Inventory of the Winfield Scott Wellington Collection, 1931-1968

Catherine Johnston, Danielle Gordon

Environmental Design Archives

College of Environmental Design

230 Wurster Hall #1820

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720-1820

Phone: (510) 642-5124

Fax: (510) 642-2824

Email: designarchives@berkeley.edu

http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/

Inventory of the Winfield Scott Wellington Collection, 1931-1968

Collection number: 1981-3

Environmental Design Archives

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Processed by:: Catherine Johnston, Danielle Gordon
Date Completed:: October 2008
Encoded by:: Devan McGirr
Funding:: Arrangement and description of this collection was originally funded by a grant from the Getty Foundation.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Winfield Scott Wellington collection

Dates: 1931-1968

Collection number: 1981-3

Creator: Wellington, Winfield Scott, 1897-1979

Collector: Environmental Design Archives

Collection Size: 1 flat file drawer, 1 flat box

Repository: Environmental Design Archives

College of Environmental Design

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Physical location: Environmental Design Archives

University of California, Berekeley

Berkeley, California 94720-1820

Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the Curator.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], Winfield Scott Wellington Collection, 1981-3, Environmental Design Archives. College of Environmental Design. University of California, Berkeley.

Biographical Note

Winfield Scott Wellington (1897-1979) was born in Houston, Texas in 1897. He received his primary and secondary education in New Orleans completing his first two years of undergraduate education at Tulane University, then attending the Georgia School of Technology for one year. In 1918 Wellington began studying architecture at UC Berkeley; receiving a Master of Arts degree in 1922, and a Graduate in Architecture degree in 1923. His graduate thesis reflected his belief in the importance of self-expression through design, and his love of objects in the personal environment.

At the start of his professional career in the early 1920s, Wellington worked for John Galen Howard, Warren C. Perry, and Ashley & Evers in San Francisco. In 1928 Wellington became the firm designer at the architecture office of Eldridge T. Spencer. Two years later, Wellington began his own practice, which focused on residences. He became Professor of Design at UC Berkeley in 1937.

Wellington began designing exhibitions in 1939, at the request of UC Berkeley's renowned anthropology professor, Dr. Alfred Kroeber. Following his success at aiding in the preparation of native artifacts in the Andean Room of the Federal Pavillion of the Golden Gate International Exhibition, many universities and public galleries requested his exhibition designs. Moreover, Wellington demonstrated his skills as an architect and craftsman in various Elizabethan, Spanish, and French Louis XV and IV period room museum installations. He served as chairman of the Art Gallery of UC Berkeley's Department of Decorative Art from 1946-1962. Despite budget constraints Wellington used this position to transform the Gallery's crude interior into a site of rich cultural experience with modern innovations.

In 1948, Wellington began teaching at UC Berkeley's Department of Decorative Art, precursor to the Department of Design, College of Environmental Design. In his classes he encouraged students to scrutinize and handle objects from his large personal collection.

Wellington's architectural designs were primarily Bay Area, residences, though he also designed the Kinteel Trading Post at Window Rock, Arizona. During his career Wellington participated in many design exhibitions, hosted by UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and various San Francisco museums. In 1938 the Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects selected Wellington's designs for an exhibit held at the San Francisco Museum of Art. The Architectural League of New York also honored Wellington in 1941, during their touring exhibition of Northern California architecture. Wellington retired in 1965 to a house he had designed for himself, at which he led sessions for students and Alumni dedicated to understanding the nature of beautifully designed objects.

Note

University of California: In Memoriam
Wellington, Winfield Scott. A Center of Recreation: A Thesis in Partial Satisfaction for the Degree of Graduate in Architecture.University of California, Berkeley: Department of Design. May 1, 1923.

Scope and Content of Collection

The Winfield Scott Wellington collection consists of project photographs and drawings, spanning the years 1930-1971. The majority of the drawings and photographs reflect Wellington's interest in residential design. The collection also includes drawings relating to exhibit designs for Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and Wellington's involvement at University of California Berkeley, including student projects from a Decorative Arts course.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

Architects--California.

Architecture--California.

Genres and Forms of Material

Architectural records.

Architectural drawings.

Architectural photographs.

Project Index

The following is a list of architectural projects from the Winfield Scott Wellington collection. For instructions on interpreting the Project Index, see The Guide to the Project Index at http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/pindex/guide.htm .

The Project Index list is arranged alphabetically by Project/Client Name and contains information, where available, about the location, date, project type, architect, collaborators, photographers, and formats for each project in the collection.

Project/Client Name (location, date, project type, architect) Collaborator (role), Photographer [Format - Ms=Manuscripts, Dr=Drawings, Ph=Photographs]

100 Cordonices Road ( Berkeley , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [ Ph ]
Bergeron, Victor ( Moraga Valley , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Brode, Robert ( Berkeley , CA ; 1954 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Clemens, Richard, Jr. ( Big Sur , CA ; 1966 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Cross, Francis ( Berkeley , CA ; 1938 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Dabney, Mrs. Samuel R.: Beach Cottage ( unknown ; 1947 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Elkus ( unknown ; 1950 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Fine Arts Museum San Francisco, probable M.H. de Young Museum, Asian Art Collection ( San Francisco , CA ; 1951 ; cultural ) [ Dr ]
Frank, Irving ( Mill Valley , CA ; 1930-1938 ; residential ) [ Dr, Ph ]
Frank, Irving ( Mill Valley , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Gladding, Miss Hope ( Berkeley , CA ; 1939 ; residential ) [ Dr, Ph ]
Good, Georg J., remodel ( Berkeley , CA ; 1945 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Haynes Hall ( Marin Co. , CA ; 1941 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Leventritt, Mortimer C. ( Los Gatos , CA ; 1935 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Leventritt, Mortimer C. ( San Francisco , CA ; 1931 ; residential ) [ Ph ]
M.H. de Young Memorial Museum ( San Francisco , CA ; 1966 ; cultural ) [ Dr ]
Martin ( El Cerrito , CA ; 1937 ; residential ) [ Dr, Ph ]
May ( Palo Alto , CA ; 1956 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Mayer ( Ross , CA ; 1933 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Mercy ( unknown , ; 1956 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Middlebrook ( Alameda , CA ; 1965 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Miller ( Berkeley , CA ; 1947 ; residential ) [ Dr, Sl ]
Palace of the Legion of Honor ( San Francisco , CA ; 1946-1966 ; cultural ) [ Dr ]
Scheville ( Berkeley , CA ; 1938 ; residential ) [ Ph ]
Shreve Building ( San Francisco , CA ; 1931 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Sims, Mrs. Sara ( Carmel , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Stewart ( Berkeley , CA ; 1937 ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Unidentified [ Dr ]
Unidentified Residence ( unknown) [ Dr ]
Unidentified Residence ( unknown) [ Dr ]
Unidentified Residence ( unknown) [ Dr ]
Unidentified Residence ( unknown) [ Dr ]
University of California: Bust of George Sterling (Dwinelle Hall) ( Berkeley , CA ; ; cultural ) [ Dr ]
University of California: University Hall (President's Office #799) ( Berkeley , CA ; 1968 ; educational ) [ Dr ]
Wellington, Winfield ( Berkeley , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [ Dr ]
Zuckerman, Florence ( Berkeley , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [ Dr ]

Related Collections

Photographs of exhibits created by Winfield Scott Wellington, 1941-1953, 252 photographic prints. Bancroft Library.

Views of San Juan Capistrano and other mission buildings, 1895. Bancroft Library.

Series Description and Container List

I. Faculty Papers 1940

Series Scope and Content Summary

File consists of student project drawings from Decorative Arts course taught in Spring 1940.

A. Drawings

II. Project Records 1930-1968

Series Scope and Content Summary

This series primarily consists of residential design drawings representing residences throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The series also contains sketches for the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, including the Palace of the Legion of Honor, the M.H. De Young Memorial Museum, and the Asian Art Museum. In addition, drawings for the University of California, Berkeley, President's Office and a bust of California poet George Sterling, are included in the series.

A. Project List

Scope and Content Note

** See Project Index

B. Drawings

Scope and Content Note

** See Project Index

III. Additional Donations 1972

Series Scope and Content Summary

Photograph of Winfield Scott Wellington taken by Imogen Cunningham at La Paz.

Photograph 1972 2008-8

| | | | | | | |