Heffernan Design Archives

 

In September of 2008, the College of Architecture partnered with the Georgia Tech Library and Archives to transfer its Heffernan Design Archives to the Georgia Tech Archives for the collection’s care and processing.

The collection includes student work from the beginning of the architecture program a century ago to the present; the papers, drawings, and photographs of its namesake and former director of the architecture program P.M. Heffernan, as well as other works of alumni, students, and faculty.

The Heffernan Archival Center of Design, referred to as the Heffernan Design Archives (HDA), is a very significant repository with important collections pertaining to the College of Architecture and Georgia Tech in particular and to design and the modern South in general. The largest component focuses on the life and works of one of the most important post-war American architect/educators - P.M. Heffernan. It was inaugurated under his name in 1999.

The new dean of the College of Architecture Alan Balfour is energized about this development in the history of the College. He explained, “In this year of celebrating the one-hundred years of architecture at Georgia Tech, it is only fitting that we partner with the Library and Archives to expand our ability to add to the design collection, feature our best student and alumni work from the past century through exhibits and scholarship, and most importantly, ensure that the collection will last through the next century.”

Previously, the Heffernan Archives occupied the basement of Heffernan’s house, which he had converted into a two-bedroom apartment and the College subsequently converted to the archives. Over time, the collection has grown through the active involvement of the late Dean Thomas D. Galloway. While there had been graduate research assistants working on storing and cataloging the growing collection, there were issues regarding housing, maintaining, processing, and accessing the collections that needed to be addressed. These issues related to adequate and stable space, archival standards of housing and processing, and the accessibility of the collections.

Just before the late Dean Thomas D. Galloway died in March of 2007, the College of Architecture approached the Library Archives for their professional assistance and guidance in relation to the HDA. Then-interim dean Douglas Allen and the director of special projects Leslie Sharp continued to work with the Library Archives over the past year to find a mutually beneficial solution to address these issues. After exploring the issues, it was proposed that the HDA would be re-located to the Library Archives while retaining its identity as a separate collection associated with the College of Architecture.

After all of the planning and hard work to get to this stage where the collection has been safely transferred, Jody Thompson, head the archives, reflected on the significance of this to the Georgia Tech archives saying, “the Library Archives is honored to acquire the Heffernan Design Archive. We feel this collection will strengthen our relationship with COA and broaden our collecting focus in the areas of architectural records and drawings.”