Wena Dows Architectural Collection,
Scope and Content
The Dows collection consists of hand-drafted architectural drawings with supporting photographs, slides, and textual descriptions of California residential buildings renovated or expanded by Wena Dows from 1952 to 2005. In addition, there are plans for a few commercial projects with limited descriptive information. The textual descriptions contain Dows' handwritten notes on the client's requirements for the project, sketches of the existing building layout and dimensions, lists of the materials to be used for the project and specifications for some projects. Photographs of the building, before and after the work, accompany some of the project documents.
Dates
- Creation: 1952 - 2005
Creator
- Dows, Wena W., 1928- (Person)
Access Restrictions
Collection is open to research.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish material from the Wena Dows Architectural Collection must be obtained from the Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Biographical Information
Wena Dows was born in 1928, in Taft, California. She completed a BA in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1950. From 1950 till 1954 she worked as a draftsperson for Ernest F. Winkler, AIA, in San Francisco and for Clyde Bentley, a consulting engineer in Oakland, California. In 1954 she started working independently, specializing in residential architecture. She mostly undertook addition and renovation work to residences in California.
Dows also took courses in nutrition at UCLA, Los Angeles City College, American Institute of Family Relations. Along with her architectural commitments she also worked as a nutritionist. In 1968, Wena Dows was a Diet Analyst for the Retail Clerks Union. She started teaching healthy cooking in 1969 and taught at Venice Adult School, Los Angeles School District for many years. Later she started "The Healthy Gourmet" classes from her residence.
Wena Dows is professionally affiliated with the Association for Women in Architecture (AWA) and the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE). She holds a standard California teaching credential for Architecture and for Nutrition.
Full Extent
21.1 Cubic Feet (1 box; 86 oversize folders)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Architect Wena Dows earned her B.A. in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1950 and began working independently, specializing in residential remodeling, in 1954. Along with her architectural commitments she also worked as a nutritionist. The Wena Dows Architectural Collection contains drawings, supporting text documents, photographs and slides of Dows' addition and renovation projects for residences in California from 1952 to 2005, along with information about a few commercial projects.
Arrangement
The collection has been arranged into a Project Index. which is a way to organize the various formats of architectural records from the same project. The index is arranged alphabetically by client name and contains information, where available, about the location, date, project type, architect, collaborators, and formats for each project in the collection.
A Summary of the Project Index. is listed below. Consult the Project Index. for location information.
Client Name/Project Title (location, date, architect/collaborator) [Format - Ms=Manuscripts, Dr=Drawings, Ph=Photograghs, S=Slides ]
Acquisition Information
The creator donated the Wena Dows material to the International Archive of Women in Architecture in May 1990. An addition to the collection was received in 2009.
Processing Information
The preliminary processing, arrangement and description of the Wena Dows Architectural Collection was completed in 1990. Final arrangement and description took place from April to August 2005. The 2009 addition was processed February 2012.
Genre / Form
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- A Guide to the Wena Dows Architectural Collection, 1952-2005
- Status
- Completed
- Subtitle
- A Collection in Special Collections
- Author
- Special Collections Staff
- Date
- © 2012 By Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. All rights reserved.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Description is in English
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections, Virginia Tech Repository
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg Virginia 24061 US
540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu