Description: Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows the south side of the Case Main Building. The letters CSAS (Case School of Applied Science) can be seen in stone at the top of the building. The original Case Main Building, formerly located on the site which is now the Case Quadrangle, was designed by John Eisenmann, who was not only the school’s first professor of civil engineering and a pioneer in structural steel construction, but who also designed the flag for the state of Ohio. Completed in 1885, and similar to the Adelbert College building, the 3-story building with basement and attic was built of bricks made on Murray Hill, a fireproof design. However, on October 27, 1886, a heavy explosion and fire destroyed most of the building. The architect for the new building was Clarence O. Arey and reopened in 1888. In 1892, the attic was converted to a gymnasium and in 1896 electricity was installed in the building. Additional remodeling was done in 1940 and 1948. The building was demolished in 1972, and its stones used to build the Michelson-Morely fountain and the Case Institute of Technology sign at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, as well as being given to Alumni of Case as souvenirs. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F08_04_01
Subjects: Case Western Reserve University; Western Reserve College; Universities and colleges; Architecture; Cleveland (Ohio)
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)