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Finding Aid for the Robert Vincent Derrah papers, circa 1929-circa 1942 0000128
0000128  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Custodial History note
  • Preferred Citation note
  • Biographical/Historical note
  • Scope and Content note

  • Title: Robert Vincent Derrah papers
    Identifier/Call Number: 0000128
    Contributing Institution: Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 18.0 Linear feet (4 record storage boxes and 5 flat file drawers)
    Date (inclusive): circa 1922-circa 1946
    Location note: Boxes 1-3/ADC - regular Box 4/ADC - oversize** 5 Flat File Drawers/ADC - flat files
    creator: Derrah, Robert Vincent, 1895-1946

    Access

    Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.

    Custodial History note

    Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Jensen, 1992.

    Preferred Citation note

    Robert Vincent Derrah papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

    Biographical/Historical note

    Robert Vincent Derrah was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on April 14, 1895. Derrah was a graduate of both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University with degrees in architecture. He came to Southern California in 1924 and established his firm Derrah and Associates in Beverly Hills. His most notable Los Angeles projects include: the Southern California Gas Company building # 1 in downtown Los Angeles, Crossroads of the World, Acme Brewery, and the streamline modern style Coca Cola Company Plant on Central Avenue. Derrah died in Los Angeles on October 9, 1946, at the age of 51.

    Scope and Content note

    The Robert Vincent Derrah papers span 18 linear feet and date from circa 1922 to circa 1946. The collection is primarily composed of architectural drawings, reprographic copies, and presentation boards of commercial and residential buildings, including a house and a studio for the actor Charlie Chaplin, and many apartment buildings, in the Los Angeles area.
    The collection also includes clippings, correspondence in the form of letters and telegraphs, architectural pamphlets, black-and-white photographs and negatives of Derrah’s Coca-Cola buildings, the Crossroads of the World commercial complex, residential buildings, and the 1941 Southern California Gas Company building in downtown Los Angeles.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Derrah, Robert Vincent, 1895-1946
    Architectural drawings
    Architecture -- California -- Los Angeles -- 20th Century
    Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- California
    Negatives
    Photographic prints
    Presentation drawings (proposals)
    Reprographic copies