The Washington Association of Landscape Architects was formed by ten Seattle landscape architects in 1946. It was the first society for landscape architects in the state, and was not affiliated with a national organization. Its primary goal was to work toward professional registration in Washington. The society promoted the hiring of local landscape architects and urged that landscape architects be participating members of bodies such as the State Arts Commission and Seattle's Municpal Art Commission. Most of its activities centered on the Puget Sound region. Membership was restricted to those with professional training, and the society remained small until it disbanded in 1970.
Arranged into two series:
The records of the Washington Society of Landscape Architects document the administrative and promotional activities of the organization, and include some records of affiliated societies. In its efforts to advocate for its profession, the society wrote letters to governors of the state, lobbied for a presence at the Century 21 Exposition at the World's Fair, and carried out a strict policy on membership. This collection includes preparations and materials gathered to lobby the state senate for regulations on professional registration. Some of the meeting minutes in the chronological files are entertainingly written, and reflect the social nature of the organization. Some meeting minutes that are missing in this accession may be found in records of American Society of Landscape Architects, Washington Chapter, accession number 5317-1. Also includes material collected from other landscape architects and other organizations.
Records are stored off site; advance notice required for use.
Access restricted: For terms of access contact repository.
Records are stored off site; advance notice required for use.
Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Washington Society of Landscape Architects, Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, Washington.
Source: Robert Ramsey, Tacoma via University of Washington Landscape Architect Department, 1978
Processed by Marika Pineda; processing completed in 2006
Contains meeting agendas and minutes, correspondence, memoranda, clippings, press releases, and membership records. Major correspondents include Robert W. Blanchard, Raymond A. Brauner, and Victor Chanasyk, who served as presidents of the organization.
Contains correspondence pertaining to a community development planning exhibit for the 1962 World's Fair (also called the Century 21 Exhibition). The Washington Society of Landscape Architects was one of several interest groups working to produce the exhibit, which was initiated to help influence urban planning. The Society proposed a display of schematic plans as a program to "invite all who wish: metropolises, cities, towns and rural communities to present for display at this World's Fair, a colorful, futuramic artists sketch of their plans for the future [sic]" (letter to Joseph Gandy from O. Earle Miller). Includes World Fair Headquarters statement of policy on the Design Standards Advisory Board.
Includes correspondence, clippings, a press release, exhibit specifications, and a paper by Albert Fein pertaining to the Olmsted Exhibition, a nationally circulating group of photographs, letters, and memorabilia documenting the work of Frederick Law Olmsted. The 1965 exhibition was the first serious public presentation of Olmsted's work, and was a joint project between Harvard graduate students in landscape architecture and the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Memoranda, meeting minutes, drafts and correspondence regarding proposed legislation on licensing and registration of landscape architects.