Abstract
The Harry Hayden Whiteley Architectural Records are comprised of architectural records (1931-1970) created and/or maintained by the American architect Harry Hayden Whiteley and/or his architectural firm, known as Harry Hayden Whiteley and Associates. This collection includes 30.21 linear feet of materials including 45 items from over 30 projects. The collection focuses on his work in the Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada areas. The materials feature both architectural drawings and project files. Architectural drawings include pencil and ink on tracing paper preliminary sketches and mounted artist’s renderings used for presentations and promotional materials. Project files include project correspondence, photographs, and structural calculations. The drawings also contain work from the architect Paul Revere Williams. The collection includes architectural drawings for hotels, shopping plazas, residential developments, and office buildings.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Harry Hayden Whiteley Architectural Records (1931-1970) contain 30.21 linear feet of materials, including 45 mounted presentation drawings from 30 projects in the United States, with a strong focus on the Las Vegas, Nevada area. The materials feature hand-drawn architectural drawings, ranging from early preliminary sketches to mounted presentation drawings, and project files that include correspondence and structural calculations. The collection includes unlabeled photographs of Whiteley’s early residential work in the Spanish and Italian villa style of Southern California. In addition, the collection also features work from the architect Paul Revere Williams including preliminary sketches of the lobby for the La Concha Motel, now home to the Neon Museum.
The drawings include 30 projects of varying sizes in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; and varying design problems, from small homes like the residence for Mr. and Mrs. B. A. Todkill, to large projects, like concepts for the Hotel Deauville. While most notable for his residential work in Southern California during the 1920s and 1930s, Whiteley came to the Las Vegas area to work for McNeil Construction Company on the Basic Magnesium Incorporated (BMI) town site that later became Henderson, Nevada. Throughout his career, he was an associate of and collaborated with Paul Revere Williams, most notably for the lobby of La Concha Motel.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Biographical / Historical Note
Architect Harry Hayden Whitely, born in 1890 in Bakersfield, California, studied drafting and worked as the chief draftsman for Twentieth Century Fox in 1920 after serving in World War I. Whiteley graduated in 1924 from the University of Southern California with a degree in engineering. He designed elegant residences in Beverly Hills before World War II, working among the architects Paul Revere Williams, Frank Taylor, and Adrian Wilson. He came to Henderson, Nevada in 1942 to work for McNeil Construction Company designing workers housing for the Basic Magnesium Incorporated (BMI) plant. He returned to San Diego in 1943, where he worked until returning to Las Vegas in 1951. Upon returning, he designed ten million dollars’ worth of public school buildings in three years before developing a business designing tract housing for the new subdivisions. He also designed a number of commercial and public buildings and recreational spaces, including work as the consulting architect for Adrian Wilson on the Las Vegas convention center. Whiteley died in 1970.
Sources
Harry Hayden Whiteley biography prepared for a City of Los Angeles, Office of Historic Resources/Cultural Heritage Commission, Historic-Cultural Monument Nomination form of the Boulevard Heights H. H. Whiteley Mansion.
Preferred Citation
Harry Hayden Whiteley Architectural Records, 1931-1970. MS-00134. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1970; accession number 1970-004.
Processing Note
The finding aid was created and materials were processed in 2017 by Tyler Stanger who rehoused, inventoried, and described the materials.