Howard Moïse Collection, 1911-1964

Processed by the Archives Staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Archives Staff and the Electronic Text Unit Staff
Environmental Design Archives
College of Environmental Design
230 Wurster Hall #1820
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-1820
Phone: (510) 642-5124
Fax: (510) 642-2824
Email: archives@socrates.berkeley.edu
http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/
© 2000
The Regents of California. All rights reserved.

Note

Arts and Humanities--Architecture History--California History--Bay Area History History--California History Geographical (By Place)--California Geographical (By Place)--California--Bay Area History--University of California History--UC Berkeley History

Howard Moïse Collection, 1911-1964

Collection Number: 1965-1

Environmental Design Archives



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

  • Environmental Design Archives
  • College of Environmental Design
  • 230 Wurster Hall #1820
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Berkeley, California, 94720-1820
  • Phone: (510) 642-5124
  • Fax: (510) 642-2824
  • Email: archives@socrates.berkeley.edu
  • URL: http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/
Processed by:
Archives Staff
Date Completed:
December 1999
Encoded by:
Archives Staff
Funding:
Arrangement and description of this collection was funded by a grant from the Getty Foundation.
© 1999 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Collection Title: Howard Moïse Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1911-1964
Collection Number: 1965-1
Creator: Moïse, Howard, 1887-1965
Extent: 8 boxes, 1 flat file drawer
Repository: Environmental Design Archives.
University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California.
Abstract: The collection spans the years 1911-1964 and documents Moïse's architectural and teaching careers and his personal travels. The records include correspondence, photographs, slides, news clippings, class notes, sketches, and architectural drawings.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

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

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Howard Moïse Collection, (1965-1), Environmental Design Archives. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated in 1965.

Access Points

Architects--California.
Architecture--California.
Architects--Travel.
Architecture--Study and teaching--California--Berkeley.
University of California, Berkeley--School of Architecture.

Biography

Howard Moïse (1887-1965)
Howard Moïse was born in 1887 in New Mexico and lived in Denver and Los Angeles. He attended Harvard University, earning his bachelor's degree in 1915, and his master's of architecture in 1916. He formed a partnership with Maurice M. Osborn in Boston, which lasted until the summer of 1917 when both partners entered the Army during World War I.
His work during the Boston partnership included an addition to the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, and the Holbrook Cow Barn. Later he took a job in the New York office of James Gamble Rogers. Some of his projects there included the exterior design of the main group of buildings at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and the planning designs of that institution's Neurological Institute Building, Bard Hall, and Medical Student's Dormitory. He also was responsible for the design of additions to the Taft School at Watertown, New York, and a new campus at Rochester for the Colgate Rochester Divinity School.
During the 1930s, Moïse was considered one of America's most modern designers. In 1932 he was invited to become a professor at the School of Architecture at University of California, Berkeley. From 1946 he also practiced in Berkeley, where he did mostly residential work. During this period he was responsible for the addition and alterations to the Architecture Building (The Ark), in association with Ellsworth Johnson and Carlton Steiner.
After his retirement in 1955 Moïse was invited to teach courses at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. He died in California in 1965.

Scope and Contents Note

The Howard Moïse collection spans the years 1911-1964 and documents Moïse's architectural and teaching careers and his personal travels. The collection is organized in six series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Faculty Papers, Office Records, Project Records, and Art. The records include correspondence, photographs, slides, news clippings, class notes, sketches, and architectural drawings.
Personal papers relate to Moïse's education, Army career, and travels. Professional and faculty records contain reports, speeches, course materials, and reference files. Project records primarily document Moïse's work in the Bay Area, though some early East Coast projects are documented in photographs. Art collected by Moïse includes publications by Grabhorn Press.

Related Collections

Title: Howard Moïse Papers,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-B 979
Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library
UC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

Boxes 1-3, 8

I. Personal Papers , 1911-1952

Scope and Content Note

Documents Moïse's life, education, and travels. Includes a humorous biographical sketch, diary, portraits of Moïse, photographs of friends and family, as well as snapshots of Moïse's years in the Army. Student records consist of notes and sketches, rather than elaborate projects. Travel sketches, photographs, slides, and two volumes of purchased photographs pertain to trips to Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, and within the United States. Architectural images from these travels may have been used for teaching.
 

A. Biographical Information

 

B. Photographs

 

C. Student Work

 

D. Travel

Box 4

II. Professional Papers , n.d., 1915-1961

Scope and Content Note

Contains notes and reports relating to early East Coast work as well as an outline for a 1961 speech, "Early Modern Architecture in California," given at Rhode Island School of Design. Also includes a cover for House Beautiful magazine, designed by Moïse.
Boxes 4-6, 8

III. Faculty Papers , 1933-1955

Scope and Content Note

Consist of photographs of students and student work, lecture notes, and exams. Reference files contain published reports and other printed matter, primarily relating to housing issues.
 

A. Photographs

 

B. Course Materials

 

C. Reference Files

Box 6

IV. Office Records , 1927-1962

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, clippings, and a Moïse drawing of a residence by Ernest Coxhead.
Boxes 6-8, Flat Files

V. Project Records , 1917-1964

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically within subseries.
Files contain specifications for war housing projects, university dormitory housing, alterations and additions to the UC Berkeley Architecture Building, and photographs of Colgate University (Rochester). A few residential projects are also documented in the files. Drawings primarily relate to residential projects in the Bay Area, but also includes some early, unidentified sketches. A scrapbook and a few drawings of East Coast work are also included.
 

A. Files

 

B. Photographs

 

C. Drawings

 

VI. Art , n.d., 1920s

Scope and Content Note

Consists of sketches, photographs of Durr Freedley prints, etchings, and books printed by Grabhorn Press.