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This collection documents the life and career of Edgar Allen Tafel: New York architect, Frank Lloyd Wright historian, and one of the original apprentices of the Taliesin Fellowship from 1932. The collection primarily documents Tafel's professional activities and his later independent architectural career which was most prominent from 1965-1985. The collection is made up of nine series: Personal Papers, Correspondence, Writings, Professional Papers, Office Records, Project Records, Photographs and Slides, Audio-Visual Material, and Printed Material.

Approximately 1,000 architectural drawings, circa 1880-1959, with related correspondence, clippings, announcements, specifications, legal documents, and photographs. Major projects represented include Auldbrass Plantation, Yemasee, S.C; the Guggenheim Museum, New York City; Fallingwater (the Edgar J. Kaufmann residence), Bear Run, Pa.; and Wright's own home and studio in Oak Park, Ill. Also, Wright's correspondence relating to exhibits and publication of his work; other professional matters; and correspondence with his son, John Lloyd Wright, 1920s-1950s; manuscript, typescript, and printed versions of articles and addresses by Wright; photographs, programs, invitations, issues of SQUARE-PAPERS, and other materials, circa 1920s-1940s, relating to Taliesin; and miscellaneous invitations, programs, announcements, honors, appreciations, memorials, clippings, and other documents relating to various aspects of Wright's career.

Also, correspondence with Norman Bel Geddes, Monroe Biddle, John M. Blair, Harry T. Carman, Carolyn K. Christenson, Joseph S. Clarke, Jr., Thomas H. Creighton, Paul Cret, C.C. Cunningham, F.G. Fassett, Jr., Loring Dowst, John E. Harbeson, Oliver Hall, Jared C. Ingersoll, Gaylord P. Harnwell, William Fontaine Jones, Joseph Judge, William Lescaze, John D. Morse, William F. Paris, Charles E. Peterson, Ruth C. Roberts, Henry Shapiro, Oscar Stonorov, J.J. Sweeney, James M. Willcox, Owen J. Wister, Frank Lloyd Wright, Bruno Zevi, and others. This relates to proposed development of air rights over New York City's Pennsylvania Railroad Station, 1955; architectural projects in Pennsylvania relating to mental health, 1955; proposed new Independence Mall Building in Philadelphia, 1955; the 1954 Boston Art Festival Architectural Exhibit; sculpture committee on the design of the Ella Butt McManus monument, Connecticut, 1954-1955; the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, building designed by Howe & Lescaze (with related memoranda, manuscripts of articles and talks, press releases, and architectural analyses), 1930-1939; and the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis (with related printed material, clippings, and photograph)

The collection includes 55 architectural drawing prints (blue line, wash-off, and electroic static) and small group of papers including specifications, copy of a photograph of Wright on the site, and some statements and financial records. Additional creators in the collection include landscape architect David Lawson, Northwest Mill & Supply Corp., and Taliesin Associated Architects.

This collection primarily contains photographic prints, including contact sheets, depicting Frank Lloyd Wright, Iovanna Lloyd Wright, the apprentices, and buildings at Taliesin West in the 1950s, made by Stuart Weiner. Additionally there is a small group of photographs documenting Wright's presentation of his plans for the Arizona State Capitol in April 1957 and another small group of photographs by Weiner documenting Wright's presentation of that same project to students at Phoenix Union High School several days later. Additionally, there is a small group of photographs by Weiner showing the Raymond Carlson residence in Phoenix, Arizona, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1950. Also of particular note are two original architectural drawings by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Susan Lawrence Dana residence in Springfield, Illinois, showing a gate and an exterior elevation. Lastly, the collection contains a complete copy of the February 1956 Arizona Highways special issue on Frank Lloyd Wright and Taliesin West, and a copy of Wright's self-pubilshed "Oasis: plan for Arizona State Capitol submitted by Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect, February 17, 1957.".