{"239061":{"#nid":"239061","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Library Adds Lost Francis P. Smith Drawings to Architecture Collection","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Library Archives recently recovered a lost collection of over 400 drawings by Francis P. Smith, a renowned Atlanta architect and first director of the Georgia Institute of Technology\u2019s College of Architecture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EValued at $618,000, the collection of architecture drawings was tucked away in the Smith family\u2019s attic for more than 50 years. A crew of construction workers made the startling discovery in 2011 while renovating the historic North Druid Hills home for its new owners, Mark and Donna Bergeson.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was quite a find,\u201d said Donna Bergeson, a health care lawyer at Alston \u0026amp; Bird, LLP. \u201cI\u2019m just glad they [construction workers] recognized the drawings were of value and didn\u2019t throw them away.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Bergesons decided to donate the collection to the Georgia Tech Archives.\u0026nbsp; But first, they invited Francis\u2019 youngest son and fellow Atlanta architect, Henry H. Smith, to see his father\u2019s work and the renovation of his childhood home.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOriginally designed by Francis, the house was renovated by designer\/architect Bill Baker to restore historic elements, expand on Francis\u2019 themes, and completely modernize the home. \u201cI have to think that Francis is smiling somewhere,\u201d said Bergeson. \u201cI hope he would like what we\u2019ve done. The house had beautiful bones and I really respect his work.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUpon seeing the lost drawings for the first time, Henry admired the quality and detail\u0026nbsp;of his father\u2019s work. \u201cThis is before I was born,\u201d he said while spotting his father\u2019s initials hidden in an early master plan of Tech\u2019s campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn active participant in Tech\u2019s growth, Francis also designed several campus buildings including the original Whitehead Memorial Infirmary (now known as the Chapin Building) and the Mechanical Engineering Building (now the J.S. Coon Building).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s really an honor to be able to look at it [collection],\u201d added Henry, who began his career apprenticing under his father and later renovated some of his father\u2019s buildings. Now at the age of 80 years old, he has designed a number of churches and buildings in Georgia, but is best known for earning the Atlanta Urban Design Commission Award of Excellence for his work on St. Luke\u2019s Episcopal Church in 1994. Like his father, Henry taught an architecture course at Tech, but only for one year. In 2009, he donated a large collection of his own work and his father\u2019s work to the Georgia Tech Archives.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s great that they located them and that the Bergeson\u2019s called us so we could archive them,\u201d\u0026nbsp;said Jody Thompson, Head Archivist at the Library. \u201cThese drawings are unbelievable and another amazing piece of history.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor more information about the Francis P. Smith and Henry H. Smith Collections, contact Jody Thompson at\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jody.thompson@library.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejody.thompson@library.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;or visit library.gatech.edu.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27508","created_gmt":"2013-09-19 15:55:39","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:56","author":"Tearanny Street","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-09-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"239071":{"id":"239071","type":"image","title":"Henry Smith","body":null,"created":"1449243670","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:41:10","changed":"1475894914","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:34","alt":"Henry Smith","file":{"fid":"197740","name":"img_1164-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_1164-1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img_1164-1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4448580,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img_1164-1_0.jpg?itok=EFYPMhT4"}},"239081":{"id":"239081","type":"image","title":"Henry Smith 2","body":null,"created":"1449243670","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:41:10","changed":"1475894914","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:34","alt":"Henry Smith 2","file":{"fid":"197741","name":"henry_h_smith_collection3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/henry_h_smith_collection3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/henry_h_smith_collection3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":650149,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/henry_h_smith_collection3_0.jpg?itok=_bmMS76J"}}},"media_ids":["239071","239081"],"groups":[{"id":"47240","name":"Georgia Tech Library"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"70271","name":"library news"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJody Thompson, Head of Archives\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:Jody.Thompson@library.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJody.Thompson@library.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Library\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Jody.Thompson@library.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}