Legacy Finding Aid for Manuscript and Photograph Collections
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Legacy Finding Aid for Manuscript and Photograph Collections 801 K Street NW Washington, D.C. 20001 What are Finding Aids? Finding aids are narrative guides to archival collections created by the repository to describe the contents of the material. They often provide much more detailed information than can be found in individual catalog records. Contents of finding aids often include short biographies or histories, processing notes, information about the size, scope, and material types included in the collection, guidance on how to navigate the collection, and an index to box and folder contents. What are Legacy Finding Aids? The following document is a legacy finding aid – a guide which has not been updated recently. Information may be outdated, such as the Historical Society’s contact information or exact box numbers for contents’ location within the collection. Legacy finding aids are a product of their times; language and terms may not reflect the Historical Society’s commitment to culturally sensitive and anti-racist language. This guide is provided in “as is” condition for immediate use by the public. This file will be replaced with an updated version when available. To learn more, please Visit DCHistory.org Email the Kiplinger Research Library at [email protected] (preferred) Call the Kiplinger Research Library at 202-516-1363 ext. 302 The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., is a community-supported educational and research organization that collects, interprets, and shares the history of our nation’s capital. Founded in 1894, it serves a diverse audience through its collections, public programs, exhibits, and publications. 801 K Street NW Washington, D.C. 20001 www.DCHistory.org SPECIAL COLLECTIONS FINDING AID Title: MS 0808 Plater Tayloe Gedney Real Estate Records Collection, 1951 - 1997 Processor: David G. Wood Processed Date: December 2015 Plater Tayloe Gedney was born August 23, 1919, in the Panama Canal Zone, to Ralph deForest and Catherine Tayloe Gedney. Growing up in Washington, D.C., he attended Powell Junior High School and Central High School. He served in U.S. Navy during WW II and was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, presented during a ceremony opening a “Salute to the Navy” exhibition in Washington in December, 1945. Gedney’s career was in real estate, primarily in Washington, D.C. He became a Certified Property Manager, and in 1955 was elected first vice president of the Project Management Association (Washington Post, October 23, 1955); in 1961 he became President of the Greater Washington Chapter of the Institute of Real Estate Management (Washington Post, December 9, 1961); and in 1963 a Director of the Building Owners and Managers Association (Washington Post, May 18, 1963). In his professional capacity, he was a guest speaker on property management at American University (Washington Post, October 6, 1962; Washington Post, October 12, 1963). For a number of years, his employer was Koones & Montgomery, one of the realty and development firms hired by the District’s Redevelopment Land Agency to appraise large swaths of properties in areas designated for redevelopment in the 1950s and 1960s. Gedney was also interested in history. In the 1980s, he was a member of The Lincoln Group of Washington, D.C., a membership group dedicated to “sharing [their] love of history and the study of Abraham Lincoln” through discussions and symposiums. Gedney died August 28, 2000 in King George, Virginia, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Scope and Content Note: The collection consists of standard forms used in real-estate appraisals; original photographs and negatives; maps; reports, or sections thereof, prepared for the 1 Redevelopment Land Agency; and miscellaneous publications and other materials produced or collected by Gedney. It is arranged in two series. • Series I, Appraisal Forms and Related Materials, is arranged in two subseries. o Subseries A, Appraisal Forms, consists of standardized appraisal forms bearing information about one or more specific appraised properties (addresses), associated photographs (prints and/or negatives); and related maps, reports, or other materials. The subseries is arranged by “Gedney Group,” a title assigned by the processor, generally reflecting the organization of the collection as it was received. These groups, each assigned an alphabetical identifier by the processor, are mostly defined by geography—specific project areas, squares, blocks, or groups of blocks—and bear labels that Gedney apparently used. (A searchable spreadsheet prepared to accompany this finding aid contains street address data for properties identified on the appraisal forms. See Appendix A.) o Subseries B, Related Materials, consists of photographs, negatives, maps, and miscellaneous materials apparently related to the process of preparing appraisals for specific properties, but for which no appraisal form appears in the collection. Most photographs and negatives in this subseries are grouped, as received, identified by Gedney with a variety of geographical descriptors—neighborhood names, street names, square or block identifiers, or parcel numbers—but generally not individual street addresses. Groups of photographs and/or negatives that lack any descriptor are listed as “unidentified.” The subseries is arranged according to the geographical descriptors (with the “unidentified” at the end), and includes some properties in Virginia as well as Washington, D.C. • Series II, Published Materials and Ephemera, consists of materials produced or collected by Gedney, arranged by type of material. Processor’s Notes: 1. The collection was received some 15 years after Gedney’s death, in a single container the contents of which were somewhat haphazardly arranged. As received, most of the appraisal forms were grouped in folders or were clipped or stapled together (though some were “loose” in the container); some such groups included appraisal-related materials such as maps, hand-written notes, and envelopes of photographs and/or negatives. These groups, which are mostly delineated by geographic descriptors, have been maintained and designated as “Gedney Groups.” Appraisal-related materials (such as envelopes of negatives or photographs, maps, or notes) found loose in the container—that is, not physically with a specific “Gedney Group” of appraisal forms—have been either: • Added to the appropriate “Gedney Group” in Series I, Subseries A, if such could be easily identified by a street address, parcel number, and/or project name or number; or • Placed in Series I, Subseries B. 2. One or more pages of the appraisal form for most properties bear the label "Photographs;" these have one or more photographs that were originally glued to the page, though many have detached. Some also have negatives attached with staples; the staples have been retained to avoid separating the negatives from their corresponding photographs. For most properties, the "Photograph" page is the only part of the appraisal form in the collection. Most of the forms are typed, but a few are handwritten. 2 3. The standard appraisal forms differed somewhat over time. Some pages have a typed date while others have only an (apparent) handwritten date (e.g., 4-57, presumably meaning April 1957). Many pages have a "parcel number" (originally used in D.C. to identify un-subdivided land, here they may represent identifiers specifically created for redevelopment projects) and almost all have a street address; some also have square and lot numbers. In the case of a few groups, a map indicates which square(s) are covered, but square numbers do not appear on the forms. Other numbers which appear on some forms are "project numbers" (e.g. "DC-1-24" and "DC-RLA-13," the latter apparently a reference to the D.C. Redevelopment Land Agency). Removals Note. Oversize items, whether found as part of “Gedney Groups” or loose in the container, have been physically placed in separate oversize folders with a penciled notation on the reverse indicating where they were found. Items removed are noted on this finding aid with a “Removals Note” next to the folders in which they would otherwise have been placed. Condition Note: Some of the typed appraisal forms are carbon copies on tissue-like paper, which is delicate and should be handled gingerly. Many of the photographs originally glued to the appraisal forms have detached, but are filed in the containers with the pages—which have the information identifying the subjects of the photographs—to which they were attached; care should be exercised to ensure that they remain physically with the page to which they were attached. Size: 2.5 cubic feet; 5 containers (and 7 OVERSIZE folders). Access Restrictions: The collection is open for research. Use Restrictions: Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collection. Donor: Charlotte Gedney-Pezzelle, 2014.076 3 Container List Series I, Appraisal Forms and Related Materials Subseries A, Appraisal Forms Processing Note: Unless otherwise noted, appraisal forms are arranged within folders numerically by parcel number (as found). Because these numbers generally run inversely to street address numbers, the street addresses (house numbers) are in descending order within the indicated range of numbers (see spreadsheet, Appendix A). For example, the forms for “419-453 8th St.” are arranged beginning with the form for 453 8th Street. Container 1 Folder 1: Gedney Group A – “Square 411.” Appraisal forms and associated photographs. Removals Note: Two maps removed to Folder 132 (OVERSIZE). (1) Map of Southwest DC showing details (large structures, lot lines, etc.) with hand-written square numbers and dates and other numbers written in red ink. Some properties are hand-colored yellow and others red. On reverse is handwritten title, "Map of Community" (undated). (2) Map of square 411 (photocopy, undated). Folder 2: Negatives from a group of 14 envelopes found together, most envelopes labeled "sq. 411" Folder 3: Negatives from a group of 14 envelopes found together, most envelopes labeled "sq.