McKim, Mead, and White architectural drawings

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Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred citation:

McKim, Mead and White architectural drawings, RG-31/1/2:2.872, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA.

Summary

Extent:
251 items
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

McKim, Mead and White architectural drawings, RG-31/1/2:2.872, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA.

Background

Scope and content:

The architectural drawings document building projects at the University of Virginia designed by Stanford White following the fire of 1895, including: the rebuilding of the Rotunda, the construction of the Academical Building (Cabell Hall), the Mechanical Laboratory (Cocke Hall), the Physical Laboratory (Rouss Hall), a Boiler House, the Refectory (Garrett Hall), the President's House (Carr's Hill) and a proposed dormitory that was never built. With these are copies of letters pertinent to the above drawings including a letter from E. A. Alderman to Stanford White on the design for the University of Virginia president's home and student dining hall, 1906 May 1; a reply dictated by Stanford White on the style of the proposed president's home, May 31; and a 1942 list of blueprints made from White's original drawings and sent to the University at the request of librarian Louise Savage. The drawing "Design for Terrace" is the work of the McDonald Brothers studio, circa 1895, the firm first hired to rebuild the Rotunda. The steel I-beams were undersized and the design was later corrected by Stanford White. The collection also contains a blueprint map of the University by Kaigiro Sugino, 1899, showing the gas, water, and sewer systems.

Biographical / historical:

Established by Charles McKim, William Mead, and Stanford White in 1879, the McKim, Mead, and White firm quickly rose to prominence with its Beaux Arts masterpieces heavily inspired from the trio's travels through Europe. Among their works are the original Pennsylvania Station, Columbia University's library, and the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, not to mention the Boston Public Library. Stanford White was commissioned by the University of Virginia to oversee new construction after a destructive fire in 1895 razed the Rotunda Annex and reduced the Rotunda to its outer walls. The resulting building program restored the Rotunda, provided new classroom facilities to replace the space lost with the destruction of the Rotunda Annex, and addressed other building needs.

Kaigiro Sugino attended University of Virginia from 1890-1894 and later worked [as a mining engineer?] in Ivanhoe, Va. The alumni directory for 1910 lists him as a resident of Sapporo, Japan. The directory for 1921 lists him in Kobe and manager of the Japan Tourist Board.

Processing information:

The large original linen drawings were given professional conservation treatment in 2010; drawings longer than 48 inches have been individually rolled.

Arrangement:

The drawings, grouped by project, are arranged and listed by the drawing number assigned by the firm. The result is a chronological arrangement of sheets for each building project, with details, plans, elevations and sections interspersed among each grouping. Frequently, as many as three or four copies of a particular drawing, in a variety of media, survive.