The Rowland Henry Crawford papers span 56.5 linear feet and date from circa 1928 to circa 1973. The collection consists of architectural drawings and reprographic copies, correspondence, Crawford’s 1961 daily calendar, three-ring binders devoted to particular projects, newspaper clippings, and Crawford’s project files organized by client’s last name/project name. There are a considerable number of architectural drawings, reprographic copies, and correspondence concerning the Times Mirror Building as well as Crawford’s projects dealing with the remodeling or building of high schools and elementary schools in the Los Angeles area.

Architect and artist Rowland Henry Crawford was born October 28, 1902 in Blythe, South Dakota. He was a member of the first architecture class at University of Southern California. After architecture school, Crawford attended the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, and subsequently won a two-year scholarship to study painting at the Academy of Rome. Once Crawford’s two year painting scholarship was over, he began to work for Gordon B. Kaufmann’s firm in Los Angeles where he served as the chief architect for the Times Mirror Building and the Santa Anita Race Track. Later in his career, Crawford started his own firm. At this time his work primarily focused on civic and commercial buildings, although he did design some residences. Some of the more prominent buildings include the Times Boys Club, Chatsworth and Crenshaw high school, and the remodeling of the Brown Derby. Crawford was in charge of the master planning for the Beverly Hills Board of Education, he served more than ten years as the chairman of the Bel-air Architectural Supervisory Committee, and on the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Construction Industries Committee. He also founded and was the first president of the University of Southern California’s Architectural Guild. Rowland Henry Crawford died in 1973, at the age of 71.

56.5 Linear feet (30 record storage boxes, 5 Flat File Drawers, 11 boxes of rolls)

Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.