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.
LeRoy Gaarder papers (N 87), Northwest Architectural Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
The collection was donated to the Northwest Architectural Archives by LeRoy Gaarder.
The collection is organized alphabetically by commission name.
LeRoy Gaarder was born in Highland, WI on June 10, 1891. He attended schools there and in Dodgeville, WI, and entered St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, for one year (1912-1913). He attended night school at the University of Minnesota from 1913 to 1917 while working in the offices of Minneapolis architects Cecil Chapman (1913), Mather & Boerner (1914), Howard Parsons (1915), and Purcell & Elmslie (1916-1917). Gaarder moved back to Dodgeville and opened his own architectural practice (1917-1918), then entered the U.S. Army for a year. In 1920, he moved to Albert Lea, MN and opened a private office. During the Depression, Gaarder was appointed consulting designing architect on the staff of the Public Buildings Administration in Washington, DC. He later became a project planner for the regional office of the PBA in Seattle (1943-1944). Except for these breaks, Gaarder practiced in Albert Lea until well into the 1960s. He died in Albert Lea on January 27, 1982.
Gaarder's first commissions were for the Farmers First National Bank (Rake, IA, 1920) and Salem Lutheran Church (Albert Lea, 1922). These were followed by St. Paul's Lutheran Church (1925-1926) and Queen of Angels Church (1937), both in Austin, MN. Gaarder received an appointment for life from Bishop Kelly of the Winona (MN) Diocese to plan Queen of Angels Church and Parish Building, a project that lasted 27 years.
The collection contains original tracings, blueprints, and building and detail photographs of numerous churches, including Queen of Angels (1937-1962) and Christ Episcopal Churches (1950-1951), both in Austin, MN; St. Luke's English Evangelical Lutheran Church (Waukesha, WI, 1925-1926); Danish Baptist Church (1925) and Zion Lutheran Church (1947, 1966, 1972), both in Albert Lea.
An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the Manuscripts Division.
William G. Purcell papers (N 3)
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.