6 September 2008
Catching Up
Posted by mattmorrill under: research .
I met with Dr. Lounsbury Thursday Aug. 28th. I came in excited to show him all the research I had done over the summer. I proudly handed him the bibliography of sources I had waded through, but he remained unimpressed. After talking about some more sources available and the direction of my research, his last words to me were “Get Reading!”
That definitely got me motivated. This past week I feel like I accomplished a lot. I read through Longstreth’s bibliography for City Center to Regional Mall and picked out some interesting articles and books I plan to peruse. Tuesday I went over to the Rockefeller Library and found a great book written in 1951 entitled Shopping Malls: Design and Operation, by Geoffrey Baker and Bruno Funaro. Although I had a good grasp of commercial design, Shopping Malls rectified my limited knowledge of the intricate dynamics and functions of shopping centers. Baker and Funaro also gave a good introduction to the rise of shopping malls and gave me tons of examples of shopping centers that employed features of Merchants Square. This was definitely a good find and served as a good primer to the development of shopping centers in the U.S.
On Wednesday my research methods class had an intro to library research techniques, which I found useful. I found a couple more books and articles through WorldCat and other sources. Hopefully I’ll be able to read through these articles this weekend or early next week.
Friday was definitely the most productive day of this week for my thesis work. I was over at Special Collections in the Rockefeller Library looking for primary documents for most of the afternoon. Specifically, I was looking for the papers and journals of William Graves Perry, one of the chief architects of Merchants Square. After reading so many secondary source material, it was envigorating to finally look at primary documents again. I read through his journals from 1927-1931 over the course of three hours and found some great tidbits of information in there. Perry referred to the north side of Merchants Square as Block 23 and the south side as Block 15. Block 23 was completed before Block 15. Perry also mentioned other architects who worked on designing the shopping area, which included Arthur Shurtcliff and Kenneth Chorley to name a few. One of the most interesting points I found was Perry’s recording of the date of the Harvard Footage which is one of my other primary sources (a group of Harvard students filmed Williamsburg prior to the restoration in 1930). Perry mentioned the filmmakers arrived on May 26th, 1930, after much of the work on Block 23 was complete (work on Block 15 had not yet begun). This really puts the film into context as before I had assumed the recording showed the commercial area pre-renovation. It was great seeing one source illuminate the other in such a way.
George the librarian over there was really nice and helpful, and while I was reading the Perry Papers he was nice enough to take out a whole folder of Merchants Square original documents. Needless to say, this was just a little exciting for me. Unfortunately I did not have enough time that day to take a look at the documents but I hope to accomplish that early next week when I go back to finish reading the Perry Papers.
There are only two other objectives to note. Dr. Lounsbury wants me to write a refined prospectus over the next week or two, which I will start working on next week. Also, he suggested I go interview Richard Longstreth, the author of many of my secondary sources. Apparently he teaches at Geroge Washington University which is a relatively short drive away. This is a golden opportunity but I want to develop a list of solid questions and be well-prepared before I set up an interview.
I also sent an email to the Williamsburg Planning Department and haven’t heard back. Maybe they really do hate students.
One Comment so far...
elizabeth Says:
7 September 2008 at 11:02 am.
It might not be that the Wmsbg Planning Dept hates students, but doesn’t do well with e-mail. If it’s possible, I’d suggest taking some time to visit them in person or just start pestering them with phone calls. When I was in Montreal, it was a matter of the other person’s opinion whether I contacted them by phone or by e-mail, or in person. Also, of the 60+ people I wanted an interview from, I got maybe 8, and then another 10 from being referred to other people. The lesson: people usually want to be helpful, but not inconvenienced. Good luck with hunting!