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University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library

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Address:

1150 Beal Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113, USA
bentley.ref@umich.edu

Emil Lorch Papers, 1891-2004 (majority within 1891-1963)

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Summary

Creator:
Lorch, Emil, 1870-1963
Abstract:
Professor of architecture at the University of Michigan; includes correspondence, professional organizational activities files, documentation, photographs, and architectural drawings accumulated during his work with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey
Extent:
18 linear feet
14 oversize folders
Language:
English.
Call Number:
851726; Aa 2 UAm
Authors:
Finding aid prepared by: Thomas E. Powers

Background

Scope and Content:

The Emil Lorch papers are valuable for their documentation of the career of this important architectural educator and for that material about Michigan architecture and historic structures that Lorch accumulated in the course of his professional study and organizational involvement. The collection includes extensive correspondence with many of the country's leading architects, most notably members of the "Chicago School," and architectural educators, and manuscript and photographic documentation resulting from Lorch's involvement with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey and various restoration projects, including Mackinac Island.

Biographical / Historical:

Emil Lorch was born in Detroit of German-American parentage on July 21, 1870. He attended schools in Detroit, including the Detroit Museum of Art School, then went to work for the city's architectural offices. He next studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1890-1892, then returned to Detroit where he worked and was active in art and museum circles, especially the Detroit School of Art where he taught from 1895 to 1898. He studied in Paris, 1898-1899, and then went to Chicago as general assistant to the director of the Chicago Art Institute, 1899-1901. He was also secretary of the Chicago School of Architecture.

Lorch next attended Harvard University, 1901-1903, where he obtained his M.A. degree in architecture. From 1903 to 1906 he was assistant professor of architecture at Drexel Institute in Philadelphia. In the fall of 1906 he came to the University of Michigan to establish a department of architecture in the College of Engineering. Under his leadership, the department in 1931 was re-established as a separate College of Architecture within the university with Lorch appointed as its first dean.

Lorch was both a teacher and a practicing architect. He designed the Architecture Building at the University of Michigan, the Belle Isle Bridge in Detroit, and the residence of Alex Dow in Barton Hills. He was also professionally involved. Lorch served on the Committee on Education of the American Institute of Architects and was active in the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the Michigan Society of Architects. During his career, Lorch corresponded with all the leading figures in academic architectural education, including Roy Jones, Warren P. Laird., and J. B. Robinson. He also was a leading figure in the movement for licensing architects in Michigan, 1915-1917, and served nationally in this movement through the 1930s via the A.I.A.'s Committee on Registration.

After his retirement from the university in July 1940, Lorch devoted himself almost entirely to preserving Michigan's historic buildings. This interest had been fired originally by the Historic American Buildings Survey of the 1930s on whose advisory committee he served and whose records (Midwest District) form a part of this collection. He was active in the restoration projects of Mackinac Island and other early Michigan forts; and he cataloged and collected information and pictures about hundreds of historic and contemporary Michigan structures.

Lorch died June 20, 1963.

Acquisition Information:
The collection was donated by Lorch's son-in-law Roger Bailey in 1963. Donor no. 4041
Arrangement:

The collection has been arranged into thirteen series: Biographical/personal; Correspondence; Published Articles; Architectural League of America; University of Michigan School of Architecture; Notes for Lectures and Addresses; American Institute of Architects; Research notes and collected material; Historic American Buildings Survey; Miscellaneous organizational interests; Historic Michigan Buildings; Photographs; and Architectural Drawings.

Subjects

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Subjects:
Architects.
Architecture.
Dormitories -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor.
Historic buildings -- Michigan.
World War, 1914-1918.
Architecture.
Barns.
Buildings.
Business enterprises.
Churches.
Courthouses.
Dwellings.
Hotels and taverns.
Log cabins.
Formats:
Architectural drawings.
Paintings.
Photographs.
Names:
Albion College.
Detroit Edison Company.
Detroit Museum of Art.
Historic American Buildings Survey.
Michigan. State Board of Registration for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Land Surveyors.
National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.
Tau Sigma Delta.
University of Michigan -- Buildings.
University of Michigan. College of Architecture and Design.
University of Michigan. College of Engineering.
University of Michigan. Library.
University of Michigan. Senate.
University of Michigan -- Student housing.
Waldenwoods (Hartland, Mich.)
Huron Mountain Club.
American Institute of Architects.
Architectural League of America.
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architects.
McKim, Mead & White.
Lorch, Emil, 1870-1963.
Mason, George DeWitt, 1856-
Angell, James Burrill, 1829-1916.
Baldwin, Frank Conger, 1869-1945.
Barbour, Levi L. (Levi Lewis), 1840-1925.
Booth, Henry Scripps, 1897-1988.
Burnham, Daniel Hudson, 1846-1912.
Burton, Marion Le Roy, 1874-1925.
Chandler, F. W. (Francis Ward), 1844-1926.
Copeland, Royal S. (Royal Samuel), 1868-1938.
Cret, Paul Philippe, 1876-1945.
Crouse, John Robert, 1874-1946.
Elmslie, George Grant, 1871-1952.
Fairbanks, Avard T. (Avard Tennyson), 1897-1987.
Ferris, Woodbridge N., 1853-1928.
Fitzgerald, Frank Dwight, 1885-1939.
French, William M. R. (William Merchant Richardson), 1843-1914.
Gilbert, Cass, 1859-1934.
Gomberg, Moses, 1866-1947.
Goodhue, Bertram Grosvenor, 1869-1924.
Hamlin, Talbot, 1889-1956.
Hutchins, Harry B. (Harry Burns), 1847-1930.
Ives, Percy.
James, Edmund J. (Edmund Janes), 1855-1925.
Jones, Roy D.
Kahn, Albert, 1869-1942.
Kimball, Fiske, 1888-1955.
Laird, Warren Powers, 1861-1948.
Lawrence, William Henry, 1868-
McKim, Charles Follen, 1847-1909.
Maroti, Geza.
Marquand, Allan, 1853-1924.
Mason, George D., 1856-
Moon, Charles H.
Mumford, Lewis, 1895-1990.
Murphy, Frank, 1890-1949.
Pond, Irving K. (Irving Kane), 1857-1939.
Pritchett, Henry Smith, 1857-1939.
Rindge, Warren.
Robinson, John Beverley, 1853-
Ross, Denman Waldo, 1853-1935.
Saarinen, Eliel, 1873-1950.
Sleeper, Albert E., 1862-1934.
Sullivan, Louis H., 1856-1924.
Wallenberg, Raoul.
Warren, Herbert Langford, 1857-1917.
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924.
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959.
Places:
Ann Arbor (Mich.) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
Belle Isle (Detroit, Mich.)
Holland (Mich.)
Mackinac Island (Mich.)
Albion (Calhoun County, Mich.)
Algonac (Mich.)
Allegan (Mich.)
Ann Arbor (Mich.) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
Ann Arbor (Mich.) -- Panoramic views.
Battle Creek (Mich.)
Bay City (Mich.)
Benton Harbor (Mich.)
Berrien Springs (Mich.)
Blissfield (Mich.)
Bloomfield Hills (Mich.)
Buchanan (Mich.)
Cambridge Junction (Mich.)
Cassopolis (Mich.)
Charlevoix (Mich.)
Chelsea (Mich.)
Climax (Mich.)
Clinton (Mich.)
Coloma (Mich.)
Concord (Mich.)
Constantine (Mich.)
Dearborn (Mich.)
Detroit (Mich.) -- Buildings, structures, etc.
Detroit (Mich.) -- Panoramic views.
Dexter (Mich.)
Dixboro (Mich.)
Drayton Plains (Mich.)
East Grand Rapids (Mich.)
East Lansing (Mich.)
Eastmanville (Mich.)
Farmington (Mich.)
Fayette (Mich.)
Fenton (Mich.)
Flint (Mich.)
Fort Wilkins (Mich.)
Goodrich (Mich.)
Grand Island (Alger County, Mich.)
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Grass Lake (Mich.)
Grindstone City (Mich.)
Grosse Ile (Mich.)
Grosse Pointe (Mich.)
Harbor Springs (Mich.)
Hartland (Mich.)
Highland Park (Mich.)
Hillsdale (Mich.)
Holland (Mich.)
Irish Hills (Mich.)
Ithaca (Mich.)
Jonesville (Mich.)
Kalamazoo (Mich.)
Lamont (Mich.)
Lansing (Mich.)
Lapeer (Mich.)
Mackinaw City (Mich.)
Mackinac Island (Mich.)
Macon (Mich.)
Manchester (Mich.)
Manistee (Mich.)
Maple Rapids (Mich.)
Marquette (Mich.)
Marshall (Mich.)
Mendon (Mich.)
Monroe (Mich.)
Mount Clemens (Mich.)
Munising (Mich.)
Muskegon (Mich.)
Niles (Mich.)
Northville (Mich.)
Otsego (Mich.)
Paris (Mich.)
Paw Paw (Mich.)
Petoskey (Mich.)
Plainwell (Mich.)
Pontiac (Mich.)
Presque Isle (Mich.)
Port Hope (Mich.)
Port Huron (Mich.)
Royal Oak (Mich.)
Rushton (Mich.)
Saginaw (Mich.)
Saint Clair (Mich.)
Saint Joseph (Mich.)
Salem (Mich.)
Saline (Mich.)
Saugatuck (Mich.)
Sault Sainte Marie (Mich.)
Sharon (Mich.)
South Lyon (Mich.)
Spring Arbor (Mich.)
Springville (Mich.)
Sylvan Center (Mich.)
Tecumseh (Mich.)
Tipton (Mich.)
Utica (Mich.)
Washington (Mich.)
White Pigeon (Mich.)
Whitneyville (Mich.)
Ypsilanti (Mich.)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Donor(s) have transferred any applicable copyright to the Regents of the University of Michigan but the collection may contain third-party materials for which copyright was not transferred. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials.

PREFERRED CITATION:

item, folder title, box no., Emil Lorch Papers, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

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Collection

Emil Lorch Papers, 1891-2004 (majority within 1891-1963)
Call Number 851726; Aa 2 UAm
Total components 1,175
Last indexed 2023-12-08