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Finding Aid for the Lutah Maria Riggs papers, circa 1920-circa 1984
0000169
0000169
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Title: Lutah Maria Riggs papers
Identifier/Call Number: 0000169
Contributing Institution:
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
253.0 Linear feet
(126 record storage boxes, 39 flat file drawers, 1 oversize drawing, and 2 models)
Date (inclusive): circa 1920-circa 1984
creator:
Riggs, Lutah Maria, 1896-1984 -- Archives
Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.
Gift of Lutah Maria Riggs, 1979.
Lutah Maria Riggs papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Lutah Maria Riggs was born on October 31, 1896 in Toledo, Ohio. She came to Santa Barbara in 1914 and attended Santa Barbara
City Junior College until 1917 when she went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated from Berkeley
in 1919 with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture. Just out of school, Riggs found employment as a draftswomen and designer
for Ralph D. Taylor in Susanville. One year later in 1921, Riggs began to work for architect George Washington Smith, until
his unexpected death in 1930. Smith, before his death, treated Riggs as a surrogate daughter, taking her on architectural
study trips to Mexico and Europe. Riggs became extremely influential in the firm’s design work, contributing significantly
to the Lobero Theatre, El Paso historical complex, and Casa del Herrero. After Smith’s death she established a partnership
with William Horning called Horning and Riggs, a partnership that dissolved in 1931. In 1931, Riggs became the principal of
her own firm, until 1946 when she formed a partnership with Arvin Shaw, which lasted until 1950, when Riggs once again practiced
independently. The numerous residential and public buildings designed by Riggs include homes for Wright Luddington, a home
for Alice Erving, a home for E. Palmer Black, the Vedanta Temple, the library and herbarium of the botanical Garden in Santa
Barbara. In 1966 she was named women of year by the
Los Angeles Times; she served on the state Board of Architectural Examiners and the Santa Barbara city and county Landmarks Advisory Committees.
She was a charter member of the Montecito Foundation for the History Committee and active in the preservation of Santa Barbara’s
historic architecture. In 1981, she closed her architecture office in Santa Barbara because of declining health. Lutah Maria
Riggs died in 1984 in Montecito, California at the age of 87.
The Lutah Maria Riggs papers span 253 linear feet and date from circa 1920 to circa 1984. The collection is composed of letters,
diaries, student work and research, clippings, scrapbooks, ephemera, photographs, sketches, architectural drawings and reprographic
copies.
George Washington Smith papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California,
Santa Barbara.
David Gebhard papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa
Barbara.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Riggs, Lutah Maria, 1896-1984
Riggs, Lutah Maria, 1896-1984
Smith, George Washington, 1876-1930, American Architect
Architects -- California
Architectural drawings
Architecture -- California -- 20th century
Architecture -- California -- Santa Barbara -- 20th century
Architecture -- United States -- 20th century -- Sources
Correspondence
Diaries
Landscape architecture drawings
Negatives
Photographic prints
Presentation drawings (proposals)
Reprographic copies
Sketches
Women architects