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Victor Gruen papers, 1903-1980

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Gruen, Victor, 1903-1980.
Title
Victor Gruen papers
Dates
1903-1980 (inclusive)
Quantity
60.95 cubic ft. (73 boxes)
Collection Number
05809
Summary
The papers of Victor Gruen, architect and designer of the modern-day shopping center (mall).
Repository
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Victor Gruen (1903-1980) was born Victor David Gruenbaum in Vienna, Austria. He worked as an architect in Austria, Germany, and Czechoslovakia from 1929-1938, when he then emigrated to the U.S. to escape World War II. He first worked as a set and store designer in New York City. He established Victor Gruen Associates in 1939, one of the nation's leading architectural, planning, and engineering firms. Gruen Associates designed the first regional shopping center, the Northland Shopping Center in Detroit in 1954 and the first fully enclosed shopping center, Southdale Shopping Center near Minneapolis in 1956. His firm also worked extensively on urban center revitalization. Gruen retired in 1967 and wrote on urban planning and urban sprawl, including "Shopping Towns, USA" (1960), "The Heart of Our Cities" (1964) and "Centers for the Urban Environment" (1973).

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Content Description

Collection contains materials relating to Gruen's architectural career, including speeches and articles written by Gruen on shopping centers, urban renewal, area planning, and architecture; newspaper and magazine clippings; professional correspondence; the galleys, manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, and reviews of "Shopping Towns USA," "The Heart of Our Cities" and "Centers for the Urban Environment;" and project files and booklets produced by Victor Gruen Associates describing various projects. The Collection also contains photographs and negatives of Gruen and his projects. Some film and audiotapes of programs, speeches, and interviews relating to Gruen are also present.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Restrictions on Use

Statement on Potentially Harmful Language and Images Found in Collections

The American Heritage Center aspires to approach all areas of our work in ways that are respectful to those who create, use, and are represented in our collections. For a variety of reasons, however, users may encounter offensive or harmful language or images in some of our finding aids, catalogs, and collection materials.

Note that the AHC does not censor or alter contents of the collections as they provide context and evidence of a time, people, place, or event. Therefore, we encourage users to bring questions and concerns about descriptions in our finding aids to our attention via email or anonymous web-form. For more information, read our full statement.

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Victor Gruen papers, 05809, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Alternative Forms Available

Existence and Location of Copies

Digital reproductions of select material from this collection are available at http://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu:8180/luna/servlet/uwydbuwy~109~109.

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Administrative Information

Related Materials

The Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress, Washington D.C., also holds a collection of Victor Gruen papers.

Acquisition Information

This material was received from the Victor Gruen Center for Environmental Planning (1974-1984), the Southern California Institute of Architecture (1987-2000), Susanna Baird (1996), and Kemija Gruen through the U.S. Library of Congress (2021).

Processing Note

The collection was processed by Emily Christopherson in October 2013 and updated by Jamie J. Greene in November 2023.

Portions of this collection were digitized in 2003, 2006, and 2012.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

Processed by Emily Christopherson
2013

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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