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 for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Wena Dows Architectural Collection, Ms1990-013, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

The creator donated the Wena Dows material to the International Archive of Women in Architecture in May 1990. Additions to the collection were received in 2009, 2015, and 2017.

Processing Information

The preliminary processing, arrangement and description of the Wena Dows Architectural Collection was completed in 1990. Final arrangement and description took place from April to August 2005. The 2009 addition was processed February 2012. The 2015 and 2017 additions were processed in October 2021.

Biographical Note

Wena Dows was born in 1928, in Taft, California. She completed a BA in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1950. From 1950 till 1954 she worked as a draftsperson for Ernest F. Winkler, AIA, in San Francisco and for Clyde Bentley, a consulting engineer in Oakland, California. In 1954 she started working independently, specializing in residential architecture. She mostly undertook addition and renovation work to residences in California.

Dows also took courses in nutrition at UCLA, Los Angeles City College, American Institute of Family Relations. Along with her architectural commitments she also worked as a nutritionist. In 1968, Wena Dows was a Diet Analyst for the Retail Clerks Union. She started teaching healthy cooking in 1969 and taught at Venice Adult School, Los Angeles School District for many years. Later she started "The Healthy Gourmet" classes from her residence.

Wena Dows is professionally affiliated with the Association for Women in Architecture (AWA) and the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE). She holds a standard California teaching credential for Architecture and for Nutrition.

Scope and Content

The Wena Dows Architectural Collection consists of hand-drafted architectural drawings with supporting photographs, slides, and textual descriptions of California residential buildings renovated or expanded by Wena Dows from 1952 to 2005. In addition, there are plans for a few commercial projects with limited descriptive information. The textual descriptions contain Dows' handwritten notes on the client's requirements for the project, sketches of the existing building layout and dimensions, lists of the materials to be used for the project and specifications for some projects. Photographs of the building, before and after the work, accompany some of the project documents.

Arrangement

The collection has been arranged into a Project Index. which is a way to organize the various formats of architectural records from the same project. The index is arranged alphabetically by client name and contains information, where available, about the location, date, project type, architect, collaborators, and formats for each project in the collection.

A Summary of the Project Index. is listed below. Consult the Project Index. for location information.

Client Name/Project Title (location, date, architect/collaborator) [Format - Ms=Manuscripts, Dr=Drawings, Ph=Photograghs, S=Slides ]

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Architects
• Architectural drawings (visual works)
• International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)
• Women -- History

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the Wena Dows Architectural Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).