EDWARD D. WHITE JR. ARCHITECTURAL RECORDS
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The bulk of the materials, such as architectural drawings, photographs, and project files, found in the Ed White Architectural Records relate to his career as an architect with Fisher & Fisher, Hornbein & White, and Ed White Jr., AIA.
Additional materials and photographs focus on White's personal and professional interest in historic preservation and his involvement with various volunteer organizations, museums, and foundations including Central City Opera House Association, Historic Denver, Inc., Friends of Historic Fort Logan, Little Kingdom Foundation, and Colorado Historical Foundation.
Finally, a sampling of personal, military, academic and family related papers and photographs as well as some materials, such as clippings, correspondence, etc. documenting Ed White’s relationship with Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg, and other members of the “Beat Generation” is included.
The series contains three sets of architectural blueprints generated by the firm of Fisher, Fisher & Davis for three projects in Colorado: Bishop-Ingley Student Center, Boulder (1956); North Wing of the Presbyterian Hospital, Denver (1956); and the Nurses Quarters at the Weld County Hospital, Greeley (1957). Notations found on the blueprints indicate that Ed White worked as the draftsman or construction supervisor on these projects. The blueprints are arranged alphabetically by project or building title.
The series includes architectural drawings, blueprints, and sketches for projects generated by the architectural firm of Hornbein & White (1960-1975). Material files are arranged alphabetically by project title. Highlights include a portion of the plans executed for the Denver Botanic Gardens; blueprints and original plans for the U.S. Post Office, Courthouse, and New Customs House; residential and school related commissions. Some older architectural blueprints and plans created by other architects for buildings remodeled by Hornbein and White are included.
The series comprises project drawings for remodeling, restoration, and new projects generated by Ed White's architectural practice in the 1970s through the 1990s. The materials are arranged alphabetically by project name. Of particular interest are files related to the restoration and preservation of the Lace House, Black Hawk, Colorado; Four Mile House, Denver, Colorado; the Frying Pan-Arkansas Project for the U.S. Department of the Interior; and the renovations for the Colorado Governor's (Cheesman-Boettcher) Mansion.
The series contains project files from the architectural firm of Hornbein & White, Architects. Partnership papers with Victor Hornbein are included as well as numerous brochures and booklets the firm used to attract additional business begin the series. Individual project files are arranged alphabetically and include many large projects, most notably the Denver Botanic Gardens. School projects were a recurring theme during their fifteen-year partnership. Some residential work also appears. Another major renovation project involved the U.S. Post Office, Courthouse, and New Customs House in downtown Denver. They were also involved in the preservation and renovation of the 9th Street Historic Park on the Auraria Campus.
The series contains project documents generated by the firm Edward D. White, Jr. AIA. The firm specialized in building renovation and restoration, much of it completed in conjunction with the City and County of Denver, Central City Opera House Association, Friends of Historic Fort Logan, and Historic Denver, Inc. Major projects include the Four Mile Historic Park: Four Mile House, The Bee House, and Summer Kitchen, Denver; Frying Pan-Arkansas Project: Twin Lake and Interlaken Historic Districts, Fremont County; and the State of Colorado Executive (Governor's) Mansion, Denver.
These papers include organizational documents arranged alphabetically for historic preservation organizations in Denver and around the State of Colorado. Over the years, Ed White worked in conjunction with many different organizations to document and historic preserve commercial and residential structures, towns, and other historic sites. Newspaper and magazine clippings (1960s-2000s) assembled by White concerning historic preservation in metropolitan Denver and around Colorado complete the series. Clippings related to individual projects or specific organizations are included with the project or organizational papers.
The series includes a sampling of personal and family related materials: academic and military records, organizational correspondence. Some materials, specifically correspondence, relate to Ed White's long standing friendships with Alan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Copies of most of the correspondence sent by Kerouac (1948-1969) to White as well as transcriptions, commentary and notes utilized by White in the writing of his unfinished book: Letters from Jack are included. Additional materials include an assortment of newspaper and magazine clippings related to the "Beat Generation." White served on the boards of several non-profit organizations including the Museum of Contemporary Art (1996-2002) and Acoma Institute (1996-1998). The series contains papers collected by White during his tenure on these boards.
The series contains microfilm copies of specifications, plans, and bid documents for projects generated by Hornbein & White, including Bethesda Community Mental Health Center, Sunset Plaza, and Crown Hill Mortuary. A single VHS video tape of the 1991 Historic Denver, Inc., annual awards as well as a DVD of the Colorado Preservation, Inc. 20th Annual Dana Crawford Awards Dinner at the Botanic Gardens where Ed White received the Dana Crawford Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation on May 18, 2010 is included.
The oversize materials in this series include presentation boards created for projects being developed by Hornbein & White, as well as those White generated for his own architectural firm. Additional presentation boards and architectural projects White created for his classes in architecture at Columbia University in the 1950s, as well as examples of his artwork at East High School and Columbia College are included. Posters associated with historic preservation and members of the Beat Generation that White collected round out the series.
This series contains project photographs documenting conditions before, during, and after projects undertaken by the firms of Hornbein & White, Architects, and Edward D. White Jr., AIA. Also in this series are photographs documenting White's many preservation projects, including many associated with Historic Denver and other organizations. Notable projects include Four Mile House Historical Park, Ninth Street Historic Park on the Auraria Campus and the Frying Pan-Arkansas stabilization of the Interlaken area on the Twin Lakes. Of particular note are the photographs of the Interlaken historic site taken by Bureau of Reclamation photographer Jim Todd which document the conditions of the various buildings from the air and from multiple ground angles. Additional photographs document historic town sites, such as Central City and Black Hawk and a wide array of other projects of personal interest to White. The photographs are arranged alphabetically by project or location within each category.
The series concludes with a selection of family photographs documenting Ed White's maternal and paternal ancestors, his boyhood and family life in Denver, views of his time at Columbia College and during U.S. Naval service, his marriages and children.
Dates
- circa 1850-2017.
Creator
- White, Ed, 1925- (Person)
ACCESS:
The collection is open for research.
OWNERSHIP:
Literary rights and copyrights - as appropriate - are assigned to the Denver Public Library. Floor plans for still standing privately owned buildings cannot be copied without written permission from the owner(s).
PUBLICATION RIGHTS:
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 imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The 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 NOTE
Architect Edward D. "Ned" White, Jr. was born in Denver, Colorado on February 2, 1925. His father, Edward Divine "Ed" White (b. June 17, 1892; Great Falls, Montana-d. July 13, 1955; Denver, Colorado) was a civil engineer. His mother, Evelyn Estabrook (b. March 14, 1894; Almont, Michigan-d. March 10, 1984; Denver, Colorado) was a former school teacher and graduate of Colorado College (1916). The couple had two additional children: Jean Divine White-Miller (1920-1999), a biochemist, and Franklin Estabrook "Butch" White (1922-1997), a pioneering astro physicist.
Ed White grew up in Denver at 7115 East 14th Avenue, the home of his maternal grandparents, the Reverend Franklin J. and Jessie S. Hadley Estabrook. He attended Montclair Elementary School, Smiley Junior High and East High School. Justin W. Brierly (1905-1985), the academic advisor at East High, was instrumental in arranging for White, and other East High graduates, to be accepted at Columbia College in New York City, Brierly's alma mater. White entered Columbia College in 1942 with an honor scholarship, but his studies were interrupted by WWII. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and served in the Far Eastern Section of Naval Intelligence in Colorado, Minnesota, and Oklahoma until 1946.
White returned to Columbia College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and Languages (1948). He then studied language for six months with two other East High graduates: Frank Jeffries and Robert Burford, at the Sorbonne in Paris (1949). White returned to Denver, enrolled at the University of Denver's School of Education, and taught English and German at South High School (1950-1951) before entering Columbia University in the fall of 1951.
Earlier, in 1946, through his Columbia College roommate and fellow East High School graduate, Haldon "Hal" Chase, Ed White met Jack Kerouac (1922-1969). One of White's classmates at Columbia was the poet Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997). White was also acquainted with the poet Neal Cassady (1926-1968), another East High School student mentored by Justin Brierly. During the early 1950s, while White attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Kerouac was working on his novel On the Road (1957). The character Tim Gray is based on Ed White, along with others: Carlo Marx (Allen Ginsberg), Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady) and Justin Brierly as Denver D. Doll. White maintained contact with both Kerouac and Ginsberg until their deaths. Other friends of Ed White found in On the Road include Hal Chase (Chad King), Frank Jeffries (Stan Shepard), Robert Burford (Ray Rawlings), Beverly Burford (Babe Rawlings) and fellow Columbia University student, the architect Allan Temko (Roland Major).
White returned to Denver after receiving his Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University in 1955. He first worked for Fisher & Fisher as draftsman and construction supervisor before receiving his architectural license in October 1958. In 1960, White formed a partnership with the noted Denver architect Victor Hornbein (1913-1995). Between 1960-1975, the firm of Hornbein & White received a number of important commissions in the Metro-Denver area: Conservatory and Horticulture Hall at Denver Botanic Gardens (1963-1970); numerous buildings at Graland Country Day School (1960-1970) and Denver Country Day School (1960s); John F. Kennedy Child Development Center and Denison Memorial Library addition (1960s-1970s) at the University of Colorado Medical Center. The firm was also involved with remodeling and preservation projects including: 9th Street Historic Park, Auraria Campus (1970s); U.S. Post Office, Courthouse and New Customs House (1960s), and the restoration of the Lace House (1970s) in Black Hawk, Colorado.
White became involved in historic preservation in the mid-to-late 1960s when he was appointed to the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission by Mayor William H. McNichols, Jr. on March 31, 1969. The commission was established in conjunction with passage of the Denver Landmark Preservation Ordinance on March 6, 1967. White served on the Commission as a member and chairman (1969-1989; January 1992-March 2001). In recognition of his service, September 5, 2001, was declared Ed White Day by Denver Mayor Federico Peña.
Ed White was also a board member (1978-1980; 1981-1983), and later a member of the Honorary Board of Directors and Honorary Life Trustee of the Central City Opera House Association (CCOHA). He worked with the Historic Properties Division, serving on its governing board. The division worked on the maintenance and restoration of CCOHA-owned historic residential and commercial properties in Central City. His relationship with CCOHA can be traced back to the 1930s. Materials and photographs in the collection covering the CCOHA from 1930s-1960s are from Justin Brierly, who was, at various times, Business Manager, Executive Manager, and Board Member of the association.
As an adjunct to the CCOHA, White was also involved with the Little Kingdom Foundation. Originally established in 1970 as the Little Kingdom Council by Carl Dahlgren, Executive Director of the CCOHA. The council/foundation was made up of Dahlgren's associate, Phillip Barnes, along with local residents, architects, businessmen, artists, engineers, educators, members of the Colorado Council of the Arts, and the Colorado Historical Society. The Little Kingdom Council developed plans for an organized restoration of historic structures in the mining towns of Black Hawk and Central City, Colorado. Surveys and research on the buildings in the two towns were undertaken and the council was renamed the Little Kingdom Historical Foundation in 1972. Ed White provided a master plan prospectus covering guidelines for the restoration of the district. Administered by the CCOHA, the foundation promoted restoring buildings within a circa 1875-1900 time frame in preparation for the 1976 Colorado Bicentennial. One of the foundation's most notable projects was the purchase and restoration of Black Hawk's Lace House.
After the dissolution of his partnership with Hornbein in 1975, White continued working on residential, preservation-related, and some commercial projects through his own firm: Edward D. White, Jr. AIA (American Institute of Architects). With his firm and in conjunction with various boards and organizations, Ed White provided architectural assistance on the Lace House restoration (Little Kingdom Foundation) in Black Hawk, Colorado; restoration and maintenance of various buildings in Central City, Colorado (Central City Opera House Association); Molly Brown House restorations (Historic Denver, Inc.); Four Mile House Historic Park (Denver Landmark Preservation Commission); Officers Quarters (Friends of Historic Fort Logan); restoration of historic structures in the Interlaken and Twin Lakes historic districts (Frying Pan - Arkansas Project; U.S. Department of the Interior).
White also served on other preservation boards and organizations: Friends of Historic Fort Logan, Four Mile Historic Park, Inc., Colorado Historical Foundation (Board of Trustees), Colorado Historical Society, Fairmont Heritage Foundation (Director, 2000-2003), Historic Denver, Inc. (Board of Trustees), the Historic Preservation Commission, Georgetown, Colorado (1978-1979), and Jewish Consumptive's Relief Society (JCRS) Isaac Solomon Historic Synagogue Foundation. For his work in historic preservation, he was elected as a Fellow of the College of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) on June 11, 2004. He was also a member and historian for the Cactus Club (Denver, Colorado) and served on the performing and fine arts related boards of the Acoma Institute and the Museum of Contemporary Art. In May 2010, Ed White received the Dana Crawford Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation from Colorado Preservation, Inc.
Ed White married Anne Johnston Waring (1924-2012), daughter of Dr. James Johnston Waring (1883-1962) and Ruth Porter Waring (1889-1992) on August 5, 1955 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In 1959, Ruth Porter Waring donated the Waring family home at 909 York Street to the Denver Botanic Gardens. It now serves as the organization's administrative headquarters. Ed and Anne White had two sons: Edward D. "Ted" White III (b.1957), and James Waring "Jamie" White (b. 1959). Ed White later married the artist, Anne Breese (b. 1924; Lake Forest, Illinois).
Extent
30 Boxes (30 linear feet)
10 OVBoxes
123 OVFF, 1 OVFolio
1 AVBox
20 Boxes, 1 OVPHOTOFF
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
PROVENANCE:
Materials in this collection were donated to the library by Edward D. White, Jr. in Fall 2002 and Spring 2004. Edward D. White III donated additional materials between November 2012 and April 2013. Processing of this collection was partially funded by a State Historical Fund grant award from the Colorado Historical Society.
SEPARATED MATERIAL
Materials separated from the collection have been transferred to:
Cactus Club Records, WH1803
Denver Landmark Commission Records, WH887
Balcomb & Rice Architectural Plans, WH2188
Justin W. Brierly Papers, WH2187
Gilpin County Opera House Association stock certificates, WH2209
Porter-Waring Family Papers, WH1748
Burnham Hoyt Architectural Records, WH1188.
Publications and serials have been transferred to WHG collection.
SIZE:
Number of Boxes: 30 (30 linear feet)
Oversize: 10 OVBoxes
Oversize File Folders: 123 OVFF, 1 OVFolio
Audio/Visual Boxes: 1 AVBox
Photographs: 20 Boxes, 1 OVPHOTOFF
LOCATION:
WH1753
PROCESSED BY:
Roger Dudley
Katherine Winter
2013
PROJECT MANAGERS:
Ellen Zazzarino
Abby Hoverstock
- Administrative records. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Architects -- Colorado -- Denver. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Architectural drawings (visual works). Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Architectural firms -- Colorado -- Denver. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Architecture -- Colorado. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Black-and-white photographs. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Brierly, Justin W., -- 1905-1985 -- Correspondence.
- Central City Opera House Association (Central City, Colo.) -- Archival resources.
- Color photographs. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Denver Botanic Gardens -- Designs and plans.
- Edward D. White, Jr. AIA -- Archives.
- Family papers. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Four Mile Historic Park (Denver, Colo.) -- Archival resources.
- Ginsberg, Allen -- Archival resources.
- Graland Country Day School -- Designs and plans.
- Historic buildings -- Colorado. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Historic preservation -- Colorado. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Hornbein and White, -- 1960-1975 -- Archival resources.
- Hornbein, Victor, -- 1913-1995 -- Archival resources.
- Kerouac, Jack, -- 1922-1969 -- Correspondence.
- Little Kingdom Historical Foundation -- Archives.
- Personal papers. Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- White, Ed, 1925- -- Archives
- Title
- EDWARD D. WHITE JR. ARCHITECTURAL RECORDS
- Date
- June 2013
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Repository