the john and drew eberson architectural records ... - Wolfsonian-FIU

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THE JOHN AND DREW EBERSON ARCHITECTURAL RECORDS ARCHIVE GUIDE TO THE
COLLECTION
The John and Drew Eberson Architectural Records Archive includes all materials produced and
used by John and Drew Eberson, Architects for the creation of buildings. The archive is one of
The Wolfsonian’s major architectural holdings, documenting the work of the firm John and
Drew Eberson, Architects from 1909 through 1988. John Eberson is known as the creator of the
"atmospheric" style movie palaces and credited with designing almost one hundred such
theaters throughout the country in the 1920s. The firm then transitioned to designing theaters in
the Art Deco style. The atmospheric style is characterized by bringing an opulent and exotic
"outdoors" inside to create romanticized indoor "courtyards" bordered by villas and tropical
foliage, topped with ceilings painted to look like the nighttime sky, complete with stars and
clouds. As of May, 2008 there were twenty-eight Eberson theaters on the National Register of
Historic Places. The archive includes records for more than 420 projects and totals more than
7,600 items. The Wolfsonian's work arranging and processing the archive was supported by
major grants from the Getty Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The archive is organized into two series: project records and non-project related material.
Project records are sorted in boxes by a project number assigned by John and Drew Eberson,
Architects and follow a rough chronological order. Materials that do not have a project number
are organized in descending chronological order and are identified by project name and
location.
The Finding Aid and Project Index are the primary means of browsing these records and are
accessible from The Wolfsonian's John and Drew Eberson Architectural Records Archive main
webpage.
Finding Aid
The Finding Aid includes background information on the collection as well as box lists
subdivided into folder lists.

Project Index
The Project Index is the primary means of finding materials pertaining to individual projects.
The Project Index is a downloadable Excel spreadsheet listing each project, some basic
information, and the location of the materials at The Wolfsonian. This associated material may
include correspondence, oversized material, photographs, or drawings; not all projects will
have all four types of associated materials. Locations are indicated by box numbers and folders
within each box. Box numbers contain a letter and a hyphen preceding a number which
represents the type of material (“C” referring to Correspondence, “O” referring to Oversized
Correspondence, “P” referring to Photographs, and “D” referring to Drawings) and the box
number. The box number is followed by a colon and a number indicating folder numbers within
each box. For example, C-21: 1-2 means Correspondence box 21, folders 1 through 2. When
requesting materials, please indicate job number, box number, and folder number(s).
Non-project related materials are all materials not directly related to projects including
professional and non-professional records. These materials are not presented in the Project
Index. Box and folder listings may be found in the Finding Aid under series two.
The John and Drew Eberson Architectural Records Archive Guide to the Collection, updated Sept 2011
The John and Drew Eberson Architectural Records Archive
Guide to the Collection, page 2