Collection Guide
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San José State University Architectural Drawings Collection
MSS.2012.05.07
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: San José State University Architectural Drawings Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2012.05.07
Physical Description:
25.0 folders
Date (inclusive): 1939-1998
Abstract: The San José State University Architectural Drawings Collection consists primarily of drawings and renderings that document
the contruction 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.
The collection is open for research.
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.
San Jose State University Architectural Drawings Collection, MSS-2012-05-07, San José State University Library Special Collections
& Archives.
Processed by Sonia Miller, finding aid created in the Archivst Toolkit. Reviewed by Danelle Moon. Accruals added by Dana V.
Lema in 2017.
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Blueprints
Library buildings -- California -- San Jose -- Design and construction.
Architectural rendering
Blueprints series
San Jose State Normal School -- History
San José State University -- Library -- History
San José State University -- Library
San Jose -- History San José State University -- History
San Jose State Normal School
Architecture -- California -- San Jose -- Inventories
San José State University -- Library