UC Santa Barbara

Cliff May, known as 'the father of the ranch house,' was an early proponent of the California style ranch house. He first built hacienda style houses in San Diego in the 1930s, then moved to Los Angeles to create some of the most widely recognized ranch-style houses in the country. His early custom ranch houses of the 1930s follow the compact designs of his hacienda-style houses, but with central courtyards and face inwards. After the WWII years and the boom in tract housing through the 1950s, the custom houses Cliff May designed became larger, more open to the outside world, ...

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design and Architecture Museum

The 13 story Art Deco building on the corner of Broadway and Ninth Street in downtown Los Angeles, was designed and built by Claud Beelman of the firm Curlett & Beelman. The building was built with steel reinforced concrete and is covered in turquoise terra cotta tile, with blue and gold accents, and the upper portion of the building has a clock on all four sides, along with the word EASTERN in white neon. The Curlett & Beelman firm was formed by Alexander (Aleck) Curlett (1881-1942) and Claud W. Beelman (1884-1963) in 1919. They are well known for their large ...

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design and Architecture Museum

The UCSB Library, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Grammy Foundation and donors, has created a digital collection of more than 10,000 cylinder recordings held by the Department of Special Research Collections. This searchable database features all types of recordings made from the late 1800s to early 1900s, including popular songs, vaudeville acts, classical and operatic music, comedic monologues, ethnic and foreign recordings, speeches and readings.

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Library, Department of Special Research Collections

Edla Muir, also known by her married name, Edla Muir Lambie, was born in San Francisco, California on January 23, 1906. At the age of 13, Muir worked summers and weekends in the architectural firm of John Byers. When she graduated from Inglewood High School in 1923, she worked as an office assistant for Byers until 1926, when she was promoted to draftswomen and designer. In 1934, after receiving her architectural license, Byers and Muir formed a partnership, renaming the firm John Byers and Edla Muir, Associated Architects. When the firm dissolved in 1942, Muir became the principle of her ...

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design and Architecture Museum

Edward Abel Killingsworth was born in Taft, California in 1917. He attended the University of Southern California where he began his academic career studying painting but after a year, decided to switch his course of study to architecture. Killingsworth graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture in 1940. He served in WWII as a Captain in the Army Corps of Engineers where he supervised the production of more than 8 million photo-maps in preparation of the allied invasion of Europe. After being discharged from the military in 1946, Killingsworth got a job as a draftsman at the Kenneth ...

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design and Architecture Museum

The archives of El Teatro Campesino are the largest archival collection on Chicano theater, consisting of approximately 157 linear feet of archives and manuscripts. They include a variety of formats, dating from the Teatro's founding in 1965. They include primary materials for researchers with an interest in theater arts, cultural arts, history, political science, labor relations, ethnic studies, sociology, antropology, and women's studies. Most materials are in English; some are in Spanish or a combination of the two languages. At least eight other languages are represented, an indication of the international interest in the Teatro.

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Library, Department of Special Research Collections

Administrative records, programs, subject files, correspondence, clippings, slides, photographs, serigraphs, posters, silkscreen prints, ephemera and other creative materials documenting activities of the San Francisco Bay Area Chicano cultural arts center. Includes work by many of the prominent Chicano(a)/Latino(a) artists, such as Juana Alicia, Rodolfo (Rudy) Cuellar, Alfredo De Batuc, Ricardo Favela, Gilbert Luján (Magu), Ralph Maradiaga, Juanishi Orosco, Irene Pérez, Patricia Rodríguez, and René Yañez.

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Library, Department of Special Research Collections

George Washington Smith began his career as an artist, then a move to Montecito from Paris in 1916 gave him the chance to build his own house. The Andalusian style was instantly popular, and he began a new career as an architect, designing predominantly Spanish Colonial homes and commercial properties in the Santa Barbara area. Along with his associate, Lutah Maria Riggs, they designed many of the most recognizable Spanish Colonial Revival residences in Santa Barbara.

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design and Architecture Museum

Gregory Ain was born in Pittsburg and raised in California; he went to school at UCLA and USC. He worked briefly for Rudolf Schindler and then worked for three years for Richard Neutra, in the early 1930s. Ain was one of the leading modernist architects in Southern California during the 1940s and 1950s. He built many single-family homes in the Silverlake and Los Feliz areas of Los Angeles. After World War II, Ain focused on building low-cost housing and multi-family units. He partnered with Joseph Johnson and Alfred Day, as well as landscape architect Garrett Eckbo on many of these ...

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design and Architecture Museum

The collection is focused around the composing and conducting activity of Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975) between the years 1927 and 1975. A small body of personal papers adds some material relating to his personal life (personal and legal correspondence, diaries, financial documents). The collection represents the extent of the personal papers in Herrmann's possession at the time of his death.

Institution: UC Santa Barbara, Library, Department of Special Research Collections