Overview
Kenneth J. Conant (1894-1984), architectural historian and educator, taught at Harvard University from 1920 until his retirement in 1955. The collection documents his personal and professional life, including his teaching, publishing, and research activities. Conant’s papers include personal and professional correspondence; materials related to University’s Harvard Hall renovations; lecture notes for his fine arts courses; class outlines for courses on architecture in Europe; and photographs of murals at Elmwood, the official residence of Harvard’s presidents, painted by Conant.
Dates
- Creation: 1907-1975 and [undated]
Researcher Access
The Papers of Kenneth J. Conant are open for research.
Extent
2.31 cubic feet (4 document boxes, 3 half-document boxes, 2 folders, 2 pamphlet binders, 1 card box)The Papers of Kenneth J. Conant document his personal and professional life, including his teaching, publishing, and research activities. The collection contains correspondence with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as with publishers, universities, art museums, and professional societies. There are also postcards, written to and from Conant. Additionally, some of the letters concern Conant’s excavation work at the Cluny Abbey in France.
The Harvard materials include correspondence, plans, photographs, and clippings pertaining to the University’s Harvard Hall renovations in 1968 and 1969; lecture notes for his fine arts courses; class outlines for courses on architecture in Europe; and 1971 photographs of murals at Elmwood, the official residence of Harvard’s presidents, painted by Conant. There are also copies of Conant’s lectures delivered at other universities, as well as a broadcast by radio station WAAB.
Conant’s papers also include his degrees and honorary memberships to societies; a drawing the Cathedral of Tortosa, Spain, given to librarian Caroline Shillaber upon her retirement from the Harvard Graduate School of Design; and proofs of the plates and original drawings for Conant's 1926 publication, The Early Architectural History of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
Biographical note on Kenneth J. Conant
Kenneth John Conant (1894-1984), architectural historian and educator, taught at Harvard University from 1920 until his retirement in 1955. He received his AB from Harvard in 1915, then enrolled at Harvard for an M. Arch. degree. The following year, he traveled to France on a fellowship to study at the École des Chartes and the École du Louvre. In 1917, Conant enlisted in the 42nd Division of the American Expeditionary Force and was injured during the Second Battle of Marne in July 1918. He then returned to Harvard and completed his M. Arch. in 1919, and began teaching architecture at Harvard the following year. In 1925, he received his PhD, and his dissertation, The Early Architectural History of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, was published by the Harvard University Press.
Conant's lifework was the study of the Cluny Abbey in France, which he began excavating in 1927, funded by Guggenheim Fellowships. Throughout his career, he published many books, including a 1929 study guide for Harvard students, which was the first academic work focused solely on modern architecture. Conant died in 1984.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in nine series:
- Personal and professional correspondence, 1920-1975 and [undated] (HUGFP 21.5)
- Postcards, 1907-1975 (HUGFP 21.10)
- [Harvard Hall renovations] (HUGFP 21.20)
- Drawing of the Cathedral of Tortosa, Spain, 1920 (HUGFP 21.46 pf)
- Lecture notes for courses in Fine Arts, [undated] (HUGFP 21.62)
- Lectures and class outlines (HUGFP 21.65)
- Photographs of murals at Elmwood, 1971 (HUGFP 21.80)
- Degrees and honorary memberships (HUGFP 21.85)
- ["The Early Architectural History of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela" drawings and proofs] (HUGFP 21.86)
Acquisition
Specific acquisition information, when available, is noted at the series level:
- Gift of Kenneth J. Conant, December 20, 1977; Accession 08288
- From the estate of Frederich Palmer; received April 1972
- Gift of Katharine Shillaber, November 20, 1995; Accession 13226
Inventory update
This document last updated 2022 April 22.
Processing Information
This finding aid was created by Olivia Mandica-Hart in May-June 2021. Information in this finding aid was assembled from legacy paper inventories and container management data. The collection was not re-examined by the archivist.
"Maps and drawings" (HUGFP 21.45) has been recorded as missing since 1990, and could not be located at the time of the creation of this finding aid.
- Title
- Conant, Kenneth John, 1894-1984. Papers of Kenneth J. Conant, 1907-1975 and [undated] : an inventory
- Status
- completed
- Author
- Harvard University Archives
- Date
- May 25, 2021
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- hua49021
Repository Details
Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository
Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.
Pusey Library
Harvard Yard
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2461
archives_reference@harvard.edu