Howard (John G.) Pictorial Collection, 1885-1920

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Summary

Title:
John Galen Howard Pictorial Collection
Dates:
1885-1920
Creators:
Howard, John Galen, 1864-1931
Abstract:
The John Galen Howard Pictorial Collection contains personal papers, including photographs and sketches of Howard and his wife, Mary Robertson Bradbury; and project records, including photographs from various commercial, religious, educational, and residential projects in California, Washington, New York and Massachusetts.
Extent:
circa 235 photographic prints, circa 65 drawings, 10 negatives and 1 Sketchbook.
Language:
Collection materials are in English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Galen Howard Pictorial Collection, BANC PIC 1967.016-1967.018, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

The John Galen Howard Pictorial Collection was transferred from the John Galen Howard Papers of the Bancroft Manuscript collection (BANC MSS 67/35 c). The collection contains two series. The Personal Papers include personal photographs and sketches of Howard and his wife, Mary Robertson Bradbury. The Project Records contain photographs from various commercial, religious, educational, and residential projects in California, Washington, New York and Massachusetts, including buildings for Mason McDuffie, the Continental Building, the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, and the Majestic Theater. The project records also include an album of project photographs.

Biographical / historical:

John Galen Howard was born May 8, 1864 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. He began his architectural education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the nation's only architectural program at the time, although he left in 1885 before completing his degree. He apprenticed himself to Henry Hobson Richardson in Brookline, Massachusetts, gaining a practical knowledge of drafting. After Richardson's death he left the firm and went to Los Angeles where he worked with the firms Caulkin & Hass, and James M. Wood. Unhappy with the prospects in Los Angeles after a year, Howard left to tour Europe in 1888. Returning to the United States, he went to work for McKim, Mead & White, first in Boston then in New York. Encouraged by the partners of the firm, who offered financial assistance, Howard left for Paris to attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1890 to 1893. Although he left shortly before completing the training, he brought the tradition and style of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts back to the United States.

In 1893 Howard married Mary Robertson Bradbury, starting a family of five including Henry Temple (1894), Robert Boardman (1896), Charles Houghton (1899), John Langley (1902), and Jeanette (1905). Howard opened a private practice in 1895 with Samuel Cauldwell in New York. The partners built residential and commercial buildings in New York and New Jersey. In 1898, Howard & Cauldwell entered the Phoebe Hearst International Competition for the plan for the University of California in Berkeley. Emile Bénard won the competition, however, he did not wish to leave Paris for Berkeley. Howard, whose entry with Cauldwell came in fourth place, was appointed to the Advisory Board of Architects for the Perpetuation of the Phoebe Hearst Architectural Plan for the University of California. Phoebe Hearst hired Howard to design the Hearst Mining Building, sending him on a tour of Europe in 1900 to study University buildings, particularly those relating to mining. Because Bénard proved too difficult for the Regents to work with, President Wheeler, a strong supporter of Howard's talents, offered Howard the position of Supervising Architect of the University in 1901. The Howards moved to California in 1902. In 1903, the University of California provided funding for a department of architecture. Howard was appointed professor at the new school, and settled into life in the Bay Area.

Because of Howard's work on the University, he soon had a growing private practice. In 1906 he opened an office in San Francisco in partnership with engineer John Debo Galloway. He was also an advisory member of the Reconstruction Committee of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Away from his work at the University, Howard was the supervising architect for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle. Howard was also involved with the Panama-Pacific Exhibition of 1915 in San Francisco. He was a member of the Exposition advisory committee as well as a member of the board that supervised the plan for the San Francisco Civic Center. He also designed the San Francisco Civic Auditorium for the Exposition. Howard also designed a variety of residential and commercial buildings in Berkeley and San Francisco.

In 1913 Howard was appointed Director of the School of Architecture at the University. In his capacity as Supervising Architect for the University, Howard completed the Hearst Memorial Mining Building, the Greek Theater, Boalt Hall, California Hall, Agriculture Hall, the University Library, the Sather Tower (known as the Campanile), Sather Gate, Wheeler Hall, Hilgard Hall, Gilman Hall, Hesse Hall, Le Conte Hall and Haviland Hall, thoroughly adapting the Phoebe Hearst Architectural plan to display his preferred designs.

In 1917, Howard took a sabbatical to live and write poetry in Carmel, California. In 1918, he went on "war leave" to Europe. There he helped establish the American Expeditionary Forces University, which was intended to educate soldiers as they awaited transport home. Returning in 1919, he found the University reluctant to spend money and saw his authority as Supervising Architect start to deteriorate. Howard was officially dismissed by the Regents of the University in 1924, and in 1926 resigned as Director of the School of Architecture. He and his wife, Mary Robertson Bradbury, moved to San Francisco, residing on Russian Hill, where Howard continued to write and publish his own poetry. He died suddenly from a heart attack in 1931.

Sources:
  • Partridge, Loren,John Galen Howard and the Berkeley Campus: Beaux-Arts Architecture in the "Athens of the West,"Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association,1978.
  • Moss, Stacey,The Howards: First Family of Bay Area Modernism,The Oakland Museum,Oakland, CA1988.
Processing information:

Processed by Elizabeth Konzak and completed in October 2000.

Physical location:
Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Elizabeth Konzak
Sponsor:
Funding for revision of arrangement and description of this collection was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Date Prepared:
© 2001
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word, MS Excel and MS Access; finding aid encoded by Michael C. Conkin. Date of source: October 2000.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94270-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.

Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Galen Howard Pictorial Collection, BANC PIC 1967.016-1967.018, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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