Greene & Greene architectural drawings and records, 1896-1931

Summary Information

Abstract

The American architectural firm Greene & Greene was a partnership between the brothers Charles Sumner Greene (1868-1957) and Henry Mather Greene (1870-1954). The firm, established in 1894, was officially dissolved in 1922, after which the two practiced independently. They were active in Southern California and were part of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. During the years 1907-1909 the Greenes created some of their most renowned residences, including the Blacker, Gamble, Pratt, and Thorsen houses. They also designed interiors, creating furniture, lighting, carpets, and stained glass for their clients. Greene & Greene architectural drawings and records spans the years circa 1896 to circa 1963. The collection chiefly consists of architectural drawings (approximately 4,800) and also includes photographs, personal papers, and other manuscript material. Access to digital images of all the architectural drawings and to selected photographs are provided in the finding aid.

At a Glance

Arrangement

• Series I: Architectural Drawings
• Series II: Project Photographs
• Series III: Personal Papers
• Sub-series 1: Creative Writings by Charles Sumner Greene
• Sub-series 2: Sketches by Charles Sumner Greene
• Sub-series 3: Personal Photographs
• Series IV: Jean Murray Bangs' Research Files on Greene & Greene
• Sub-series 1: Writings and Lectures of Jean Murray Bangs
• Sub-series 2: Research Materials
• Sub-series 3: Greene & Greene Project Records in Jean Murray Bangs' Research Files

Description

Scope and Contents

The collection includes architectural drawings for approximately 240 projects located primarily in Southern California, particularly Pasadena, including the Earle C. Anthony house, Los Angeles, 1909, and additions, 1913, 1917; the R. R. Blacker house, Oak Knoll, California, 1907-1909, and additions; work for the Culbertson family of Pasadena, specifically additions to the grounds of the Cordelia A. Culbertson house, 1914-1915, and additions for her to the William T. Bolton house, 1918, 1926, and the James A. Culbertson house, 1902, and garage, 1906, and later additions, 1907, 1910; the Herbert Fleishhacker house in San Francisco, outbuildings, 1911, and alterations, 1915; the Freeman A. Ford house, Pasadena, 1907-1909; the David B. Gamble house, Pasadena, California, 1913; the Sidney D. Gamble house, Escondido, California; and the Robert Pitcairn, Jr. house, Pasadena, 1906. Photographs and specifications for some projects are also included in this collection.

• Series I: Architectural Drawings

  This series contains approximately 4,800 architectural drawings for over 240 Greene & Greene projects. Drawings are arranged alphabetically using client surname for private houses and project name for corporate and public clients.

  Each project was catalogued separately in the online catalog. This finding aid provides a link to each project's associated record. Sheet level description can be found in these project-level records. Each sheet is individually accessioned with numbers ranging from NYDA.1960.001.00001 through .04764.

  The drawings in this collection were digitized as part of the Greene & Greene Virtual Archives (GGVA) project. The GGVA is made possible by a generous grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust under the Electronic Cataloguing Initiative of the Getty Grant Program. With the objective of creating a single visual resource for Greene & Greene researchers, homeowners, students, and the general public, the GGVA brings together selected material from the four major Greene & Greene collections: the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library; the Environmental Design Archives at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB); The Gamble House, University of Southern California (USC), in Pasadena, California; and the Greene & Greene Archives, USC at The Huntington Library Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. Access to digital images of the architectural drawings from Avery's collection is provided in this finding aid.

• Series II: Project Photographs

  This series contains approximately 527 photographs for 23 Greene & Greene projects. Photographs are arranged alphabetically using client surname for private houses and project name for corporate and public clients.

  Each project was catalogued separately in the online catalog. This finding aid provides a link to each project's associated record. Item level description can be found in these project-level records. Each photograph is individually accessioned with numbers ranging from Range: NYDA.1987.003.00001 through .00527.

  A selection of photographs in this collection were digitized as part of the Greene & Greene Virtual Archives (GGVA) project. Access to these digital images is provided in this finding aid.

• Series III: Personal Papers

  This series includes a small collection of manuscript fragments and sketches by Charles Sumner Greene (1868-1957). The series also includes photographs of the Greene brothers and family members.

• Series IV: Jean Murray Bangs' Research Files on Greene & Greene

  The series consists of the research papers of architectural historian Jean Murrary Bangs (1894-1985). Bangs was a Berkeley-trained economist who became an architectural historian of the United States Modern movement. In the 1940s, she focused her work on the rediscovery of Charles and Henry Greene's work in Southern California. Her research on Greene & Greene was published in Architectural Forum (Oct. 1948). A planned book on the firm was never completed. The series includes blueprints found by Bangs in the garage of one of the Greene brother's former home.

Using the Collection

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Other Finding Aids

Digitized images from Avery's Greene & Greene Collection

Restrictions on Access

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 and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.

Preferred Citation

Greene & Greene architectural drawings and records, Drawings and Archives, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

Related Materials

Greene & Greene Virtual Archives: The GGVA provides a searchable database of over 4,000 images selected from the four major Greene & Greene collections: the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University in the City of New York; the Environmental Design Archives at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB); The Gamble House, University of Southern California (USC), in Pasadena, California; and the Greene and Greene Archives, USC at The Huntington Library in San Marino, California.

Charles Sumner Greene collection (1959-1): Environmental Design Archives, College of Environmental Design. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California.

Gamble House, Pasadena, California): The Gamble House, designed and built by Charles and Henry Greene in 1908-9, is now an historic museum. It is owned by the City of Pasadena and operated by the University of Southern California.

Greene and Greene Archives: University of Southern California, housed at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Harwell Hamilton Harris papers, 1906-1990: Alexander Architectural Library, University of Texas at Austin.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Greene & Greene Collection at Avery is comprised of two accessions. The first, accession number 1960.001, was made possible by Jean Murray Bangs (1894-1985), while the second accession, 1987.003, was received from her husband, the architect Harwell Hamilton Harris (1903-1990).

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Processing Information

The collection was processed by Roberta Blitz and drawings were catalogued by Project AVIADOR staff with grant funding from the Getty Foundation. Shelley Hayreh, Avery Archivist, edited and published the ArchivesSpace finding aid in 2020.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Biographical Timeline:

1868: Charles Sumner Greene born, Brighton, Ohio

1870: Henry Mather Greene born, Brighton, Ohio

1874: Greene family moves to St. Louis, Missouri

1884: Charles enrolls in Calvin Milton Woodward's Manual Training School of Washington University, St. Louis

1885: Henry enrolls in MTS

1888: Greene brothers enroll in the architectural curriculum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston

1890-1893: Charles and Henry serve apprenticeships with Boston architectural firms

1891: The brothers receive Certificates of Partial Course in Architecture from MIT

1892: Charles' and Henry's parents, Lelia Ariana and Thomas Sumner Greene, move to Pasadena, Calif.

1893: Greene brothers travel to Pasadena, visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago enroute

1894: Greenes open an architectural office in Pasadena

1899: Henry marries Emeline Augusta Dart

1901: Charles marries Alice Gordon White

1902: James A. Culbertson house designed

1903: Bandini and first Van Rossem house designed

1904: Camp, Garfield and Tichenor houses designed

1906: Major article on the Greenes appears in Oct. issue of Architectural Record

1907-1909: Greene & Greene create some of their most renowned residences, including the Blacker, Gamble, Pratt, and Thorsen houses

1911: Cordelia A. Culbertson and Fleishhacker houses designed

1912: Number of commissions begins to decrease

1916: Charles Greene family moves to Carmel

1918: D.L. James commissions Charles to build a house in Carmel

1921: Henry designs a house for Kate A. Kelly

1922: Official dissolution of the firm; Henry reorganizes under his own name, Charles continues to practice out of his Carmel studio

1923: Charles designs a game room addition for the Fleishhackers

1925: Henry designs the William Thum house

1927: Charles designs a water garden for the Fleishhacker estate

1929: Henry designs the Strasburg and Richardson houses

1933: Henry closes his office and moves the practice to his home

1935: Emeline Greene, Henry's wife, dies

1944: Charles ceases work on his last architectural commission, the D.L. James library addition

1948: Southern California Chapter, American Institute of Architects, awards the Greenes a Certificate of Merit

1951: Henry designs a concrete block residence for the McElwains, his daughter and son-in-law

1952: American Institute of Architects honors the Greenes with a special citation

1954: Henry dies in Pasadena

1957: Charles dies in Carmel