Scope and Contents note
The Smythe Papers consist primarily of drawings; 760 projects are included in the collection and are arranged chronologically by job number. It should be noted that in some cases, two different projects share the same job number. Photographs of several projects and of Smythe have been separated to the Photograph Collection. Job numbers on the backs of photos can be matched with those listed on the inventory for purposes of identification. Photographs include prints of Old Field houses; the Setauket school; interiors of the Tudor-style John Ward Shoes and Ye Peg Woffington Coffee House; and portraits of the architect.
Dates
- Creation: 1909-1965
Creator
- Smythe, Richard Haviland, 1889-1965 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use note
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical/Historical note
Architect Richard Haviland Smythe was born in 1889. He attended Brooklyn Latin School and Columbia University, from which he was granted a degree in architecture in 1909. Other education included an appointment at the American Academy in Rome.
Smythe practiced exclusively in New York City. His most significant achievement was the colonial design he employed in recreating and restoring the village of Stony Brook on Long Island, New York, for Ward Melville. Smyth also developed the modern storefront at typified by the Melville Shoe Corporation of Thom McAn shoe stores across the nation. Additionally he designed over one thousand private residences, ranging from simple cottages to mansions.
Richard Smythe died in 1965, having never married and leaving no heirs.
Extent
5.5 linear feet (58 containers ) : 3 containers, 55 oversize folders
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Richard Haviland Smythe (1889-1965) was an architect, active in the restoration and development of the Stony Brook, Long Island area, and noted for the creation of the modern storefront as typified by Melville Shoe Corporation's chain of Thom McAn shoe stores. The collection includes correspondence and specifications, school notebooks, published material about Richard H. Smythe, architectural plans, lettered projects and oversized projects.
Arrangement note
Collection is organized into the following series:
Series: Correspondence and Specifications
Series: School Notebooks
Series: Published Material about Richard H. Smythe
Series: Architectural Plans
Series: Lettered Projects
Series: Oversize Projects
Series: Photographs
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Gift of Richard Haviland Smythe.
Processing Information note
Collection processed by processing staff, November 1987.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- Title
- Guide to the Richard Haviland Smythe Papers
- Status
- Revise Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by processing staff
- Date
- 2006
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
