The records of William and Catherine Wurster span the years 1914 to 1979. The majority of the collection contains Personal Papers of the couple, particularly their photos and slides from various trips abroad, starting with William's 1922 trip to Europe and ending with the couple's world tours in 1957 and 1959. Accompanying these photographs are written descriptions of the trips, including William's travel journals and their joint notes and publications regarding their experiences. The Professional Papers houses a variety of material that the couple accumulated regarding architecture or city planning over the course of their careers including several hundred lantern slides (and negatives), which were most likely collected by Catherine for use in a lecture or for her book, Modern Housing.

William Wilson Wurster, born in California in 1895, earned his degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1919. After obtaining his license in 1922, he worked briefly for firms in Sacramento and with Delano & Aldrich in New York, then opened the firm William W. Wurster in California in 1924. He gained national recognition early in his career with an award-winning design for the Gregory farmhouse (Scotts Valley, 1927), and became the most well-known modernist architect in the Bay Area.

11.5 Linear Feet: 23 document boxes

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

Collection is open for research.