Esther McCoy papers, circa 1876-1990, bulk 1938-1989

Esther McCoy wrote and published six books on architecture, and contributed writings for several other book projects during her career. This subseries contains records of these writing projects. Files for books written by McCoy may consist of correspondence, draft versions, notes, research material, financial records, photographs, and publicity and reviews. Correspondence may include original correspondence between McCoy and the architects who were the subject of her work; correspondence with publishers and others relating to her work; and copies of correspondence that McCoy used for research. For example, files for her book Vienna To Los Angeles: Two Journeys include copies of correspondence between Richard Neutra and R.M. Schindler and between Frank Lloyd Wright and Aline Barnsdall. Research material and notes document the formation of her ideas and may include notes made during tours of buildings and exhibitions, interview notes, printed material, and excerpts from sources relating to her research, including previous writings about the subjects by McCoy and others.

This series also contains records of McCoy's work on other book projects, such as writing essays for Contemporary Architects, and writing the introduction for Francisco Artigas. The Artigas material also includes interview transcripts. McCoy's records for Vienna To Los Angeles: Two Journeys includes material for a related article "Letters Between R. M. Schindler and Richard Neutra" and an essay written by Pauline Schindler about Taliesin.

This subseries contains records of McCoy's work on several exhibition catalogs. McCoy worked on major museum exhibitions about architecture, such as Blueprints for Modern Living at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Ten Italian Architects at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and High Styles at the Whitney Museum of American Art. In some instances she was a curator for the exhibition and wrote the catalog, and in others she was asked to contribute an essay for the catalog. Files include correspondence, published catalogs, draft writings and photographs used for the catalogs, notes and research material, publicity and reviews, and other documentation of exhibition details. Of particular note are a video about the Case Study House Program that was released in conjunction with the Blueprints for Modern Living exhibition, and documentation regarding theft of items from the Juan O'Gorman exhibition.

This subseries documents McCoy's work for journals, magazines, and newspapers, including publications for which she was a contributing editor, such as Arts and Architecture, Lotus, and Progressive Architecture. Articles are primarily on the topic of architecture, but also include a few writings on design, art, crafts, and travel. Files generally contain drafts of articles and related notes, but may also include related correspondence and photographs, as well as a clipping of the published article. Also found are general correspondence files regarding her work as an editor for Arts and Architecture, Progressive Architecture, and Lotus.

McCoy also worked for nearly two decades as a free lance writer for the L. A. Times, primarily writing about architecture and travel for the Home Magazine supplement. Found here are numerous draft articles, including regular features on California architects, and writings about Italy and Mexico.

Of note are articles on young architects written for Arts and Architecture and Zodiac magazines, an article on Brasilia for the L. A. Times, and an article about the Charles Eames office for Progressive Architecture.

This subseries contains many of the lectures given by McCoy at museums, galleries, universities, colleges, and architecture societies. Some of the lectures are for classes that McCoy taught at the University of California (Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz) between 1965 and 1975. Others are exhibition and gallery lectures for the shows that she curated. Also included are lectures and talks she gave regarding her publications and tours. Files may consist of drafts of lectures, notes, and related printed material. One lecture, "Schindler in California" was released by Pidgeon Audio Visual as part of a series of talks about architecture. Included are a sound cassette of the lecture by McCoy and series of 24 slides. This subseries also includes two files of schedules and notes for house tours that McCoy led for various organizations.

This subseries contains other architectural writings and research notes written by McCoy that were either unpublished or for which the publication information is unknown. Found here are writings arranged by title and by subject. Titled writings include essays about her colleagues John Entenza and Julius Shulman. Subject files include writings about architecture, creativity, and Italian and Mexican architecture and culture. Also included here are notes and handwritten transcripts of an interview of architect Louis Kahn, conducted by McCoy in 1964. A recording of this interview is available in Series 10: Audio and Video Recordings. Additional material in this subseries includes book reviews written by McCoy and other unidentified writings and notes.