The papers of C. Theodore Larson measure 4.0 linear feet and date from 1930 to 1985. The bulk of materials, however, are from 1951 to 1974. The papers contain five series: Architectural Research; College of Architecture and Urban Planning; Correspondence; Development index and Published materials.
Before coming to the University of Michigan in 1948 as professor of architecture, Theodore Larson held the following positions in Washington D.C.: architect and project planner, U.S. Housing Authority, 1939-1940; representative for District of Columbia locality, administrator's office, National Housing Agency, 1942-1944; technical consultant (Housing and Science Legislation), Senate Military Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on War Mobilization, 1944-1945; and assistant technical director, National Housing Agency, 1946.
Professor Larson was associate editor of Architectural Record from 1930 to 1936; research consultant of the F. W. Dodge Corporation from 1937 to 1939; technical editor of the Architectural Forum from 1941 to 1942; technical director of General Homes, Inc., 1947; and associate editor of Architectural Forum in 1948.
He was a member of the Committee on Research for Architecture, American Institute of Architects; the Building Research Advisory Board, NAS-NAE-NRC; Chairman of the Committee on Research and Graduate Studies, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture; and was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in May, 1967, "for achievements in education."
Professor Larson was also involved with development of the specialized flows of information needed for coordinated planning of the built environment worldwide. He was the co-author, along with K. Lonberg-Holm of several influential publications including Planning for Productivity, Development Index, and Role of the Mass Media of Information. The last of these was prepared for European Cultural Foundation's Plan Europe and was published in 1972 by Martinus Nijhoff as one of the 17 prospective studies in The Future is Tomorrow.
In addition to all his numerous accomplishments Professor Larson still found time to conceive and initiate the Architectural Research Laboratory (ARL) on the campus of the University of Michigan in 1948. This was the first university architectural lab of its kind anywhere. He remained the director of the lab until 1973. Professor Larson was on the faculty of the University of Michigan's College of Architecture and Urban Planning from 1948 to 1973. He continued as a professor emeritus from 1973 to 1988. He had two sons Dana and Ronal and is also survived by his widow Myra Larson. She also taught at the University of Michigan, within the School of Art.
