Content Description

The Lord & Schryver Architectural Records consist primarily of landscaping plans and drawings, correspondence and office files, subject files, plus a variety of other materials relating to their profession as landscape architects. The records well represent the first firm of professional women landscape architects on the west coast, founded in 1929 by Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver.

The drawings account for the largest portion of the collection. They are arranged alphabetically by project (client) name. A complete list of projects follows at the end of the folder by folder inventory. Those with related correspondence are annotated for easy cross-reference. Oversize drawings are indicated with an asterisk. Where the grounds were planned in conjunction with the construction of a residence, the architectural blueprints can also be found in the drawing file. In addition, some projects consist of only one drawing (which may be a fairly rough sketch) while more elaborate projects contain several series of drawings (i.e., construction plans for walls, steps, benches, fences, and arbors).

Project correspondence relates to the ongoing exchanges between clients and the architects. These files contain information about consultations, site inspections, plan approvals, job costs, work schedules, miscellaneous measurements, order for plant materials, and labor costs for subcontractors. Arrangement is alphabetical by client name; within the file correspondence is arranged chronologically. It should be noted that not all projects are represented by both drawings and correspondence. The measurement series was maintained separately because the client is often unidentified. It consists of rough measurements which also detail the lines and contours of property sites.

Correspondence between Lord-Schryver and nurseries is arranged alphabetically by nursery; the contents within a given file are arranged chronologically. Exchanges contain inquiries about availability of plant materials, prices, order for material, and compliments/complaints about stock. While some of the letters contain individual project orders, most are joint project plant orders, which is why they appear here instead of in the project correspondence series.

Cost inquiries for design plans and consultations, exchanges with specialized nurseries supplying unique materials, travel information, and requests for flower show judging comprise the general correspondence. There also may be client/project letters in here where only first names are used as well as projects that didn’t materialize. This series is arranged chronologically.

Texts of lectures are related correspondence, radio scripts and articles, and Edith Schryver’s teaching files from Oregon State College (now University) comprise the lecture and article series. Subjects of lecture range from plant materials to landscape design philosophies to gardens in foreign countries. They are arranged alphabetically by title. Included are “Home Garden Hour” radio scripts which detail a day in the office of a landscape architect and articles for the Oregonian, geared to the home gardener.

Various community and historical projects in which Lord and Schryver were involved are also represented in the collection.. The two women were responsible for the historic renovation of the grounds for the Bush House in Salem, as well as the Minthorn House in Newberg, which was the boyhood home of Herbert Hoover. As members of the Oregon Roadside Council, they campaigned actively against highway billboards. On a local level, they designed many of Salem’s parks, drawings of which are included in the collection. Salem’s Tree Commission proved to be a frustrating experience because the city felt it couldn’t allocate the necessary funds needed for selected trees, maintenance, and labor.

Aside from the drawings, the largest segment of material is the subject file subseries (located within the research material). Arranged alphabetically by subject, the files chiefly contain printed material collected by Lord and Schryver. While a large portion of the subject matter relates to architecture and landscaping, other interests of both women are reflected here.

The billing files are arranged by year and were transferred as found in the Lord-Schryver office files. For the most part they are files by nursery in reverse chronological order. The bills represent plant material ordered and paid for; several projects may be listed on a bill but the plant material is combined as one order to ensure volume discounts. Researchers may want to cross-reference this material with that hound in the project, nursery, and general correspondence series to determine a total picture of the quantity uses, prices paid, and where the plants originated. Labor costs for the gardeners who completed site plantings as well as Lord-Schryver’s own time spent supervising a project can be found here.

Catalogs in the collection represent the offerings of a wide range of nurseries with whom Lord-Schryver did business. It is interesting to note the varieties and colors available in seed during this time because many are difficult, if not impossible, to find today.

Two boxes of photographs have been transferred to the Photograph Collection. The first contains photos and slides of various trips taken by Lord and Schryver to the Orient, South Africa, South America, England, France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. Subjects are primarily gardens and church architecture. Photographs of project sites and gardens they designed comprise the other box. Five cases of glass lanterns slides, used to illustrate their lectures and record their travels, were also removed to the Photograph Collection.

There is little in the way of biographical material; items of a personal nature were removed at the request of the donor. Brief biographical sketches outline education, training and organizations relative to their profession. The notebook subseries (located within the Research material) contains a few personal observations about their travels, their own garden through the years, a family visit or two, and some random notes regarding dispersal of selected items ot close friends.