Henry H. Meyers (1867-1943)

Name

Meyers, Henry H.

Personal Information

Birth/Death:    1867-1943
Occupation:    American architect
Location (state):    CA

This record has not been verified for accuracy.

AIA Affiliation

Member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 1917-1932

Biographical Sources

Biographical Directories:
Entry in Henry F. Withey, A.I.A., and Elsie Rathburn Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) (Los Angeles: New Age Publishing Company, 1956. Facsimile edition, Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., 1970)
Biographical information:
Contributed by the Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley:
Henry H. Meyers (1867-1943) designed over 200 buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California, Hawaii, and Guam. Meyers was the oldest of nine children born to Jacob and Mary Myers in the rural Alameda County town of Livermore, California. Jacob Meyers was a contractor. After Henry Meyers graduated from high school, he studied architecture at night in San Francisco. Meyers married Bertha S. May in 1897 and soon had a family of three daughters.
Meyers entered the San Francisco firm of Percy & Hamilton as an apprentice around 1890 and by 1900 was chief draftsman. Following the deaths of Percy (1899) and Hamilton (1900), Meyers succeeded the partners as the principal of the firm and supervised the completion of unfinished projects. Meyers completed the Hahnemann Hospital as well as the Kohl Building, which was the first steel frame building in San Francisco. The Kohl Building was one of the few that withstood the 1906 earthquake and fire, becoming a prototype for future steel framed buildings in the area.
By 1904 Meyers had taken on Clarence R. Ward as a partner. Meyers and Ward were awarded a bronze medal for a "Hotel Perspective" at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. The partnership lasted until 1910 and produced numerous commercial buildings during the reconstruction of earthquake-devastated San Francisco. Their most notable project was the Alaska Commercial Building of 1908.
Meyers practiced independently from 1910-1922 designing primarily commercial and institutional buildings. He held the position of Alameda County Architect concurrently with his practice from about 1912 until his retirement in 1935. During this time he designed numerous hospitals, governmental structures and ten Veterans Memorial Buildings in the county. Projects included the Highland Hospital in Oakland, the superstructure of the Posey Tube connecting Oakland and Alameda, the Arroyo Sanitarium, and the Del Valle Farm in Livermore.
After 1922, Meyers was associated with architect George R. Klinkhardt. After 1930, Meyers also practiced with his daughter, Mildred S. Meyers, a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. Meyers retired from architectural practice in 1936, and passed away after an extended illness in 1943. Mildred Meyers took over the practice until her death in 1982.
Sources: Withey, Henry F and Withey, Elise Rathburn, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased), New Age Publishing Co., Los Angeles, CA, 1956.
Southwest Builder and Contractor, "Henry H. Meyers, Former Bay District Architect, Dead", June 25, 1943.
Minor, Woodruff, Grant Proposal Correspondence, Dr. Joseph Armstrong Baird, Jr., Art Consultation, to Jeanette B. Meyers, Relating to the Biography of her father, Henry H. Meyers, March 22, 1987.

Related Records

Archival Holdings

The American Institute of Architects Archives
      Membership file may contain membership application, related correspondence. Contact the AIA Archives at archives@aia.org for further information.

Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley

Collection Number: 1986-3. Extent: 51 boxes, 3 flat boxes, 3 card file boxes, 3 cartons, 24 flat file drawers, 20 tubes, 2 oversize mounted drawings, 1 framed drawing, furniture, furnishings, and the office library. Microfilm containing selected photographs and drawings from the collection is available in the Bancroft Library: BANC FILM 2555 and in the Environmental Design Library: MICROFILM 78322 NA
Henry H. and Mildred Meyers' architectural office was sealed after Mildred's death in 1982. The entire contents of the office were donated in 1986, including project records, drawings, furniture, furnishings, the library and framed artworks.
The records from Henry H. Meyers' architectural practice span the years 1889-1942 (bulk 1901-1942). On the first page of a ledger in the collection it is the noted that the earlier office was completely destroyed in 1906 by the San Francisco earthquake and fire. However, there are a few project records from before this time. The majority of the collection documents the work done by Meyers in partnership with Clarence R. Ward, as an independent practitioner, and while associated with George R. Klinkhardt and Mildred Meyers. The collection is arranged in nine series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records, Project Records, Highland Hospital Project Records, Veterans Memorial Building Project Records, Mildred Meyers' Records, Art and Artifacts, and Additional Donations. Within these series original order has been maintained wherever it is evident.
The personal papers consist of correspondence, a student notebook, and family photographs. Office records include ledgers, a scrapbook of published job notices, clipping files which are subject reference files taken from numerous architectural journals, magazines, and newspapers, mounted photographs and presentation drawings. The professional papers include correspondence, organization affiliation material, and awards. The project records of the firm are quite complete and include contracts, specifications, correspondence, drawings and full size detail drawings. The project records also include an index to drawings from the 1920's.
The Highland Hospital in Oakland was a large Alameda County project and includes files, specifications, contracts, photographs and drawings. The Veterans Memorial Buildings series consists of files, specifications, photographs, and drawings from the ten Veterans Memorial buildings Meyers designed in Alameda County. The Mildred Meyers series contains work for which she was the primary architect, and consists of personal papers, office records, and project records. The Art and Artifacts series includes furniture, furnishings, signs, and supplies, as well as the library and a few pieces of framed artwork taken from the Meyers' studio. The Additional Donations series contains drawings and specifications of Meyers' Alameda County building projects.
Link to online finding aid: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf100001sq

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