The Papers of William Allan Coles

Special Collections Department, Boston Athenæum

Contact Information:

Reference Department

Boston Athenæum

10 ½ Beacon Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02108

617.227.0270

Appointment Form

Processed by:					Abigail Schoolman, December 1994.
Encoded by:					Lisa Starzyk-Weldon, October 2001.

© 2001 Boston Athenæum.

Descriptive Summary

	Papers of William Allan Coles, 1951-1993
	Coles, William Allan, 1930-
	Three boxes.
	Boston Athenæum. Reference Department.
	Materials primarily associated with publication of the Classical America series and relating to activities of the Classical America Society including correspondence, submissions to the journal, photographs, clippings and newsletters. Materials also relate to various other literary projects including notes, outlines, correspondence, articles and manuscripts associated with the production of Architecture in America: A Battle of Styles and Architecture and Society: Selected Essays of Henry Van Brunt. Major correspondents in the collection include Henry Hope Reed and John Barrington Bayley; other correspondents include Howard Mumford Jones, Pierce Rice, Clay Lancaster, Norman Neuerburg, R.H. Ives Gammell, and Charles K. Warner. The bulk of materials dates from the 1960s and 1970s. Coles was co-founder and editor of Classical America and co-wrote Architecture in America: A Battle of Styles (1961). He also edited Architecture and Society : Selected Essays of Henry Van Brunt (1969).

Acquisition Information

Arrangement

The Coles papers consist of two series. There is some overlap in subject matter in the correspondence. The letters have been distributed into their series according to original order and/ or predominant topic. Major occurrences are indicated in the Content Lists.

Biographical Information:

William Allan Coles was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 15, 1930, the son of Philip and Sonia (Young) Coles. He was educated at Harvard University (A.B., 1951, M.A., 1952, Ph.D., 1956). Coles was an instructor at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville from 1956-1958, an an assistant professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1958-1962. In 1962, Coles moved on to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He was an assistant professor from 1962-1967., an associate professor from 1967-9172, and in 1972, he became a full professor of English at the University.

Coles was a cofounder, in 1967, of Classical America, a society devoted to the study and appreciation of classicism. He served on the Board of Directors and as editor of the journal, Classical America.

Coles wrote, with Henry Hope Reed, Architecture in America: A Battle of Styles, published in 1961. He also edited Architecture and Society: Selected Essays of Henry Van Brunt, published in 1969.

Scope and Content Note:

The William A. Coles Papers consist of two series. Series One is comprised of materials concerning Classical America and Series Two is comprised of materials relating to Coles' projects. The majority of the collection belongs to Series One. As a founder, a board member of the society, and as editor of Classical America, Coles accumulated extensive correspondence relating to the activities of the society and the publication of the journal. The Classical America series is divided into correspondence, submissions to the journal, other printed materials, photographs, and architectural drawings.

While Classical America was founded in 1967, many of the submissions to the journal (which include some previously printed materials) are of an earlier date, as are many of the clippings relating to classicism accumulated by Coles. The series spans the years 1951-1993, at which point the collection was donated to the Athenaeum. However, the bulk of the material is from the 1960s and 1970s when the journal was being published. The society published only four issues of Classical America. They continue to publish their newsletter Classical Forum.

The major correspondents in the collection include fellow founders of Classical America, particularly Henry Hope Reed and John Barrington Bayley. Other correspondents include: Howard Mumford Jones, Pierce Rice, Clay Lancaster, Norman Neuerburg, R.H. Ives Gammell, and Charles K. Warner.

There is some overlap in subject matter in the correspondence. The letters have been distributed into their series according to original order.

Local Subject Headings

Reed, Henry Hope.

Bayley, John Barrington, 1914-1981.

Jones, Howard Mumford, 1892-

Rice, Pierce.

Lancaster, Clay.

Neuerburg, Norman.

Gammell, R. H. Ives.

Warner, Charles K.

Van Brunt, Henry, 1832-1903.

Classical America (Society)

Architecture, Victorian--United States.

Series Description and Contents List