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Claude Bragdon architectural drawings

 Collection
Identifier: D.87

Biographical / Historical note

Claude Fayette Bragdon, architect, stage designer, author, and theosophist, was born in Oberlin, Ohio on August 1, 1866, the son of George Chandler and Katherine Elmina (Shipherd) Bragdon. George Chandler Bragdon was editor of a succession of newspapers, and the Bragdons lived in a variety of Upstate New York towns until the family settled in Rochester shortly after Claude and his sister May graduated from Oswego High School in 1884.

Bragdon immediately began work in the office of Rochester architect Louis P. Rogers, staying until early 1885, when he went to work for Putnam and Block (Josiah H. Putnam and Otto Block). During this period, Bragdon helped to organize the Rochester Architectural Club and entered and sometimes won various drafting competitions sponsored by professional groups in New York and Chicago. In March 1886, Bragdon joined the architectural office of Harvey Ellis’ brother Charles. Unhappy with Charles Ellis’ management of the firm, Bragdon left in August 1889.

In January 1890, Bragdon struck out for New York where he was briefly employed by Bruce Price before taking a job with the Buffalo firm of Green & Wicks. He returned to Rochester in 1891 and went into partnership with Edwin S. Gordon (1867–1932) and William H. Orchard (1863?-1926). Among Gordon, Bragdon and Orchard’s most notable projects were competition designs for a New York City Hall and a re-design of Boston's Copley Square, several railroad stations and a new building for the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute. Bragdon and Gordon would buy Orchard’s share of the firm in 1893 and dissolve their own partnership in 1895, when Bragdon went to Europe for several months, visiting England, France, and Italy.

In January 1897, J. Con Hillman (1865-1932) joined Bragdon— whom he met at Green & Wicks –and his young draftsman James Arnold (1881-1957) in practice; the partnership was amicably dissolved in 1904. Bragdon & Hillman’s important commissions included residences for Nathan Stein, an addition to the Livingston County Courthouse, the Otis Arch (with J. Foster Warner), and the club house for the Country Club of Rochester, and five police precinct stations for the city of Rochester. Bragdon and Arnold were in partnership 1910-1915. Arnold subsequently formed a partnership with Herbert Morland Stern (1882-1977) which lasted until 1932.

Bragdon's major commissions during the height of his architectural career were the Rochester station for the New York Central Railroad, the Canandaigua Historical Building, the Maplewood Branch YMCA, the Bevier Building, Rochester Mechanic's Institute (now Rochester Institute of Technology), the First Universalist Church (Rochester), and the Italian Presbyterian Church (also Rochester). The train station, completed by 1914, was demolished in stages between 1968-1973. Bragdon's practice was diminished after his quarrel with George Eastman over the decoration of the ceiling of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce Building in 1917. After that year, his principal commission was the design for the Hunter Street Bridge, Peterborough, Ontario. In 1923 he moved to New York and turned his attention to stage design for Walter Hampden.

Bragdon left Rochester for New York City in 1920 and formally closed his architectural practice in 1923. While living in Manhattan, Bragdon applied his architectural expertise to his theater design work and in his published writings. Besides his practical contributions to the field, Bragdon wrote three books on architectural theory: The Beautiful Necessity, 1910, Architecture and Democracy, 1918, and The Frozen Fountain, 1932. He also wrote the forward to Louis Sullivan's Autobiography of an Idea, and edited Sullivan's Kindergarten Chats.

Scope and Contents

The material in the Claude Bragdon architectural drawings collection consists of original sketches and studies, working drawings on linen and paper, blueprints, and some full scale drawings of details and specifications produced by Bragdon and his associates as part of the firms' architectural work in the greater Rochester area. Business records or correspondence is scant, except for that related to the Chamber of Commerce building, which is housed in the Bragdon Family Papers (A.B81 Boxes 91-93).

The collection is organized by commission or job number, roughly in chronological order. The number assigned to each job or group of jobs is taken from the rolls in which the drawings were stored.

The job details included in this finding aid were integrated from the former Architectural Drawings Database. Please use the "Search within the collection" function to locate information on specific designs or builds, or contact rbks@library.rochester.edu with any questions.

Dates

  • Creation: 1865-1987

Language of Materials

English

Extent

185 oversize flat folder(s) (185 folders, 9 boxes)

Access

Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books Special Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use

In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The bulk of the collection was the gift of Harwood Dryer, October and December 1974, March 1975. Roll 55 was the gift of Mrs. W. Allen Wallis, 1974. Roll 90 was deposited by Henry Bragdon, 1977.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, item date], Claude Bragdon Architectural Drawings, D.87, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Arrangement

The collection is organized by commission, roughly in chronological order. The number assigned to each job or group of jobs is taken from the rolls in which the drawings were stored. The drawings are stored flat in map folders. The accompanying specifications are shelved with the manuscript collections. While several jobs may share a job number, this should not be taken to mean that they were otherwise connected.

Related Materials

A.B81, the Bragdon Family Papers

D.65, the Arnold Family Papers

The May Bragdon Diaries digital project

Bragdon, Claude Fayette, Eugenia Victoria Ellis, and Andrea G. Reithmayr. Claude Bragdon & the Beautiful Necessity. Rochester, N.Y: Cary Graphic Arts Press, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2010.

Biographical information--Bragdon, Claude Fayette. More Lives Than One, New York, 1938.

Title
Claude Bragdon architectural drawings
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Rare Books and Special Collections staff
Date
undated
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • February 2022: This finding aid was created in February 2022 by uploading the details from the former Claude Bragdon Architectural Drawings Database to consolidate the information in one finding aid. Researchers used to using the Database should make use of the Ctrl+F function to search for record details.

Library Details

Part of the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Library

Contact:
Rochester NY 14627-0055 USA