Harvey Ellis papers
Creator: Ellis, Harvey, 1852-1904
Call Number: D.252
Dates: 1839-1903
Physical Description: 12 boxes
Language(s): Materials are in English
Repository: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Table of Contents:

Biographical/Historical Note
Scope and Content
Subject(s)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Access
Use
Citation
Content List
Ellis family correspondence, manuscripts
Collection Overview
Title: Harvey Ellis papers
Creator: Ellis, Harvey, 1852-1904
Call Number: D.252
Dates: 1839-1903
Physical Description: 12 boxes
Language(s): Materials are in English
Repository: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Biographical/Historical Note
Harvey Ellis (1852-1904) architect, artist and craftsman, was one of the foremost architectural renderers of his time and a key figure in the American Arts and Crafts movement. Harvey Ellis was born in Rochester, New York, on October 17, 1852, the oldest of Dewitt and Eliza Haseltine Ellis' four children. Despite the boy's evident artistic nature and talent, Ellis' father arranged for him to enter the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on July 1, 1871. His stay at the school was brief: he was among 15 cadets discharged less than seven months later for academic insufficiency.

There is little documentation of the next six years of Ellis' life. What few facts have been uncovered indicate that he spent some time in New York and Albany before returning to Rochester in early September 1877. He was a founder of the Rochester Art Club on September 5, 1877, and quickly gained recognition as a painter. In early 1879, he and his brother Charles established the architectural office of H. & C.S. Ellis. The firm was quite successful from the start, producing designs for many commercial and residential buildings in and around Rochester.

Details of Ellis' location and activities are once again scant for most of 1885-86. He is known to have been in Rochester early in 1885 and to have married there, while he submitted a competition entry for a statue of Ulysses Grant from Utica, New York, in the fall. From 1886-1893, Ellis worked for a number of architectural firms throughout the Midwest. These included: Charles Mould and then J. Walter Stevens in St. Paul, Minnesota; Leroy Buffington and Orff & Orff in Minneapolis; Eckel and Mann in St. Joseph, Missouri; and George Mann and Randall, Ellis and Baker in St. Louis. Ellis returned to Rochester in 1893 and rejoined architectural practice with his brother but was deeply immersed in his painting and in the aesthetic principals of the Arts and Crafts movement. In 1897, Ellis, Claude Bragdon, and M. Louise Stowell were founding members of the Rochester Arts and Crafts Society, one of the earliest such organizations in the country. The Society's first exhibition, of Japanese prints and French posters, was held at Rochester's Cutler Building in May 1897.

Following the 1903 installation of an Arts and Crafts exhibition at Rochester's Mechanics Institute, Harvey Ellis relocated to Syracuse, New York, where he began writing--and illustrating--for Gustav Stickley's The Craftsman on Arts and Crafts architecture and interiors. Some of the renderings which accompanied these articles influenced the furniture produced by Stickley. Harvey Ellis died on January 2, 1904, at the age of 52. He was buried in an unmarked grave in St. Agnes cemetery in Syracuse. A marker was placed on the grave in 1997 by the Arts and Crafts Society of Central New York.

Scope and Content
The collection consists of correspondence of Harvey Ellis and other Ellis family members; drawings by Harvey Ellis; some records of the H. and C.S. Ellis Architectural Firm; articles and architectural studies clipped from journals by Harvey Ellis; and family members' documents.

Subject(s):
New York (State)--Rochester
Architecture
Correspondence
Architectural drawings
Legal instruments
Ellis, Harvey, 1852-1904
Architects
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mary Margaret Gazley, 1992. The Arts and Crafts Society of Central New York provided funds for processing and housing the collection. A purchase was made in 2016 of items formerly in the collection of The Strong Museum, Rochester, NY, and are so designated below.Access
The Harvey Ellis papers is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.Use
Reproductions are made upon request but can be subject to restrictions. Permission to publish materials from the collection must currently be requested. Please note that some materials may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information contact rarebks@library.rochester.eduCitation
[Item title, item date], Harvey Ellis papers, D.252, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Administrative Information
Author: Finding aid prepared by Rare Books and Special Collections staff
Publisher: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Address:
Rush Rhees Library
Second Floor, Room 225
Rochester, NY 14627-0055
rarebks@library.rochester.edu
URL:


Content List