Guide to the Hazel Wood Waterman Papers
MS 42
Finding aid prepared by Samantha Mills
San Diego History Center Document Collection
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA, 92101
619-232-6203
February 8, 2017
Title: Hazel Wood Waterman Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS 42
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.75 Linear feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1865-1945
Abstract: This collection contains materials on Hazel Wood Waterman’s architectural career and personal life in San Diego in the first
half of the twentieth century, as well as some family papers going back to the late nineteenth century.
creator:
Waterman, Hazel Wood
Biographical / Historical Notes
Hazel Wood Waterman was born May 5, 1865 in Tuskegee, Alabama. She arrived in California in the early 1880’s when her father,
Reverend Jesse Wood, migrated to Oroville. Hazel attended the University of California Berkley from 1882-1883, as an art student.
There she met her future husband, Waldo Sprague Waterman, son of California Governor Robert Waterman. Following her marriage
on April 11, 1889, Hazel moved with her husband to Cuyamaca where Waldo supervised his father’s mining operations at Stonewall
Mine and Hazel became a mother. In 1891, the couple moved to San Diego. They had three children: Robert Wood, Helen Gardner,
and Waldo Dean. Hazel’s husband, Waldo Sprague, died on February 24, 1903. Following his death, Hazel enrolled in correspondence
courses, studying architectural drafting which marked the beginning of her famed career as an architect.
Around 1905, Hazel began working with the firm of Hebbard and Gill. Irving Gill, who had designed the Watermans’ home when
they first arrived in San Diego, began mentoring and training Hazel, allowing her to design the Alice Lee home. In 1906, Hazel
left Hebbard and Gill to start her own practice, although she maintained close ties to Gill. Hazel designed a number of homes
and gardens in the San Diego area, but is most famed for the restoration of Casa de Estudillo in Old Town, also known as Ramona’s
Marriage Place. A few other notable career achievements are the Children’s Home and the Wangenheim garden. Waterman continued
her architectural practice through 1929, when her work appears to have stopped. She died in Berkeley, California on January
22, 1946.
Scope and Content
This collection contains materials on Hazel Wood Waterman’s architectural career and personal life in San Diego in the first
half of the twentieth century, as well as some family papers going back to the late nineteenth century. Architectural materials
include notes, drawings, articles written by her, photographs, and correspondence. In particular, there are materials specific
to her work on the San Diego Children’s Home and the renovation of the Estudillo House. Her personal papers and family papers
include marriage and education records, autobiographical notebooks, correspondence, military certificates of her husband Waldo,
and histories of the Wood and Waterman families.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in two series:
Series I: Architectural Career;
Series II: Personal and Family Papers.
Preferred Citation
Hazel Wood Waterman Papers, MS 42, San Diego History Center Document Archives, San Diego, CA.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Comments:
All photographs in collection are copies. Originals are located in photo department.
Separated Materials
All photos were transferred to the photo department on 8/24/2005.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession #681029B.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Lindsay Banuelos in January 2007 and Samantha Mills in 2017.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American Architectural Foundation.
American Institute of Architects.
San Diego Children's Home Association.
Waterman Family
Waterman, Waldo S.
Wednesday Club of San Diego .
Wood Family
Architecture -- California -- San Diego
Women architects
Series I:
Architectural Career
Box-folder 1:1
Articles,
1902-1941
Includes:
Articles written by Waterman and correspondence pertaining to her articles. Publications include The House Beautiful, The
Federation, Sunset magazine, House and Garden magazine, The American Home, The Western Architect, and The Lost Angeles Times,
as well the California Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Box-folder 1:2
Correspondence,
1913-1914
Includes:
Letters to or about Waterman, from Evelyn N. Lawson (president of Children’s Home), Caroline N. Darling, Anna L. Marston (regarding
Wednesday Club), William Clayton, and the California State Board of Architecture.
Box-folder 1:3
Clients,
1906-1929 and undated
Includes:
Handwritten lists of Waterman’s clients and projects, and letters from clients including A.A. Ackerman, Walton J. Wood, William
Clayton, Alice C. Pratt, Charles F. Lummis, and Julius Wangenheim.
Box-folder 1:4
Newspaper clippings,
1907-1945
Box-folder 1:6
Loose notes and drawings,
undated
Box-folder 1:7
Photographs (copies),
1907-1929
Includes:
Cottage for Mrs. George Baoney (1907), alterations for Dr. and Mrs. H.G. Leisediring (no date), Clayton residence (1907),
Miss Freeze residence (1908), Captain A.A. Ackerman residence (1912), Wednesday Club (1909), Mrs. Church cottage (1915), Judge
Walter J. Weed residence (1928-1929), Julius Wangenheim garden (1917).
Box-folder 1:8
Children’s Home,
1912-1927 and undated
Includes:
Correspondence, notes, manuscripts by Matilda Hunt, an artist’s rendering, and photographs (copies).
Box-folder 1:9
Estudillo House: Historical Background,
1909 and undated
Includes:
Notes, correspondence, and a history booklet.
Box-folder 1:10
Estudillo House: Specifications and Notes,
1908-1909 and undated
Box-folder 1:11
Estudillo House: Articles and Plaques,
1910-1911 and undated
Box-folder 1:12
Estudillo House: Photographs and Clippings (copies),
1909-1910
Box-folder 1:13
Miscellanea,
1933-1988
Includes:
An award from the San Diego chapter of the American Institute of Architects and a booklet from “That Exceptional One: Women
in American Architecture 1888-1988” exhibition produced by the American Architectural Foundation.
Series II:
Personal and Family Papers
Box-folder 2:1
Correspondence,
1883-1906 and undated
Includes:
Letters between Hazel, Waldo, Frank A. Peachy, Ernest E. Wood, Aunt Charlotte, and Hazel’s mother and children.
Box-folder 2:2
Correspondence (copies),
1891-1931
Box-folder 2:3
Notebooks,
1865-1937
Includes:
Four spiral-bound notebooks and transcription consolidated from three smaller books. Entries are autobiographical.
Box-folder 2:4
Marriage Papers and Passport,
1889-1926
Box-folder 2:5
Education: Hazel and Waldo S. Waterman,
1885-1944 and undated
Includes:
Dance card, Berkeley Women’s City Club yearbook, Berkeley program, and Waldo’s graduating class ribbon. Grammar School diploma
of Mrs. Waldo S. Waterman (1902), University of California diploma of Waldo S. Waterman (1886), and University of California
certificate of Helen Gardner Waterman (undated) in Oversize Collections D9.
Box-folder OS:D9
Military Service: Waldo S. Waterman,
1886-1898
Scope and Contents note
Contents of entire file in Oversize Collections D9: Company G. San Diego Minute Men Certificate (1898), commission as first
lieutenant in Battalion of University Cadets (1886), and commission as captain in San Diego regiment of Minute Men (1898).
Box-folder 2:6
Wood Family Genealogy,
1730-1987
Box-folder 2:7
Waterman Family Genealogy and Cemetery Plots,
1592-1977
Box-folder 2:8
Photographs (copies),
1870-1954
Box-folder 2:9
Newspaper Articles and Obituaries,
1883-1976
