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

Found here are documents regarding the campaign to preserve the architecturally significant Dodge House, built by Irving Gill. Preservation efforts began in 1963 and continued until the house was demolished in 1970. Esther McCoy was very active in the preservation efforts, serving on the Citizen's Committee for the Dodge House and a Dodge House Special Committee of the American Institute of Architects. This subseries includes various committee documents, clippings and other printed material, correspondence, and notes and writings by McCoy regarding the preservation efforts. In 1965 McCoy produced a film, Dodge House 1916, as part of the preservation efforts. The film was directed by Robert Snyder. Documentation of this film project includes correspondence, photographs used for the film, draft film scripts written by McCoy, lab notes, and the finished film.

This group of files contains correspondence, applications, proposals, and financial documents regarding McCoy's various grant projects. Included is documentation for grants awarded and not awarded. Several of these grants funded McCoy's travel, research, and writing projects.

This subseries contains material regarding Esther McCoy's work for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documenting significant Southern California architecture. Found here is correspondence regarding her work on the project, miscellaneous records such as meeting agendas, meeting minutes, financial documents, and HABS reports, and general project notes written by McCoy. The bulk of this subseries consists of project files for each of the buildings that she surveyed. Included in these files are survey worksheets and reports, notes, research material about the property, and floor plans.

This subseries contains files documenting McCoy's participation in award juries for architectural design. Most of these award programs were sponsored by chapters of the American Institute of Architects. Files may contain reports, notes, press releases, photographs of work by entrants, and correspondence. A few files contain only photographs of works entered into the competition.

This subseries contains documentation about the "L. A. Art Index," a project coordinated in 1980 by California State University, Long Beach, to compile an index of artists and art groups (including architects and photographers) working in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Esther McCoy conducted research and compiled information for this project. Found here are correspondence, a portion of a draft index (stops at Gh-), and the "Master File" containing photocopies of a card file used for the index.

This subseries contains scattered documentation of McCoy's architectural preservation projects independent of her work on the Historic American Buildings Survey or the Dodge House preservation campaign. Files for each property may include notes, legal documents, reports written by McCoy or others, photographs, news clippings, and correspondence.

This subseries documents McCoy's membership in the Society of Architectural Historians. Included are drafts of three presentations that McCoy gave at annual meetings, her correspondence with the organization, and documentation for two meetings in England, including program schedules, tour notes, and printed material. Also found are general organizational records for the society including reports, newsletters, minutes, and member lists. McCoy was a member of the SAH Tour Committee, and found here are several tour itineraries for the Southern California region.

Esther McCoy was a lecturer at the UCLA School of Architecture and Urban Planning from 1965 to 1969. The school was established just a year earlier, and she took an active role in the development of a program curriculum, architecture library, and slide library. This subseries documents her many activities at the school. Included are correspondence, employment records, general notes, and library committee reports. Also found is documentation of her work to establish a slide library, including reports, notes, and inventories. McCoy also oversaw the organization and cataloging of the Richard Neutra Archive, which had been donated to UCLA. Found here is correspondence regarding the project, a microfilm inventory, and collection descriptions. This subseries also contains four files of McCoy's teaching materials, such as lecture notes and course outlines. Researchers should note that McCoy's teaching materials from other Universities can be found in Series 4.4: Lectures.