EDUCATION ADVOCACY PRESERVATION THE MAGAZINE OF THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BUILDING CONSERVANCY SPRING 2017 / VOLUME 8 / ISSUE 1 IN THIS ISSUE Wright and Education Guest Editor: Dale Allen Gyure
editor s MESSAGE wright and education Our schoolhouses look like factories as one passes them going through American towns and villages! Unimaginative, they look more impotent spiritually than any good factory; so many prison houses for the young Western mind are the Greek abstractions still being taught there. (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1958) ABOUT THE EDITOR Dale Allen Gyure is professor of architecture at Lawrence Technological University and a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy board of directors. His published works include Frank Lloyd Wright s Florida Southern College and The Chicago Schoolhouse, 1856-2006: High School Architecture and Educational Reform. Quotations such as this reveal Wright s passion for education and the design of learning environments. This shouldn t be surprising, since he was surrounded by and involved with education for most of his life. His activities with the Taliesin Fellowship are well-documented, but his contact with education actually began much earlier. Wright s mother, Anna Lloyd Jones, had been a teacher before her marriage to William Cary Wright, and education was extremely important to the entire Lloyd Jones family. Wright recalled that Education was Sister Anna s passion even while very young. All this family was imbued with the idea of education as salvation. According to Maginel Wright Barney, Wright s younger sister, Education obsessed [Anna], and she would teach anyone who showed even the vaguest desire to learn. His other sister Mary Jane followed in her mother s footsteps and taught elementary school in Wisconsin and Illinois. The real foundation of Wright s educational experience, however, was formed through the family s connections with the Hillside Home School. His aunts Jane and Ellen Lloyd Jones nicknamed Aunt Jenny and Aunt Nell were lifelong teachers who organized and ran the school on the Jones property at Taliesin in Wisconsin. The sisters formed the Hillside Home School in 1887 as an early experiment in progressive education for children ages 5 to 18. All of these formative connections guaranteed that Wright would be extremely interested in education throughout his life. This aspect of his career, however, isn t as well-known as some of his other endeavors. The essays in this issue of SaveWright explore new avenues of interpreting Wright s architectural projects for education, focusing on built work from the elementary school level to Florida Southern College unbuilt proposals, and comparisons with other educational communities and theorists in an attempt to better understand how his educational history and philosophy manifested itself in his designs. Dale Allen Gyure Guest Editor C O N T E N T S Cover photo: Esplanades at Florida Southern College, photo Mark Hertzberg 1 President s Message: A Progressive Philosophy 2 For the Neighbors: A History of Wright s Wyoming Valley School 7 Florida Southern College and Progressive Education 12 Frank Lloyd Wright and the Urgency of (Art) Education, ca.1930 16 Frank Lloyd Wright s Rosenwald School For Hampton Institute 20 The Live Moment: John Dewey and Frank Lloyd Wright on Continuity and Education 23 Building Owner Resources: Stopping Water Penetration in a Wright Usonian 25 Executive Director s Letter: Reflections on a Milestone Year SaveWright is a biannual publication of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. Guest Editor: Dale Allen Gyure Executive Editor: Susan Jacobs Lockhart Managing Editor: Joel Hoglund Copy Editor: Linda Botsford Designer: Debra Nemeth The mission of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy is to facilitate the preservation and maintenance of the remaining structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright through education, advocacy and technical services. tel: 312.663.5500 email: preservation@savewright.org web: savewright.org 2017, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy
president s MESSAGE a progressive philosophy As Jack Quinan notes in his article in this issue, Frank Lloyd Wright was, by his own admission, an indifferent classroom student. Further, it is well known that Wright did not complete college, leaving the University of Wisconsin after less than two and one-half semesters of study, little if any of it devoted to engineering or the other technical aspects of architecture. But in Wright s view, as expressed by author Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, conventional education paled before the experiential; individual creativity was to be prized over the system of so-called education against which Wright railed. It would be tempting to conclude that Wright s rebellion against educational norms had its genesis in necessity, generated by his lack of formal educational achievement and by his plans, regardless, first to create the Hillside Home School of the Allied Arts and then the Fellowship both educational institutions. Nonetheless, that conclusion appears facile. Whatever his underlying motivations, the articles in this issue by Pelkonen, Quinan, Peter Rött, Dale Allen Gyure and Michael Desmond reveal not only Wright s rejection of conventional educational and allied architectural principles, but his replacement of those principles with an articulated progressive educational philosophy with roots in the works of Tolstoy, Whitman and Dewey that he incorporated into his theories of organic architecture. Such a thought-out construct could hardly be characterized as a mere excuse for academic mediocrity. Nor could his built and unbuilt educational designs have sprung from less considered theoretical underpinnings. There is one article in this issue, Daniel Chrzanowski s discussion of his successful efforts to stop water penetration in his Wright-designed home, the Dobkins House, that does not fit with the theoretical themes that have so far been mentioned. Yet, even Wright the visionary had to rely, on occasion, on the technical skills of his apprentices and associates such as Wes Peters and Jack Howe. We thought a bracing dose of reality would likewise be of benefit here, providing to homeowners and others with Wright-like houses valuable practical teachings with respect to issues of house maintenance. It is a part of the Conservancy s educational mission that we find of great importance, and for that reason, plan for the continuation of such articles in future issues of SaveWright. As a final matter, I wish to note, with great appreciation, the work of Joel Hoglund and the Conservancy staff that has led to the publication by Princeton Architectural Press of the latest and extensively revised edition of the Conservancy s book Wright Sites: A Guide to Frank Lloyd Wright Public Places a valuable reference for each of us to treasure. Good reading to you all. Edith Payne President Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy Former Owner, Richardson House Ron Scherubel Guest Editor 1
PHOTO FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL, MARCH 1958 The Wyoming Valley School opened in January 1958. PHOTO FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL, MARCH 1958 For the Neighbors: A History of Wright s Wyoming Valley School BY PETER RÖTT By 1956, Frank Lloyd Wright s fame was worldwide and he had received every honor the architectural profession could bestow upon him. 2 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Peter Rött is co-owner and principal of Isthmus Architecture, Inc., a Madison-based architectural firm specializing in sustainable preservation. Rött joined the Taliesin Fellowship in 1978 at the age of 20 and in 1985 was the first recipient of a Master of Architecture degree granted at Taliesin. Rött was a principal with Taliesin Architects and director of operations for the Madison office responsible for the completion of Monona Terrace. He is secretary for the Seth Peterson Cottage Conservancy and a 2013 recipient of the Wright Spirit Award. Construction was finally beginning on the Guggenheim Museum in New York, he was battling to see his Monona Terrace Civic Center move ahead in Madison, Wisconsin, and he was in the midst of publicizing his new Mile High Illinois skyscraper. Design for his Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, was just completed and there were another 34 active projects on the boards. Wright scholar Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer claimed, At least nine [ ] projects would begin construction in 1956 or soon thereafter. One of these was the Wyoming Valley School in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The Town of Wyoming s school board was seeking to consolidate its six existing rural school districts into one joint district. On January 17, 1956, the town held a public hearing on the proposal at the County Courthouse in nearby Dodgeville. The time had come to discontinue the traditional system of one-room rural elementary schools. Several factors conspired to prompt talk of consolidation. The cost of maintaining multiple buildings, each with its own operating costs, and the difficulty in getting teachers were the main factors. The fact was that in 1956 multiple schools in this family farm community were serving only 67 children. Creating a new single district would permit Wyoming to continue to provide quality education more efficiently at a reasonable cost. If a new, larger school were to be considered, it would have indoor toilets and a common kitchen. These amenities would serve the community s needs for a gathering place in addition to the school use. The
When asked about his gift, Wright said, It was time we did something for the county. It s just one of the things I plan to do around here to make this a wonderful valley. He said he had no direct connection with the school district. I m just a neighbor, he said. The caption to this photo in the March 1958 Milwaukee Journal read: Groups of pupils leave their school, which seems to grow out of the hillside. single school could have a hot lunch program and could take part in the (new at the time) milk program for schoolchildren. On April 3, 1956, a referendum passed in favor of consolidation. The residents of Wyoming were following a statewide trend that brought great change to the children of rural Wisconsin. This trend had a profound effect on public primary education in the state. With the referendum passed, efforts focused on building a new school. This would require the selection of an architect to design the building. As it turned out, Frank Lloyd Wright was a resident of Wyoming. Herbert Fritz Jr., Cary Caraway and James Dresser also resided in the town and had apprenticed with Wright at Taliesin. Caraway and Dresser, both members of the school board, felt Wright should be asked to design the new school. Additionally, they all well knew the contribution and impact Wright s family had on education. Wright s aunts were pioneering educators for whom he designed school buildings in the township, and his uncles were founding members of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. Their influence contributed to Wright s eventual founding of the Taliesin Fellowship, his apprenticeship endeavor to train architects. School board minutes record Caraway s motion to contact Wright. Dresser seconded the motion and after some very lively discussion the motion passed. Shortly thereafter, members Lester Porter and Paul Buckner met Wright in his studio at Taliesin to make inquiry. Fritz s wife Eloise recalled that Wright was delighted. The local paper, The Weekly Home News, reported that Wright would graciously design the school PHOTO FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL, MARCH 1958 One of the two classroom spaces in use without cost and contribute a portion of the funds necessary to secure a site sufficient for the new facility. When asked about his gift, Wright was reported as saying, It was time we did something for the county. It s just one of the things I plan to do around here to make this a wonderful valley. He said he had no direct connection with consolidated joint school district 8. I m just a neighbor, he said. The new school would be built on the site adjacent to the old Upper Wyoming school. It would contain two classrooms, an auditorium, teachers room, restrooms and a kitchen. Wright stipulated that the auditorium be dedicated to his mother Anna Lloyd Wright, a teacher. The design of the school sprang from a much earlier Wright design that he named Kindersymphonies. In 1926, Wright had designed four kindergartens for the Chicago suburb of Oak Park. Of it Pfeiffer wrote: No project more evidently portrays Wright s love of delighting small children than this one for a group of four playhouses in Oak Park, Illinois. 3
All forms of religion have a basic desire to function in harmony with their beliefs and I try to help them to materialize their ideas in something beautiful for all humanity, said Wright. The Wyoming Valley School was larger than these proposed buildings and specifically suited to its site. It might seem surprising that Wright would reach back to a 30-year-old unbuilt project for the new school, but it was clearly still on his mind. Just a year prior, he collaborated with Edgar Kaufmann Jr. on a book, An American Architecture, and included an illustration of Kindersymphonies. The evolution of the school design is documented in Wright s subsequent book, The Living City. It is interesting to note that Wright included this school in the book to help illustrate his city planning vision. The book was a companion to the Broadacre City model he assembled in the 1930s. It showed an exterior rendering of the school with local stone masonry and a floor plan drawing. The floor plan closely resembled the final school building; however exposed concrete block masonry was substituted for the exterior stone masonry when the school was built. It seems no accident that Wright gave this small school such serious consideration and promotion. After Wright s founding of the Taliesin Fellowship he urged apprentices to settle around Taliesin in Wyoming. As his uncles and aunts neighboring farms came onto the market, some apprentices purchased the properties and put down roots. More than once Wright alluded to building his Broadacre City here, encircling Taliesin. In addition to helping Wright to realize his architecture by staffing his studio, these apprentices and their families chose to become pioneers in Wright s Broadacre vision. The school project was accomplished by a team of Wright collaborators. Preparation of the construction drawings and specifications involved current and former Taliesin apprentices. Documents confirm the involvement of Fritz Jr., Wright s neighbor and former apprentice, as the main draftsman and site supervisor. Taliesin apprentices E. Thomas Casey and Cornelia Brierly had roles as structural engineer and landscape architect, respectively. Casey made the structural calculations for the steel beams that support the roof system and Brierly prepared the landscape plan and planting specifications. Madison contractor and Wright associate Marshall Erdman won the contract to build the school. To complete the building on time There are two Wright schools in Wisconsin, one for his followers, the other a gift to neighbors, began a 1967 Milwaukee Journal article on the school. 4 PHOTO FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL, 1967 IMAGE COURTESY OF PETER RÖTT Plan of the Wyoming Valley School building as built