gazebo.

Located in the Mill Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia, a moderate income community, the garden is organized and managed by the Aspen Farms Community Garden Club, originally called "Our Club." This well-organized and efficiently run club has as its mission to "foster relationships, community pride, aesthetic value, and provide a social spot for the gardeners of the community." The club consists of approximately 40 members who are responsible for planning, developing, and maintaining the garden plots and common areas of the site. The gardeners range in age from 13 to 104, including many school children who participate in the garden as part of formal school programs. Each member pays an annual fee of $10 [as of 1996] and additional income is generated through fund-raising projects and donations. The club's annual budget is approximately $1,000. The money is used to purchase plants, supplies, and other materials for the garden. Except for occasional soil and wood chip deliveries from Philadelphia Green and technical assistance from the Penn State Cooperative Extension Service's Urban Gardening Program, there is no other ongoing significant support for the garden club. The club continues to maintain the garden well and it has become the central feature of the Mill Creek community. It consistently wins top awards in the City Gardens Contest and Harvest Show. It has also attracted national attention through network television coverage and an article in National Geographic. In 1997, Aspen Farms hosted tours in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Garden Club of America. In the spring of 2004, the Philadelphia Green crew built a bridge over the ponds connecting the site to the new butterfly garden to installed next year. The ultimate goal for this garden is to create an outdoor classroom for use by Sulzberger middle students, who have been involved with the garden for many years.

Persons and organizations associated with property include: Redevelopment Association of Philadelphia (former owners, 1950s-2004); and Neighborhood Garden Association (owner, 2004-present).

Related Materials:

Aspen Farms related holdings consist of 1 folder (26 35 mm. slides)

Collection Restrictions:

Access to original images 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.

Topic:

Community gardens  Search this

Urban gardens  Search this

Vegetable gardening  Search this

Gardens -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia  Search this

Raised bed gardening  Search this

Collection Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

Identifier:

AAG.GCA, File PA352

See more items in:

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Garden Images / Pennsylvania

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_component:sova-aag-gca-ref16524

Creator:

Fletcher, Robert M., d. 1995  Search this

Extent:

0.25 Cubic feet (268 35mm slides., color, 35mm)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Slides (photographs)

Date:

circa 1979-1995

Summary:

The Robert M. Fletcher Collection contains 268 35mm color slides documenting Southern California gardens designed by landscape architect Robert M. Fletcher.

Biographical/Historical note:

Robert M. Fletcher (d. 1995) was a landscape architect who specialized in private gardens in Southern California. Born in Los Angeles, Fletcher received his B.A. in landscape architecture from UC-Berkeley in 1977 and established his residential practice later that year. He taught at the UCLA Extension Program Department of Arts from 1981-1985. As a member of the American Horticultural Society, Southern California Horticultural Society, The National Trust and the California Historical Society, Fletcher was also a speaker at many symposiums and professional meetings. His gardens were featured in numerous journals, including House and Garden, Sunset Magazine, Elle Decor and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. In addition to his residential projects, Fletcher's commercial projects included the Ingram Paper headquarters and warehouse, City of Industry; Henry Company headquarters, Huntington Park; R.J. Plaza Building, Sherman Oaks; Plaza Hermosa, Hermosa Beach; Martin Luther King, Jr. Shopping Center, Watts; Manhattan Village Medical Building, Manhattan Beach; San Julian S.R.O., Los Angeles; The Beach Club, Santa Monica; St. Martin of Tours Church and Elementary School, Brentwood; Mark Taper Building, Reseda; and Westwood Place, Westwood.

Provenance:

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Burton L. Fletcher, parents of Robert M. Fletcher. Donation faciliated by the Garden Club of America.

Restrictions:

Access to original images 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.

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.

Topic:

Seaside gardening  Search this

Xeriscaping  Search this

Landscape architecture  Search this

Gardens, Japanese  Search this

Gardens -- California, Southern  Search this

Gardens -- California  Search this

Genre/Form:

Slides (photographs)

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Robert M. Fletcher slide collection.

Identifier:

AAG.FLE

See more items in:

Robert M. Fletcher slide collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aag-fle

Creator:

Favretti, Rudy J.  Search this

Extent:

31.5 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Invoices

Research

Contracts

Reports

Pamphlets

Slides (photographs)

Date:

circa 1950-2010

Summary:

The collection contains the project design records of Rudy J. Favretti. , a landscape architect and professor noted for his extensive work in historical restoration of gardens, parks, and landscapes. He donated his collection of garden design files, plans, and images to the Smithsonian's Archives of American Gardens in March 2011.

Scope and Content Note:

The collection contains the records of landscape architect Rudy J. Favretti and includes correspondence, research notes, reports, drawings, plans (some from other engineering or design firms), photographic images, contracts, invoices, newspaper clippings, copies of historic records and other items relating to Professor Favretti's professional design work. His projects range from small private gardens to extensive garden restorations of eighteenth and nineteenth century gardens, parks, and historic sites. Professor Favretti also worked on a number of civic improvement and land use projects like parks and roadways. The majority of projects are located in New England (particularly Connecticut), the mid-Atlantic states and the southeastern United States. The collection also includes Professor Favretti's research files for his biography on landscape architect Jacob Weidenmann as well as numerous brochures and pamphlets he gathered during trips he took to gardens across the United States, and 35mm slides he took of some of these sites.

Arrangement note:

The collection is arranged into 4 series: Series 1: Project Files; Series 2: Administrative Files; Series 3: Jacob Weidenmann Research and Biography Filesand Biography Files; Series 4: Visited Gardens

Biographical Note:

Rudy J. Favretti was born in Mystic, Connecticut in 1932. He obtained degrees from the University of Connecticut, Cornell University, and the University of Massachusetts. Favretti holds Bachelor's degrees in horticulture, landscape design, and landscape architecture, as well as Master's degrees in ornamental horticulture, landscape architecture, and regional planning. Professor Favretti taught landscape architecture at the University of Connecticut from 1955 to 1988. Since 1988 he has been Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut specializing in landscape history and preservation. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Virginia, Columbia University, and a Visiting Faculty Fellow at Yale University. In his professional career, Rudy Favretti worked on over 700 commissioned individual and collaborative design, master planning, and preservation projects. These works include notable sites such as Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia, Monticello and Mount Vernon in Virginia, the Emily Dickinson House in Massachusetts, and the Vanderbilt Estate in New York. Favretti has authored more than 20 books and monographs and over 60 journal and magazine articles on a vast range of topics though most notably on historic landscape restoration and colonial gardens He co-authored For Every House a Garden (1977) and Landscapes and Garden for Historic Buildings (1978) with his wife Joy P. Favretti. His most recent work, Jacob Wiedenmann: Pioneer Landscape Architect (2007), is a biography of the nineteenth century landscape architect.

Professor Favretti is a member of several professional and academic societies including the American Society of Landscape Architects, the National Association for Olmsted Parks, and Phi Kappa Phi. He has been awarded honors in landscape preservation by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Garden Club of America. He is currently a member of the National Register Review Board for Connecticut and the Director of the Connecticut Olmsted Alliance. He served as the consulting landscape architect for the Garden Club of Virginia from 1978 to 1998. The Garden Club of Virginia established the Rudy J. Favretti Fellowship in his honor to support the research and documentation of historic Virginia gardens.

Related Materials:

The Rudy Favretti Papers are available at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center of the University of Connecticut. These include landscape plans dated 1962-1979 for numerous public spaces throughout Connecticut.

Provenance:

The records and files were generated and/or compiled by Rudy J. Favretti in the course of his landscape design, landscape restoration, and academic work.

Restrictions:

Access to original images 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.

Rights:

For information or study purposes only. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.

Topic:

Monuments  Search this

Museums  Search this

Agriculture  Search this

Historic sites  Search this

Horticulture  Search this

Memorials  Search this

Landscape architecture  Search this

Gardens -- United States  Search this

Genre/Form:

Invoices

Research

Contracts

Reports

Pamphlets

Slides (photographs)

Citation:

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Rudy J. Favretti CollectionPapers.

Identifier:

AAG.FAV

See more items in:

Rudy J. Favretti collection

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Gardens

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aag-fav

Creator:

Lay, Oliver Ingraham, 1845-1890  Search this

Lay, C.D. (Charles Downing), 1877-1956  Search this

Subject:

Bridges, Fidelia  Search this

Lay, Laura Gill  Search this

Lay, Marian Wait  Search this

Type:

Landscape drawings

Diaries

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Sketches

Topic:

Landscape architects  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Photographs  Search this

Record number:

(DSI-AAA_CollID)6011

(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)234611

AAA_collcode_layoliv

Theme:

Lives of American Artists

Data Source:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_234611

Creator:

Lay, Oliver Ingraham, 1845-1890  Search this

Lay, Charles Downing, 1877-1956  Search this

Names:

Bridges, Fidelia, 1834-1923  Search this

Lay, Laura Gill  Search this

Lay, Marian Wait  Search this

Extent:

10.54 Linear feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Landscape drawings

Diaries

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Sketches

Date:

1789-2000

bulk 1870-1996

Summary:

The Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, and Lay Family Papers measure 10.54 linear feet and date from 1789 through 2000, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870-1996. The collection presents an overview of the personal lives and careers of painter, Oliver Ingraham Lay and his son, landscape architect, Charles Downing Lay. In addition, there are the papers of Lay family members and friends, including those of the Marian Wait Lay family (wife of Oliver Ingraham Lay) and of the Laura Gill Lay family (wife of Charles Downing Lay). Also found are the papers of the landscape and nature painter Fidelia Bridges. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, diaries, writings and notes, scrapbooks, family business records, exhibition files, printed material, as well as original artwork, sketches, a sketchbook, landscape designs, and photographs.

Scope and Contents:

The Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, and Lay Family Papers measure 10.54 linear feet and date from 1789 through 2000, with the bulk of the material dating from circa 1870-1996. The collection presents an overview of the personal lives and careers of painter, Oliver Ingraham Lay and his son, landscape architect, Charles Downing Lay. In addition, there are the papers of Lay family members and friends, including those of the Marian Wait Lay family (wife of Oliver Ingraham Lay) and of the Laura Gill Lay family (wife of Charles Downing Lay). Also found are the papers of the landscape and nature painter Fidelia Bridges. The collection consists of biographical material, correspondence, diaries, writings and notes, scrapbooks, family business records, exhibition files, printed material, as well as original artwork, sketches, a sketchbook, landscape designs, and photographs.

The extensive correspondence files illustrate the interaction between the Lays' and their extended circle of family members and friends, offering a view of the social and cultural milieu of a cross section of New England and New York gentry, from the mid-nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries. The papers also provide a resource to study the work of Oliver Ingraham Lay and of Charles Downing Lay through original drawings, sketches, and landscape designs.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as 3 series.

Series 1: Oliver Ingraham Lay and Marian Wait Lay Papers, 1789-1955 (4.2 linear ft.; Boxes 1-5, OV 11)

Series 2: Charles Downing Lay and Laura Gill Lay Papers, 1864-1993 (4.2 linear ft.; Boxes 5-9, OV 12-13)

Series 3: Fidelia Bridges Papers, 1857-2000 (1.4 linear ft.; Boxes 9-10)

Biographical / Historical:

Oliver Ingraham Lay (1845-1890) was a painter of portraits and genre scenes. Charles Downing Lay (1898-1956) was a landscape planner, architect, and painter.

Born in 1845 in New York City, Oliver Ingraham Lay studied under the painter Thomas Hicks (1823-1890) and attended the Cooper Institute and the National Academy of Design. Best-known for his portraiture, Lay's subjects included socially and politically prominent individuals, as well as artists, actors, and friends, such as Fidelia Bridges and Edwin Booth, among others. In 1876, Lay was elected to membership to the National Academy of Design and the Artists' Fund Society; in 1887 he became a member of the Century Association. Lay was married to Marian Wait, the niece of the pre-eminent pomologist, Charles Downing (1802-1885) and landscape gardener and rural architect, Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852).

Oliver's son, Charles Downing Lay was born in Newburgh, New York in 1898. He attended the School of Architecture at Columbia University from 1896-1900 and earned a Bachelor of Science from Harvard University's School of Landscape Architecture in 1902. That same year, Lay established a landscape practice in New York City; he also served as Landscape Architect for the City of New York from 1911-1912. In 1904, he married Laura Brown Gill.

In addition to his public work projects, he received numerous commissions for private homes and estates in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Lay, along with Henry V. Hubbard and Robert Wheelwright founded the professional magazine, Landscape Architecture where he served as publisher, editor, and contributor. He was a consulting architect to the 1939 New York World's Fair. In 1948, he established the Housatonic Valley Planning Association.

Oliver and Charles's lifelong friend, Fidelia Bridges (1834-1923) was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1834. Orphaned in her youth, she supported herself as a mother's helper in the Quaker household of the Salem merchant, William A. Brown. In the mid-1850s, after Brown had moved to Brooklyn, New York, Fidelia Bridges joined the family, where she took on the role of governess to Brown's daughters. Around this time, she met Oliver Ingraham Lay.

In the 1860s, Bridges studied art at the studio of William Trost Richards (1833-1905) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1867, Bridges, along with a group of young women artists that included Anne Whitney (1821-1915) left for Rome to pursue her artistic training. Upon her return, Bridges set up a studio in New York City. In the early 1890s, Fidelia settled permanently in Canaan, Connecticut.

Bridges, influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite school, depicted landscapes and nature scenes with detailed renderings of birds, meadows, and wildflowers. In addition, Bridges sold her artwork commercially; in the mid-1870s, Louis Prang and Company produced her chromolithographic designs on greeting cards and calendars. Bridges also illustrated magazines and books.

Related Materials:

A small collection of Oliver Ingraham Lay papers were loaned for microfilming and are available on reel 801. The originals are at the New-York Historical Society. The bulk of Charles Downing Lay's papers, 1898-1956 reside in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Provenance:

George C. Lay, grandson of portrait painter Oliver Lay and the son of Charles Downing Lay donated the Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, and Lay Family Papers to the Archives of American Art in 2002.

Restrictions:

Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Rights:

The Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, and Lay Family Papers are owned by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Literary rights as possessed by the donor have been dedicated to public use for research, study, and scholarship. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Occupation:

Landscape painters  Search this

Painters -- Connecticut  Search this

Topic:

Landscape architects  Search this

Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Photographs  Search this

Genre/Form:

Landscape drawings

Diaries

Scrapbooks

Sketchbooks

Sketches

Citation:

Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, and Lay Family Papers, 1789-2000, bulk 1870-1996. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:

Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Identifier:

AAA.layoliv

See more items in:

Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, and Lay Family papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-layoliv

Painter:

Johnson, William H. 1901-1970  Search this

Medium:

Tempera and crayon on paper

Type:

Paintings

Owner/Location:

Smithsonian American Art Museum 8th & G Streets, N.W Washington District of Columbia 20560 Accession Number: 1967.59.319V

Date:

Ca. 1945

Topic:

Landscape  Search this

Architecture exterior--Domestic--House  Search this

Control number:

IAP 08586221

Data Source:

Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museums

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:siris_ari_476749

Creator:

Zimmerman, Elyn, 1945-  Search this

Names:

Dicker, Ruth  Search this

Diebenkorn, Richard, 1922-1993  Search this

Gund, Agnes  Search this

Teraoka, Masami, 1936-  Search this

Varnedoe, Kirk  Search this

Extent:

28.5 Linear feet

0.223 Gigabytes

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes

Sound recordings

Date:

1969-2017

Summary:

The papers of sculptor and site-specific installation artist Elyn Zimmerman measure 28.5 linear feet and 0.223 gigabytes, and date from 1969-2017. The collection documents the artist's life and work through correspondence, writings, project and commission files, exhibition files, teaching files, and printed material. Project and commission files comprise the majority of the collection at 18.2 linear feet and comprehensively document dozens of Zimmerman's site-specific sculptural projects and proposals for public and private sites across the United States and internationally. Items include correspondence, contracts, photographs, models, blueprints, and original sketches and drawings. The papers include a small number of born digital records, including digital images of projects, construction sites, and floorplans, as well as PowerPoint presentations.

Scope and Contents:

The papers of sculptor and site-specific installation artist Elyn Zimmerman measure 28.5 linear feet and 0.223 gigabytes, and date from 1969-2017. The collection documents the artist's life and work through correspondence, writings, project and commission files, exhibition files, teaching files, and printed material.

Correspondence is comprised predominately of received letters and fewer drafts and copies of outgoing letters. Notable correspondents include Zimmerman's late husband, curator Kirk Varnedoe, arts advocate Agnes Gund, and artists Ruth Dicker, Richard Diebenkorn, Kady Hoffman, and Masami Teraoka.

Writings include drafts of journal articles, a book mock-up, project notes, and statements. Agendas and address books are filed with writings.

Project and commission files comprise the bulk of the collection and comprehensively document dozens of Zimmerman's site-specific sculptural projects and proposals for public and private sites across the United States and internationally. Items include correspondence, contracts, photographs, models, blueprints, and original sketches and drawings. The files include a small number of born digital records, including digital images of projects, construction sites, and floorplans, as well as PowerPoint presentations.

Exhibition files document Zimmerman's site-specific installations and exhibitions in a gallery and museum context. Files include correspondence, photographs, slides, statements, press releases, shipping information, and price lists.

Teaching files document the many courses Zimmerman taught in painting, drawing, design, architecture, and landscape architecture. Items include syllabi, assignments, lecture notes, reading lists, and articles.

Printed material primarily consists of items cataloging Zimmerman's career including exhibition announcements, catalogs, and press clippings. Subject files were saved and collected by Zimmerman and are arranged at the end of the series.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged as six series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1978-2011 (3.7 linear feet; Box 1-4)

Series 2: Writings, Agendas, and Address Books, 1970-2003 (0.5 linear feet; Box 4-5)

Series 3: Project and Commission Files, 1970-2016 (18.2 linear feet, Box 5-15, 21-22, OV 23-85, RD 97-98; 0.223 gigabytes, ER01-04)

Series 4: Exhibition Files, 1969-2015 (3.5 linear feet; Box 15-16, 20-21, OV 86-96, RD 99)

Series 5: Teaching Files, 1970-1994 (0.4 linear feet; Box 16)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1970-2017 (2.2 linear feet; Box 16-19)

Biographical / Historical:

Elyn Zimmerman (1945-) is a New York City and Los Angeles based sculptor best known for her large scale site-specific outdoor installations incorporating granite, water features, and landscape architecture.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Zimmerman moved to California for college, earning both her BFA and MFA from University of California, Los Angeles. While at UCLA, she studied with Richard Diebenkorn and Robert Irwin, and worked in photography, drawing, and site-specific installation. In 1978 she created Monarch's Trough for Artpark in Lewiston, New York, her first site-specific work using granite. For the next several decades Zimmerman would complete dozens of site-specific installations in public and private spaces across the United States, and submit proposals for dozens more. Working frequently with stone and granite, she developed a decades long relationship with a granite quarry in Cold Spring, Minnesota, which fabricated many of her designs. Zimmerman's clients have included the National Geographic Society, the Birmingham Art Museum, and the New York City Parks Department.

In addition to her site-specific work, Zimmerman has had an extensive exhibition history, and has shown for many years with Gagosian Gallery. In 2016, Zimmerman was the recipient of the Isamu Noguchi Award. She has taught at Mills College, California Institute of the Arts, Harvard University, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Zimmerman was married to the late curator Kirk Varnedoe from 1978-2002.

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Archives of American Art in 2015 and 2017 by Elyn Zimmerman.

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.

Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.

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:

Sculptors -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Installation artists -- California -- Los Angeles  Search this

Installation artists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this

Topic:

Women sculptors  Search this

Installations (visual works)  Search this

Genre/Form:

Sound recordings

Citation:

Elyn Zimmerman papers, 1969-2017. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

AAA.zimmelyn

See more items in:

Elyn Zimmerman papers

Archival Repository:

Archives of American Art

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-aaa-zimmelyn

Creator:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum  Search this

Type:

YouTube Videos

Uploaded:

2018-11-13T22:12:50.000Z

YouTube Category:

Education  Search this

Topic:

Design  Search this

See more by:

cooperhewitt

Data Source:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

YouTube Channel:

cooperhewitt

EDAN-URL:

edanmdm:yt_P73b472FaiU