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DeMars, Vernon Collection, 1933-2001
2005-13  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
The collection spans the years 1933 to 2001, and includes DeMars' personal papers, records from his private practice and professional career, and materials generated by the firms DeMars & Reay, DeMars & Wells, and DeMars & Maletic.
Background
Vernon Armand DeMars was born in San Francisco, California, in 1908. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1931. After jobs with the National Park Service and travel in the U.S. and Europe, DeMars worked in the offices of Clarence Mayhew (1935-36) and John Reid Jr (1935) and then went to work for the Federal Resettlement Administration for two years (1936-37). He spent a year in charge of planning and design of a small housing development company which was unsuccessful followed by six months employment as Head Draftsman for the S.F. Bay Exposition Company working on buildings for the Golden Gate International Competition. Between 1938 and 1943 he served as the Architect for the USDA Farm Security Administration’s regional office in San Francisco. The FSA provided housing to migrant farm workers, planned and built rural camps, schools, clinics, and community centers, and constructed wartime housing for over 7000 military personnel. During his tenure with the FSA, DeMars collaborated with landscape architects Burton Cairns and Garret Eckbo, and planners Fran Violich and Corwin Mocine, to make lasting contributions to the field of planning and low-cost housing design. Projects included the Farm Workers’ Center at Yuba City, California, the Cooperative Farm and Workers’ Housing at Chandler, Arizona, and the Woodville Farm Workers’ Center near Porterville, California.
Extent
62 Cubic Feet 15 cartons, 16 manuscript boxes, 6 flat boxes, 1 shoebox, 33 tubes, 77 flat files, 10 models
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the Curator.
Availability
Collection is open for research. Many of the Environmental Design Archives collections are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use.