Call Number:

C0348

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 2 boxes
• 0.9 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); William H. Short Collection on the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1956-1962 (inclusive)

Creator:

Short, William H. (William Hosley), 1924-

Form:

Architects -- New York (N.Y.), Architectural drawings., Blueprints., Correspondence., and Reports.

Abstract:

Consists of papers relating to the building of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City and Frank Lloyd Wright, its architect, collected by William H. Short (Princeton Class of 1946), the project supervisor for the building.

William H. Short, a Princeton University graduate (Class of 1946), began his career in Manhattan with Holden, McLaughlin Associates and was chosen by Frank Lloyd Wright to supervise construction of the Guggenheim Museum from 1956 to 1960. He went on to a partnership with Robert Venturi of Philadelphia. In the early 1980s he guided restoration of the governor's mansion, "Drumthwacket," in Princeton. Short was a founding partner in 1974 of Short and Ford and Partners, an architectural firm that is one of the leading historic preservation organizations in the country. He died in Princeton, N.J., in 1991.

The collection consists of papers relating to the building of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City and Frank Lloyd Wright, its architect, collected by Short (Princeton Class of 1946), the project supervisor for the building. The Wright material includes a typed carbon of a manuscript, "Concerning the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum," notes of an interview between Wright and Robert Venturi and Short, and correspondence. Short's papers include correspondence, notes and memos (1956-1962), and his expense accounts (1957-1959). In addition, there are daily construction reports on the museum (1956-1959), blueprints and plans, photographs of Wright and the museum, miscellaneous material, and newspaper clippings.

Box 1--Frank Lloyd Wright material including a manuscript, correspondence, and interview notes; William H. Short material including correspondence, notes, and memos chronologically arranged (1956-1962), and expense accounts (1957-1959); Box 2--Guggenheim Museum construction reports (1956-1959), blueprints, plans, photographs of Wright and the museum, miscellaneous material, and printed matter.