Leonard K. Eaton Papers

Collection

Identifier: M2111

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Collection contains correspondence, army related ephemera (ca.1945); copy of Eaton's memoir: Experiences of medical personnel in the field" (2000).

Dates

1945, 2000

Creator

Eaton, Leonard K.,1922- (Person)
Eaton, Leonard K., 1922- (Person)

Language of Materials

Material is in English unless otherwise noted.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The imply Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

Biographical / Historical

Leonard K. Eaton was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 3, 1922 and served as a faculty member of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan from 1950 to 1988. He graduated cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College in 1943.

Eaton enlisted in the Army August 29, 1942 at Williamstown, Massachusetts. He joined the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Hale, Colorado, where he served with the 86th Infantry Regiment. During combat in Italy, Eaton served as a medic with the 86th Medical Detachment assigned to Company G. He received the Bronze Star Medal for his actions near Torre Iussi April 14, 1945. After the war, he did graduate work in history under Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. at Harvard, receiving his doctorate in 1950. His dissertation, entitled New England Hospitals, 1790-1833, was published by the University of Michigan Press in 1957.

In 1950, Eaton joined the faculty of the University of Michigan as an instructor in architectural history, becoming a full professor in 1963. Shortly after his arrival in Ann Arbor, Eaton became involved in city zoning issues and proposals for city planning commissions.

Eaton became known as an authority on Frank Lloyd Wright and other figures of the Chicago school of architecture. He was involved with organizing Frank Lloyd Wright symposiums at the University of Michigan, promoting research on Wright architecture in Michigan, and writing reviews of books on Wright. In 1969, Eaton published his book entitled Two Chicago architects and their clients: Frank Lloyd Wright and Howard Van Doren. Eaton also wrote a book on the history of the Palmer House in Ann Arbor, which was never published.

Other books published by Eaton include: American architecture comes of age: European reaction to H.H. Richardson and Louis Sullivan (1972), The architecture of Samuel Maclure (1971), Landscape artist in American: the life and work of Jens Jensen (1964), and Readings in architectural criticism (1954).

Eaton was a member of the Society of Architectural Historians as well as the Canadian Society of Architectural Historians.