Bohlen Architectural Firm Records, Ca
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Collection # M 1204 OMB 0157 BOHLEN ARCHITECTURAL FIRM RECORDS, CA. 1867-1978 Collection Information Biographical Sketch Scope and Content Note Series Contents Processed by Jordan Ryan January, 2016 Manuscript and Visual Collections Department William Henry Smith Memorial Library Indiana Historical Society 450 West Ohio Street Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269 www.indianahistory.org COLLECTION INFORMATION VOLUME OF 56 manuscript boxes; 2 oversized manuscript boxes; 1 photo COLLECTION: negative folder; 98 architecture file folders COLLECTION Ca. 1867-1978 DATES: PROVENANCE: Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson & Associates, Inc. (1990.0428, 1990.0579, 1992.0395) and David Buchanan (2008.0031) RESTRICTIONS: None COPYRIGHT: REPRODUCTION Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection RIGHTS: must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society. ALTERNATE FORMATS: RELATED HOLDINGS: ACCESSION 1990.0428, 1990.0579, 1992.0395, 2008.0031 NUMBER: NOTES: Architectural history BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Diedrich August Bohlen was born January 17, 1827, in Cadenberge, Germany; he studied in Holzminden, most likely at the University of Applied Sciences and Art. Faced with service in the Hanoverian army of King George V, Bohlen decided to travel to the U.S., probably leaving from Hamburg in 1851. After arriving in New Orleans, he traveled to Cincinnati where he stayed for a short time before traveling onward to Indianapolis. Once there he joined the architectural firm of Francis Costigan, who while also new to the state, soon became a well-known and respected architect in the capital city. Bohlen remained with Costigan for about a year before establishing his own architectural firm in 1853. Indianapolis offered many opportunities for architects in both the public and private sectors: government buildings, churches, and homes for an increasing population. Shortly after opening his office he received a commission from the Charles Mayer Jewelry Store to redo its facade for the store on Washington Street. The following year (1854) he began the first of some 60 projects for St.-Mary-of-the-Woods Seminary, a four-year woman’s college and convent northwest of Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1858, he was commissioned to design the city’s first theatre, the Metropolitan, seating 1500 persons. This cultural center, in the 100-block of West Washington St., marked the state capital’s transition from amateur theatre in local bars to professional companies marketed by agents. D.A. had worked for nearly a decade when he enlisted in the army, following the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. The day he left to join the national forces supporting the North, July 12, 1863, his son Oscar was born. D.A. remained in uniform for about two years. When he returned, D.A. resumed his professional work. In the following years he received several large commissioned requests, including churches and secular projects. In addition to his early work on the Metropolitan Theatre, Bohlen designed St. John’s Catholic Church (1871), German General Protestant Orphans’ Home (1872), Crown Hill Cemetery Chapel (1875), Robert’s Park Methodist Church (1876), St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (1883). Nor can we omit projects following D.A.’s death, such as the Majestic Building (1896), the Murat Temple (1910), and St. Vincent’s Hospital on Fall Creek Boulevard (1913), along with selected upper-class houses. Most projects, except for the French Lick Springs Hotel and the St. Mary-of-the-Woods, were located in Indianapolis. Richard Wright of the Bohlen firm once remarked that “it’s a safe assumption that at one time or another, every block in downtown Indianapolis has held a building designed by our firm,” a testimony to the Bohlen staff’s forward-looking vision and of the confidence that local leaders placed in them. The ten-storied Majestic Building on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania and Maryland streets, designed by Oscar Bohlen and the city’s first “skyscraper,” lived up to its name: foundations reached down 22 feet below the street surface; four layers of I-beams provided a base unlike any other building in the city; and four million bricks, nearly 14,000 square feet of Italian marble, and three hydraulic elevators traveling at the rate of 600 feet per second–all were impressive numbers and gave locals grounds for boasting. Occupants and visitors could climb marble-lined stairways if they preferred to walk rather than ride the elevators. In all, an architectural prize for the community. In 1882 Oscar D., now with a degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined the firm, in a move which prompted his father two years later to change the name from “D.A. Bohlen, Architect,” to “D.A. Bohlen & Son, Architects.” Over the years subsequent generations of Bohlens joined the firm: August C. (D.A.'s grandson) and Robert L. (great grandson). The name has changed with the incorporation of each Bohlen generation: in 1909, the firm was renamed O.D. Bohlen & Son, and in 1946, renamed A.C. Bohlen & Son. From 1961 to 1970 the firm was called Bohlen & Burns. Since 1971 the firm has been called Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates. In 1990, Schneider Engineering purchased the firm. Much of this information came from a more detailed biography on Bohlen, titled "Diedrich August Bohlen: The Long Shadow of a Hoosier Architect" by IHS volunteer Robert W. Smith, 2011. Sources: Materials in collection Bohlen Collection, P106, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis Clipping Files, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis Dunn, Jacob P., Indiana and Indianans, IV (Chicago:1919) Indianapolis Star Magazine, June 11, 1978 Indianapolis Sentinel, September 11, 1891; 5:1 and September 12, 1891; 1:2 Stein, Theodore, Our Old School: Historical Sketch of the German-English Independent School (Indianapolis, 1913) Traces, VIII, No. 1 (Winter, 1996) Zucker, Paul, Journal of the American Society of Architectural Historians, II, No. 3 (1942) SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE Materials are organized by the individual project then ordered chronologically. This was done so that projects on the same building or campus over a span of years were grouped together, instead of imposing a chronological-only order. A few projects span a wide range of time but are listed in the order of their earliest date. These projects include: the Sisters of St. Francis Campus, SS. Peter & Paul Cathedral, Sisters of Providence Campus, Indiana Methodist Episcopal Hospital, and St. Mary's College & Academy. Each project lists the building specifications first, followed by correspondence and/or notes, then any photographic materials, and last the architectural drawings. The series groupings are organized by the date of each period of the firm, therefore the first series contains all projects initiated D.A. Bohlen, between the years of 1867 and 1883. Following that, the firm's name changed to D.A. Bohlen & Son, the second series, 1884- 1908. The third series are projects initiated under the next era of the firm, O.D. Bohlen & Son, between the years 1909 and 1945. The fourth series are projects initiated under A.C. Bohlen & Son, between the years 1946 and 1960. The fifth series are projects initiated under the firm name Bohlen & Burns, 1961-1970. The sixth series includes projects initiated under Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson, 1970-1990. The seventh series contains the office clippings, in a topical organization then organized chronologically. The eighth series contains miscellaneous materials. The ninth series contains only architectural drawings that came from the original accession, 1990.0579, but were pre-sorted and stored separately; some of these items relate to manuscript collections while others do not. The tenth series contains additional oversized architectural drawings that do not possess an accession number and were accumulated at the institution over time. The final series contains materials from a later identified accession, 2008.0031; only Bohlen-related materials were pulled from this accession and incorporated into the collection. Materials clipped together remain together. It can be assumed that at the end of correspondence sections will be the undated materials. Photo negative stored separately in cold storage. Two oversized boxes include smaller architectural drawings; they are stored separately in stacks. Oversize architectural drawings are stored separately in shelving. SERIES CONTENTS Series 1: Projects Initiated Under D.A. Bohlen (1867-1883) CONTENTS CONTAINER Ledger Book and Notes, Miscellaneous Projects, 1867-1868. Box 56, Folder 1 Public Schools No. 9 and No. 14, Building Specs, Indianapolis, 1868- Box 1, Folder 1 1872, 1898-1899. Public Schools No. 9 and No. 14, Building Specs, Indianapolis, 1898- Box 1, Folder 2 1899. Public Schools No. 9 and No. 14, Correspondence, Indianapolis, 1934. Box 1, Folder 3 McDonald & Roache Building, Building Specs, Indianapolis, 1870. Box 1, Folder 4 Ledger Book and Notes, Miscellaneous Projects, 1871-1874. Box 56, Folder 2 St. John's Academy, Building Specs, Indianapolis, 1871-1874, 1923. Box 1, Folder 5 St. John's School, Building Specs, Alterations and Repairs, Box 1, Folder 6 Indianapolis, 1917. St. John's Academy, Correspondence, Indianapolis, 1872-1874, 1946- Box 1, Folder 7 1947. St. John's School, Correspondence and Notes, Indianapolis, 1917- Box 1, Folder 8 1923. Griffith Block, Building Specs, Indianapolis, 1872-1873. Box 1, Folder 9 Griffith Block, Correspondence and Notes, Indianapolis, 1872-1873. Box 1, Folder 10 D. Maguire Building, Building Specs, Indianapolis, 1874. Box 1, Folder 11 Bishop Chatard Residence, Building Specs, Indianapolis, 1878-1891. Box 1, Folder 12 Bishop Chatard Residence, Correspondence and Notes, Indianapolis, Box 1, Folder 13 1878-1892. St. Joseph's Church, Building Specs, Indianapolis, 1879-1880. Box 1, Folder 14 St. Joseph's Church, Correspondence and Notes, Indianapolis, 1878- Box 1, Folder 15 1879, 1888. William S. Major Mansion, Building Specs, Shelbyville, IN, 1878- Box 1, Folder 16 1889. William S. Major Mansion, Correspondence and Notes, Shelbyville, Box 1, Folder 17 IN, 1886-1889. Sisters of Providence School, Building Specs, Seymour, IN, ca.