This collection comprises architectural drawings, plans, renderings, and blueprints used in the construction of the Scripps College in Claremont, California. Materials include black images, as well as color paintings. The collection includes plans for major campus buildings such as academic units, campus support facilities, and student housing as well as plans for campus layout and infrastructure, including landscaping, and utility systems. The collection covers the years 1927 to 2001, with the bulk of the material ranging from 1927 to 1971.

Scripps College is frequently described as one of America’s most beautiful college campuses. Scripps’ scenic 30-acre campus, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, was designed by architect Gordon Kaufmann in collaboration with landscape architect Edward Huntsman-Trout. The plan for Scripps campus was designed with the idea that there would be an artistic connection between the buildings and its landscape. One such example is the walkways that line the campus. Each walkway was designed to link walks and vistas to architectural approaches. Examples of such walkways include: the vista between the entrance to Balch Auditorium and the entrance to the President’s House, through a grassed lane shaded by rows of American elms; the north-south axis of the campus, the orange tree-bordered walk from the Oak Terrace above the Bowling Green to the door of Toll Hall, with the fountain entrance to the Florence Rand Lang Art Building framed in the tree-formed vista from Toll terrace; and the east-west crosswalk extending the width of the campus near the halls of residence, focused on Dorsey Hall’s great window.

18 cubic feet

All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Ella Strong Denison Library.

Collection open for research.