Finding Aid for the Patricia and David Gebhard research papers, circa 1950-2005
0000312
Finding aid prepared by J. Gibbs and Chris Marino
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Arts Building Room 1434
University of California
Santa Barbara, California, 93106-7130
805-893-2724
adc@museum.ucsb.edu
2012
Title: Patricia and David Gebhard research papers
Identifier/Call Number: 0000312
Contributing Institution:
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
40.0 Linear feet
(29 boxes and 4 decorative objects)
Date (inclusive): circa 1950-2005
creator:
Gebhard, David, 1927-1996
creator:
Gebhard, Patricia
Access
Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.
Custodial History note
Gift of the Patricia Gebhard estate, 2011.
Preferred Citation note
Patricia and David Gebhard research papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University
of California, Santa Barbara.
Biographical/Historical note
Patricia Gebhard was born in Minneapolis Minnesota in 1926. She attended Oberline College, Mills College and the University
of Minnesota earning degrees in Art History and Library Science. She began working for IBM after finishing school. She married
David Gebhard, an architectural historian. The two moved to Roswell, New Mexico where David Gebhard was the director of the
Roswell Museum & Art Center, until 1961. In 1960, the Gebhard’s moved to Berkeley, California before relocating to Santa Barbara,
California a year later. Patricia and David Gebhard both found employment at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Patricia Gebhard worked as an art and then reference librarian and David was the founder and first curator of the Architecture
and Design Collection. The two were avid researchers and writers. David Gebhard died in 1996 and Patricia Gebhard died in
2011.
Scope and Content note
The Patricia and David Gebhard research papers contain research, art works, and decorative objects. The research papers include
notes and manuscripts, printed materials, photographs and slides related to David and Patricia Gebhard's research projects,
including David Gebhard's research on Purcell and Elmslie, collected materials on Prairie School architecture, and the architecture
and history of Santa Barbara and California. Patricia and David Gebhard each collected materials on the Santa Barbara architect,
George Washington Smith. Also included are papers and photographs relating to research that the Gebhards conducted on Turkish
vernacular architecture, but never published. Art works include works on paper given to and collected by the Gebhards, as
well as posters and a few photographs. One box contains household decorative objects, such as cups produced by Swid Powell.
Four decorative objects in the collection relate to the work on Purcell and Elmslie.
Separated Materials note
Photographs from the George Washington Smith Papers have been moved back to the George Washington Smith papers (collection
number 176). A scrapbook and grangerised garden book, both from Lutah Maria Riggs, have been moved to the Lutah Maria Riggs
papers (collection number 169). Books which were present in the collection have been transferred both to the Architecture
and Design Collection’s in-house library and to the University of California, Santa Barbara Arts Library.
Related Archival Materials note
David Gebhard papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa
Barbara.
George Washington Smith papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gebhard, David, 1927-1996
Gebhard, David, 1927-1996
Gebhard, Patricia
Smith, George Washington, 1876-1930, American Architect
Research
1950-2005
Physical Description:
28.0 Linear feet
(28 boxes)
Scope and Contents note
Research materials for books, articles, and unrealized projects include manuscripts, correspondence, clippings, publications,
photographs and slides. Topics relate to architecture and design and include Purcell and Elmslie, George Washington Smith,
Santa Barbara and California architecture as well as other subjects. Four boxes contain notes and photographs related to Turkish
vernacular architecture, a subject David and Patricia Gebhard worked on together but never published.
Box 1-5, 14
Purcell and Elmslie architects and Prairie architecture
Scope and Contents note
Printed materials, notes, various manuscripts of David Gebhard's book on Purcell and Elmslie, photographs, slides, and publications.
Box 9, 11-12
Santa Barbara architecture
Box 14-20
Various research topics, and unsorted
Box 21-24
Turkish vernacular architecture
Box 25
Islamic architecture, notecards
Box 26-27
Slides
Scope and Contents note
Slides relate to various topics, many are of California buildings.
Art works and decorative objects
Physical Description:
(4 objects)
Box 28
Art works and posters
Scope and Contents note
Art works given to Patricia and David Gebhard, posters, a few photographs, and a pencil portrait of George Washington Smith,
as well as a sketch, in the style of Lutah Maria Riggs, of a building copied from a published photograph.
Box 29
Decorative household objects
Artifact 30-33
Purcell and Elmslie decorative designs
Scope and Contents note
Decorative designs of or copied from Purcell and Elmslie, include two pieces of redwood with stenciled designs and a placque
of color tiles in plaster and wood.
