Schlossman, Norman, Collection, 1925-1987 (bulk 1932-1967)

              Schlossman, Norman, (1901-1990) Collection, 1925-1987 (bulk 1932-1967 ) Inventory prepared by the Ryerson and Burnham Archives, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2001 Text tagged in EAD by Nathaniel Parks and the Staff of the Apex CoVantage Sept 08, 2004 Nov 19 2004 Finding aid written in English Norman Schlossman (1901-1990) Collection, 1925-1987 (bulk 1932-1967) 1990.3 1 linear foot (2 boxes) , 3 portfolios , and 1 oversize portfolio Ryerson and Burnham Archives, Ryerson and Burnham Libraries, The Art Institute of Chicago 111 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60603-6110 (312) 443-7292 rbarchives@artic.edu http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/rbarchives/rbarchives.html Newspaper and magazine articles, correspondence and printed matter documenting the built work of the architectural firms Loebl and Schlossman (1925, c.1933-1946), Loebl, Schlossman and DeMuth (1926-c.1933), Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett (1947-1965) and Loebl, Schlossman, Bennett and Dart (1965-1975). Schlossman, Norman, 1901-1990 Typescript papers , printed papers , photocopies and black and white photographic prints . A portion of this collection is housed in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries' on-site stacks. The remainder of the collection is housed in off-site storage and is so designated by the abbreviation (OS) in the location column of the finding aid's item listing. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance notification; please consult the Archivist for the current retrieval schedule. For further information, consult http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/rbarchives/rbarchaccess.html English. Portions of this collection are restricted; wherever possible, surrogate copies are provided for patron use, as noted in the series listings. The remainder of collection may be used by qualified readers in the Reading Room of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at The Art Institute of Chicago. Collections maintained on-site are available for patron use without prior arrangement or appointment. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance notification; please consult the Archivist for the current retrieval schedule. For further information, consult http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/rbarchives/rbarchaccess.html SERIES I: PROJECT FILES. Arranged alphabetically by project name. Within each project, items are organized chronologically. SERIES II: PROFESSIONAL PAPERS. Materials are separated into subseries according to format: correspondence and printed materials. Within each subseries, items are arranged chronologically. SERIES III: PERSONAL PAPERS. Materials are separated into subseries according to format: correspondence, photographs and printed materials. Within each subseries, items are arranged chronologically. SERIES IV: RESTRICTED PAPERS. Arranged alphabetically by project name. Within each project, items are organized chronologically. Norman Schlossman Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago. This collection documents a select number of built projects by various permutations of the Loebl Schlossman partnership from the 1920s to the mid 1970s. Included are projects by Loebl and Schlossman (1925, c.1933-1946), Loebl, Schlossman and DeMuth (1926-c.1933), Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett (1947-1965) and Loebl, Schlossman, Bennett and Dart (1965-1975) and Loebl, Schlossman and Hackl (1976-). Though there are small amounts of photographs and correspondence, this collection consists overwhelmingly of printed matter: newspaper and magazine articles, dedication programs, promotional brochures, and organizational publications. Series I, Project Files, constitutes the bulk of the Schlossman collection. The projects documented here are illustrative of the variety of form, function and style found throughout the Loebl and Schlossman oeuvre. These files consist of printed matter and some photographs documenting both renowned and obscure examples of the firm's residential, commercial, governmental, medical, religious and educational work. Perhaps most significant are their projects in the sectors of public housing (Dearborn Homes, Wentworth Gardens), urban renewal (Michael Reese Hospital Complex, Prairie Shores Apartments), shopping centers (Old Orchard, Oak Brook) and suburban planned communities (Park Forest, IL). Though containing little intrinsic uniqueness, these items likely represent the majority of published documentation for many of these projects, particularly those from the firm's pre-World War II era. Series IV, Restricted Papers, contains the original newspaper and magazine articles from which the surrogate documents in Series I were created. Series II, Professional Papers and Series III, Personal Papers are very modest collections of correspondence, photographs and printed matter. The items in Series II appear to have no direct correlation to any single architectural project, but are decidedly related to some aspect or another of Schlossman's career. Of note are several promotional items including a hardbound Loebl, Schlossman Bennett and Dart brochure. The material in Series III consists of miscellany relating to personal matters or material that is of an undetermined origin. Norman Schlossman was born on March 13, 1901, in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago's south side. Accompanied by neighborhood acquaintance and future firm partner Jerrold Loebl, Schlossman enrolled at the age of 15 in the architecture program at Chicago's Armour Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology), where he was awarded his bachelor's degree and the prestigious Hutchinson Medal in 1921. Following graduation and a ten-month sojourn across Western Europe, Schlossman accepted a position with the Chicago architectural firm of Coolidge and Hodgdon. In 1925, Jerrold Loebl and Norman Schlossman collaborated on what would be their first architectural commission, the Harry Misch Residence in Glencoe, IL. Joined in 1926 by architect John DeMuth, the firm of Loebl, Schlossman and DeMuth won acclaim that same year with the design of Chicago's Temple Sholom. A steady stream of commercial, residential and religious commissions followed and continued into the 1930s and early 1940s, including: the Music Corporation of America Building (1929), the Fashion Trades Building (1930), the Frank Buck Monkey Mountain, the General Cigar Company and Walgreen Company exhibits for the Century of Progress Exhibition (1933), the Lydy Parking Company Building (1936) and the Twentieth-Century Fox and Monogram Pictures Corporation Building (1938), all in Chicago, Illinois. The advent of World War II initiated Loebl and Schlossman's notable work in the realm of federally financed housing and urban renewal. Roughly 500 units of war housing were designed and built between 1940 and 1943 in Seymour, Indiana and Rosiclaire, Illinois. The success of these developments helped secure several additional public housing projects designed for or managed by the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), including the West Chesterfield Homes (1944), Wentworth Gardens (1946) and the Dearborn Homes (1950), all on Chicago's south side. As work commenced in 1947 on the Dearborn Homes, among the first high-rise housing projects in the nation, architect Richard M. Bennett was recruited and the firm of Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett was born. Perhaps the most lauded, prolific and successful of this firm's incarnations, Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett (1947-1965) gained national recognition through its design of the planned suburban community of Park Forest, Illinois. In collaboration with a team of developers known as the American Community Builders, work on this twenty-four hundred acre satellite community —with a projected population of thirty thousand—was begun in 1946 and finished in 1948. During the 1950s, Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett became involved in an urban renewal and slum clearance program designed to restore economic viability to dilapidated sections of Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood. Through this program developed the Michael Reese Hospital Complex (1950s-1960s) and the adjoining Prairie Shores Apartments (1958). Other significant built projects by Loebl, Schlossman and Bennett include the 1350 N. Lake Shore Drive Apartments (1950), the Chicago Loop Synagogue (1957), the Richard J. Daley Center (1966), all in Chicago, Illinois, and several Chicago-area suburban shopping centers such as the Old Orchard Shopping Center (1957), Skokie, IL and Oak Brook Shopping Center (1961), Oak Brook, IL. In 1965, the firm was renamed again when architect Edward D. Dart became a partner. With Dart's arrival came a shift towards predominantly religious and educational buildings, among them the Chicago Theological Seminary Faculty Quadrangle (1963), Chicago, IL; Emmanuel Presbyterian Church (1965), Chicago, IL; University of Chicago, Midway Studios, painting studios (1965), Chicago, IL; Solel Congregation (1967), Highland Park, IL; Saint Procopius Abbey (1970), Lisle, IL; and Northwestern University's Pick-Staiger Concert Hall (1975) in Evanston, IL. Also notable is Water Tower Place (1976), which, when built, was then the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. Known as Loebl, Schlossman and Hackl since 1976, the firm has produced many high-rise buildings in Chicago over the last twenty-five years, including Two Prudential Plaza and City Place, Hyatt Hotel (both 1990). Norman J. Schlossman retired from architecture in 1990. Besides his professional service on numerous advisory boards, including the Armed Forces Housing Agency (1951-54), the Federal Housing Authority (1959-63), and several boards in Highland Park, Illinois, Schlossman also chaired the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1951. Schlossman died in 1990 in Highland Park, Illinois. [See: Oral History of Richard Norman J. Schlossman. Interviewed by Betty Blum. Chicago: Department of Architecture, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1990.] This collection and other related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs: Schlossman, Norman J., 1901-1990 Schlossman, Norman J., 1901-1990--Archives Loebl, Irving Jerrold, 1899-1978 Loebl and Schlossman Loebl Schlossman Bennett and Dart Loebl Schlossman and Hackl Loebl Schlossman and Bennett Architecture--Illinois--Chicago--20th century--Sources Architectural drawings and travel sketches by Norman J. Schlossman are held in the permanent collection of the Department of Architecture at The Art Institute of Chicago. Century of Progress collection (00.18) Historic Architecture and Landscape Image Collection (00.20) Edward D. Dart Collection (1996.2) The Art Institute of Chicago is providing access to the materials in the Libraries' collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of the Art Institute is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Archivist, Ryerson and Burnham Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to permission from the Art Institute, permission of the copyright owner (if not the Art Institute) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distribution, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. The Art Institute makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.