CalPoly

Julia Morgan–Sara Holmes Boutelle Collection, MS 027

Pages: Collection Summary | Biographical Note | Scope and Content

Scope and Content Note

The Julia Morgan-Sara Holmes Boutelle Collection contains architectural drawings and plans, office records, photographs, correspondence, project files, student work, personal papers, and artifacts belonging to Julia Morgan, which were collected by her biographer, Sara Holmes Boutelle, over a 27-year period.

There are 5.75 linear feet of original Morgan documents, including Morgan's holographic journal of her travels in Europe in 1938; correspondence with painter, muralist, and landscape designer Bruce Porter (1865–1953); rare vintage prints of Morgan residential commissions under construction. In addition, there are more than 100 original architectural drawings, which were given to Boutelle in the course of her research by Morgan's friends and staff members. Documentary evidence of Morgan buildings under construction are contained in the collection.

The Morgan-Boutelle Collection is divided into five series:

1. Personal Papers, including family correspondence and photographs; newspaper clippings, student work, Morgan's address book, and ephemera from the Beaux-Arts years; and a travel diary from 1938;
2. Professional Papers, including reference files and photographs;
3. Office Records, including Morgan's holographic lists of her clients by year, correspondence and photographs of clients and colleagues and staff, and contemporaneous published works on Morgan commissions;
4. Project Records, including project files, photographs, and drawings for Morgan commissions throughout California, including Morgan's masterworks at Asilomar, San Simeon, and Wyntoon; and
5. Art and Artifacts, including Morgan-designed vintage food service china for the Berkeley Women's City Club and architectural elements.

All cities listed on folder headings are located in California, unless noted otherwise.

Pages: Collection Summary | Biographical Note | Scope and Content