CLARENCE H. JOHNSTON:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Johnston, Clarence H. (Clarence Howard), 1859-1936, creator. | |
| Title: | Clarence H. Johnston papers. | |
| Dates: | 1878-1923 (bulk 1878-1898). | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Personal letters received by Saint Paul architect Clarence Johnston from friend and fellow Saint Paul architect Cass Gilbert discussing Gilbert’s school life and his early working career in New York and Baltimore. Includes tracings and drawings of buildings, drawings of and articles about buildings in Saint Paul designed by Gilbert and Johnston, and architectural drawings for Johnston's Crocus Hill residence (1909) and for a Crocus Hill residence for Clarence Johnston, Jr. (1923). | |
| Quantity: | 0.9 cubic feet (2 boxes, 1 folder in 1 partial box, and 1 oversize folder, unboxed). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Clarence Howard Johnston was born in Waseca County, Minnesota, August 26, 1859. In 1878 Johnston and his friend Cass Gilbert enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the architecture program there. Johnston was forced to drop out of the program after one term. In 1880 he settled in New York and worked for the McKim, Mead & White architecture firm. Johnston settled in Saint Paul in 1886 and established his own architecture practice there. In 1895 he entered the competition to design the new Minnesota State Capitol building, but lost to Cass Gilbert. In 1901 he was appointed Minnesota State Architect, serving until 1931, while continuing his private practice. He designed many churches and large homes on Saint Paul's Summit Avenue and Cathedral Hill district, Glensheen mansion in Duluth, and several buildings on the University of Minnesota campus.
Johnston married Mary Thurston (1861-1932), a native of Butler County, Iowa, October 1, 1885. The couple had five children, including architect Clarence H. Johnston, Jr. (1888-1959). Johnston died December 29, 1936 at Saint Paul.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Clarence H. Johnston Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 9837; 17,412
Processing Information:
Processed by: Minnesota Historical Society staff, approximately 1965. Addition by David B. Peterson, January 2022.
Catalog ID number: 990017190580104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1279 | 1 | Correspondence, July 1878-May 1879. | |||||||||
| Correspondence, June-December 1879. | |||||||||||
| From June through December, 1879, Gilbert resided in West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard; Garrison's-on-the-Hudson and Cold Spring, New York; and New Lexington, Ohio. While in New York he worked as assistant aide to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Apart from description work with the survey, these ten letters also contain much information on art and architecture. Included are discussions on the work of the English architects George Edmund Strong and Richard Norman Shaw, and the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson; minute descriptions of the stained glass process; and ideas for decorative grill work. The letters also detail Gilbert's plans to study architecture in Europe the following winter. | |||||||||||
| Six letters to Johnson (January-May 1879) describe Gilbert's student life at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston. Johnston, then living in St. Paul, had previously attended the Institute and had roomed with Gilbert. The letters contain pointed references to Gilbert's fellow students (particularly James Knox Taylor) and to MIT instructors, lectures, his views on architecture, and sketching he had done in the Boston area. Gilbert also discusses his illnesses and competitions for prizes offered by MIT. The letter dated May 29 tells of fraudulent practices indulged in by students to win the prizes. Many of the letters contain pen and ink illustrations by Gilbert. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, January-July 1880. | |||||||||||
| The seven letters were written from the following places: Paris, Montbrison, Moulin, Nevers, and Tours, all in France, and London, England. The first letter describes his brief stay in England and contains much detail on his impressions of architecture in the English cities of Chester, London, Southampton, Salisbury, and Ramsey. The French letters give details on living conditions, expenses, and some descriptions of architecture, as well as a description of his visit to the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (September 18, 1882). Included in this section is a letter (May 12) from Gilbert's mother, Emily W. (Mrs. Samuel A.) Gilbert, to Johnston, congratulating Johnston on his acceptance of a position in New York and inquiring about the possibility of a position for Cass upon his return. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1882-1883. | |||||||||||
| Seven letters (August-November 1882) written while Gilbert was a member of the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White, Baltimore. They give information on the firm's architectural projects, Gilbert's dissatisfaction with the firm, dissension among the workers, and routine matters. Two letters from Venice, Italy describe an unidentified correspondent's tour of Europe (October 13, 1882) and Johnston's own trip to Italy (March 10, 1883). | |||||||||||
| Specifications for Clarence H. Johnston, Jr.’s house on Lot 11, Block 6, Terrace Park Addition to St. Paul, undated. | |||||||||||
| Presumably for the residence. | |||||||||||
| Scrapbook, approximately 1896-1898. | |||||||||||
| Dismantled scrapbook includes illustrations of Saint Paul buildings designed by Cass Gilbert; illustrations of designs for the new Minnesota state capitol building that were submitted in the competition, including those of Johnston and Gilbert; and newspaper articles on the capitol design competition; the award of the work to Cass Gilbert, progress of the capitol building, and construction of the St. Paul Public Library and the Agricultural Building at the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, Omaha, 1898, both designed by Gilbert, as well as of the Drew School, Saint Paul, designed by Johnston. All illustrations were clipped from newspapers; they are not photographs. | |||||||||||
| All the newspaper articles were photocopied onto archival quality paper and the originals discarded. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1279 | 2 | Sketches and drawings, approximately 1880s. | |||||||||
| Includes tracings, drawings of architectural details, drawings of buildings and houses, and pen and ink sketches and watercolors of European and American architecture. The first page contains the inscription: Clarence H. Johnston, New York, July 15, 1880. A number of the drawings are identified by artist signature and many of them are dated 1880. Some may be by Gilbert. | |||||||||||
| Contents of this dismantled scrapbook have been individually encapsulated. | |||||||||||
| [0.5 cubic feet empty, half-height] | |||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| +328 | 1 | Architectural drawings: | |||||||||
| Architectural drawings for C.H. Johnston residence, Crocus Hill, St. Paul, by C. H. Johnston, undated, 1909. 10 sheets. | |||||||||||
| Sheets 1-8 (linen) contain elevations and floor plans (1909); an unnumbered sheet (linen) is a survey of lot 2, Crocus Hill (undated); and an unnumbered sheet (paper) shows an addition to the garage (undated). | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 142.D.4.8 | 3 | Architectural drawings for C.H. Johnston, Jr., residence, Crocus Hill, St. Paul, by C.H. Johnston, Jr.: | |||||||||
| Residence, undated. 11 sheets. | |||||||||||
| Sheets 1-9 (linen) contain elevations and floor plans; sheet 10 (paper) is a plan for a pool; sheet 11 (paper) shows exterior details. | |||||||||||
| Alterations to residence, 1923. 15 sheets. | |||||||||||
| Sheets 1-15 (8 linen, 7 paper) show elevations, floor plans, and exterior and interior details. | |||||||||||
RELATED MATERIALS
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Architects -- United States.
- Architecture -- Details.
- Architecture -- France.
- Architecture -- England.
- Architecture, Modern.
- Architecture -- Study and teaching.
- Persons:
- Gilbert, Cass, 1859-1934, author.
- Johnston, Clarence H. (Clarence Howard), Jr., 1888-1959.
- Richardson, H. H. (Henry Hobson), 1838-1886.
- Saint-Gaudens, Augustus, 1848-1907.
- Shaw, Richard Norman, 1831-1912.
- Street, George Edmund, 1824-1881.
- Taylor, James Knox.
- Organizations:
- McKim, Mead & White.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Minnesota State Capitol (Saint Paul, Minn. : 1905- )
- U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
- Places:
- Europe -- Description and travel.
- Minnesota -- Capital and capitol.
- Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
- Document Types:
- Architectural drawings (visual works).
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