Welton Becket papers, circa 1929-circa 1969

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Summary

Creators:
Becket, Welton David, 1902-1969
Extent:
27.0 Linear feet (24 record storage boxes and 1 flat file)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Welton Becket papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The Welton Becket papers span 27 linear feet and date circa 1929 to circa 1999. The collection contains slides, both black-and-white and color photographs, reports, correspondence, as well as architectural reprographic copies of the Computer Sciences Corporation Aerospace Center Offices in El Segundo California dated 1962. The collection also contains photographs, project files, and slides from both the Welton Becket and Associates firm (circa 1969-1987), the Ellerbe Associates (circa 1909-1987), and the merged firm of Ellerbe Becket (circa 1987- circa 1999).

Biographical / historical:

Welton Becket was born on September 8, 1902 in Washington State. He studied architecture at the University of Washington from 1923-1927 and at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, France during 1928. After school Becket returned to Seattle and started an architectural firm with his former classmate Walter Wurdeman. In 1933, Wurdeman and Becket moved to Los Angeles and added Charles Plummer to their team and became Becket, Wurdeman and Plummer. In 1939 Charles Plummer died and Wurdeman and Becket continued the firm until 1940. From 1940 on, Welton Becket formed his own architectural firm Welton Becket and Associates and opened offices in San Francisco, New York and Houston. In 1987 Welton Becket and Associates merged with the architectural firm Ellerbe & Co. and became Ellerbe Becket. Over the course of Becket’s career he designed many corporate and civic landmarks in Los Angeles and around the world. His more notable projects include: the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, the Cinerama Dome, Capitol Records, Los Angeles Sports Arena, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Los Angeles International Airport’s theme building on which he collaborated on with Charles Luckman and William Pereira. Welton Becket died at the age of 66, on January 16, 1969.

Custodial history:

Gift of the firm Ellerbe Becket, 2001. Additional materials gifted by Vincent B. Buerge, 2001.

Physical location:
Boxes 1-20/ADC - regular boxes 22 and 23 are unaccounted for - incomplete extent Boxes 24-26/ADC - regular 1 Flat File Folder/ADC - flat files misc.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.

Preferred citation:

Welton Becket papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-7130, US
Contact:
(805) 893-2724
adc@museum.ucsb.edu
Website