San José State University Architectural Drawings Collection, 1939-1998

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Summary

Abstract:
The San José State University Architectural Drawings Collection consists primarily of drawings and renderings that document the construction of different library buildings on the San Jose State College campus, including the Central Library Building, Wahlquist Library, the California State Library Faculty Office Building, and the joint King Library.
Extent:
25.0 folders
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

San Jose State University Architectural Drawings Collection, MSS-2012-05-07, San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The San José State University Architectural Drawings Collection documents the contruction of several buildings on the San Jose State College campus, including: San Jose College Central Library Building, Wahlquist Library, and the California State Library Faculty Office Building. In addition to library buildings, a plan for the San Jose State College Dormitories, and the plat plan, a master plan, for the San Jose State Normal School are represented. The drawings represent the various stages of building design development, ranging from schematic design and visualization (renderings and orthographic representations), to full sets of construction drawings (blueprints). The format is the typical architectural page spread layout and range in size from 22x36 to larger formats.

Biographical / historical:

In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers in the city. Named after its principal, George W. Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes, Minns' Normal School is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor's and master's degrees with 110 concentrations, and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.

Processing information:

Processed by Sonia Miller, finding aid created in the Archivst Toolkit. Reviewed by Danelle Moon. Accruals added by Dana V. Lema in 2017. Accruals added by Rea Sandhu in June 2025.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged chronologically into the six series: Series I: Wahlquist Library and San Jose College Library, 1939 and 1955; Series II: Central Library Building, 1960 and 1964; Series III: Central Library Building, Library Faculty Office Building, Library North, Library SJSU, 1971 and 1978; Series IV: San Jose State University, 1979 and 1998; Series V: Other Buildings, 1939, n.d., 1998.

Accruals:

The collection is open for research.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Terms of access:

Copyright has been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the SJSU Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions also apply to digital reproductions of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred citation:

San Jose State University Architectural Drawings Collection, MSS-2012-05-07, San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives.

Location of this collection:
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0028, US
Contact:
408-808-2062
special.collections@sjsu.edu
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