Dorn McGrath Fairfax County and Loudoun County slide collection

Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669
Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)

Preferred citation:

Dorn McGrath Fairfax County and Loudoun County slide collection, C0210, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet 3 boxes, 1 map case
Creator:
McGrath, Dorn C., Jr
Abstract:
The Dorn McGrath Fairfax County and Loudoun County slide collection contains over 500 35mm photographic slides primarily depicting aerial views of locations in Fairfax and Loudoun County, Virginia.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Dorn McGrath Fairfax County and Loudoun County slide collection, C0210, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

The Dorn McGrath Fairfax County and Loudoun County slide collection contains over 500 35mm photographic slides primarily depicting aerial views of locations in Fairfax and Loudoun County, Virginia. The aerial views primarily depict housing developments, automobile transportation corridors, Dulles International Airport, Leesburg, Middleburg, and various locations rural and urban locations throughout the counties. Many of the images at ground level feature the contested area at the intersection of Old Dominion Drive (Route 738) and Spring Hill Road (Route 684) that was the subject of a lawsuit between Mobil Oil and the Fairfax County government where in 1986 Mobil requested that the area be rezoned and eventually succeeded after multiple appeals. Additional slides depict photographs of charts and graphs, perhaps used for presentations.

Additional slides include further aerial and ground level images, expanding coverage to include the broader Washington, D.C, Maryland, and Northern Virginia region. A small group of slides depict locations in Plymouth, Massachusetts and Alaska that are outside of the collection's original scope.

Some of the slides are individually identified with handwritten titles that follow the naming conventions used on the original slide boxes with some editing for clarification.

Additional materials in the collection include 11 transportation and planning maps and posters, as well as one poster for an art exhbition in the Soviet Union.

Biographical / historical:

Dorn McGrath (also known as Dorn C. McGrath, Jr.) was born on May 16, 1930 in Bradford, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1952, McGrath earned his Masters in City Planning from Harvard University in 1959 and during this time he also served in the U.S. Navy. After working for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (also known as HUD) in the Division of Metropolitan Analysis, in the late 1960s McGrath joined the faculty of George Washington University's (GW) Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He later moved to the Department of Geography, where he would serve as Chair from 1996 until his retirement in 2003. He passed away on January 25, 2021 at the age of 90 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

During his 33 years as a GWU faculty member McGrath founded the Center for Urban and Environmental Research (CUER) and the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, as well as serving as Director of the Institute for Urban Development Research. He also maintained an active community and national presence in urban and regional planning initiatives, particularly concerning Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area, including serving as President of the American Institute of Planners from 1971-1973, Chairman of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City from 1987-1996, as a member of the Anacostia Coordinating Council from 1984-1994, and as an elected member of the American Institute of Certified Planners' College of Fellows in 2003. In 2013, GWU's Department of Geography created the Dorn C. McGrath, Jr. Award to recognize outstanding scholarship by a graduate student in the department.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Dorn McGrath from 2012-2017.
Processing information:

Processed by Jordan Patty in July 2012. Additional processing completed by Stephanie Washburn in January 2013. EAD markup completed by Jordan Patty in July 2012. Additional cataloging completed by Stephanie Washburn in January 2013. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in October 2023.

Additional materials processed and finding aid updated by Meghan Glasbrenner from October - November 2025.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged by materials type and then subject depicted.

Physical location:
R 46, C 1, S 1 Map Case 27.2
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard