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Lyndon (Maynard) papers
0000155
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Table of contents
Description
This collection documents both the personal life and the architectural career of Maynard Lyndon. Organized into five series:
Personal papers, Travel, Architectural career – overview, Architectural projects, and Contemporary Backgrounds retrospective
exhibit; this collection spans 70 linear feet and dates from 1913 through 1998. The Maynard Lyndon papers is comprised of
personal papers which take the form of cards, letters, photographs, negatives, and ephemera; materials that document the travels
of Lyndon and his family which include: photographs negatives, slides, postcards, and sketches primarily of Europe. Materials
present in the collection also serve to document Lyndon's career as a whole in the form of portfolios, comprehensive job lists,
and official firm documents such as employee manuals and administrative procedures. The Architectural projects series documents
over 153 projects Lyndon had a hand in over his architectural career and into his retirement, working with and for the Department
of the Interior, N. O. Gould, Eberle Smith, independently at his own practice, and with Project Architects. The collection
also contains materials that document the retrospective exhibit on Lyndon career which opened in 1993 at UC Berkeley.
Background
Maynard Lyndon was born in Detroit Michigan on September 6, 1907. In 1928, he graduated from the University of Michigan, with
his Bachelor's degree in Architecture. Right out of school, Lyndon got a job working as a draftsman for Albert Kahn in Detroit.
Two years later Lyndon left Kahn's firm and begun to work for N. O. Gould as a designer, a job he held until 1933. From 1933-1935,
Maynard Lyndon worked as a designing architect and site planner for the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. During
this time, Lyndon designed museums and administration units at national parks and historic parks. In 1935, Lyndon went into
practice with the engineer Eberle Smith. The firm of Lyndon & Smith, is credited with designing the first modern school in
the United States, in Northville, Michigan in 1936. During seven years of practice, Lyndon & Smith completed thirty schools
and two public housing projects. In 1942, when Smith and Lyndon's firm dissolved, Lyndon started an independent practice in
Los Angeles. His projects consisted primarily of educational buildings, hospitals, and churches. In 1973, both Lyndon and
his wife Joyce Earley Lyndon moved to Kusseberg, Germany. Over the course of his career however, his more notable projects
include: the Twenty-Eighth Church of Christ, Scientist in Los Angeles, Bunche Hall (also known as the Social Sciences building)
at the University of California, Los Angeles, Northville Elementary School, and Vista Elementary School. Two of Lyndon's sons
followed in his footsteps, Donlyn Lyndon became an architect and Maynard Hale Lyndon a designer. Maynard Lyndon died at the
age of 92 on November 15, 1999.
Extent
70 Linear Feet
(36 half record storage boxes, 7 oversize flat boxes, 10 flat file drawers, 1 model)
Availability
Open for use by qualified researchers.