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Roger S. Clarke papers

 Collection
Identifier: Roger S. Clarke papers

Scope and Contents

The Papers of Roger S. Clarke consist of drawings, correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, and digital files from the work of Connecticut architect Roger S. Clarke (1936-2011). Clarke, who was born in England and lived in Connecticut was a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). The collection covers a broad range of museums, churches and other significant Connecticut buildings for which Clarke was hired to develop historic preservation and restoration plans, survey historic sites and house museums, and design architectuural renovations for both old and modern buildings. Historic preservation and restoration projects include the Harkness Mansion, Gilette Castle and the Old State House. Surveys and Historic Conservation Reports include The Old Lighthouse Museum in Stonington, St Joseph University Art Gallery in West Hartford and the Hurlbut-Dunham House Museum in Wethersfield. The Charter Oak Cultural Center, Butler McCook House in Hartford and the Squash Court and Dance Studio at Taft School were among Clarke's renovation and reuse projects. Also represented in the Roger S. Clarke papers are architectural drawings or plans for several modern houses and some early work completed while Clarke was in England.

Dates

  • Creation: 1907-2011, and undated

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to the public and must be used in the John M.K. Davis Reading Room of the Watkinson Library, Trinity College Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws when using this collection.

This collection contains born-digital materials. If you would like to access these materials, please contact us prior to your visit as items may require specialized software for access.

Conditions Governing Use

Digital surrogates may be provided in accordance with the duplication policy of the Watkinson Library.

Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.

Archival materials may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during our processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information (e.g. social security numbers) in the collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.

Biographical / Historical

Roger S. Clarke (1936-2011) was a British born and educated American Architect whose work in Historic Preservation had an impact on a large number of public buildings in the city of Hartford and surrounding Connecticut. Clarke was born in Castleford, Yorkshire and received his degree in Architecture on a scholarship at Liverpool University. Work in the offices of Robert Matthew, Johnson, Marshall and Castle, Park, Dean, and Hook in London was followed by his immigration to the United States in 1967. He became an American citizen in 1981. After a brief period at the offices of Skidmore Owings and Merril and Edward Larrabee Barnes in New York, Clarke moved to Connecticut where his interest in restoration began with his work on the Old State House in Hartford for the small firm of Canton Six where he practiced with Richard Swibold. He established his own firm in 1978. Preservation projects included churches, park buildings and historic house museums. Much of his work was for the State of Connecticut, Connecticut Landmarks and for the Getty Heritage Fund which supported the architectural reports and surveys Clarke wrote for many of the Historic House Museums throughout Connecticut.

Clarke lived in Collinsville, Connecticut, from 1972 to 2011 and was devoted to the town's restoration and preservation. He helped place Collinsville on The National Register of Historic Places and was among the first members of the town's Historic District Commission.

Extent

24.5 Cubic Feet (7 record storage cartons, 5 oversized rolled-drawing boxes, 7 large flat archival boxes, 1 letter-size document box, 1 electronic disc)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Intellectually, the collection is organized into 94 small series, which are arranged alphabetically by the names of the clients of Roger S. Clarke, then arranged by box number and by folder number (rather than chronologically within the series). Some series contain multiple projects. Repeated folder titles indicate varying sizes of material, some of which include oversized or rolled material. A series of unindentified material has been placed at the end of the collection.

Physically, the collection is arranged by material type and format size: the 8.5 by 11 inch mixed materials are in boxes 1-4; the photographs in boxes 5, 17 and 20; the oversized mixed materials are in boxes 6-11; the rolled drawings in boxes 12-16; the newsclippings in box 17; and the appointment calendars in boxes 18-19.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Roger S. Clarke papers were donated by Marjorie Clarke in the summer of 2016.

Related Materials

Papers and drawings related to Roger S. Clarke's work for Collinsville are in the Historic Collection of the Canton Public Library.

Separated Materials

Seventeen printed works were removed from the collection and catalogued in the Watkinson Library, Trinity College, Hartford, CT:

Andrews, Gregory E., and David F. Ransom. Structures and Styles: Guided Tours of Hartford Architecture. (Hartford: The Connecticut Historical Society, 1988).

Ayres, James. Building the Georgian City. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988).

Brainard, Newton C. The Hartford State House of 1796. (Hartford: The Connecticut Historical Society, 1964).

Bullock, Orin. The Restoration Manual: An Illustrated Guide to the Preservation and Restoration of Old Buildings.(Norwalk, CT: Silvermine Publishers, 1975, c1966).

Collins, Richard C., Elizabeth B. Waters, and A. Bruce Dotson. America's Downtowns: Growth, Politics, and Preservation. (Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1991).

Historic American Engineering Record Rehabilitation: Claremont 1978, Planning for adaptive use and energy conservation in an historic mill village. (Washington, D.C.: Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, GPO, 1979).

Jordy, William H., and Christopher P. Monkhouse. Buildings on Paper: Rhode Island Architectural Drawings, 1825-1945. (Providence, RI: Bell Gallery, List Art Center, Brown University, 1982).

McKee, Harley J., compiled. The Historic American Buildings Survey: Recording Historic Buildings. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service 1970).

McNulty, Robert H., and Stephen A. Kliment. Neighborhood conservation: A Handbook of Methods and Techniques. (New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1976).

Moss, Roger W. Lighting for Historic Buildings. (Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1988).

Museum of Modern Art. Another chance for housing: Low-Rise Alternatives--Brownsville, Brooklyn, Fox Hills, Staten Island; An Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, June 12-August 19, 1973. (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1973).

Musgrove, John, ed. Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture. (London: Butterworths, 1987).

Nicoletta, Julie. The Architecture of the Shakers. (Woodstock, VT: The Countryman Press, 1995).

Pawley, Martin. Architecture versus Housing. (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971).

Richards, J.M. A Miniature History of the English House. (London: The Architectural Press, 1950, c1938).

von Holst, H.V. Modern American Homes. (Chicago: American Technical Society, 1916, c1912).

Watson, Donald. Designing and Building a Solar House: Your Place in the Sun. (Charlotte, VT: Garden Way Publishing, 1977).

Processing Information

Formerly identified as 2016-003-MS, this collection has been fairly thoroughly processed, to the folder level. The collection came to the library in no apparent original order. After seeking the advice of professional archival staff, the processing volunteer (who was related to Roger S. Clarke) grouped items first by format (e.g. textual files, photographs, oversized plans, rolled drawings), then grouping items related to particular architectural projects or clients. Items were rehoused in acid-free folders and some metal fasteners were removed. Newspapers and newsclippings were isolated in separate containers, though some photographs were left within their original folders inside Boxes 1-4. The entire collection was re-boxed. The electronic disc (CD-R) has not been digitally preserved yet.

Title
Guide to the Roger S. Clarke papers
Status
Completed
Author
Marjorie Clarke, with assistance from Trevor Glasse and Eric C. Stoykovich.
Date
2019-10-29
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Watkinson Library - Archival Collections Repository

Contact:
Trinity College Library
300 Summit St.
Hartford Connecticut 06106