Sarah Pillsbury Harkness
Papers, 1985-1997
Ms97-024

Introduction:

Born 1914. Sarah Pillsbury Harkness, an architect of Lexington, Massachusetts, received her Master of Architecture degree from the Smith College Graduate School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in 1940. She was a founder, in 1945, and now Principal Emeritus of the Architects Collaborative (TAC). She was President of the Boston Society of Architects, a chapter of the AIA, in 1985. She was a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer and Guest Lecturer at the University of Arizona, Tucson, a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a thesis advisor, lecturer, critic, and honorary member of the Boston Architectural Center.

Harkness's most noteworthy designs include the New Main Library and the Olin Arts Center at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine; the Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; the Art School Addition at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, Massachusetts; and the C. Thurston Chase Learning Center of the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Harkness has received many awards in her career, including the Boston Society of Architects Prize (1941), the American Association of School Administrators Award for her design of the Fox Middle School in Bedford, New York (1967), the American Institute of Architects Honor Award for her design of the Chase Learning Center of the Eaglebrook School (1967), the American School and University Louis I. Kahn Citation for her design of the Olin Arts Center at Bates College (1987), and the Boston Society of Architects 1991 Award of Honor.

Harkness was elected as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1979. She is a registered architect of Massachusetts and Tennessee.

Scope and Content:

The Sarah Pillsbury Harkness papers consist of a book written by her in 1985, Sustainable Design for Two Maine Islands; a booklet documenting the presentations given on November 21, 1991, at an awards dinner by the Boston Society of Architects, where Harkness was presented with the 1991 Award of Honor; and architectural drawings and photographs for her 1996-97 design of a house in Essex, Massachusetts.

Provenance:

The audiocassette and the book were donated to the International Archive of Women in Architecture in 1987. The Shaw House drawings and the Boston Society of Architects award booklet were donated in September 1997. The collection was organized in April 1998 by Laura Katz Smith, Manuscripts Curator, Special Collections Department.

Contents List:

Book:

• Harkness, Sarah P. Sustainable Design for Two Maine Islands. Boston, Boston Architectural Center, 1985. This book is cataloged for the Rare Book Room, Special Collections. Call number: HT393 M2 S9 1985.

Box:

• Folder 1: 1986--audiocassette of a lecture given by Harkness at Virginia Tech on October 29, 1986, about sustainable design.
• Folder 2: 1991--booklet documenting the presentations given at the awards dinner when Harkness was presented with the Boston Society of Architects 1991 Award of Honor, November 21, 1991. Includes photographs of many of Harkness's designs and biographical information about her.
• Folder 3: 1997--Photographs of the Shaw House in Essex, Massachusetts

Oversized folder:

• 1996-97--architectural drawings of the Shaw House in Essex, Massachusetts (23 drawings)

Send questions or comments to:
IAWA Archivist, University Libraries
Virginia Tech, P.O. Box 90001,
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001