Scope and Content Note
The papers of Nathaniel Alexander Owings (1903-1984) span the years 1911 to 1983, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1960-1980. The papers pertain to Owings's business, public, and personal affairs, documenting his career as a founding partner of the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (1936-1983); as chairman of several public commissions responsible for the redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.; as a member of various commissions relating to conservation, preservation, and redevelopment in California; and as an author whose articles and books reflect his concern with both the aesthetic and practical applications of architecture in contemporary life. The collection includes correspondence, memoranda, journals, drafts of speeches and writings, notes, charts, graphs, diagrams, drawings, poetry, clippings, photographs, printed matter, and other material. The collection is organized in seven series: Correspondence , Office File , Subject File , Speeches and Writings File , Miscellany , Addition , and Oversize .
The Correspondence series, 1939-1977, contains Owings's incoming and outgoing correspondence and appended material reflecting his interests as architect, businessman, conservationist, and civic-minded citizen Although the series contains business papers pertaining to his role as a partner in the firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, the major portion consists of personal correspondence relating to his many other activities and interests. Correspondents include Ansel Adams, Stephen Davison Bechtel, Jerry Brown, Wolf von Eckardt, Arthur J. Goldberg, Lady Bird Johnson, Robert Moses, Daniel P. Moynihan, Elwood R. Quesada, David Rockefeller, Nicholas Roosevelt, Wallace Stegner, and Stewart L. Udall.
The Office File , 1954-1969, consists mostly of correspondence and memoranda relating to business concerns in the offices of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. The reading file consists of copies of Owings's outgoing letters and memoranda arranged chronologically. Records included in the corporate memoranda and general office files provide detailed documentation of the firm's internal operations. The former includes memoranda exchanged between secretaries and executives at the San Francisco home office with their counterparts in field offices, as well as memoranda circulated within the San Francisco office.
The Subject File , 1934-1977, documents many facets of Owings's business and personal life. The file contains information relating to his work on various committees and commissions including the California Advisory Committee on a Master Plan for State Scenic Highways, the Monterey Coast Master Plan, and various organizations relating to the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Owings was appointed chairman of the President's Advisory Council on Pennsylvania Avenue by John F. Kennedy and later occupied the same position of its successor organization, the President's Temporary Commission on Pennsylvania Avenue. These organizations were charged, through remodeling and development, to redefine the area of Pennsylvania Avenue that connects the White House with the Capitol and, by so doing, bring it more in accord with the design of the original city plan by Pierre Charles L'Enfant.
The Speeches and Writings File , 1944-1977, reflects Owings's interest in numerous architectural and urban planning topics. The series contains early speeches and writings relating to specific architectural problems, later works concerning broader topics such as urban planning and architectural theory, and drafts, production materials, and correspondence relating to his two books The American Aesthetic (1969) and The Spaces in Between: An Architect's Journey (1973).
The Miscellany , 1911-1976, series contains a wide variety of material, such as appointment calendars, bills and receipts, postcards, and scrapbooks. Scrapbooks contain correspondence, clippings, and photographs.
The Addition consists of correspondence received and sent, biographical material, speeches and writings, legal and financial papers, minutes and reports, photographs, printed matter, and other material. Correspondence in the Addition is chiefly personal and contains a large segment relating to Owings's winning the American Institute of Architects' Gold Medal in 1983. Other topics of interest include the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, including Owings's letter of resignation to President Ronald Reagan, and his extensive collection of kachina dolls made by Hopi Indians. A miscellany file contains a copy of Owings's speech at the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal dinner in 1983. Also of interest are writings and other material relating to the Hopi Indians and a draft of an article, "Back to Earth," by Daniel P. Moynihan.