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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Ger 208.3

Walter Gropius additional papers

Overview

Essays and speeches of German architect Walter Gropius.

Dates

  • Creation: 1908-1937 and undated

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in German.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.

Extent

.5 linear feet (1 box)

Autograph manuscript essays and speeches, printed pamphlets and handbills authored by Gropius with woodcut illustrations by Lyonel Feininger and possibly by Max Pechstein concerning contemporary art and architecture.

Biographical / Historical

Gropius was a German-born architect and educator, who founded and directed the Staatliches Bauhaus, Weimar in 1919; taught at Harvard, 1937-1952; and formed the Architects Collaborative in Cambridge, 1946.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

81M-94. Gift of Gropius, Ilse (Frank;received: 1981.

This collection of Gropius materials represents only a part of the personal archive of Walter Gropius. Upon his death his widow, Ise Gropius, arranged to have the collection divided into early and late papers. Both parts were photographed with funds provided by the Thyssen Foundation. The late papers, relating to Gropius' career after 1937, and the photos of the early ones, then came to the Houghton Library; the early papers and photos of the late ones went to the Bauhaus Archiv, then in Darmstadt, since reestablished in Berlin.

Processing Information

In 2020-2021, as part of a conscious and inclusive re-description effort, entries ) were updated to include a woman’s first name when identified.



Ilse (Frank) Gropius previously listed as Mrs. Walter Gropius.

Link to catalog

Processing Information

This finding aid was revised in 2023 to address outdated and harmful descriptive language. During that revision, contextualizing processing notes were added to the description of one item. For more information on reparative archival description at Harvard, see Harvard Library’s Statement on Harmful Language in Archival Description.

Title
Gropius, Walter, 1883-1969. Walter Gropius additional papers, 1908-1937: Guide
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01832

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
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