Oregon Historical Society, Davies Family Research Library
Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97205
Phone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
E-mail: libreference@ohs.org
Coll 198
Dean, Allison
H., 1897-
Allison H. Dean Papers
1920-1990
1.5 cubic feet
5 document cases
Papers of a real estate developer, architect, and amateur writer of Portland, Oregon, active in 1920s through the 1950s. Includes biographical materials, correspondence, and drafts of fiction and poetry.
Materials in the collection are inEnglish
Biographical Note
Born in Scituate Harbor, Massachusetts, on
February 2, 1897, Allison H. Dean spent his childhood on the prairies of Saskatchewan,
Canada, served in the Royal Air Force, and moved to Portland, Oregon in the mid-1920s to work as a
real estate developer and architectural designer. He was a pioneer in the
pre-fabricated homes industry starting in the 1940s. As an amateur actor and
singer, he was active in local theater productions. He was a writer, working on
poetry, autobiographical works, novels, short stories, and articles related to
real estate beginning in the1930s. Some writings had success, but most went
unpublished.
The collection consists of 5 boxes of material related to both Dean’s
professional work in real estate and his endeavors in theater and writing. The
collection contains personal and professional correspondence, newspaper and
magazine clippings, original architectural drawings, theater programs,
unpublished manuscripts, accounting records, photographs, and the collected
writings of Queene B. Ryan (1891-1973), a friend of Dean’s.
The collection is arranged in the following series:- Series A: Biographical
- Series B: Correspondence
- Series C: Writings
- Series D: Photograph
The collection is open to the public.
The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the
Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication,
and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library
prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold
copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission
for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the
copyright holders.
Allison H. Dean papers, Coll 198, Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Acquired 2008, Library Accession 26550.
A collection of Allison H. Dean's photographs, including images of houses and house designs, in designated Org. Lot 187; and an oral history with Dean is designated SR 9057 -- both in the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Dean, Allison
H., 1897- --Archives
Ryan, Queene B.
Portland (Or.)--Biography
Portland (Or.)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Authors--Oregon.
Prefabricated houses--Design and
construction--Oregon--Portland.
Real estate agents--Oregon--Portland.
Theater--Oregon--Portland--History.
Architecture
City and Town Life
Oregon
Literature
Portland
Letters (correspondence)
Manuscripts (for publication)
Poems
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
Series A
Biographical materials
1924-1977
1/1
Career materials
1938-1969
- Documents regarding new developments in prefabricated
homes, circa 1941-1942
- Documents regarding contracting to government
- Hand drawn rough architectural plans for
residences
- Fliers for “America’s first low cost factory home,
completely furnished and equipped, completely factory built.”
- Documents for Office of Emergency Management, 1942
- Federal Housing Administration booklet, “Rental housing
for investment.” 1938
- Materials from National Institute of Real Estate
Brokers
- Photograph of a pre-fabricated home being loaded onto a
truck. Caption reads “Tuesday 10 AM. June 24/41, LOADING, Factory Built and
Furnished, LOW Cost Union Built. HAUL-A-WAY HOME, Patents Pending, Allison H.
Dean, Allison Dean. Investor and Sales Agent, Drake Wyman & Voss Inc.
Fabricators, 208 N. Broadway Portland Oregon At 9216”
- List of companies in manufactured home business, with
addresses and notes.
- Publication, The Canadian Realtor, October 1968, volume
14, number 10
- Letter from National Institute of Real Estate Brokers for
acceptance of an article for publication in Real Estate Today publication,
1969
1/2
Career materials
1941-1977
- Document, “Declaration of reservations, restrictions,
conditions and easements affecting the plat of dean’s park subdivision”
1977
- Blank form from Executive Office of the President, Office
for Emergency Management
- Envelope with documents, blueprints, plans, and photo
related to land development 1941
- Document, “Guest list – Georgia-Pacific Reception and
Dinner – Arlington Club– July 19, 1955”
- Drawings of architectural feature
- Handwritten notes, accounting or blank
- Drawings of architectural plans
- 1967 zip code informational card
- Drawing, portrait sketch
- Clipping of address for Torrey & Dean, Inc.,
Realtors, 409 U.S. Bank Bldg., Portland, Oregon
1/3
Account Book
1931-1947
1/4
Clippings
1931-1965
- National real estate journal 12/21/1931 volume 32, number
26
- National Real Estate Journal 1/5/1931 volume 32, number
1
- Product documentation, “Bruning Transparent Plastic
Scales, Their USE and CARE”
- Pamphlet, “Guideposts, a practical guide to successful
living” April, 1965
- Miscellaneous collected clippings related to residential
architecture and interior design, from popular color magazines circa
1955-1964
- Sunday Oregonian 7/20/1958 advertising insert for
Raleighwood development
- Blue print magazine insert by Ellis Leigh/designer and
Emil a.Schmidlin/architect, east orange new jersey, magazine clipping
1/5
Clippings
1930-1966
- Leaflet, “the Portland Realtor” 3/18/1959 volume 39,
number 11
- Local newspaper clippings related to theater, circa
1930
- Page from Sunday Oregonian August 7, 1966
- 1 stamp sized photo of Allison H. Dean, and duplicate in
original leaflet from which it was taken
1/6
Clippings
circa 1958-1959
- Sunday Oregonian clippings relating to taxation and Dr.
John F. Sly, circa 1958-1959
- Clipping of advertisement with architectural plan image
and handwritten notes
- Columbia Records album liner
1/7
Queene B. Ryan
collection
circa 1920-1973
- Photograph, portrait of Queene Bell Ryan, 1891-1973, on
horse
- Clipping of obituary
- Handwritten 2 page biographical note for Queen B. Ryan,
draft for published obituary
- Collected poems of Queene B. Ryan
1/8
Programs of theater
productions
circa 1930-1931
- 1 handwritten note mounted on a sheet of 81/2 x 11” paper
with handwritten caption, signature of actress Pauline Friedrich,
1930-12-6
- Program from theater production, “The Green Goddess”, Art
Theatre Players, circa 1930
- program from theater production, “Officer 666”, Portland
Civic Theater, circa 1930
- program from theater production, “A Doll’s House”,
Portland Civic Theater, circa 1931
- program from theater production, “The Unseen Guest”,
Portland Civic Theater, circa 1930
- program from theater production, “Dear Brutus”, Portland
Civic Theater, circa 1930
- publication of Dufwin theater, “The Showgoer”, circa
1930
Series B
Correspondence
1930-1990
1/9
General, primarily with
publishers
1962-1990
- Letters from publishers and literary agents regarding
Dean’s manuscript submissions. circa 1962-1967
- Letter to Mary Chambers Jones of rejection for
publication of Dean manuscript, 1990
1/10
Publishers
1930-1968
1/11
Stout, Rex
1974
1/12
Willkie, Wendell
1944
Series C
Writings
1935-1976
2/1
Professional documents, article
manuscript
1961-1976
- Author’s Guild letter, 1972
- “Guide to the author’s guild trade book contract”
1972
- Author’s Guild trade book contract 1972
- Pamphlet, “What is a literary agent?”
- Publication, “The Writer” June 1975
- Pamphlet, “International Novel Award”
- Oregonian clipping, 1961-8-24
- List of publishing houses, 1976
- Miscellaneous fragments
- Typrewritten manuscript, “on dramatic living
rooms:”
- handwritten manuscripts
- copies of calligraphed prayer
2/2-2/6
Novel, “Singer in the
Temple
circa 1955
3/1-3/4
Novel, “Singer in the
Temple
circa 1955
3/5
Political writings and
publications
1935
- Handwritten notes for a debate at Barbur Blvd Realty
Board, 1935
- Typewritten document on subject of taxation
- Publication, “Oregon Voter” 1965-11-27
- Publication, “Oregon Voter” 1965-11-13
- Publication, “Oregon Voter” 1965-11-20
Short stories
4/1
“A Matter of
Experience”
undated
4/2
“Angus
Rusk”
undated
4/3
“Betting
Blacksmith”
1964-1-5
Published in Sunday Empire, The Magazine of the Denver Post,
January 5, 1964
4/4
“Businessman's
Bible”
undated
4/5
“Concrete
Bulls”
1960
4/6
“Dear
Teacher”
undated
4/7
“Depends on How You
Say It”
undated
4/8
“Flacon of
Parfum”
undated
4/9
“From the Road to
the River”
undated
4/10
“From the Road to
the River”
undated
4/11
“From Under a
Bushel”
undated
5/1
“Harvest
Idyll”
undated
5/2
“John McCormack and
I”
undated
5/3
“Jones For Joyous
Service”
undated
5/4
“Life of a
Salesman”
undated
5/5
“Lunch
Hour”
1965
5/6
“Man Who Saw
God”
1964
5/7
“Moonlight
Sonata”
undated
5/8
“My
Garden”
undated
5/9
“My Sod Home on the
Prairie”
1965-5-16
Published in Sunday Empire, The Magazine of the Denver Post, May
16, 1965
5/10
“Ninety-Eight
Cents”
undated
5/11
“Organist”
undated
5/12
“Prairie
Boy”
undated
- 2 copies of self-published booklet, including
biographical sketch, a photo of Dean, and the writings, “Prairie Boy”, “My Sod
Home on the Prairie”, “the Betting Blacksmith”, “Sports Day”, “The Stopping
House”, “Brains”, “The Hate Harvest”, “The Moonlight Sonata”.
- Typed drafts for “Prairie Boy”
5/13
“Second
Chance”
undated
5/14
“Soddy”
undated
5/15
“Sports
Day”
undated
5/16
“They
Smiled”
undated
5/17
Speeches
undated
Series D
5/18
Photograph
1950
Photograph of two women, tentatively identified as Dean’s
daughters.