Cass Gilbert Collection, 1903-1984, 2000 | Oberlin College Archives

Title: Cass Gilbert Collection, 1903-1984, 2000

ID: RG 30/124

Extent: 2.4 Linear Feet

Cass Gilbert, a renowned figure in American architecture, served as Oberlin College's general architect from 1912 until his death on 17 May 1934. Born in Zanesville, Ohio, on January 28 1859, Gilbert grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he worked as a carpenter's helper and draftsman. He pursued a year of study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1878-79, and then spent the year 1880 in Europe. Next, Gilbert worked as a draftsman in the New York City architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White for two years and subsequently developed his own independent practice in St. Paul, Minn., in late 1882. Gilbert's architecture, which employed classical, Romanesque, and Gothic styles as well as eclectic designs and embellishments, is best represented by the Woolworth Building in New York City (1911-1913), a sixty-six story skyscraper that remained the tallest building in the world until 1930.

Gilbert's vision for the buildings of Oberlin College reflected "decorous poise... drawn from inspirations in the European past" for a campus defined by "quiet harmony and ordered beauty." Incorporating alumnus Charles Martin Hall's 1914 bequest that Tappan Square be cleared of buildings and maintained as an open space, Gilbert's subsequent campus planning for Oberlin College called for a "highly rectilinear plan, with long sight lines across the empty square and through Memorial Arch, enclosed on the block west of the square by a dense cluster of buildings connected by curving arcades." Gilbert's contributions to the Oberlin College campus include Bosworth Hall and the Graduate School of Theology, also known as the Quadrangle (built 1931); Finney Chapel (1908); the Dudley Peter Allen Memorial Art Building (1917); Allen Memorial Hospital (1925); and the Cox Administration Building (1915). Gilbert also executed numerous studies for campus building plans. Although commissioned by Oberlin in 1903 to design Finney Chapel, Gilbert received no substantial compensation from the institution until he was appointed general architect for the College in 1912 by College President Henry Churchill King (an influential Gilbert supporter) and the Board of Trustees.

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Languages of Materials

Administrative Information

Acquired: Accession Nos: 1997/071; 2006/096; 2007/076.

Restrictions: Some material restricted for preservation treatment, as noted on the inventory.

Acquisition Note: The first lot of the collection was not accessioned. 1997/071 consists of correspondence and specifications concerning Finney Chapel, integrated into the collection in 2010. These materials, and those in 2006/096, were transferred from the Facilities Planning and Construction Office. 2006/096 consists of specifications for the Administration Building (plumbing, hardware, and doors), 1914. 2007/076 consists of photographic reproductions of six drawings by Cass Gilbert and one graphic portrait of Gilbert, mounted for exhibition in window mats and frames by the Allen Memorial Art Museum. These were displayed in the Cox Administration Building from roughly 1986 to 2006, after which they were removed from their frames and transferred to Archives.

Related Materials:

Further materials relating to Cass Gilbert can be found in several other collections held by the Oberlin College Archives. Oversized architectural records by Cass Gilbert are listed in RG 53, Architectural Records, and housed in the Maps and Drawings case. Records by Kimball and Gilbert are also listed in RG 53. The George Feick Papers (30/303) contain a number of architectural records by Cass Gilbert for Finney Chapel. For photographs of Oberlin’s Administration Building stamped by the Cass Gilbert office, see RG 32/4. More extensive records concerning Gilbert’s correspondence can be found in Records of Oberlin College Presidents, the Henry Churchill King Papers (RG 2/6) and Records of Assistants to the Presidents (RG 3).

See also the Cass Gilbert Collection (PR 021) at the New York Historical Society, New York, New York.

Finding Aid Revisions: Initial arrangement by Archives Staff. Revised by Tyler Cassidy-Heacock and Emma Anderson, April-May 2007; Anne Cuyler Salsich, April 2009, August 2010.

Collection Material Type: Artificial Collection

Printer-friendly |

Email Us

Scope and Contents:

The Cass Gilbert Collection contains correspondence, sketches, blueprints, specifications, a presentation painting, photographs, and exhibit materials prepared by the Allen Memorial Art Museum about Cass Gilbert and his work for Oberlin College. Copy photographs of Gilbert’s sketches depict floor plans, site plans, specifications, renderings, and elevations for a variety of buildings. A pamphlet of sketches for the Theological Quadrangle and a photograph of the plan for the third floor of the Seminary are included. The remainder of the collection includes a photograph of Gilbert himself, a photographic reproduction of a graphic portrait of Gilbert, newspaper articles and clippings about Gilbert’s architecture at Oberlin, and correspondence regarding pending and proposed projects.

The papers have been organized into five series: Correspondence, Project Records, Writings by Others, Photographs, and Exhibit Materials.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I. Correspondence (1905-1909, 1922-24)

The correspondence series contains letters from Cass Gilbert to C.P. Doolittle and other contractors concerning Finney Chapel, and letters to Cass Gilbert by administrators and official representatives of Oberlin College relating to various other architectural projects on the Oberlin College campus.

Series II. Project Records (1903, 1907, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1921, 1923, n.d.)

The second series, Project Records, includes blueprints, photostats, copy photographs, sketches, and one large, framed presentation painting by Chesley Bonestell for proposed projects. These include a clock tower, the Theological Quadrangle, the Administration Building (Cox), and others. Many of these are photographs of the sketches themselves, or are accompanied by such photographs, with a total of eleven photographs included in this series. Also included are specifications for the Art Building, the Administration Building and Finney Chapel.

Series III. Writings by Others (1904, 1968-84, 2000)

The writings consist primarily of news and magazine articles relating to Cass Gilbert. In addition, there is a biographical study of Gilbert’s Oberlin architecture, and an article from the Allen Memorial Art Museum Bulletin on Cass Gilbert in Oberlin.

Series IV. Photographs (1907)

This series contains one photographic print of Cass Gilbert taken in 1907.

Series V. Exhibit Materials (n.d.)

Consists of reproductions of Cass Gilbert drawings and a graphic portrait of Gilbert, all mounted for exhibition by the Allen Memorial Art Museum.

INVENTORY

*indicates restricted records for preservation treatment

Series I. Correspondence (1905-1909, 1922-24)

Box 1

Letters from Cass Gilbert to C.P. Doolittle concerning Finney Chapel, 1905-1909

Correspondence of C.P. Doolittle with various contractors concerning Finney

Chapel, 1905-1908

Letters sent from Oberlin College to Cass Gilbert, 1922-24

Series II. Project Records (1903, 1907-1908, ca. 1914, 1915, 1916, 1918, 1921, 1923, n.d.)

Box 2

Elevation view of proposed East Sector (Allen Memorial Art Building, auditorium

and other proposed structures, w/copy slide), ca. 1914

Sketch of an unidentified door, n.d.

Sketch of plan for Oberlin College campus w/ photocopy, 1903

Sketches of proposed Bell Tower, 1916 (7 photos)

Sketch of a study for a street in Oberlin, 1915

Pamphlet of architect’s sketches for proposed Theological Quadrangle, 1921

Box 3

Project Records for Finney Chapel

General specifications, 1907

Specifications for general construction, 1907 (2 copies, 1 revised)

Specifications for heating and ventilating, 1907

Specifications for plumbing, 1907 (3 copies)

Specifications for heating, plumbing, and electrical, 1907

Organ, 1915

Financial, 1915

Box 4 Tall Legal in RG 53

Theological Seminary, third floor plan drawing (reproduction), 1918

Administration Building, specifications for vault and doors, floor arch, structural

iron and steelwork, 1914 & n.d.

Administration Building, specifications for plumbing and hardware, 1914 & n.d.

Art Building, specifications for mechanical equipment plant, 1915

Art Building, specifications for general construction, 1915

Finney Chapel

Section through clerestory wall showing supporting piers, (blueprint,

folded, 15 5/8 x 11 ½”), August 3, 1907

Detail of approaches (blueprint, folded, 18 x 24 ¼”), May 29, 1908

Seating diagrams (2 blueprints, 1 photostat), n.d.

*Swell and choir box for organ, Ernest M. Skinner Co., Boston, Mass.

(trace paper, folded), October 19, 1914

*Arrangement of platform for organ, Ernest M. Skinner Co., Boston,

Mass. (trace paper, folded), October 20, 1914

South wall, vault

Presentation painting by Chesley Bonestell, architect and illustrator, of proposed

building with clock tower by Cass Gilbert, 45 ½” x 35 ½”, April 1923

Series III. Writings by Others (1904, 1968-84, 2000)

Box 2 (cont.)

Articles and other writings concerning Cass Gilbert, 1904, 1968-84, 2000

Series IV. Photographs (1907)

Box 2 (cont.)

Cass Gilbert, 1907

(See also Series II and Series V)

Series V. Exhibit Materials (n.d.)

All are photographic reproductions mounted in window mats.

Case II, Drawer 15

Folder 1

Portrait of Cass Gilbert, source unknown, n.d.

Study for Theological School, 1930

Study for Oberlin Tower, 1916

Folder 2

Sketch of Art Building, Auditorium, and Future Building, c. 1914

Sketch of Art Building, c. 1914

Color sketch proposal for interior decoration of Finney Chapel, 1907

Folder 3

Sketch of Art Building, c. 1914