Winfield Scott Wellington, 1931-1968
Processed by the Archives Staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Archives Staff and the Electronic Text Unit Staff
Environmental Design Archives
© 2000
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/
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
Winfield Scott Wellington, 1931-1968
Collection Number: 19XX-15
Environmental Design ArchivesUniversity of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
- 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.
Collection Title: Winfield Scott Wellington,
Date (inclusive): 1931-1968
Collection Number: 19XX-15
Creator:
Wellington, Winfield Scott, 1897-1979
Extent: 1 flat box, 1 flat file drawer
Repository:
Environmental Design Archives.
University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California.
Abstract: This collection documents the design and architectural work of Winfield Scott Wellington.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the
Curator.
[Identification of item], Winfield Scott Wellington, (19XX-15), Environmental Design Archives. University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California.
Provenance of collection unknown.
Architects--California.
Architecture--California.
Winfield Scott Wellington (1897-1979)
Winfield Scott Wellington was born in Houston, Texas in 1897. Wellington's architectural designs were primarily residential
sites built throughout the Bay Area, though he also designed the Kinteel Trading Post at Window Rock, Arizona. He became
Professor of Design at UC Berkeley in 1937. During his career Wellington participated in many design exhibitions, hosted
by UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and various San Francisco museums. Wellington retired in 1965 to a house he had designed
for himself, at which he led sessions for students and Alumni dedicated to understanding the nature of beautifully designed
objects.
Wellington received his primary and secondary education in New Orleans, Louisiana. He completed his first two years of undergraduate
education at Tulane University, then attended the Georgia School of Technology for one year. In 1918 Wellington began to
study architecture at UC Berkeley; he received a Master of Arts degree in 1922, and a Graduate in Architecture degree in 1923.
His graduate thesis reflected Wellington's belief in the importance of self-expression through design, and his love of objects
in the personal environment.
At the start of his professional career in the early 1920s, Wellington worked for John Galen Howard, Warren C. Perry, and
Ashley & Evers in San Francisco. In 1928 Wellington became the firm designer at the architecture office of Eldridge T. Spencer.
Two years later, Wellington began his own practice, which essentially focused on residential structures. In 1938 the Northern
California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects selected Wellington's designs for an exhibit held at the San Francisco
Museum of Art. The Architectural League of New York also honored Wellington in 1941, during their touring exhibition of Northern
California architecture.
Wellington commenced his exhibition design work in 1939, at the request of UC Berkeley's renowned anthropology professor,
Dr. Alfred Kroeber. After his initial success at aiding in the preparation of native artifacts in the Andean Room of the
Federal Pavillion of the Golden Gate International Exhibition, Wellington's display designs frequented many universities and
public galleries. Moreover, Wellington exemplified his skills as an architect and craftsman in various Elizabethan, Spanish,
and French Louis XV and XVI period room museum installations. He served as chairman of the Art Gallery of UC Berkeley's Department
of Decorative Art from 1946-1962. Despite his limiting budget constraints Wellington used this position to transform the Gallery's
crude interior into a site of rich cultural experience with modern innovations.
In 1948, Wellington began teaching at UC Berkeley's Department of Decorative Art, precursor to the Department of Design, College
of Environmental Design. In his classes he encouraged students to scrutinize and handle objects from his large personal collection.
After Wellington retired in 1965, friends and former students often gathered at his home to discuss the arts.
Sources:
"University of California: In Memoriam," 1979.
"University of California: In Memoriam," 1979.
Wellington, Winfield Scott. "A Center of Recreation: A Thesis in Partial Satisfaction for the Degree of Graduate in Architecture."
University of California, Berkeley: Department of Design. May 1, 1923.
The Winfield Scott Wellington collection consists of project photographs and drawings. Though these images primarily document
residential designs, drawings relating to Wellington's decorative arts courses at UC Berkeley and exhibition designs for the
M.H. De Young Memorial Museum are also included.