Charles M. Sappenfield Architectural Records Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection includes architectural drawings and project files of architectural projects by Charles M. Sappenfield, Architect and the firm Sappenfield, Wiegman, Hall Associates, from 1948 to 1994. The Sappenfield, Wiegman, Hall Associates partnership was formed in 1966 and dissolved in 1968. The records primarily date from 1961-1965 when Sappenfield lived and practiced architecture in Asheville, North Carolina, before his move to Muncie to become dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University. Types of records include project files, which include office and client correspondence, product literature, and receipts; original drawings; photographs; and awards and certificates.
Most of the design records are preliminary design drawings, working drawings, presentation drawings and renderings. Generally these are original pencil drawn on tracing paper or presentation boards. Also in the collection are diplomas, Christmas cards, color slides, and few personal papers. Ball State University Archives maintains his collection of material relating to his work as the dean of the College of Architecture and Planning.
Dates
- 1948 - 1994
Creator
- Sappenfield, Charles M. (Architect, Person)
- Sappenfield, Wiegman, Hall Associates (Architect, Organization)
Language of Materials
Materials primarily in English, some material in Danish.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Copyright Notice
Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Drawings and Documents Archive, Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Drawings and Documents Archive.
Biographical Note
Charles Sappenfield was born March 17, 1930 in Columbia, South Carolina, and graduated from high school in 1948 in Charlotte, North Carolina. During the year after graduating from high school, Sappenfield managed a precast concrete business in Charleston, South Carolina before entering college at North Carolina State University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture degree and went on to practice for the next year at PACE Associates Architects in Chicago before entering into the U.S. Army, where he served on the Planning Board for European Inland Surface Transport in Heidelberg, Germany.
Returning from service, Sappenfield taught courses in architecture at North Carolina State University and then earned a graduate diploma in architecture from the Danish Royal Academy in Copenhagen, Denmark, during his year as a Fulbright scholar studying housing for the aged. He returned to teach as a professor at North Carolina State University and Clemson University while also operating first an individual architecture practice and then later an office with five architects.
His architectural practice focused on residential, institutional, and small business commissions, with a distinctly Modernist aesthetic. Housing for the aged became a life-long focus of his work and he continued to advance the field throughout his career. He served on the first A.I.A Aging Committee and lectured extensively to promote a higher level of quality in public housing. In 1971 he represented Indiana at the White House conference on aging.
In 1965, Sappenfield was invited to become the founding dean of Indiana’s new College of Architecture and Planning at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He limited his architectural practice in order to manage the complexities of beginning Indiana’s first state-supported architecture school, with programs in architecture, landscape architecture, and planning. He remained the dean until 1981, when he directed DESIGN INDIANA, a statewide office to improve the quality of design in the state.
Sappenfield was married in 1963 to Mary Frances McGowan and had two children, a son named Ross and a daughter, Sally. He retired to Fort Myers, Florida.
Charles M. Sappenfield passed away on September 30, 2013 in Fort Myers, Florida.
Extent
30 Cubic Feet (56 tubes, 1 flat file drawer, 4 document cases, 4 records cartons)
Arrangement
The Charles M. Sappenfield Architectural Records are arranged alphabetically.
Custodial History
The Charles M. Sappenfield Architectural Records were received by Drawings and Documents Archive as a donation from Charles M. Sappenfield from 2007-2010.
Accruals
Additions are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processing completed 2011/1/03 by Carol A. Street. Finding aid created 2011/1/03 by Carol A. Street.
- Architecture, American Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Architecture, commercial Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Architecture--North Carolina--Asheville Subject Source: Local sources
- College buildings Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Documents Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Drawings, architectural (visual works) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Elevations Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Houses--Indiana--1970s Subject Source: Local sources
- Houses--Indiana--1980s Subject Source: Local sources
- Houses--Indiana--1990s Subject Source: Local sources
- Houses--North Carolina--1960s Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Older people--Housing Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: TGM II, Genre and physical characteristic terms
- Residential architecture Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Sappenfield, Charles M., b. 1930 Subject Source: Local sources
- School buildings Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Store, retail Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Taverns (Inns) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Charles M. Sappenfield Architectural Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Created by Carol A. Street.
- Date
- Created 2011/1/3.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Andrew Seager Archives of the Built Environment Repository
Architecture Building, Room 120
Muncie IN 47306 USA
765-285-8441
765-285-3726 (Fax)
libarchives@bsu.edu
