This finding aid is made available for public use following the Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons designation.
1940-1991
This collection is made up of four series: Project Records, Professional Papers, Reference Files, and Personal Papers.
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Source of acquisition--Roni McCarty. Method of acquisition--Donated;; Date of acquisition--2010. Accession number--2010.008.
Clyde H. Dorsett was born in Burlington, North Carolina in 1925. While still in his teens, he took part in the Allied Invasion of Normandy in 1944 receiving the Bronze Star Medal.[1] Clyde Dorsett's first experience in medical design began soon after his return, in 1946: an apprentice at the offices of Louis Jallade in New York City where he worked on a 200-bed hospital project. Dorsett went on to receive his bachelor's degree in architecture from the School of Design, North Carolina State University in 1953, part of which time he studied under Buckminster Fuller. He was noted for his unusual skill in mastering detail design both in terms of construction and program – later put to good use in his diagnostic work at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from 1965. Between this period he co-established the short-lived partnership Dorsett & Smyre Architects. Though working on a number of project types, Dorsett again found himself engaged in hospital design and construction, this time for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington D.C., when he began to realize that there were growing design opportunities in the field.[2]
He studied at Columbia University from 1962-63 where he completed his master's degree in architecture majoring in hospital and public health facilities planning and design. The timing could not have been more fortunate. Following the passing of the Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) Act of 1963, the NIMH suddenly found itself responsible for overseeing the wholesale transformation of the nation's medical health built infrastructure. To achieve this, Dorsett was brought in to establish its architectural consultation section of which he became chief. He would go on to develop most of the regulations, policies and programs related to architectural aspects of the Act. The new section was staffed by architects with backgrounds as diverse as anthropology, psychology, management, programming, mental health, and general hospital planning, while Dorsett foresaw this expanding into other related expertise such as in corrective services, children's programs and total health services.
During his time at the NIMH Dorsett also worked closely with a team of medical experts, believing that the medical program and the actual facility should be inseparable, that "they are the same thing."[3] Together they helped develop national policy and provided project-by-project consultation across each state for the relevant health care bodies and their private architects – with each project given a unique code comprising of state, project type and number. Site visits across the country were frequent, regional workshops not infrequent, with a constant stream of planning drawings and written advice flowing through the NIMH offices.[4] Dorsett's overriding belief was that good healthcare design should provide a humane, welcoming environment as opposed to the institutional character that normally felt with such building types. To this aim he sponsored a large body of research in environmental psychology. Among his early collaborators were Sim Van der Ryn and Christopher Alexander, the latter for whom he contributed some sections to his "pattern language." By 1978 Dorsett was finally able to take his theories to their ultimate conclusion – the total breaking down of monolithic institutional design and the re-empowering of patients in the healing process – with his consultation work for the Hawaii State Hospital. Here the "village system" approach was adopted: clustered buildings broken down into discreet housing units in a semi-urban setting. This and others like it at the time, reflected new ideas of the needs of patients and of medical support staff to be cognizant of their interactions and social relations across various scales: from the individual to the group, to the multiple, to the neighborhood or village – a direct influence of Alexander's thinking.
Dorsett often fussed over both the details and the wider aims of a project, yet was described as having a "smooth, low key approach."[5] Indeed so well-known was his technical support in linking facilities to programs that the process was once dubbed as "Dorsetting."[6] His frequent travel across the various states and the personal sacrifices this entailed also earned him the praise of his director, Dr. Frank M. Ochberg, who described him as "my ambassador-at-large."[7]
Dorsett took early retirement from the institute in 1982, possibly as a consequence of cutbacks in consultation services by the NIMH that Dorsett was beginning to forewarn his clients of as early as 1979.[8] He was now working in a partnership with Constantine Karalis, as senior partner to the practice Dorsett and Karalis, Associates. Dorsett's old projects continued to be utilized by him as pattern touchstones for his new and existing clients right up until the 1990s. His expertise now earned him a wider international audience, consulting for health authorities in the West Indies, and advising the World Health Organization and the State Department. He died at his home at Queenstown, Maryland, in 2007.
Sources:
1. Adam Bernstein, Clyde H. Dorsett; Architectural Consultant,
2. Sam A. Kimble [Department of Health, Education and Welfare] to Dorsett, March 23, 1962.
3. "Community Mental Health Centers Team: Everyone's in a Different Game,"
4. Clyde H. Dorsett, "Broader Goals for the Architect and Government in Community Planning,"
5. Thomas W. Carey (Department of Health & Human Services) to Dorsett, Nov. 7, 1980.
6. Jack A. Bartleson (ADAMH Branch) to Steven Sharfstein, M.D. (DMHSB), July 27, 1976.
7. Frank M. Ochberg [Division of Mental Health Services Program, NIMH] to Dorsett, May 30, 1975.
8. Ian Osborn [Pennsylvania State Hospital] to Dorsett, Oct. 24, 1979.
Processed; Christopher Cowell 2012.
This collection is composed primarily of project drawings, reports, letters and some photographs of general medical and specifically CMHC (Community Mental Health Centers) projects from across the United States received and commented upon by Dorsett while at the NIMH from 1963 to 1982. It also includes projects received and/or discussed by Dorsett after that date while acting as a private design consultant. The other, somewhat smaller portions of the collection, his reference material, professional and personal papers, comprise of studies, notes, articles, guidelines, private architectural projects, student design work, and various ephemera.
Clyde Dorsett papers, 1940-1991, (bulk 1952-1982), Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
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By far the largest component of the collection, this principally covers the 'raw material' received by Clyde Dorsett throughout his architectural consultation work: projects undertaken by various architects for their medical authority clients across the United States, and sent to the NIMH for comment. These date from 1963 to 1982 – the period of Dorsett's administration. There are also a number of further documents after that date sent to Dorsett during his extensive later period as a private consultant. Most work is related either directly or indirectly to hospital or CMHC design. A few of these contain hand-drawn or written comments by Dorsett, while a number contain letters of correspondence between the NIMH and other participants. The series comprises of drawings, files (written material) and photographs. The working and presentation drawings are mostly reproductions (blueprints, diazotypes, photostats) occasionally marked up by Dorsett or others. The files includes reports, correspondence letters, notes, often with their counterpart drawings. The project photographs form only a very small part of Series I. The Project Records Series is catalogued alphabetically first by state and within each, by project name – with drawings, files and/or photographs pertaining to each project kept in sequence. A few projects are unidentifiable by either title or state and have been placed at the end of the series.
A complete inventory of these drawings may be found in this
A complete inventory of these drawings may be found in this
A complete inventory of these photographs may be found in this
This series comprises of his professional work outside of particular projects, including historical research, case studies, reports, guidelines, lecture notes, articles, and papers. The series is arranged alphabetically by title.
Lecture by Dorsett to Mississippi chapter (Feb. 3, 1967); AIA letter of appointment to Architecture for Criminal Justice Comm. (Dec. 21, 1973)
Dorsett, "Broader Goals for the Architect and Government in Community Planning,"
Clyde H. Dorsett and James Falick, "Designs link Mental Health Facilities with Community Activities"
Dorsett, "New Directions in Mental Health Facilities,"
Dorsett,
Dorsett, "The Suicidal Patient and their Treatment Environment" (Journal?)
Articles on Dorsett
Dorsett, Design for Psychiatric Emergency Facilities (Draft document); includes loose notebook pages on history of mental health services in America
"Handbook/ Changing Places & Settings,"
Dorsett, Review: "Handbook: Changing Places and Settings,"
Dorsett's letter on CMHC regulations; published guide to ammended Act; Recognition of Dorsett's contribution to (cash award recommendation)
Brice Hospital (formally Alabama Insane Hospital, 1852-1861). Includes history of the hospital (2 copies) and plan
Folder entitled: "NIMH: Community Program History;" Excerpts from journals
Folder entitled: "Fort Logan: A Community-Oriented Program" (history of); includes Dorsett's notes on history of Fort Logan
Clyde H. Dorsett and Constance M. Callahan, "Design for Psychiatric Emergency Facilities;" includes "Attachment 'C' Environmental Patterns"
Dorsett, "Request for a Sabbatical Position" submitted 28 Sept. 1972. 2 copies
Dorsett, LaRue Jones, Wittman, "Draft Guidelines … for CMHC: Environmental Support (Architecture)," Dec. 1969
Country House Project (unlabeled, by Dorsett)
Matrix sheet. Dorsett writes: "Jake, this is a list of those environmental design objectives which I used in cosidering the children's well-being"
Environ. Design Research Project, Care and Treatment Facilities for Mentally Ill, University of Washington, Ontario, Canada
Annotated and expanded version of
Elements of Mental Health Facilities Design & ephemera
Dorsett,
Miscellaneous study of various facility spaces (Inpatient, Outpatient, Community Education, Emergency and Admitting); includes diagram transparencies
Dorsett,
Dorsett,
Karalis, Dorsett,
History of Psychiatric Architecture
From folder entitled: "Mr. Dorsett's European Trip"; includes unidentified photo contact sheet, various itineraries, brochures, plans
Community Support Program: Request for Advice (Vanessa M. Dazio, Occupational Therapist, Oct. 7, 1977)
Dorsett-Ozarin,
Dorsett's letterheads and stationery for his private consultancy practice
Dorsett's letters of employment (application and recommendation) with various architects in North and South Carolina
Dorsett: Design of his private consultancy letterhead logo
Proceedings of Training Program on Juvenile D.[delinquency]
1 reel : Proceedings of Training Program on Juvenile D.[delinquency], Jan. 17-19, 1961
AIA conference
6 reels : AIA conference Oct. 2, 1967 p.m. Reels 3 & 4; Oct. 3, 1967 a.m. Reels 5 & 6; p.m. Reels 6 & 8 (Reels 1 & 2 missing)
A Mental Health Program in Hawaii - Dr. Kendall Wallis
1 reel : entitled: "5. A Mental Health Program in Hawaii - Dr. Kendall Wallis"
Dorsett, Matrix for Planning & Design of Therapeutic Recreation Facilities; includes five slides of parts of the matrix
Buker's paper, revision of current CMHC legislation; includes NIMH organization structure chart. (From folder entitled: "Adv. ADHOC Committee. Environ. for M.H.")
Hospital visit reports (various), CMHCs for children (e.g. Fernhook, Delaware), maximum security psychiatric hospitals (Butner, N. Carolina)
City map of Norman, Oklahoma, Photo of unidentified hospital, project file card, Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program leaflet
Dorsett's early office projects (1950s)
Miscellaneous from folder entitled "Metropolitan" (lecture notes, journal project notes, photographs)
From album entitled "Clyde Dorsett 'Superstar'", 2 Buckminster Fuller; 3 of conference c. 1967; 3 copies of Dorsett's portrait; 2 small color photos of Dorsett in 1970s
Dorsett,
Historical research on the evolution of the psychiatric hospital; includes index cards on "architectural goals"
Dorsett, environment statement on location and provisions for children/adolescents at MH facilities - to appear in "Fundamental Principles" chapter [book?]
Slide Show for APA Conference, May 12-15, 1970, San Francisco
Dorsett,
Folder entitled: "Kirkbride: Hospitals for the Insane" (history of); includes handwritten (lecture?) notes and copy extract (unidentified book), historic souvenir
Matrix of Past Projects (Aborted attempt at organizing past project files. First page only filled in)
Dorsett,
Dorsett, "A Responsive Environment: Two Designs in Better Care for the Mentally Impaired." (Originally labeled: Paper - A responsive Environ. NIMH/HSQB Contract)
Dorsett, "CMHC and Architecture: The CMHC and its Total Environment" (Prepared for the Workshop on Primary Prevention, Nat. Council of CMHCs, Inc., 1977)
Dorsett, Proposals (various)
Folder entitled: "Eastern State Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee" (history of); Letter enclosing photo of façade
Study Trip to London (and Scotland?); Includes sketch
Photos of the partners of Dorsett & Smyre (Dorsett's short-lived practice); includes small unidentified photograph of a project - presumably by the practice
Photos entitled "Photos - Centers: Boston & Fla. [Florida?]"
Dorsett, "Patterns of Abuse and Change in Facilities for Mental Health Services" (PIA Design and Planning of Psychiatric Facilities, 1978)
History of Asylums, hospitals, institutions - 1855-1965
Copy Edit: Ludwig and LaRue Jones (eds), Proceedings from two AIA/NIMH workshops entitled "Programming the Community Mental Health Center"
Inpatient Regulations PHS Act - psychiatric inpatient unit
Preliminary Report to the President from The President's Commission on Mental Health
Dorsett as panel moderator at seminar conference: "Humanizing Ambulatory Care in the Hospital Setting" Massachusetts (June 7-8, 1973)
Clyde Dorsett's (student?) sketch book
Program and Architectural Relationship to Services ("Ohio" handwritten on top right hand corner of document)
PHS Act - Subpart of 42CFR, sect. 1602. Review of proposed regulations 8/5/77
Dorsett's study of Moravian 18th C. hooded entrace to house, Salem, North Carolina
Saint Mary's Hospital, McAuley Institute, San Francisco 17, California; includes Sister Mary de Paul's introductory notes
Dorsett,
Dorsett's methodological theory - State mental health program as a looped "cybernetic information system"
Einstein Medical Center, Bronx, New York; includes Dorsett's diagrammatic studies in report
Alcoholism Grants: Treatment and Rehabilitaion Grants; Comprehensive Community Services for Alcoholics (The Williamsburg Papers); 1963 Acts, etc.
This series comprises of miscellaneous reference materials by others (or by Dorsett and others) gathered by Dorsett over the course of his career, with most in some way relating to his professional life at the NIMH and beyond. These include books, journal articles, pamphlets, case studies, guidelines, legal documents, and standards. The series is arranged alphabetically by title.
Albert Sabatini, M.D.,
Miscellaneous international academic research into psychiatric facilities / mental disorders: Europe/US (Bartlett, 1968), Beijing (Chinese Medical Journal, 1981), etc.
Adult Day Treatment
Adolescent Inpatient
Space planning guidelines from Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson, Architect/Engineering, Planning/Interior Design
Acute Care Inpatient Unit, Crisis Stabilization Unit
Kahi Mohala Psychiatric Hospital, Honolulu (Originally filed adjacent to Hawaii State Hospital project)
Article filed under "Forensic Psychology" by Dorsett: Robert Hughes, "Pictures at an Institution,"
C.R. Shelton, "Designing Hospitals: Consumers Drive Architectural Trends,"
Lucy D. Ozarin, "Notes on the Development of Collaboration Between Architects and Clinicians,"
"History, Mental Health" general file by Dorsett: Focuses upon history of various treatment environments (e.g. Bloomingdale Asylum)
History of Mental Hospitals. Includes articles on "The Kirkbride Plan," "Dorethea Lynde Dix," and Mental Hospitals, Centennial Issue, 1955
Wallace McHarg Roberts and Todd,
Public Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia, 1773-1885 (history of); Book and associated articles
John Zeisel, "Sociology and Architectural Design,"
Ridgeway Institute (Private Psychiatric Hospital - Brochure)
Work of Charles Schorre (Rice U.), Dubose Gallery, Houston, Texas. Schorre possibly an acquantance of Dorsett viz. the Rice Fete of 1965
Forensic Building, Institut Philippe Pinel de Montreal; Copy of plan with address
Two articles from Abitare (Italian Design Magazine), dates uncertain
Humphry Osmond, "Some Psychiatric Aspects of Design," from: Laurence B. Holland, Who Designs America? (Doubleday Anchor, 1966) booklet
Student paper, U. of Munich, for a community residential model "Transitional Settings for Psychiatric Patients in a Town Sector" (history of, in German)
Folder entitled: "Saskatchewan Plan" (history of)
Arkansas State Hospital, history of (article)
Photocopy of
R. Bartholemew, "Mental Retardation: Educational Environments,"
Carpentry details of John James Croft Jr., Architect, Asheboro, N.C.
Folder entitled: "1946-1954: Gutterson-Ozarin, Hillburton Prog. 1950 pub" (history of)
CEH, "Mentally Handicapped People Living in Ordinary Houses and Flats: Some Useful Information for Architects," July 1973
"Architecture and Design of Treatment Environments,"
Article by Lawrence R. Good,
George Means, Raymond Ackerman,
Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963, Title II, Public Law 88-164, Regulations (Dorsett highlights Appdx. A: General Standards of Construction and Equip.)
New Technology Disclosure - management system by Boeing for NASA Saturn V project. From folder labeled "R.M. Jones" (Includes proposal for environ. quality center)
Historical architecture, villages, furniture - articles and sketches
Mahoning County Highway Map with catchment areas (I & II) delineated
4-sheet bibliography entitled: "Papers and Articles Available Through Architectural Consultation Section"
Articles on converted isolation suites, physical therapy dept., and mental hospitals. Includes one photo of State Hospital, Illinois
Lawrence R. Good, et al,
Raymond Glasscote, et al,
Matthew Dumont,
Charles F. Read Zone Center, Chicago, Illinois ; includes John P. Ready's earlier concepts of "Zone Mental Health Centers" (1964)
"CMHC Project Kit" (as stated on original folder). OR IS IT "Ket" (Kentucky?)
Public Health Service Regulations - Part 53: Pertaining to the Constructin and Modernization of Hospital and Medical Facilities
Regulations for P.L. 88-164 Mental Health Center Construction Projects (various)
NASMHPD (National Assoc. State Mental Health Program Directors) Studies - various.
I. Jakab,
Various articles by others on suicide in mental health facilities
Karl Joachim Habermann,
Report of Visit to Hudson River State Hospital, Poughkeepsie, New York, January 31, 1964
Includes visits to Menninger Foundation; Agnews State Hospital, CA; Fort Logan, CO; Topeka State Hospital
This series, the shortest, comprise generally of work and personal miscellany conducted outside of his life at the NIMH and later consulting life. It includes student work, referral letters, certificates, awards, and various ephemera. The series is arranged alphabetically by title.
Dorsett's early working career charted through referral letters - as preserved by Dorsett
Biographical Sketches of Dorsett; Profile of his "experience in residential environments for the mentally handicapped"
Miscellaneous ephemera ; includes citation certificate and special achievement award (1977) in honor of Dorsett
Dorsett. Class notes on hospital design modules. 'Hospitals and Public Health Facilities Planning and Design' program, Columbia University
Dorsett as a student draftsman: Referral letter from Louis E. Jallade, Architects and Engineers, Dec. 31, 1952
Dorsett,
Dorsett: 2 student papers from the "Hospital and Public Health Facilities Planning and Design" program, Columbia University
Miscellaneous photographs of student work: catenary models/studies, construction projects, etc.; newspaper article on Raleigh catenary arch. of early 50s
Fuller Research Project: Experimental Greenhouse (School of Design, North Carolina State College, Raleigh, N.C., January - March 1953)
Dorsett "A Low Cost Housing Redevelopment", Student Project at North Carolina State College (Panel 6 of 8 missing)
Dorsett,
Dorsett: Catenary Studies (as student with Buckminster Fuller?)
Dorsett et al., "A Study for the development of Kings County Medical Center," 'Hospitals and Public Health Facilities Planning and Design' program, Columbia University.
Dorsett, "The Investigation of a Nursing Unit" (presumably for) 'Hospitals and Public Health Facilities Planning and Design' program, Columbia University
Dorsett, "Marriage of Sculpture to Architecture." (Student essay)
Requests for training, certification and accreditation issues. (Includes plan scheme of hospital by Dorsett while a student at Columbia, 1963)