Letter from Ruth M. Havey, Twenty-five Fifth Avenue, New York 3, N.Y. to Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, 1537 Twenty-eighth Street, Georgetown, Washington 7, D.C. and Dumbarton Oaks Agenda, November 19,1949, November 19-20, 1949 Digital
Scope and Contents
Typescript handsigned letter from Ruth Havey to Mildred Bliss offering the Dumbarton Oaks Agenda on the status of work at Dumbarton Oaks on the Finalities, Terrior [Column and Enclosure] wood seat and landscaping; North Vista finials wall chains; and north end; Arbor Garden wall panels, paving and sundial; Melisande Steps; and Perspective.
Havey discusses the numbering and filing of drawings indicating that she is using the continuation of the system used in the Bar Harbor files (and Beatrix Farrand), so the new ones will follow along in sequence.
She encloses a print of the latest drawing of the Herbaceous Border walls dated October 1943 with Beatrix Farrand comments attached.
She tells Mildred she is working with John Thacher and Robert Patterson regarding various projects in the garden. She is having difficulty of creating a sundial on the Arbor Terrace, and mentioning consultations with Mr. Robert Coles at the Hayden Planetarium and Dr. Morgan Cilley at the Naval Observatory.
Mildred Bliss has added handwritten notes in pencil to the agenda. Ruth Havey writes that directions created by Mr. [G. Frederick] Coles for operating the Finalities mechanism will need to be made. She indicates four people have copies and Mildred Bliss writes in margin, "Harvard, Dum[umbarton] Oaks J[ohn] Th[acher], Dum[umbarton] Oaks [Matthew] Kearney, [Ellis] Russell possibly indicating who had copies of these directions.
Dates
- Creation: November 19-20, 1949
Creator
- Havey, Ruth M., 1899-1980 (Correspondent, Person)
Language of Materials
Materials chiefly in English with a few items in Greek, Latin, French, Italian, or Spanish.
Conditions Governing Access
An appointment is required for access to these papers. To request an appointment, fill out the online form: http://www.doaks.org/research/library-archives/access-and-hours/schedule-an-appointment.
For research queries, contact the staff of Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives (library@doaks.org).
Extent
23 boxes (Approximately 2632 items including correspondence, expense reports, invoices, estimates, deposit records, book lists, newspaper clippings, newsletters, and plant lists.)Creator
- Havey, Ruth M., 1899-1980 (Correspondent, Person)
Subject
- Bliss, Mildred Barnes, 1879-1969 (Recipient, Person)
- Patterson, Robert W., 1905-1988 (Person)
- Thacher, John, 1904-1982 (Person)
- G. Morris Steinbraker & Sons, Inc. (Organization)
- Coles, G. Frederick (George Frederick), 1875- (Person)
- Kearney, Matthew, 1909-1973 (Person)
- Eastern Chain Works, Inc. (Organization)
- Coles, Robert Reed, 1907-1985 (Person)
- Cilley, Morgan, 1878–1955 (Person)
- Presbrey-Leland Company, Inc. (Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Dumbarton Oaks Repository
Dumbarton Oaks holds archival collections in its Rare Book Collection, Image Collections and Fieldwork Archives, and the Dumbarton Oaks Archives. The collections include: the papers of noteworthy scholars in the three fields that Dumbarton Oaks supports (Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and Garden and Landscape); image collections depicting objects or sites of topical interest to scholars in the three fields; Beatrix Farrand’s personal archive of letters and original drawings that document the development of the Dumbarton Oaks Garden; and institutional records and architectural plans and drawings documenting the history of Dumbarton Oaks. For more information about hours and to make an appointment to consult any of the collections listed here, please fill out the request form: https://www.doaks.org/research/library-archives/schedule-an-appointment