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Collection

A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (University of Michigan) records, 1876-2011

92 linear feet — 2 oversize boxes — 1 flat file drawer — 343 GB (online) — 1 archived website

Online
The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (TC; also referred to as Taubman College) was established in 1931 as the College of Architecture. However, courses in architecture have been offered at the University of Michigan since 1876, and a department of architecture, formed in 1913, preceded the creation of the college. Since its formation, TC has offered courses and programs in several areas, including landscape architecture, urban planning, urban design, real estate, and, of course, architecture. The record group includes dean's administrative files and correspondence, other administrator files, meeting minutes, department and program files, materials from the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), lectures and other documentation on the Raoul Wallenberg lecture hosted by the college, and several photographs and negatives of the college and TC-related events.

The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (University of Michigan), records document the teaching of architecture and design at the University of Michigan beginning in 1878. The records include administrative files, correspondence committee minutes, reports, photographs and architectural drawings. The records have been received in a number of separate accessions which may include material that continues or complements record series from a previous accession or may overlap chronologically with previous accessions. This finding aid reflects the intellectual structure of the records by bringing like material together across accessions. As a consequence, in the container listing box numbers will not necessarily be in consecutive order.

The records are organized in the following principal series:

  1. Minutes of Meetings
  2. Dean's Administrative Files
  3. National Architectural Accrediting Board
  4. Miscellaneous (correspondence and select files)
  5. Raoul. G. Wallenberg
  6. Dean's Correspondence
  7. Doctoral Program Files
  8. Topical Files
  9. Administrative Files
  10. Architectural Drawings
  11. Photographs and Negatives
  12. Art and Architecture Building Renovations
  13. Department of Urban Planning
  14. Audio-Visual Material
  15. Articles, Reports and Speeches
  16. Artifacts
  17. Archived School of Architecture Website
Folder

Minutes of Meetings, 1929-2008

The Committee Minutes series (1.5 linear feet) includes minutes of the major administrative and governance committees of the college as well are records for a number of special committees. The minutes are dived into three subseries; College of Architecture and Design, Department of Architecture, and College of Architecture and Urban Planning reflecting the major changes in the colleges administrative structure.

Folder

1926-1993 (majority within 1975-1990)

The Topical Files, 1926-1993 (4 linear feet) enhance this record group's documentation of student activities. A several year span of entries for the George Booth Traveling Fellowship in Architecture includes many imaginative proposals by young alumni. The researcher will also find submissions for the first Saarinen-Swanson Essay Contest, held in 1989. Also included are the bylaws of the student chapter of American Institute of Architects (AIA), and information about visiting scholars and lecturers.

The faculty records represented include materials collected for promotion review, and the confidential papers surrounding the promotion committee decision process. Although the latter records are restricted, the former are open to research.

There are some administrative files as well, covering topics such as affirmative action, availability assessments and the raw data collected for the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) annual surveys. There are also some records for the Art and Architecture and Slide Libraries.

Folder

1926-1991 (majority within circa 1970-1990)

The Topical Files, 1926-1991 (2.5 linear feet) is comprised of material from a variety of sources. The nearly one foot of brochures representing a range of mainly Michigan architects, for example, was once a part of the Art and Architecture Library. Also generated from the library are photocopies of 1922-1923 correspondence between Emil Lorch and Frank Lloyd Wright, and photocopies of Eliel Saarinen related clippings and correspondence. In addition, the series brings together various papers and reports, including Emil Lorch's "Collections of the College, 1906-1936," a 1949 Mid-Century Report on Design Progress, and a 1988 strategic planning report. The series also holds further documentation of the Norman Committee in the form of correspondence, minutes, and membership lists. Other files include a medallion celebrating the 1972 groundbreaking for the North Campus building; commencement programs, 1980-1999; and a 1929 letter sent to President Ruthven by several alumni urging the separation of the College of Architecture from the College of Engineering.

Folder

Personnel, 1909-2008

The Personnel subseries includes promotion reviews, correspondence, sabbatical reports, vitae, and similar materials. The Personnel files have been received in different accessions, therefore arrangement of files in this subseries is best described by accession. Materials received in different accessions are housed in ranges of boxes.

Boxes 38-44. Faculty records date from 1909 to 1989, although researchers should note that file folder dates do not necessarily represent the time period served. A group of materials dated from 1986 through 1995 in boxes 38-41 is arranged chronologically. Past faculty materials in boxes 41-44 are arranged in alphabetical order. The folders sometimes include correspondence or clippings received or filed after a faculty member left the college. Content ranges widely, from a single page for a one-semester visiting professor, to a significant collection of documents for some long time staff. In the case of the latter, there is often correspondence, a photograph, vitae, sabbatical reports, and similar items.

Personnel files housed in box 65 date 1998-2008. These files are arranged into General Files, and Faculty and Staff Files. The General Files, 1997-2008 include college statistics, comparisons with other schools and colleges of architecture and urban planning, and salary charts. The Faculty and Staff Files, 1998-2008 are arranged alphabetically by faculty surnames and include correspondence, reports, and promotion and tenure reviews. Content within each folder varies, and researchers should note that the date range listed for the Faculty and Staff files is inclusive, but not all dates are represented in the individual files.

Materials in boxes 81-87 were accessioned between 2011 and 2015. These records include alphabetically arranged faculty and staff files dated between 1930s and 2008.