Irving F. and Gertrude Comfort Morrow Collection, 1914-1958

Processed by the Archives Staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Archives Staff and the Electronic Text Unit Staff

Environmental Design Archives

College of Environmental Design

230 Wurster Hall #1820

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California, 94720-1820

Phone: (510) 642-5124

Fax: (510) 642-2824

Email: archives@socrates.berkeley.edu

http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/

Note

Arts and Humanities--Architecture History--California History--Bay Area History History--California History Geographical (By Place)--California Geographical (By Place)--California--Bay Area Area, Interdisciplinary, and Ethnic Studies--Women's Studies

Irving F. and Gertrude Comfort Morrow Collection, 1914-1958

Collection Number: 1992-1

Environmental Design Archives

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

Environmental Design Archives
College of Environmental Design
230 Wurster Hall #1820
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-1820
Phone: (510) 642-5124
Fax: (510) 642-2824
Email: archives@socrates.berkeley.edu
URL: http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/

Processed by:: Archives Staff
Date Completed:: June 1999
Encoded by:: Archives Staff
Funding:: Arrangement and description of this collection was funded by a grant from the Getty Foundation.

Descriptive Summary

Collection Title: Irving F. and Gertrude Comfort Morrow Collection,

Date (inclusive): 1914-1958

Collection Number: 1992-1

Creators: Morrow, Irving F., 1884-1952 Morrow, Gertrude Comfort, ca. 1892-1987 Garren, William I. Morrow & Morrow Morrow & Garren

Extent: 6 boxes, 2 flat boxes, 2 flat file drawers, 10 tubes

Repository: Environmental Design Archives.

University of California, Berkeley.

Berkeley, California.

Abstract: The collection primarily documents the professional activities and architectural projects of Gertrude Comfort Morrow and Irving F. Morrow, including projects created by the firms of Morrow & Garren and Morrow & Morrow.

Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the Curator.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Irving F. and Gertrude Comfort Morrow Collection, (1992-1), Environmental Design Archives. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California.

Acq Information

The Morrow collection was donated in 1992.

Access Points

Architects--California.

Architecture--California.

Architectural firms--California.

Women architects.

Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, Calif.)

St. Francis Wood, San Francisco.

Commonwealth Club of California.

Historic American Buildings Survey.

Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940: San Francisco, Calif.)

Biography

Irving F. Morrow (1884-1952)

Irving F. Morrow was born in Oakland, California in 1884. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1906, and attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1908 to 1911.

Morrow began his practice in San Francisco and Oakland in 1916, designing schools, houses, banks, theaters, hotels, and commercial buildings. Highlights of his career include working on the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915, consulting on the architecture of the Golden Gate Bridge from 1932 to 1937 (he chose its orange color), and participating in the San Francisco Golden Gate International Exposition from 1939 to 1940. He also designed the rectory and guest house of the San Juan Bautista Mission. During his career, Morrow worked for William Hays, John Galen Howard, and other Bay Area architects. He practiced with partner William I. Garren from 1916 to 1925. From 1925 until 1952, he was a partner in Morrow and Morrow with his wife Gertrude. (They married in 1920.)

Irving Morrow was a member of the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects. He was the editor of Pacific Coast Architecture, San Francisco, from 1916-1919 and 1921-925, and contributed to the Architectural Record and various other periodicals. From 1930-1941 he was the chairman on the Section on Architecture of the Commonwealth Club of California. Morrow also served as the Director of the American Historical Building Survey (HABS) for California north of San Luis Obispo.

Gertrude Comfort Morrow (ca. 1892-1987)

A California native, Gertrude Comfort Morrow was born in San Francisco and attended Alameda High School. She received her bachelor's degree in architecture from UC Berkeley in 1913, and her master's degree a year later. As a student, she designed the Gamma Phi Beta sorority's coat of arms in 1912. She worked on her own before joining the firm of her husband, Irving F. Morrow. Gertrude practiced architecture with Irving from 1924-1940, in San Francisco and later in Berkeley. She was the supervising architect for St. Francis Woods, a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, during World War I (under her maiden name, Gertrude E. Comfort). Other independent projects include the Women's Athletic Club in Oakland and the music building at the Monrovian Seminary and College for Women in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Together, Gertrude and Irving Morrow designed the Alameda-Contra Costa County Building for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition at Treasure Island. Gertrude retired from architecture in 1952, when Irving died. She then became an award-winning ballroom dancer and a landscape watercolorist, and died in Tucson at the age of 95.

Scope and Contents Note

The Morrow collection primarily documents the professional activities and architectural projects of Gertrude Comfort Morrow and Irving F. Morrow, including projects created by the firms of Morrow & Garren and Morrow & Morrow. The collection is organized into four series. Series I, Professional Papers, consists of resumes, awards, student works and clippings relating to both Irving and Gertrude Morrow. It also contains records related to Irving's involvement and membership in professional organizations such as the American Institute of Architects and the Commonwealth Club of California. Series II, Project Records, is Arranged according to creator and chronology. It consists of photographs, correspondence, and drawings from project by Irving F. Morrow, Morrow & Garren, Gertrude Morrow, and Morrow & Morrow. Series III consists of Irving Morrow's Historical American Buildings Survey (HABS) records, including certificates, photographs and catalogs. The bulk of the collection was donated to the archives in 1992, however, the final series contains one drawing that was donated separately, in 1959.

Related Collections

Title: Gustave Aaron Papers

Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 73/66 c

Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library

UC Berkeley

Berkeley, CA

Project Index

The following is a list of architectural projects from the Records of Irving F. Morrow. For more complete information about collection contents for each project, as well as shelf location and microfilming status, download the complete Project Index in an Excel spreadsheet format by going to http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/pindex/morrow.xls . For instructions on interpreting the Project Index, see The Guide to the Project Index at http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/pindex/guide.htm .

The Project Index list is arranged alphabetically by Project/Client Name and contains information, where available, about the location, date, project type, architect, collaborators, photographers, and formats for each project in the collection.

Project/Client Name (location, date, project type) Collaborator (role), Photographer [Format - Ms=Manuscripts, Dr=Drawings, Ph=Photographs]

Adamson, Florence ( Berkeley , CA ; 1939-1940 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Ms]
Allen, Harry B. ( Belvedere , CA ; 1932 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
American Legion Club House, Golden Gate Post ( San Francisco , CA ; n.d. ; recreational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren [Ms]
Bank of Bishop & Co. ( Honolulu , HI ; 1920 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow, Irving; Mullgardt, L.C. [Dr]
Berkeley Women's City Club ( Berkeley , CA ; n.d. ; recreational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Ms, Dr]
Bethlemhem Steel Co. & Alameda Shipyard, Alameda Repair Yard ( Alameda , CA ; 1943 ; industrial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Ms]
Brenner, Adolph ( Ross , CA ; 1939 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Butler ( San Leandro , CA ; 1939 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
California & Hawaiian Sugar Refing Corp. Ltd. ( Crocket , CA ; 1933 ; industrial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Carnation Creamery Building ( Oakland , CA ; 1946 ; industrial ) Collaborator: Stiehl, Claude Albon [Dr]
Clear Lake Union High School ( Lakeport , CA ; 1916 ; educational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren [Dr]
Clement Office Building ( San Francisco , CA ; 1923 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren [Dr]
Cowell, Olive & Henry ( San Francisco , CA ; 1933 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Ms, Dr]
Currier, Mrs. Farnsworth ( Berkeley , CA ; 1942 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow, Gertrude Comfort [Dr]
Davis, Robert P. ( Menlo Park , CA ; 1937 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Paul Elder & Company ( San Francisco , CA ; 1930 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Design - Flats Opposite Mission Dolores ( San Francisco , CA ; 1917 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren [Ms]
Fontainebleau Apartments ( San Francisco , CA ; 1923 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren [Ms]
Frost, Morris P. ( Berkeley , CA ; 1937 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Frost, Morris P. ( Berkeley , CA ; 1937 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Frost, Morris P.: Office ( Oakland , CA ; 1937 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Galerie Beaux-Arts ( San Francisco , CA ; 1929 ; cultural ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Ms]
Gamma Phi Beta House, alterations ( Berkeley , CA ; 1930 ; residential- multi ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Gelber, Leon ( San Francisco , CA ; 1937 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Getz, B, Geary Street Stores ( San Francisco , CA ; 1923 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren [Dr]
Golden Gate International Exposition: Alameda & Contra Costa Counties Building ( Treasure Island , CA ; 1937-40 ; recreational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow; Harry Shepherd , landscape [Ms, Dr]
Goddard, Malcoln ( Walnut Creek , CA ; 1914 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow, Irving [Ms]
Hebrew Free Loan Association ( San Francisco , CA ; 1932 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Ms]
Heckscher, Miss E.: St. Francis Wood ( San Francisco , CA ; 1919 ; residential ) Collaborator: Comfort, Gertrude [Ms]
Heppner, Maurice ( San Francisco , CA ; 1923 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren [Ms]
Design -House schemes ( , ; 1935 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Design -Houses A, B, & C ( , ; 1935 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Design - Houses A, B, C, & D ( Oakland , CA ; 1950 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
International Minerals & Chemical Corp. ( San Jose , CA ; 1945-9 ; industrial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow; Claude Albon Stiehl [Ms, Dr]
Jacobson, Mr. & Mrs. Ralph ( Burlingame , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Jewish People, Community Center for ( Oakland , CA ; 1923 ; recreational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Kimber, Mr.- Farm House ( Ampney Fields , CA ; 1926-8 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Dr]
Ladies Home Journal Competition ( , ; 1939 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow [Ms, Dr]
Lewis, Mr. Phillips Lewis (studio) ( Oakland , CA ; 1922 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Martin School ( Berkeley , CA ; 1952 ; educational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Mason, R.C. ( San Francisco , CA ; 1918 ; residential ) Collaborator: Comfort, Gertrude [Ms, Dr]
McCay, Mr. C.C., Flats for ( San Francisco , CA ; 1940 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
McCormack, Dr. Franklin ( Woodside , CA ; 1930 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Monument ( Harrodsburg , KY ; nd ; cultural ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow; Jacques Schnier, Sculpt. [Dr]
Murphy, Mr. W.P. ( Pebble Beach , CA ; 1939 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Nelle, Mr. H. Wm. ( Unidentified , ; 1919 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Oak Tree Inn ( San Mateo , CA ; n.d. ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Parish, Mr. T.T. ( Unidentified , ; 1938 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
PHA Dwelling Unit (Georgeson, Frank T., Associates) ( San Francisco , CA ; 1951 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Phillips ( Oakland , CA ; 1922 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren [Ms]
Powell, Mr. Wm. A. ( Claremont , CA ; 1919 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Powell, Mr. Wm. A., Addition for ( Claremont , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Rancho Paicines ( Unidentified , ; 1938-9 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Record Library, The ( San Francisco , CA ; 1938 ; educational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Rosseter, Mr. & Mrs. F.H. ( San Francisco , CA ; 1923 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Rowe, Dr. Albert ( Oakland , CA ; 1931 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
San Mateo Hotel ( San Mateo , CA ; 1927 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
San Mateo Theater ( San Mateo , CA ; 1924 ; recreational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Savana School ( LeGrand , CA ; 1929 ; educational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Shank, Floyd C. ( San Francisco , CA ; 1930 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
St. Francis Wood- House #1, Building #159 [See Wadleigh, William]
St. Francis Wood- House #2, Building #160 (25 Terrace Drive) ( San Francisco , CA ; 1921 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Toohig, Joseph D. ( San Mateo , CA ; 1935-6 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
U.S. Navy Operating Base ( San Francisco , CA ; 1944-6 ; governmental ) Collaborator: Morrow, Gertrude Comfort
Union High School, Study for ( Lakeport , CA ; n.d. ; educational ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Union Oil Company Service Station ( Unidentified , ; n.d. ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Vision Realty Co., Theater Building for ( San Francisco , CA ; n.d. ; cultural ) Collaborator: Morrow & Morrow
Wadleigh, William (St. Francis Wood - House #1, Building #159) ( San Francisco , CA ; 1921 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Wahrhaftig, Mr. (farm house) ( Unidentified , ; 1923 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
Ward, J. Walter Esq. ( Berkeley , CA ; 1915 ; residential ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
West Portal Avenue Stores #2 ( Unidentified , ; 1923 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren
West Portal Stores- ( Unidentified , ; 1923 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Morrow & Garren

Boxes 1, 6

I. Professional Papers , 1914-1943

Scope and Content Note

Consists of biographical, professional, and student records of both Irving and Gertrude Morrow. Includes minutes for the Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, meeting minutes from the Commonwealth Club of California, Sections on Architecture, Roads and Highways, and Forests, as well as selected journals (1932-1943).

Boxes 2-5, 7-8, Flat Files, Tubes

II. Project Records , 1914-1952

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Arranged by firm, chronologically within.

Includes photographs, textual records and drawings for residences, institutional and commercial projects. Projects represented include the Golden Gate Bridge, the Alameda-Contra Costa County Building for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, the Mission San Juan Bautista and accompanying Maryknoll Hospice, Cowell House, the Bethlehem-Alameda shipyard, and homes in St. Francis Woods.

A. Files

Scope and Content Note

Arranged as follows: Irving F. Morrow, 1914 Morrow & Garren, 1916-1925

Gertrude Morrow, 1918-1925

Morrow & Morrow, 1925-1952

B. Drawings

Boxes 5-6

III. Historical American Buildings Survey (HABS) , 1932-1941

Scope and Content Note

Contains historic building certificates, San Juan Bautista photographs and drawings, catalogs from 1938 and 1941, and file cards.

IV. Additional Donation , n.d.

Scope and Content Note

Consists of one drawing of a proposed laboratory in Pacific Grove, donated separately.