Guide to the Operations and Facilities Records
RG 5.1

Summary Information

Repository

Sarah Lawrence College Archives

Creator

Sarah Lawrence College. Office of Operations and Facilities.

Title

Operations and Facilities Records

ID

RG 5.1

Date [bulk]

Bulk, 1960-1990

Date [inclusive]

1928-present

Extent

10.0 linear feet 8 record cartons, 1 legal half document box, 1 flat box, digital objects

Language

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Sarah Lawrence College Archives 2010

Revision Description

  May 2012

Conditions Governing Access note

Administrative records are closed for 20 years from the date of creation. Partially restricted or restricted folders are labeled as such and are usually restricted for 75 years from the date of creation or death of the individual(s) mentioned. The Archives reserves the right to deny photocopying. See Archivist for further information.

Processing Information

Initial processing of the buildings papers completed in fall 2002. Additional processing and revision of finding aid completed by Sarah Pinard in spring 2010. Accretions added and finding aid updated in spring 2012.

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Scope and Contents note

The majority of the papers in this collection date between 1960 and 1990 although there is significant material that dates to the beginning of the College as well as more recent additions reflecting property purchases and the construction of new buildings on campus during the past twenty years. Most administrative material is more recent in scope.

Series I. Administration includes Sub-series A. General, a collection of material related to the business of the Operations and Facilities Office. This sub-series includes a folder about the National Register of Historic Places. This material was gathered as part of the application of a number of buildings on campus to be added to the National Register. The folder Architectural Drawings Lists is a survey of architectural drawings held in the archives. For a more comprehensive list see the Architectural Drawings and Building Plans Inventory database. Sub-series B. Public Safety and Security includes official plans of actions in case of emergencies on campus. This sub-series also contains two folders of Correspondence and Memos that were sent to the College community as notification of public safety and security issues on campus. Sub-series C. Real Estate is a small group of correspondence and legal records about the acquisition and sales of property, both on and off campus, by the College.

Series II. Buildings contains floor plans, clippings, information on the naming of the buildings, and financial data. This series also includes correspondence about the acquisition of the buildings or with the buildings architects and College administrators.

There are multiple folders for the Esther Raushenbush Library. Most of the material dates to the construction and dedication of the library. There are also a small number of documents that detail the history of the named areas of the library, a brief biography of Esther Raushenbush, and drawings of the entrance bridge to the library.

There are six folders for the New Dorms (i.e. Taylor, Rothschild, and Garrison). This material includes correspondence regarding the construction, design, and interiors of the building, the architect’s contract, magazine articles and clippings, a master plan, and items from the cornerstone laying ceremony. There is also a completed appraisal of the New Dorms that was done in 1970. The bound appraisal includes three exterior photographs of the buildings. There are also separate folders for Rothschild Dormitory because of extensive renovations to the building. The folder titled "Rothschild Dormitory - Renovations 1968-1970" includes an official appraisal of Rothschild, Garrison, and Taylor Dormitories. This appraisal includes photographs of these buildings.

The Performing Arts Center also has multiple folders. Please note that this material relates to the Performing Arts Center after its renovation and addition in 1974. Earlier material about the Student Arts Center can be found in the folders of that name. That material dates primarily to the early 1950s. The documents for both of these buildings include dedication material, building specifications, news clippings and press releases.

The Ruth Leff Siegel Center includes one folder with material dating from 1970 to 1998. This material documents the expansion and renovation of the building beginning with President Charles DeCarlo’s tenure, when the space was known as “Charlie’s Place,” and continues through “The Pub” and its rededication as the Ruth Leff Siegel Center in 1998.

Programs, invitations, clippings, buttons, and balloons from the 1994 opening ceremony of the Alice Ilchman Science Center are all included in the folder labeled Science Center. There is also information about the proposed use of space, floor plans, and architectural drawings and landscaping.

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Series Description

The records are organized into four series:

Series I. Administration

Series II. Buildings

Series III. Campus Planning

Series IV. Zoning

Series I. Administration is divided into three sub-series: Sub-series A. General, Sub-series B. Public Safety and Security, and Sub-series C. Real Estate. Sub-series A. General contains material related to the general business of the Operations and Facilities office. In addition to the limited correspondence found in these folders, there is reference material including campus maps, housing charts, and architectural drawings lists. Sub-series B. Public Safety and Security includes material related to the operations of the public safety and security staff on campus. In addition to correspondence and memos sent to the College community there are handbooks and official plans for dealing with emergencies on campus. Sub-series C. Real Estate is a small collection of material that documents property transactions both on and off campus.

Series II. Buildings is arranged alphabetically by building name and then chronologically where more than one folder exists per building. These files contain correspondence, floor plans, information about the acquisition of the properties, and some material about the uses of the building space.

Series III. Campus Planning is arranged into three sub-series: Sub-series A. Architects, Sub-series B. Planning, and Sub-series C. Proposed Projects. Sub-series A. Architects includes folders arranged alphabetically by the architect’s last name. These folders mainly consist of correspondence between the architects and College administrators. Some of the folders also include detailed information about buildings, drawings, budgetary material, and contracts. Sub-series B. Planning is arranged alphabetically by folder title. Campus Development Plans, Master Plans, and reports are found in this sub-series. Also included are space study findings and correspondence between faculty, staff, and administration about space needs for theatre, dance, the visual arts, and physical recreation and athletics. Sub-series C. Proposed Project contains material about buildings and projects that were proposed and, in some cases planned for, but never actually built.

Series IV. Zoning is a small series, mostly of correspondence, that reflects issues the College has had both with the city of Yonkers and neighboring homeowner’s associations as the College has expanded through construction of new buildings and acquisition of privately owned homes around campus. The majority of this series is correspondence.

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Related Materials

See also

Architectural Drawings and Building Plans Inventory database; the Photograph Collection; the May 14, 1953 Report from the Comptroller to the President in the President’s Reports. This report includes retrospective value of plant from 1928 to 1953 with other useful information. Included are 1929 Infirmary wing added, 1934 Bates Science wing added, 1937 Gift of 3 lots, 1940 MacCracken wing added, 1946 rooms made into triples and veterans become day students, 1947 Brook Road purchase and Warren turned into dormitory, and 1952 Kober enlarged.

For additional documentation on John Andrews, Architect, see Esther Raushenbush Papers – General Correspondence and Library Records – Seely, Elizabeth – Library by Architect John Andrews. See also the Dean of the College Records for material related to the Visual Arts Task Force.

Additional correspondence, proposals, and schematic cost reports relating to the Performing Arts Center are located in the folders about the Esther Raushenbush Library.

Additional oversize material is located in the Oversize Box 1. This includes folders on the Campbell Sports Center, Esther Raushenbush Library, Science Center, Siegel Center, Westlands, Westlands Gate, Wisteria Arbor, Wooden Platform, and Awards for the Heimbold Visual Arts Center.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde.

Genre(s)

• Administrative reports
• Annual reports
• Architectural drawings (visual works)
• Budgets
• Clippings (information artifacts)
• Correspondence

Personal Name(s)

• Ackerman, Frederick Lee, 1878-1950
• Andrews, John, 1933-
• Breuer, Marcel, 1902-1981
• Johnson, Philip, 1958-1960

Subject(s)

• Sarah Lawrence College

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Collection Inventory