Esther McCoy research papers, circa 1940-circa 1984

Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Creators:
Abell, Thornton M., (Thornton Montaigne), 1906-1984, Bernardi, Theodore C., 1903-, Davidson, Julius Ralph, 1889-1977, Killingsworth, Brady, Smith and Associates., McCoy, Esther, 1920-1989, Neutra, Richard Joseph, 1892-1970, Rapson, Ralph, 1914-2008, Rex, John L., Schindler, R. M., (Rudolph M. ), 1887-1953, Smith, Whitney Rowland, 1911-2002, Soriano, Raphael, 1904-1988, Spaulding, Sumner, 1892/3-1952, Walker, Rodney, and Wurster, William Wilson
Extent:
4.0 Linear feet (2 boxes, 1 oversize box and 1 flat file drawer)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Esther McCoy research papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The Esther McCoy research papers span four linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 1989. The collection consists primarily of documents relating to Esther McCoy’s research regarding the Case Study House Program and Richard Neutra. Box one houses Esther McCoy’s inventory of Richard Neutra’s collection of microfilmed architectural drawings and reprographic copies, box two houses a VHS tape of Esther McCoy’s 80th birthday party, and one oversize box and one flat file drawer houses architectural reprographic copies of Case Study House numbers: 1 (Julius Ralph Davidson), 2 (Summer Spaulding and John Rex), 3 (William W. Wurster and Theodore Bernardi), 4 (Ralph Rapson), 5 (Whitney R. Smith), 7 (Thornton Abell), 13 (Richard Neutra), 16 (Rodney Walker), 17 (Rodney Walker), 18 (Rodney Walker), 21 (Richard Neutra), 26 ( Killingsworth, Brady, Smith & Associates), and 1950 (Raphael Soriano).

Biographical / historical:

Esther McCoy was born in Arkansas in 1904 but spent the majority of her childhood in Kansas. She attended college in Missouri, Kansas, St. Louis, and Michigan. In 1925 Esther left the University of Michigan to launch her writing career in New York City. Her architectural career began when she entered a training program for engineering draftsmen at Douglas Aircraft. Then in 1944 she began to work as a draftsperson at the office of acclaimed architect Rudolph Schindler in Los Angeles, CA. Her prominence as an architectural historian flourished at this time, as she began disseminating concepts of modern architecture to large audiences through her writing.

From the year 1950 to 1989, the year she died, Ester McCoy was a frequent contributor the Arts & Architecture, Architectural Form, Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, L’Architectura, Lotus, The Los Angeles Times and The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. In 1960 she published her first architecture book entitled Five California Architects. Three years later she published Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses 1945-1962. Later in her life she wrote catalogues for gallery and museum exhibits devoted to modern California architecture. She lectured at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. Esther McCoy also catalogued the Richard Neutra papers at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her last work, however, was an essay for the catalog of an exhibition on the Case Study Houses at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. McCoy died on December 30, 1989.

Custodial history:

Gift of Esther McCoy, 1984.

Physical location:
Boxes 1-2/ADC - regular Box 3/ADC - oversize** 1 Flat File Drawer/ADC - flat files
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Preferred citation:

Esther McCoy research papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-7130, US
Contact:
(805) 893-2724
adc@museum.ucsb.edu
Website