Available for use in the Manuscripts Division reading room. Advance notice is requested.
There are no restrictions on the use of materials in this collection. Copies can be requested if the condition of the originals warrants it.
Bissell, Belair and Green papers (N 74 A), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
The collection was donated to the Northwest Architectural Archives on September 29, 1981.
The collection is organized alphabetically by commission name.
Bissell, Belair, and Green is a direct descendent of the architectural firm of Edward Stebbins. The firm is still in existence in Minneapolis as Green, Nelson and Weaver. Throughout its history, the company has specialized in the design of educational facilities, many of which are included in this collection and in the Edward Stebbins papers.
Cyrus Bissell was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on June 6, 1885. He received his B.S. in Architecture from Columbia University in 1908. From 1908 to 1917 he was a draftsman and project manager in several architectural firms in New York City (including Delano & Aldrich and Nelson & Van Wagonen), Montreal (Brown & Vallance) and Albany (Marcust, Reynolds). During World War I, Bissell was assistant chief estimator in the Construction Division of the War Department for two years. After the war, he joined Stebbins & Haxby in Minneapolis in 1920 and remained a partner throughout the rest of his career. Bissell died in Minneapolis in 1976.
John Belair was born in Minneapolis in 1904. He received his architecture degree from the University of Minnesota in 1934. From 1921 to 1944 he worked for a succession of architectural firms as a draftsman, designer, and mechanical engineer in both of the Twin Cities as well as Montana and Canada. Belair began as a draftsman in the firm of Stebbins, Haxby, and Bissell and became a full partner in 1944. He retired in the early 1970s and died in Minneapolis in 1976.
Gene Green was born in Madelia, Minnesota in 1926. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in architecture in 1950. He began his career two years earlier as a draftsman for Haxby, Bissell, and Belair and became a partner in the firm in 1959 and a senior partner in Green, Nelson and Weaver.
The collection contains drawings of over 250 projects, as well as photographs and some specifications. Among the projects documented in the collection are: Blake School, Hopkins (1945-1947); Bancroft School, Minneapolis (1912); Holy Rosary Convent and School, Minneapolis (1931); Highcroft School, St. Louis Park, Minnesota (1926); Owatonna State School Cottages, Owatonna, Minnesota (1950); Wadena (Minnesota) High School (1929); Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity House and Zeta Psi Fraternity House, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1926 and 1925 respectively); and residences for Lloyd Pattee (1939) and Dr. F.C. Rodda (1925), both in Minneapolis.
An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the Manuscripts Division.
Edward Stebbins papers (N 74)
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.