Western History and Genealogy

Manuscript Collection News

May/June 2007

Welcome to The Denver Public Library's Manuscript Collection News. This page is updated monthly and includes new Manuscript Finding Aids, Hidden Treasures of the Manuscript Collection, Recent Donations, Archivists Notes and previous Manuscript News.

New Manuscript Finding Aids

A note about the Manuscript Collection: all Manuscript Collections are cataloged and a brief record is available through the Library catalog. Only a portion of the Manuscript Collection has extensive online guides found in the Manuscript Finding Aids that contain detailed descriptive information and lists of contents including the following new materials.

Eugene Sternberg Architectural Records WH1003

Eugene Sternberg, had a life-long interest in designing affordable housing, and contributed to many housing projects and developments during his career. The bulk of Sternberg's work was comprised of hospitals, schools, medical offices, community centers and credit unions. He designed over 400 buildings in Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. Several large-scale projects, such as Arapahoe Community College, Denver General Hospital, National Jewish Hospital and NEDCO Nursing Home have extensive records.

Victor Hornbein Architectural Records WH1238

Victor Hornbein worked on the Boulder High School and J.C. Penny building at 16th and Champa in Denver. A major design project was the bronze hoistway doors at the State Capitol Building. He designed eight panels per door with stylized symbols of Colorado history and industry. Hornbein designed eighty public and private buildings, and was one of Denver's first modern architects devoted to the use of natural materials in buildings. He worked on a broad range of projects including commercial, educational, residential, multi-family, religious, office buildings and municipal facilities. A few of his notable projects include the Denver Botanic Gardens, Ross Broadway Branch Library, Porter Library at the Colorado Women's College (now the University of Denver Law Library) and the Gates Science Building at Graland Country Day School.

Temple Hoyne Buell Architectural Records WH1397

In 1949, Temple Hoyne Buell began construction of the Cherry Creek Shopping Center on a former city dump. It was Denver's first modern shopping mall. Instead of lining shops up along existing streets, he grouped stores together in the middle of the site and surrounded the complex with parking lots. It is considered one of the first pedestrian shopping malls in the country, which at the time was considered radical architecture. The Collection documents Buell's architectural projects from 1919 until 1989. Projects include the Paramount Theater, new Customs House, Horace Mann Junior High School, and St. Joseph's Nurses Home.

William C. Muchow Architectural Records WH1288

The firm Muchow Associates Architects opened in 1950 and closed shortly after the death of William C. Muchow in 1991. During that time over eight hundred and thirty-three projects came out of his office. Muchow's firm worked on a broad range of architectural projects including schools, churches, residential and multi-family houses, prisons, office buildings, financial institutions, municipal and recreational facilities. A few of his notable projects are Currigan Hall, Engineering Sciences Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Central Bank of Denver, Jefferson County Justice Center, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Lincoln Center and the expansion and renovation of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. The Collection contains architectural project drawings, project documents, business papers, awards and photographs.

Fisher and Fisher Architectural Records WH932

Fisher and Fisher Architects flourished during the 1920s; the partnership of brothers William Ellsworth and Arthur Addison Fisher became one of the largest architectural firms in the Rocky Mountain region. William Fisher was known for designing "bride's delights," which were first homes for young married couples. Continuing to design residences, commercial buildings and churches, the firm also began to design hospitals including Presbyterian Hospital and National Jewish Hospital in Denver. The firm received commissions for such notable commercial structures as the Denver City Tramway Building and Car Barn, the Railway Exchange Building, the A.C. Foster Building, the Colorado National Bank and the International Trust Company Building. Important residences designed during this period include those of Chester S. Morey, John Evans, Lafayette and William Hughes, George Barth Berger, Harold Kountze, Henry C. Van Schaack and Daniel A. Millett.

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Hidden Treasures

Arnold Family Papers WH1592

The Arnold Family Papers (Sam Arnold) has a 16mm film shot on vacations around the world in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Later videotape replaced film. Hidden among the vacation shots is some 1936 film footage of the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. This Collection also has film of some Native Americans in Kansas wearing "Alf Landon for President" buttons in 1936.

Denver Society of Civil Engineers Records WH102

The Denver Society of Civil Engineers Records WH102 will be online soon. As often happens in manuscript collections, some unlikely items came along with the papers. One such component of this Collection is a letter from Charles Partridge Adams, the Colorado oil and watercolor painter. The letter discusses some of Adams' paintings for sale, and includes small pen and ink sketches of the paintings along with notes about sizes and prices. The letter was written in 1886, just as Adams began exhibiting his work in Denver.

Coffin Family Papers WH1368

The Coffin Family Papers contain correspondence from Morse H. Coffin who came to Colorado in 1859 and homesteaded three miles east of Longmont on the Sandstone Ranch. In 1864, Coffin enlisted in Company D, Third Colorado Cavalry. He took part in the Sand Creek Massacre and wrote letters to newspapers and to others defending the actions of the U.S. Army at Sand Creek. Also included are Coffin's 1907 articles for The Longmont Ledger describing his life in Colorado when he arrived during the Rush to the Rockies. He died in 1913, but his book, The Battle of Sand Creek, was first published in 1965 and defended the actions of Maj. Chivington and the troops.

Sand Creek Massacre Project

The Sand Creek Massacre Project offers a different view of the 1864 events at the camp of Black Kettle in Southeastern Colorado. The National Park Service in consultation with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Northern Arapaho Tribe, and the State Colorado prepared this two-volume work. This is the result, The Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Study Act, which culminated in the recent dedication of the massacre site near Eads.

Denver Landmark Commission Collection WH887

The Denver Landmark Commission Collection contains 63 boxes of the papers either submitted to or created by the Commission. It includes photos, maps, surveys, questionnaires and all kinds of reports. For some of the neighborhoods, papers are available for individual addresses. Important buildings are spotlighted. For example, Elitch Gardens is represented by a wide variety of historical papers. A few years ago a volunteer became interested in this information and listed the folders individually in several boxes (58-61) with specific locations and addresses. Although not searchable online this inventory can be searched by library personnel in the Western History Department.

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Recent Donations

Western History

• William S. Jackson Family – one box donated by Bill Jackson 
• Campbell, Nan O’Neal - one box donated by Nan O’Neal Campbell
• Tanner, Gloria Travis - one box donated by Gloria Travis Tanner
• Alcorn, Ray  - eleven boxes donated by Major L. Boddicker
• Childress, Cab – one box donated by Penny Alexander

Conservation Collection

• Bureau of Land Management  - one box donated by Joyce Kelly

10th Mountain Division

• Ellsworth L. Miller - oral history interview donated by Val Rios

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Archivists Notes

Preserving Photographs

• Handling photographs – regardless of their age – should be done wearing cotton gloves to prevent skin oil from being left on the negatives or photos.
• The so-called magnetic or sticky albums are extremely hazardous to photographs. Photographs should be carefully removed from them by either sliding a piece of paper, a ruler, card, knife or some other similarly smooth thin item between the photograph and the album page to slowly detach the images.
• Photographs that have been glued into photo albums can be copied by taking a picture of the picture. Care should be taken to avoid flash reflections; this is a safety precaution before any attempt is made to remove the photographs since the photos can easily tear.
• Older albums with heavy black construction paper are the most common album material, the pages of these albums are often highly acidic, it’s difficult to know which will do more harm, the paper, the glue or trying to remove them – thus the value of the copied image.
• Color photographs are less stable than black and white photos, if you have a treasured color photo it would be wise to get a black and white copy negative and print to increase the likelihood of its survival for another 150 years.
• Black and white prints should be made on archival paper.
• Color prints and slides may alter colors as one of the layers of emulsion degrades. Some color correction is possible using photo editing software such as Adobe PhotoShop, but there are limits as to what can be recovered.
• Locating a photographer or photo lab that processes black and white film may require some additional time and money, but your descendants will be thankful for your efforts.
• Using glue, tape or other adhesives to hold photos in place will damage photographs, as will paperclips and rubber bands. Often the damage may not be apparent for years but it will eventually destroy or seriously damage the precious image.
• Use of acid free sleeves made of polypropylene, Mylar or polyethylene will protect the images and allow examining the back of the photographs where the date and place of the photograph and the identification of the people in it are often written.
• Keep newspapers away from photographs, newspapers are highly acidic and should be stored separately enclosed in plastic bags or separated by at least one layer of acid free paper.
• Keep any daguerreotypes, ambrotypes and tintypes stored flat and protected in acid-free paper envelopes.
• Light is the enemy of all photographs, all will fade over time when subjected to light. Photographs should be stored in non-acidic containers. Gas by-products given off by fresh paint fumes, plywood, deteriorated cardboard and many cleaning supplies may cause accelerated image deterioration.
• Relative humidity is the single most important factor in preserving most photographic materials. Relative humidity levels above 60% will accelerate deterioration.
• Conditions of around 68° F and 30-40% relative humidity are appropriate and easiest to maintain in enclosed areas, such as an interior closet or an air-conditioned room -- not in an attic or basement.
• High temperatures and high relative humidity levels will accelerate deterioration.
• Color photographs are also more easily impacted by high temperatures and should be stored at refrigerator like temperatures (40° F or below). Appropriate enclosures for cold storage are available from various vendors.
• Nitrate negatives are flammable and subject to extreme deterioration from simply becoming discolored to totally falling apart into a handful of chips. Preserving the negatives requires that they be frozen, but freezing only slows down the decay – it doesn’t prevent or reverse the process.

If you have materials, artifacts or family information you would like to donate, please visit the donation guidelines page.

Volunteers are always welcome to assist with the processing of the Manuscript Collections and processing the related photographs. If you are interested in volunteering to help process Manuscript Collections, contact the volunteer office.

Previous Manuscript News

March 2007, April 2007

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Porter Library at Colorado Women's College designed by Victor Hornbein (rendering by Jim Falk).

Horace Mann Junior High School designed by Temple Buell and featured in the American School Board Journal in 1933.

Portion of triangular brochure telling the “Story of the Denver Convention Complex” anchored by Currigan Exhibition Hall which was designed by William Muchow.

Photo of Presbyterian Hospital, designed by Fisher and Fisher, and included in a souvenir booklet, "Setting a New Standard in Hospital Efficiency"