Visual Materials

Family Correspondence (Charles and Henry)

Description

Box 1 contains letters from their parents, Lelia Mather Greene and Thomas Sumner Greene from 1889, when the brothers were in Boston attending MIT and apprenticing in architectural firms, to 1893, when they joined their parents in Pasadena. Although the envelope is usually addressed to Charles, the salutation is most often to both sons. The last few folders in the box contain letters from Thomas Sumner Greene to Charles, dating from 1900-1917.

Organized alphabetically by the name of the correspondent, Box 2 contains correspondence from friends and family during the Boston years, again mostly addressed to Charles, but often including Henry. Social invitations give the flavor of the social life of the young men, while letters from cousins living nearby tell of family gatherings and family relations. The last few folders contain copies of examinations from MIT and ephemera from the Boston years and early Pasadena years.

Type

Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)

Date

1889-1917

Call number

Subseries A.

Provenance

Charles S. Greene Family and Personal Correspondence

Visual Materials

Box 3 contains letters to and from the Greene family, including correspondence and ephemera documenting Charles' marriage to Alice Gordon White in 1901 and their honeymoon trip to Europe. Also included are scattered letters from Thomas Sumner Greene; from Alice's sisters, Martha and Jane; from Henry Mather Greene, and from the children of Alice and Charles. There is also a series of letters from Alice and the children to Charles while he was on visits to Pasadena in 1918 and 1919. A small group of letters is addressed to Alice Greene from friends and family (1901-1960), as are a few to eldest son Nathaniel Patrickson Greene, and one to daughter Bettie Greene. Several of the letters in this family group concern disposition of Charles' papers after his death.

Subseries B.

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Henry M. Greene Personal Correspondence, including his collection of family records

Visual Materials

Box 6 contains materials regarding the marriage of Henry to Emeline Dart in 1899, scattered correspondence (1912-1954), and notes, records and ephemera documenting Henry's trip to the East coast in 1912-1913. There is also a notebook, two personal account books (1899-1903 and 1911-1917), and award certificates from the AIA in 1948 and 1952. At the end of Box 6 are family materials of the Greenes, including the "Memo of the Timber wanted for the Steeple in Providence 1775" by Thomas Sumner, a typescript account of Thomas Sumner Greene's experiences in the Civil War and records of the Greene family.

Subseries E.

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Greene Family Records

Visual Materials

Box 192 (1829-1900) contains correspondence, diaries and financial documents from the White and Storey families (1829-1900), especially George Storey White and his wife Jane, parents of Charles Greene's wife, Alice Gordon White Greene. They document their life in England, immigration to the United States as well as land purchases and business activities in Virginia. Also included are two volumes of a journal (1829-1831) entitled "T[homas] White's Travelling Companion through France, Switzerland, Italy," as well as a diary from 1858 "Thomas White, Engineer's Office, Calçada, Balua, Brazil," documenting Thomas White's work as a land surveyor in Brazil. Box 193 (1919-1983) contains papers from Henry Greene's family, especially correspondence to his sons, Henry Dart Greene and William Sumner Greene, as well as family photographs.

Subseries D.

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Scrapbooks: Greene and Greene, Charles, Henry

Visual Materials

The Greene and Greene Collection contains a wide variety of materials, from Greene and Greene ancestor, architect/engineer James Sumner's "Memo of the Timber wanted for the Steeple in Providence," dated 1775, and a diary of a European grand tour from 1829 to 1931 by an English ancestor of Charles Greene's wife, Alice, to drawings and photographs of Greene and Greene works from the time of construction through the close of the 20th century. The bulk of the collection dates from 1889 to 1975. Photographs comprise most of the records documenting their architecture. There is a small number of architectural drawings; most of the firm's drawings are housed at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University, New York City, with a smaller collection of drawings from the estate of Charles Greene at the Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley. The collection is organized into four series: I. Personal papers, II. Office records, III. Job (project) records (including furniture), and IV. Related research materials. In general, the papers and records of both brothers have been kept together for the periods in which they were living together as students and young men, and for the period when they were partners in the firm of Greene and Greene. Within each series, the organization follows the separate lives and works of each brother from the dates at which they diverge. Although the collection has been assembled from many different sources, most items have a unique accession number identifying the donor, so that the researcher can easily identify the source of most documents.

Subseries H.

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Letter to Charles Sumner

Manuscripts

Boston. On page 3: note from George Stillman Hillard to Charles Sumner.

LI 3365

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Personal Correspondence of Charles and Henry from family members and friends

Visual Materials

archGreene

Family Correspondence (Charles and Henry)

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