Harvey Ellis Scholarship
Eileen Manning Michels has been researching Harvey Ellis (1852-1904) and writing about him ever since discovering his existence in 1952 in a graduate seminar at the University of Minnesota. Her 1953 M. A. thesis, The Architectural Designs of Harvey Ellis, was the first attempt to trace the evolution of his designs of the 1880s and 1890s for several midwestern architects: Charles Mould and J.Walter Stevens in St. Paul; Minnesota; Leroy Sunderland Buffington and G. W. and F. D. Orff in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Eckel and Mann in St. Joseph, Missouri; and George Mann and Randall, Ellis and Baker in St. Louis. Missouri. Written at the beginning of her graduate study of American architecture and before important documentation was publicly accessible, it was filled with factual and interpretive errors that have been repeated in many subsequent theses and other publications without further investigation. The mistakes are corrected in her book Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis, whose contents are itemized below. Her 1971 doctoral dissertation written at the University of Minnesota was a pioneering study of architectural drawings published in American architectural periodicals between 1875 and 1895. It established the historical context for Ellis's beautiful perspective renderings that had inspired emulation throughout the country and brought fame to him and his employers.
Other Relevant Professional Experience
Through the years, in addition to her research about Harvey Ellis, Dr. Michels has focused her education, scholarly pursuits, teaching, other publications, and conference presentations on American and European architecture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, particularly the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School; Louis Sullivan; Henry Hobson Richardson; Gustav Stickley and the American Arts and Crafts movement; Edwin Lundie; and Hector Guimard and the Art Nouveau (the latter funded by a Fulbright Award for study in Paris). An early advocate of historic preservation, she served for many years on city and state commissions dedicated to the cause. She has long been active in the national Society of Architectural Historians as variously a board member, its secretary, sessions chair and presenter, a tour leader, a participant in its foreign and domestic tours, and a life member. In 1973 she was a co-founder of its Minnesota Chapter and served as an officer for many years. In 2012 she was named a Fellow of the national Societ of Architectural Historians. She has taught a range of art and architectural history courses at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, UW at Milwaukee, Stanford University, and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, whose Department of Art History she established in 1978. She retired as Professor Emerita from St. Thomas in 1992.She continues to research Ellis and his work.
Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis
Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis
http://reconfiguringharveyellis.blogspot.com
Minneapolis: Beaver's Pond Press (Minneapolis, Minn.: 2004)
9x12 hard cover, 364 pages, 245 b/w and 45 color illustrations, $70
Available at http://www.bookhousefulfillment.com/
Contents of Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis
Preface and Acknowledgements
1 Rochester 1852-72
Family and Early Years
2 Albany, New York, and Rochester 1872-77
The Art Student
3 Rochester 1877-85
The Young Painter and Teacher
4 Rochester 1877-85
H. and C. S. Ellis
5 Europe (?), Utica, and St. Paul 1885-86
In the Offices of Charles Mould and J. Walter Stevens
6 Minneapolis 1887-89
In the Office of Leroy Sunderland Buffington and
G. W. and F. D. Orff
7 Harvey Ellis and Late Nineteenth Century Perspective Rendering
8 St. Joseph 1889-90
In the Office of Eckel and Mann
(See new information (2010) in the post "Mrs. Harvey Ellis" in
http://harveyellisfacts.blogspot.com/)
9 Minneapolis 1891
Briefly Back with Buffington
10 St. Louis 1891-93
In the Offices of George Mann and Randall, Ellis and Baker
11 Rochester 1893-1903
Charles S. Ellis and Harvey Ellis, Architects and
the Rochester Arts and Crafts Society
12 Rochester 1893-1903
The Mature Painter
13 Syracuse 1903-04
Architectural Designs for The Craftsman
14 Ellis and the Issue of Furniture Design for Gustav Stickley
15 Syracuse 1904
Death
Appendix A
Charles and Harvey Ellis, the Supervising Architect of the
Treasury, and the United States Court House and Post Office
in Rochester, New York
Appendix B
Clients, Buildings and Projects of Harvey and Charles Ellis,
1879-1903
Illustration Credits
Index
Facts About Harvey Ellis
http://harveyellisfacts.blogspot.com/
Each post of this blog compares a prevalent misconception about an aspect of Ellis's biography or work with researched facts about it. To date the following posts have appeared:
Annulment of a Secret Marriage
European Trip After West Point
Family Strife
Alcoholism (see Mrs. Harvey Ellis post below for modification)
Work for Henry Hobson Richardson
Anonymous and Pseudonymous Perspective Renderings
Furniture Design for Gustav Stickley?
Mrs. Harvey Ellis
Preliminary Reflections About Gustav Stickley And The American
Arts & Crafts Movement by Kevin W. Tucker et al
This website was maliciously hacked on September 3, 2011. For several hours that day, entering its exact URL produced a sexually explicit image and text. Alerted, Google removed this offensive material. On that same day search engines also briefly blocked all references to another website I maintain, http://reconfiguringharveyellis.blogspot.com/, which describes the contents and history of my book, Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis, There are two questions. Who did these venemous things? Why?
©Eileen Manning Michels 2010
Minneapolis: Beaver's Pond Press (Minneapolis, Minn.: 2004)
9x12 hard cover, 364 pages, 245 b/w and 45 color illustrations, $70
Available at http://www.bookhousefulfillment.com/
The research that led to this first monograph about Harvey Ellis occurred in three separate stages: first, for the thesis; second, for the dissertation; and third for the book, which was delayed for a long time because of other professional obligations. Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis was published after a decade of new research and writing. It was completed with the financial assistance of the Vincent Scully Jr. Award given by the Architectural History Foundation. In 2006 it received the David Stanley Gebhard Award given by the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. The contents of this long awaited monograph are itemized below. Please go to http://reconfiguringharveyellis.blogspot.com/ for a more detailed description of the contents. The book clarifies Ellis's biography; reveals the magnitude of his innate artistic gifts; presents the full extent and cultural context of his achievements and prominence as an artist, architect and perspective renderer; and examines his role in the American Arts and Crafts movement. The book also refutes certain widespreas misconceptions about Ellis as does http://harveyellisfacts.blogspot.com/, Facts
About Harvey Ellis, whose topics are listed below. What has emerged is that Harvey Ellis, prominent during his lifetime but slipping into historical obscurity shortly after his death, merits rejoining mainstream American art and architectural history. The book was reviewed by Kathy l'Ecuyer in The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (vol. 88, no.1, March 2007, pp. 119-21).
About Harvey Ellis, whose topics are listed below. What has emerged is that Harvey Ellis, prominent during his lifetime but slipping into historical obscurity shortly after his death, merits rejoining mainstream American art and architectural history. The book was reviewed by Kathy l'Ecuyer in The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (vol. 88, no.1, March 2007, pp. 119-21).
Contents of Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis
Preface and Acknowledgements
1 Rochester 1852-72
Family and Early Years
2 Albany, New York, and Rochester 1872-77
The Art Student
3 Rochester 1877-85
The Young Painter and Teacher
4 Rochester 1877-85
H. and C. S. Ellis
5 Europe (?), Utica, and St. Paul 1885-86
In the Offices of Charles Mould and J. Walter Stevens
6 Minneapolis 1887-89
In the Office of Leroy Sunderland Buffington and
G. W. and F. D. Orff
7 Harvey Ellis and Late Nineteenth Century Perspective Rendering
8 St. Joseph 1889-90
In the Office of Eckel and Mann
(See new information (2010) in the post "Mrs. Harvey Ellis" in
http://harveyellisfacts.blogspot.com/)
9 Minneapolis 1891
Briefly Back with Buffington
10 St. Louis 1891-93
In the Offices of George Mann and Randall, Ellis and Baker
11 Rochester 1893-1903
Charles S. Ellis and Harvey Ellis, Architects and
the Rochester Arts and Crafts Society
12 Rochester 1893-1903
The Mature Painter
13 Syracuse 1903-04
Architectural Designs for The Craftsman
14 Ellis and the Issue of Furniture Design for Gustav Stickley
15 Syracuse 1904
Death
Appendix A
Charles and Harvey Ellis, the Supervising Architect of the
Treasury, and the United States Court House and Post Office
in Rochester, New York
Appendix B
Clients, Buildings and Projects of Harvey and Charles Ellis,
1879-1903
Illustration Credits
Index
Facts About Harvey Ellis
http://harveyellisfacts.blogspot.com/
Each post of this blog compares a prevalent misconception about an aspect of Ellis's biography or work with researched facts about it. To date the following posts have appeared:
Annulment of a Secret Marriage
European Trip After West Point
Family Strife
Alcoholism (see Mrs. Harvey Ellis post below for modification)
Work for Henry Hobson Richardson
Anonymous and Pseudonymous Perspective Renderings
Furniture Design for Gustav Stickley?
Mrs. Harvey Ellis
Preliminary Reflections About Gustav Stickley And The American
Arts & Crafts Movement by Kevin W. Tucker et al
******
This website was maliciously hacked on September 3, 2011. For several hours that day, entering its exact URL produced a sexually explicit image and text. Alerted, Google removed this offensive material. On that same day search engines also briefly blocked all references to another website I maintain, http://reconfiguringharveyellis.blogspot.com/, which describes the contents and history of my book, Reconfiguring Harvey Ellis, There are two questions. Who did these venemous things? Why?
Eileen Manning Michels
September 8, 2011
