Guide to the Gould Family Papers
1830-1975

Biographical Note

The Gould Family Papers center around Carl Freylinghuysen Gould (1873-1939), a prominent Seattle architect. Gould designed over 20 buildings on the University of Washington campus, including the Henry Suzzallo library. He also designed the Seattle Asian Art Museum (previously the Seattle Art Museum), the Marine Hospital (now the headquarters of Amazon.com), and many other notable structures in the Puget Sound area.

Carl F. Gould was born in New York City into a prominent New York family. He graduated from Philips Exeter Academy in 1894 and from Harvard University with an A.B. in 1898. From 1898 to 1903 he studied architecture and fine art at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.

On his return to the United States, Gould worked for a number of years as a draughtsman in several architectural firms, and in 1906 formed the partnership firm Carpenter, Blair and Gould in New York City. Perhaps due in part to three brothers-in-law all practicing architecture in New York (Walter Blair, Edward York, and Dana Swan), in 1908 Gould moved to Seattle on an impulse. He started out in Seattle as a draughtsman, but in 1914 joined with Charles H. Bebb to form the architectural firm Bebb & Gould.

In 1913 Gould was asked to lecture on architecture at the University of Washington, an opportunity that eventually led him to establish the University’s Department of Architecture in 1914. Gould served as professor and chair of the department until 1926, while at the same time practicing professionally with Bebb & Gould.

Gould was a founding member of the Seattle City Planning Commission, the Seattle Fine Arts Society, and the Seattle Art Institute, as well as being active in numerous other architectural and civic organizations. He also belonged to the Rainier and University clubs and was counted among the prominent citizens of Seattle. Bebb & Gould designed the 1920s addition to the Rainier Club, as well as homes for many of Seattle’s affluent families.

Both of Gould’s parents claimed descent from prominent New York families. His father, Charles Judson Gould, was a successful New York merchant and financier and his mother, Annie Laurie Westbrook Gould, held property in the city that had passed through her family for two hundred years. Carl Gould and his six siblings (five sisters and a brother) grew up in the Gould’s New York City apartment, and Suncliff, their country home in Tarrytown. The Gould children were educated in leading New England schools, and all accompanied their parents on European trips, where their appreciation for art and architecture was fostered. Carl’s mother was an avid arts patron and collected the works of relatively unknown (at the time) young artists, such as Winslow Homer and Rockwell Kent. Appreciation for the arts has pervaded the Gould family through generations; among other family members, Anne Hauberg, nee Anne Westbrook Gould, granddaughter and namesake of Carl’s mother, has followed in her grandmother’s footsteps and been an important Seattle arts patron.

Gould married Dorothy Wheaton Fay (1890-1976) in 1915, and together they had three children: Carl, Jr. (1916-1992), Anne (1917-), and John (1925-). All three children remained in the Seattle area. Carl, Jr., practiced architecture and John became a research engineer. The Goulds divided their time between Topsfield, their summer home on Bainbridge Island (built in 1915 and designed by Gould), and the Gould home at 1058 East Lynn Street, built in 1921 and also designed by Gould.

A local historian, writer, and active member of Seattle society, Dorothy Fay Gould was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. She attended Broadway High School in Seattle and prepared for college at the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr before entering Vassar. She graduated in 1912 and returned to Seattle, and it was while teaching freshman English at the University of Washington that she met the new professor of architecture, Carl Gould.

Dorothy Fay Gould received a master’s degree in English from the University of Washington in 1937. Her chief interest, however, was Northwest history, and she wrote and lectured extensively on the subject throughout her life. Her first publication was The Indian Attack on Seattle, a work of historical editing. Beyond the Shining Mountains, a history of the Northwest, was published in 1938. She also wrote numerous articles for local and other publications. In addition to her lectures on Northwest history that she augmented with lantern slides, Mrs. Gould recorded a series of kinescopes in 1957 on Northwest history for elementary school children. She also gave a number of talks on various television and radio programs.

Like her husband, Dorothy Fay Gould was active in numerous civic and social organizations. Besides history, art, and architecture, her prime interests included gardening. She was a long-time active member of the Seattle Garden Club and the Garden Club of America, and served on numerous committees for both. She also frequently wrote and gave talks on gardening topics. She was a founding member of the Seattle Historical Society and served as historian for the Washington State branch of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. In addition to these and other clubs and organizations, she belonged to the Sunset and University Women’s clubs, and was active in Seattle’s society circles.

Dorothy Fay Gould was the daughter of John Purinton Fay (1861-1930) and Alice Ober Fay (1863-1948), both of whom were natives of Massachusetts. John Fay was born in Westboro to an old Massachusetts family of comfortable means. He was educated at Exeter and Harvard, graduating in 1881, and after several years of studying at Harvard Law School, he moved west to take a position as principal of a Eureka, Nevada, high school. He continued to study law in Nevada, receiving his license to practice in 1888.

Alice Isabel Ober was born in the Massachusetts coastal town of Beverly to a prominent New England family, the sixth of eight children. She attended Wheaton Seminary and after briefly teaching high school in her home town she went west, taking a teaching position at the school in Eureka where John Fay was principal. They were married in 1889 and moved to Seattle just before the 1889 fire. There John Fay established a successful law practice and specialized in mining law. Fay became involved in politics in the 1890s and in 1912 ran unsuccessfully as the Republican-Progressive nominee for congressman-at-large. In 1897 he was appointed to the board of regents at the University of Washington and helped to improve and expand the University’s curriculum. Alice was a founding member of the Sunset Club and the Seattle Garden Club.

John and Alice Fay had six children, but two sons, John Bradford (1896-1904) and Winthrop Herrick (1899-1915) died young. Their surviving son, Temple Sedgewick (1895-1963), became a famous neurosurgeon. Besides Dorothy, there were two daughters: Alice (1891-1950), who joined the Women’s Overseas Section of the Y.M.C.A. National War Work Council during World War I, and Jean Bradford (1904-1986), who became a journalist.

Faybrooke, the Fays' 46-acre estate on Bainbridge Island, later became part of Fay Bainbridge State Park.

In addition to the Fays, four of Alice’s siblings settled in Seattle. Ralph Ober (1871-1931) was an engineer and became Seattle’s superintendent of buildings. Caroline Ober (1866-1929) founded the languages department at the University of Washington and was made professor emeritus shortly before her death. Sarah “Sadie” Ober (1854-1938) did missionary work among northest Native Americans in addition to being a writer and artist. She often used the name of her maternal grandmother, Huldah Herrick, as a pen name.

Other Ober siblings were Charles (1856-1948) and Frank (born in 1860), both of whom were actively involved in the Young Men’s Christian Association movement. Charles also authored several books. Arthur (1852-1913) became a farmer, and Frederick (1849-1913) traveled and published 22 books on his studies of nature and various cultures.

Scope and Content

The Gould Family Papers consist of the papers of a number of individuals, including Carl F. Gould, Dorothy Fay Gould, and other Gould family members, as well as members of the Fay and Ober families.

Approximately 20 cubic feet of the Gould Family Papers are those of patriarch Carl Frelinghuysen Gould. Rich in both personal and professional information, Gould’s papers span 1889 to 1938 and document a variety of topics. Architectural work is documented in over 100 project files, correspondence, notes, drawings, building specifications, and other professional files that span 1908-1938. However, his contributions to the field of art and architecture are equally represented in his personal files, 1889-1939, which document Gould’s many involvements in architectural, fine arts, and civic organizations, including the American Institute of Architects (both the national association and the Washington branch), the Washington chapter of the Construction League of the United States, the Seattle Planning Commission, the Oregon Capitol Reconstruction Commission, and the Seattle Fine Arts Society.

Papers reflecting Gould’s teaching career and the founding of the architecture department at the University of Washington consist of speeches and writings, notes, minutes, reports, sketchbooks, and diaries.

The correspondence in the Gould Family Papers is comprehensive. Incoming letters included in the papers of one family member are often complemented by outgoing letters in the papers of another relative represented in the collection. Many of Carl F. Gould’s outgoing letters, for example, can be found in the personal papers of other family members, particularly those of his wife, Dorothy Fay Gould, and his mother, Annie Westbrook Gould.

Materials regarding Gould’s estate span several decades, beginning late in 1938, when he was in the hospital. Consisting of correspondence, notes, and legal papers, these papers document a longterm dispute between Dorothy Fay Gould, Gould’s associate Charles Bebb, and draftsman John Paul Jones regarding the ownership of Gould’s professional files.

The Annie Westbrook Gould estate files deal mainly with the disposition of the legacy of Gould’s mother to her heirs. Included in these files is correspondence among the Gould siblings.

Comprising over thirteen cubic feet, Dorothy Fay Gould’s personal papers span 1905-1976. Correspondence, diaries, writings, ephemera, and much other material document Mrs. Gould’s varied interests and activities, especially gardening and Northwest history. Lifelong friendships are documented in letters from Vassar schoolmates, and her close family ties are apparent in letters from siblings, parents, and other relatives. Correspondence with prominent Seattleites, news clippings, and various club ephemera reflect Mrs. Gould’s extremely active social life.

Dorothy Fay Gould's papers also include Archives of American Architecture materials, sound recordings of several of her lectures, and a number of recorded oral histories conducted by her son, Carl Gould, Jr., in 1975. There are ten audiocassettes and one wire recording (the wire recording has been duplicated to audiocassette).

The sheer volume of society and other newspaper clippings about the family attests to its standing in Seattle society. While there are clippings within the papers of many family members, the bulk are in Dorothy Fay Gould’s papers.

The personal papers of other Gould family members, including the Fay and Ober families, measure approximately five cubic feet. Most of the material is correspondence, although there are other documents. John P. Fay’s papers contain diaries, legal and financial records, writings, and campaign and other ephemera in addition to letters. Also in John Fay’s papers is a campaign scrapbook filled with news clippings, ephemera, posters, and correspondence. Alice Ober Fay’s papers contain notes and reports from high school and college, and Frank Ober’s papers include YMCA ephemera. Sarah “Sadie” Ober’s papers include some of her writings and artwork. Major correspondents include Muriel (Gould) York and Paul M. Gustin.

Restrictions on Use

Literary rights of family members have been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Restrictions on Access

Open to all users.

Access to archival recordings: Due to the fragility of archival tape recordings, potential users may be required to arrange for transfer to digital format before the material can be accessed. Please contact Special Collections for further information.

Related Material

Over 250 architectural drawings, a pencil drawing of Dorothy Fay Gould by Roi Partridge, and a campus map designed and signed by Gould are available in the division’s graphic collections.

The Dorothy Fay Gould Papers measure approximately 1 cubic foot and are available in the Special Collections division. Also housed in the division are the Anne Gould Hauberg Papers, 1917-1983, and the Caroline Haven Ober Papers, 1884-1929.

Separated Material

A few publications were transferred to the University of Washington Architecture and Urban Planning Library.

Physical/Technical Access

An audiocassette player is required to play the sound cassettes.

Custodial History

The Gould family papers were stored by Dorothy Fay Gould at Topsfield, the Gould summer home on Bainbridge Island. Following her death they were kept at the home of her son, Carl Gould, Jr.

Acquisition Info

Carl Gould, Jr., donated many of these papers to the University of Washington Libraries in installments over the course of twenty years: Accession no. 3273-2 and 3516, 1983; 3273-3, 1980; 3273-4, 3273-5, and 3172-4, 1987; 3273-6 and 3273-7, 1988; 3273-8, 1992. Following his death in 1993, Carl Gould, Jr.’s widow, Gretchen Gould, donated Accession no. 3516-2 in 1993; 35l6-3 and 3516-4 in 1994; 3516-6 in 2000; and 3516-7 in 2002.

Processing Info

Processing completed by Gina Rappaport and Noella Natalino in 2003.

Accession 3516-8 combines a number of previous accessions. The installments from Carl Gould, Jr., measured approximately six cubic feet and included Carl, Sr.’s architectural drawings, faculty papers from the University of Washington, family photographs and films, and personal papers of his mother, Dorothy Fay Gould, and other family papers. Most of these materials, particularly the drawings and faculty papers of Carl Gould, were processed and made available to researchers soon after their acquisition.

The largest installment of Gould Family papers was Accession no. 3516-3, consisting of over 40 cubic feet of correspondence, writings, architectural specifications, diaries, ephemera, and other material. In January 1995 most of the previous accessions were merged with 3516-3 and then given the new accession number 3516-5. All of Carl Gould’s professional and personal papers were fully processed, with the exception of his estate files. Dorothy Fay Gould’s papers and the papers of other family members were preliminarily sorted.

The accessions in 2000 and 2002 comprised over 10 cubic feet of material. Primarily correspondence, notes, writings, diaries, and ephemera of Dorothy Fay Gould, the accessions also contained several boxes of Carl Gould’s personal and professional papers. In 2002 donor Gretchen Gould made a generous gift to the University of Washington Libraries, enabling the Special Collections division to hire an intern to process the Gould Family Papers. 3516-6 and 3516-7 were merged with 3516-5 in 2003, and given the new accession number 3516-8. At this time, most of Dorothy Fay Gould’s papers were fully processed, as were the Fay and Ober papers.

There were many mold-damaged letters and other documents in 3516-5 and the later accessions. The most damaged letters were photocopied during processing, and the originals have been segregated.

Newspaper clippings were weeded extensively, reducing over five cubic feet to a little over one cubic foot of clippings. Most of them formed part of Dorothy Fay Gould’s papers. In addition to clippings relating to family, she saved those relating to her interests in Northwest history and gardening, as well as University of Washington development and architecture. Only clippings that featured or mentioned family members were retained. Several yearbooks in poor condition from Harvard and Vassar were also discarded. Biographical information contained within the yearbooks regarding Carl Gould, John Fay, and Dorothy Fay Gould was photocopied, however, or the relevant pages saved. Financial papers such as receipts, utility bills, and cancelled checks were discarded.

Photographs, negatives, postcards, slides, drawings, greeting cards, and clippings in Accession no. 3516-8, and additional photographs and paintings in Accession no. 3516-6, were relocated to the Gould Family Photograph Collection, Photo Accession no. 2005-049, in the repository in 2003 and 2004. Most of the photographs are of the Fay and Ober families, but there are also numerous photographs and illustrations of Seattle and Northwest subjects from Dorothy Fay Gould’s research materials.

In addition, photographs of Seattle architecture and the gardens of prominent Seattle estates were relocated to the Carl Gould Photograph Collection, PH Coll. 426, in the repository. This collection mainly depicts Gould’s architecture.

Also relocated to the visual materials collections in the repository in 2003 were Gould home movies on four reels of 16mm film and one U-matic videocassette.

Some Pacific Northwest travel ephemera from Dorothy Fay Gould’s papers, including maps and brochures, as well as several Pacific Northwest periodicals and other pamphlets, were relocated to the division’s Pacific’s Northwest Collection in 2003. Approximately 100 postcards were added to the division's postcard collection.

Other Finding Aids

The visual materials that became part of the Carl Gould Photograph Collection, PH Coll. 426, are described and indexed in the Special Collections division Photograph Collections Database. Gould's architectural drawings are described in the division's Architectural Drawings Database. A finding aid for the Gould Family Photograph Collection is also available in the division.

Bibliography

T. William Booth and William H. Wilson, Carl F. Gould: A Life in Architecture and the Arts (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995) .

Norman Johnston, The College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Seventy-Five Years at the University of Washington: A Personal View (Seattle : the author, 1991).

Inventory