Inventor Name
Dow, Alden B.
Repository
The Alden B. Dow Archives
315 Post Street
Midland MI 48640
989-839-2744
http://www.abdow.org/archive_research/abdow_archive.htm
Physical Description
32 linear ft.
Summary
Architect, inventor, creativity pioneer, philanthropist, civic leader, and philosopher, of Midland, Mich.; member of Taliesin Fellowship; built Stein House in 1933; friend of Frank Lloyd Wright; firm Alden B. Dow, Inc. and its successors: Alden B. Dow Associates and Dow-Howell-Gilmore Associates responsible for over 600 architectural projects; patented eight of ca. 20 inventions; named Architect Laureate of Michigan in 1983; b. Alden Ball Dow; d. 1983. Personal correspondence, photographs, motion picture films, including the earliest known film of Taliesin Fellowship (1933), lectures and speeches, oral histories, publications by or/and about Dow, sketchbooks and loose sketches, drawings, subject files on his interests in photography, creativity, color theory, model railroads, mechanical toys, work with committees and organizations, and other topics, and other papers. Includes early childhood photographs, materials concerning his education at the University of Michigan and Columbia University School of Architecture, and information concerning the gift to Dow by Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife, Olgivanna Wright, of many rare early 19th century Japanese prints. Persons and organizations represented include his parents Herbert H. (founder of Dow Chemical Company) and Grace A. Dow, wife, Vada Bennett Dow, Marshall M. Fredericks, Edgar Tafel, Paul Tono, American Institute of Architects, Alpha Rho Chi, Architectural League of New York, American Society for Church Architecture, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Guild for Religious Architecture, Historical Society of Michigan, Keep Michigan Beautiful, Inc., Michigan Association of Professions, Michigan Council for the Arts, and Michigan Cultural Commission. Other organizations, places, and subjects represented include Michigan Engineering Society, Michigan Society of Architects, Michigan State Capitol Committee, Midland City Planning Commission, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, Alden B. Dow Home & Studio, Dow Chemical Company, Dow Gardens, Northwood University, Midland, Mich., Lake Jackson and Freeport, Tex., Hillsdale College, and Interlochen Arts Academy. Professional papers housed separately in the repository. There is significant overlap between Dow's personal and professional life and the two collections should be consulted together.
