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Photo, Print, Drawing Susan Lawrence Dana House, 301 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, Sangamon County, IL Dana-Thomas House

[ Photos from Survey HABS IL-1188  ]

More Resources

[ Drawings from Survey HABS IL-1188  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HABS IL-1188  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HABS IL-1188  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Susan Lawrence Dana House, 301 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, Sangamon County, IL

Other Title

  • Dana-Thomas House

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Dana, Susan Lawrence
  • Wright, Frank Lloyd
  • Charles C. Thomas Publishing Company
  • Lindstrom, Frederick J., transmitter
  • Illinois Department of Conservation, sponsor
  • Illinois Capital Development Board, sponsor
  • Hasbrouck Hunderman Architects, contractor
  • Carl Fischer Associates, Inc., contractor
  • Hunderman, Harry J., project manager
  • Slaton, Deborah, project manager
  • Hollis, James G., delineator
  • Krassas, George J., delineator
  • Barrows, David T., delineator
  • Johnson, Brian K., delineator
  • Loo, M. W., delineator
  • Dana-Thomas House Foundation, sponsor
  • Carr, Doug, photographer
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  houses
  • -  domestic life
  • -  historic house museums
  • -  Art glass
  • -  Prairie School architectural elements
  • -  offices
  • -  Illinois--Sangamon County--Springfield

Latitude / Longitude

  • 39.794056,-89.651538

Notes

  • -  Significance: The Susan Lawrence Dana House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1904, is an early and excellent example of Wright's mature Prairie Style. This Prairie house encases an earlier Italianate house that had existed on the site for more than 30 years prior to Wright's remodeling. The ambitious transformation was undertaken upon Susan Lawrence's inheritance of her father's estate and her rise in Springfield society. The house has generally been well preserved. Susan Lawrence Dana retained the title of the property until 1943 and did not make any significant alterations to the house. In 1944 the Charles C. Thomas Publishing Company bought the house for use as administrative offices. Although cosmetic changes and modernization of the mechanical systems were instituted during the Thomas stewardship, the Thomas family recognized the importance of the building and the need to maintain its architectural integrity. In 1981 the State of Illinois purchased the house as an historic site. As of 1984, it was in use as a house museum. The most notable quality of the house is its surviving architectural and artistic unity. All of the original art glass windows remain. Over a hundred pieces of original Wright-designed furniture are intact. An original four-panel mural survives in the dining room, and two pieces of statuary commissioned expressly for the house remain in place. Wright believed that every facet of a house must contribute to an organic whole, though finishes have been modified, the sense of repose and harmony the Wright intended endures.
  • -  Survey number: HABS IL-1188
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1904 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: after 1944 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 74000774

Medium

  • Photo(s): 10
  • Measured Drawing(s): 15
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 1

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS ILL,84-SPRIF,3-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • il0740

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS ILL,84-SPRIF,3-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
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    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
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  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
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Access to Originals

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  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

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    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Susan Lawrence Dana, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles C. Thomas Publishing Company, Sponsor Illinois Department Of Conservation, Sponsor Illinois Capital Development Board, Contractor Hasbrouck Hunderman Architects, et al., Carr, Doug, photographer. Susan Lawrence Dana House, 301 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, Sangamon County, IL. Springfield Illinois Sangamon County, 1933. translateds by Lindstrom, Frederick J.Mitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/il0740/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Dana, S. L., Wright, F. L., Charles C. Thomas Publishing Company, Illinois Department Of Conservation, S., Illinois Capital Development Board, S. [...] Dana-Thomas House Foundation, S., Carr, D., photographer. (1933) Susan Lawrence Dana House, 301 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, Sangamon County, IL. Springfield Illinois Sangamon County, 1933. Lindstrom, F. J. M. & McPartland, M., transs Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/il0740/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al., photographer by Carr, Doug. Susan Lawrence Dana House, 301 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, Sangamon County, IL. trans by Lindstrom, Frederick J.Mitter, and Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/il0740/>.