COLLECTION DESCRIPTION
Records related to Parson's career as Cornell Professor of Architecture and Dean of the School of Art, Architecture and Regional Planning. Research and manuscripts on topics such as Clarence Stein, Nathaniel Owings, and Cornell History. Records from Parsons' role as a faculty member and administrator, including syllabi, course-related documents, thesis material for advisees, and administrative documentation and reports from City and Regional Planning (CRP) and Art, Architecture and Urban Planning (AAP). Records of Parsons broader professional work include documentation of his consulting work, and of his involvement in professional organizations. Also, consulting materials related to on-campus projects, including the renovation of Sage Hall. Includes correspondence, photographs, maps and plans.
Dates
- circa 1945-1999.
Creator
Language of Materials
Collection material in English
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Cornell professor of Architecture and City and Regional Planning, and Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.
Born on July 15, 1927, in Cleveland, Ohio, Kermit Carlyle Parsons earned a Bachelors of Architecture from Miami University in Ohio in 1951 and a Masters of Regional Planning from Cornell University in 1953, during which time he received a University Fellowship in Architecture. After earning his degree from Cornell, he worked as a city planner for the Cleveland (Ohio) City Planning Commission and as a city planner for the Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority. Parsons joined the Cornell faculty in 1957, becoming Associate Professor in 1960 and Professor in 1965. He was named dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning in 1971, serving until 1980. He returned to teaching until 1985, when he became the director of the Cornell-in-Washington program, a position he held until 1988. Parsons retired from the University in 1999.
During his career, he served as a consultant on city and university planning projects in New York State and elsewhere. He authored books including Writings of Clarence S. Stein: Architect of the Planned Community and The Cornell Campus: A History of its Planning and Development. He was a co-author of An Annotated Bibliography on University Planning and Development and, with David Schuyler, he edited the book From Garden City to Green City: The Legacy of Ebenezer Howard. Parsons died on December 9, 1999.
Extent
111 cubic feet.
1 folders.
1 mapcase folders.
Abstract
Includes manuscripts, publications, files, and other papers related to Kermit C. Parsons' career as a planner and as professor of architecture at Cornell University.
SERIES LIST
Series I. Correspondence
Series II. Nathaniel Owings Archives Project Materials Parsons gathered to create a research collection documenting Nathaniel Owings' contributions to urban development. Parsons was to write a book titled, Nathaniel Owings and the Freeways: The Baltimore Wars, on Owings' work in Baltimore on designing a new freeway system. The archives project was completed in 1983, but although Parsons completed several drafts, he did not publish a book.
Project Correspondence Correspondence about the Owings archives project and the Baltimore Wars book project.
Baltimore Relates to the project by the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) to design a freeway system in Baltimore, Maryland.
Other ProjectsCorrespondence and reports on other Owings projects.
Series III. Research and Consulting Parsons’ research for his book projects, including articles by others, and drafts of his manuscripts. Also includes his consulting work for outside organizations.
Clarence Stein research files Research for and drafts of Parsons’ book Writings of Clarence S. Stein: Architect of the Planned Community
Cornell History Research for and drafts of Parsons’ book The Cornell Campus: A History of its Planning and Development
Consulting Includes consulting projects for outside universities and cities, both domestic and foreign. Also includes consulting materials for the Korean World Bank.
Series IV. Cornell University Faculty and Administrative Files Materials associated with Parsons' function as a faculty member and administrator at Cornell. Also includes material associated with events and life at Cornell.
City and Regional Planning (CRP) Administration Student files and departmental correspondence and memoranda.
Art, Architecture and Planning (AAP) Administration Includes administrative materials that precede and coincide with Parsons’ tenure as dean, as well as later documents.
Planning for Cornell/Cornell Consulting Studies and correspondence related to architecture and planning for the Cornell campus. Includes material on the controversy over remodeling Sage Hall.
Coursework Syllabi and documentation for courses Parsons taught at Cornell.
Advising and Theses Includes theses written by Parsons' students.
Series V. Professional
Professional Organizations and Conferences Material from Parsons’ participation in professional organizations such as the American Institute of Planners, and materials from conferences at which he was present or participated.
Professional involvement and history Additional material from and about Parsons career, including notes and research from his time as a student. Also includes his datebooks.
Series VI. Multimedia
Series VII. Oversize
Physical Description
Manuscripts, typescripts, printer's proofs, index cards, publications, student papers, files, and other papers.
General
- Contact Information:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
- Compiled by:
- M. Hopson N. Dean Rita Kwong Kevin DowdHilary Dorsch Wong
- Date completed:
- March 1983, May 2013
- EAD encoding:
- Martin Heggestad, May-June 2002Kim Bedetti, May-June 2002Sarah Keen, February-March 2010Hilary Dorsch Wong, May 2013Evan Earle, May 2013
- Date modified:
- Marcie Farwell, September 2018
- Architects.
- Bryant, Stewart, planner.
- Campus planning -- New York (State) -- Ithaca.
- City planners.
- City planning -- California -- Irvine.
- City planning -- Indiana -- Gary.
- City planning -- Maryland -- Baltimore
- City planning -- New York (State) -- Broome County.
- City planning -- New York (State) -- Tompkins County.
- City planning -- New York (State) -- Utica.
- City planning -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
- City planning.
- College teachers.
- D\'Alesandro, Thomas J., III
- Express highways -- Maryland -- Baltimore.
- McKeldin, Theodore R. (Theodore Roosevelt), 1900-1974
- Owings, Nathaniel Alexander, 1903-1984.
- Parsons, Kermit C. (Kermit Carlyle), 1927- (Title of work: Cornell campus..)
- Parsons, Kermit C. (Kermit Carlyle), 1927- (Title of work: History of campus planning at Cornell..)
- Parsons, Kermit C. (Kermit Carlyle), 1927- (Title of work: Quad on the hill..)
- Schaefer, William Donald.
- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
- Universities and colleges -- New York (State) -- Ithaca -- Buildings -- Planning.
- Urban Design Concept Associates
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Compiled by M. Hopson, N. Dean, Rita Kwong, Kevin Dowd, Hilary Dorsch Wong
- Date
- May 2002
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- ENG
- manuscript box: 26 - folder 1 (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 120 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 121 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 122 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 123 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 124 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 125 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 126 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 127 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 128 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
- Box: 119 (unprocessed) (Mixed Materials)
Repository Details
Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)
rareref@cornell.edu