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Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
Business Number: 540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu
URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu
Danielle Morrison, Student Assistant; Laura Katz Smith, Archivist; and Samantha Winn, Archivist
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to research.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Judith Edelman Architectural Papers, Ms1997-010, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Source of Acquisition
The Judith Edelman Architectural Papers were donated to the International Archive of Women in Architecture by their creator in January 1997. Additional materials were donated by the creator in June 1997 and by Edelman's estate in March 2015.
Processing Information
The initial processing, arrangement and description of the Judith Edelman Architectural Papers was completed in July 1997 by Danielle Morrison, Student Assistant, and Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator. Additions were processed incorporated in November 2017 by Samantha Winn, Collections Archivist.
Biographical Note
Judith Edelman (nee Hochberg), FAIA, was born on September 16, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York and passed away on October 4, 2014 in her Manhattan home. She was educated at Connecticut College (1940-41), New York University (1941-42), and Columbia University School of Architecture (1942-46) where she received her B. Arch. in 1946. She apprenticed with architect Huson Jackson from 1948 to 1958, then worked for architect Harold Edelman from 1958 to 1960 and as a designer for Edelman & Salzman from 1960 to 1964. She was a partner in Edelman & Salzman, Architects, from 1964 to 1978, and The Edelman Partnership/Architects in New York City from 1979 to 2014. She was a registered architect in New York state, where she conducted renovations and designed residential and commercial structures.
Edelman was elected to the executive committee of AIA's New York chapter in 1971. Edelman served as chairwoman of the Task Force on Women in Architecture for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) from 1974 to 1975, overseeing the development of landmark reports and affirmative action plans on the status of women in the field. In 1974, she served as a model and inspiration for a children's book by Gloria and Esther Goldreich, What Can She Be? An Architect. She was awarded a fellowship in the AIA in 1981. In 1989, the National Organization for Women's New York Chapter designated Edelman a "Woman of Vision." Edelman was a founding member of the Alliance of Women in Architecture and a member of the International Union of Women Architects (UIFA).
External Source: Martin, D. (2014, October 18). "Judith Edelman, Architect, 91, Is Dead; Firebrand in a Male-Dominated Field." New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/business/judith-edelman-architect-91-is-dead-firebrand-in-a-male-dominated-field.html
Scope and Content
The Judith Edelman papers comprise correspondence, photographs, lecture materials, newspaper clippings, publications, and ephemera relating to Edelman's work in architecture and urban development as well as her advocacy on behalf of women professionals. Materials include writings by Edelman and about her work, as well as correspondence relating to several traveling exhibits on women in architecture. The collection also includes reference materials, drawings, and photographs for ten architectural projects conducted between 1965 and 1992.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into three series:
Series I: Personal, (1947-1998, n.d.) contains biographical information, published profiles, personal correpsondence, and photographs.
Series II: Professional (1952-2009, n.d.) includes publications and handwritten speech drafts, ephemera for various lecture series, documentation of Edelman's professional contributions to various associations, records of significant professional fellowship and conferences, correspondence relating to various exhibitions, and reference files on New York architecture and the history of women architects. This series comprises Subseries A: Writings; Subseries B: Presentations and Lectures; Subseries C: Associations and Committees; Subseries D: Conferences and Travel; Subseries E: Exhibitions; and Subseries F: Reference files.
Series III: Projects (1965-1992, n.d.) includes photographs, catalogs, drawings, project proposal documents, and files on ten projects to which Edelman contributed.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- History of Women in Architecture
- International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)
- Women -- History
- Women architects -- New York
- Women-owned architectural firms
Rights Statement for Archival Description
The guide to the Judith Edelman Architectural Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).
Container List
- box-folder 1 folder: 1
Biographical Information1997-1998, n.d.
- box-folder 1 folder: 2
Profiles and interviews with Edelman1973-1982, n.d.
- box-folder 1 folder: 3
Personal correspondence1947, 1973, n.d.
- box-folder 1 folder: 4
Photographsn.d.Scope and Content
Family portrait (color); black and white photographs, c. 1970s, probably taken by Robert Ipcar for "What Can She Be? An Architect."
- Subseries A: Writings1980, 1985, n.d.
- box-folder 1 folder: 5
Review of 'Housing Messages,' Journal of architectural research (vol 7 No 3)August 1980
- box-folder 1 folder: 6
"Barriers to Architectural Innovation: The Case of Two Bridges," by Edelman, published as a chapter in The Unsheltered Woman , edited by Eugenie Ladner Birch1985
- box-folder 1 folder: 7
Memo, women in architectural program at Columbia University
- box-folder 1 folder: 5
- Subseries B: Presentations and Lectures1977-1983
- box-folder 1 folder: 8
Speech draft, SHF Annual Meeting9 June 1983
- box-folder 1 folder: 9
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Lecture Series (poster)1977-1978
- box-folder 1 folder: 10
Claire Watsun Forrest Memorial Lecture Series at the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon, with two interviews with Edelman1981-1982
- box-folder 1 folder: 11
Hunter College, Women and Housing Seminar1981-1983
- box-folder 1 folder: 8
- Subseries C: Associations and Committees1971-1989, 2008-2009
- box-folder 1 folder: 12
American Institute of Architects, women in architecture1973-1989Scope and Content
Includes copy of the 1975 AIA Affirmative Action Plan and documents from the Task Force on Women in Architecture, chaired by Edelman.
- box-folder 1 folder: 13
Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals1982
- box-folder 1 folder: 14
New York State Association of Architects, 1973 Convention1973
- box-folder 1 folder: 15
American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter (Honors Committee)1971-1979, 2009
- box-folder 1 folder: 16
National Organization for Women, New York Chapter1989, 2008Scope and Content
Includes correspondence and acceptance speech draft 1989 Women of Vision Award.
- box-folder 1 folder: 12
- Subseries D: Conferences and Travel1974-1975, 1977, 1979, 1990-1991, 2000-2004
- box-folder 1 folder: 17
Women in Architecture Symposium, Washington University29 March 1974
- box-folder 1 folder: 18
West Coast Women's Design Conference, University of Oregon18-20 April 1974
- box-folder 2 folder: 1
Conference for Women in Design and Planning, Boston Architectural Center7-9 November 1975
- box-folder 2 folder: 2
China Study Group on Environmental Issues1977
- box-folder 2 folder: 3
Urban Poverty and Distributive Justice, New York, NY1979
- box-folder 2 folder: 4
American Academy of Rome, Rome Prize Fellowship Application1990-1991
- box-folder 2 folder: 5
Preservation League of NYC, Cuba2000
- box-folder 2 folder: 6
Cuba2001-2004
- box-folder 2 folder: 7
American Academy of Rome27 October - 10 November 2003
- box-folder 1 folder: 17
- Subseries E: Exhibitions1974, 1982, 1996
- box-folder 2 folder: 8
NYC-AIA Exhibition, 'Women in Architecture'1974
- box-folder 2 folder: 9
'Alliance of Women in Architecture, 1972-1982'1982
- box-folder 2 folder: 10
Correspondence Re: American Institute of Architects,'That Exceptional One,1987-1988'
- box-folder 2 folder: 11
AIA/NY Chapter, 'Projections: A Celebration of Work by Women'1996
- box-folder 2 folder: 8
- Subseries F: Reference Files1952, ca. 1963, 1972, 1981
- box-folder 2 folder: 12
'Women in Architecture,' Architectural ForumSeptember 1972
- box-folder 2 folder: 13
Making Room: Women and Architecture,' Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art & Politics, Issue 11 (Vol 3, No 3)1981
- box-folder 3 folder: 2
Photocopy of Huron Jackson's 'A Guide to New York Architecture, 1660-1952,' Reinhold Publishing Corporation1952
- box-folder 2 folder: 12
- box-folder 3 folder: 3
Stablen.d.
- box-folder 3 folder: 4
Gansevoort Market Area Study, NY1965
- box-folder 3 folder: 5
Fleming-Joffe Ltd., New York and St. Louis1967
- box-folder 3 folder: 6
Nine-G Cooperative, New York1969
- box-folder 3 folder: 7
Rudolph House, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts1969
- box-folder 3 folder: 8
Claremont Gardens, Ossining, NYca. 1970s
- box-folder 3 folder: 9
Jenings Hall Senior Citizen's Housing, Brooklyn, New York1981
- box-folder 3 folder: 10
New Goddard-Riverside Apartments, New York1984
- box-folder 3 folder: 11
Columbus Green Apartments, New York1987
- box-folder 3 folder: 12
Chung Pak/Everlasting Pine, New York1992