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CONTENTS
3. Introduction
4. Historic Context
6. Architectural Context
7. The Architect: Solon Spencer Beman
9. Notes
Ground was broken July 18, 1907 for a new Administration Building
to house the offices of the Studebaker Bros. Manufacturing
Company in South Bend. The company had sold over a million wagons
by this time and had begun to make a reputation in the
manufacture of automobiles. Ever-increasing business and the need
to accommodate a growing white-collar staff influenced the
decision to replace the company's Italianate-styled office
structure on South Lafayette Street with a "thoroughly modern, up
to date, office building and repository."[1] The decision was
finalized at a Board of Directors meeting in March of 1907; in
May architect Solon Spencer Beman was chosen to design the
building; the Administration Building was completed two years
later, in 1909.
Located between South Main, South Lafayette, Bronson Street and
what was then the Lakeshore and Michigan Southern Railroad
tracks, this substantial structure in 1992 continues to be an
integral part of the cultural landscape of South Bend's downtown;
the Administration Building remains as the most significant
Studebaker building left in the city. It was here that the
twentieth-century version of the Studebaker manufacturing
phenomenon was organized and directed. It was also here that the
company maintained a museum dedicated to the protection and
display of their world-famous products.
The building is significant and worthy of protection for several
reasons:
1. as the center of the Studebaker firm's management, planning
and social activities in the twentieth century;
2. as an important landmark of the city's built -environment;
3. as a structure designed by one of the Midwest's most
influential architects of the nineteenth century, Solon Spencer
Beman, and;
4. as a local example of Renaissance Revival -influenced
architecture.
Since 1970 the structure has been occupied by the South Bend
School Corporation and is now in use as their Administration
Building; it is unknown what future uses the School Corporation
may make of the building. Rated as Significant on the Indiana
Sites and Structures Survey (S-12) and eligible for listing on
the National Register of Historic Places, the building is
deserving of being designated by ordinance as a Local Historic
Landmark.
The Historic Preservation Commission voted on April 20, 1992 to
recommend to the South Bend Common Council the designation of
this important structure as a Local Historic Landmark. Following
is a historic and architectural evaluation of the building.
Historic Context
When the company decided to have this office structure erected,
it had successfully been manufacturing products in South Bend
since 1852, beginning as a blacksmith operation building wagons
on the side. The company went on to become extremely influential
as one of South Bend's premier catalysts for growth and success.
In 1876 the company claimed to be the largest manufacturer of its
kind in the country. By 1889 it was estimated that Studebaker had
drawn at least seventy other businesses into the city, helping
develop South Bend into one of the Midwest's premier, mid-sized
industrial towns. Becoming the Studebaker Corporation in 1911,
the firm remained as one of the city's most important employers
until ceasing automobile production locally in 1963.
A 1856 lithograph depicts the H. and C. Studebaker factory (the
firm's first name) which consisted of an one -and -a -half story
frame office and "carriage repository" adjacent to a barn and
attached shed. In 1868, after Civil War orders had stimulated
expansion, the plant grew to include two -and -a -half and
three-story frame factory buildings surrounding the 1850's
structures. By 1872, the Studebaker plant included a Second
Empire -styled office attached to mansard -roofed, brick buildings
and expanded factory space and lumber yards. A disastrous fire
then destroyed over two thirds of these "manufactories" in 1874;
the company promptly rebuilt "on a grander scale" than before. In
1876 the rebuilt plant facing Lafayette Street had become a truly
mammoth complex with an Italianate-styled office building and
acres of manufacturing buildings connected by rails.[2]
In the early 1870's the company also began building branch
offices and showrooms around the country. The first, in St.
Joseph, Missouri, was joined by many other "repositories" (as the
firm insisted on calling their showrooms) in major cities around
the country. The twentieth century also saw branchesbuilt in
London, Buenos Aires and Sydney, Australia.[3]
The new Administration Building was first occupied on June 26,
1909. The company had formed a special committee to assign
offices; the president of the firm's office was in the southeast
corner of the fourth floor. Ushers were hired to conduct visitors
to and from the various departments and offices. Visitors were
not allowed on the third floor, the location of the "machine
operating rooms housing typewriters, adding -machines and the
like. The third floor also housed the company's "sensitive
materials" secured in storage vaults.
The building was designed to be more than just an office complex.
As a company with the reputation for having relatively good
employee relations, Studebaker encouraged the formation of clubs
promoting "fellowship, loyalty and enthusiasm." These
organizations, called the Studebaker Club (men) and the Mary Ann
Club (women), were also accommodated in the basement.
These recreational accommodations included a bowling alley,
billiard tables and an exercise -bicycle room. Dressing rooms and
toilet facilities were also added amenities. The facilities were
gender -segregated and were exchanged between the sexes once a
week. The company also provided space outside the building for
croquet wickets and other outdoor sports.
This effort to be a benign employer is perhaps balanced by
company policy that forbade employees, except for executives,
from decorating their offices with calendars or personal
pictures. In addition, it is unlikely that the recreation
facilities were intended for the use of all employees --including
factory laborers. Another rule that might be interpreted as
revealing a overly paternalistic streak in company policy was the
requirement of department heads to maintain all curtains in the
building at a uniform height at all times. The building was to
remain in every way a symbol of a company highly organized and in
complete control.[4]
The Studebaker firm, recognizing their part in the historical
development of South Bend and their role in American
transportation, set aside a portion of the building from the
beginning for use as a museum dedicated to the display of
Studebaker products. The company also commissioned the painting
of a historical mural in the building that depicted the history
of transportation --beginning with a pre -Egyptian mode of
transport and ending, of course, with a Studebaker automobile.
The company museum, located on the west side of the first floor,
displayed Studebaker wagons, carriages and automobiles. The
museum also displayed carriages used by various historical
figures, including Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Indiana
Governor Oliver P. Morton and the Marquis de Lafayette.[5]
A Studebaker press release from 1941, noting the building's
"historic" place in Midwest architecture, mentioned it as being
only the "second poured -concrete, four-story structure [built] in
the Middle West." This document further characterizes it as being
"well—known to thousands of motorists who have visited the
Hoosier city." It seems evident that the building was considered
even then as being a notable South Bend landmark.
This same document goes on to suggest that one could see "the
character of Studebaker ... reflected in the building." It was
described as being a "strong structure, ruddy and robust, but not
fancy or smeared with gadgets." This image was said to be further
maintained by the "immaculate cleanliness of everything in the
building."[6]
The company made every effort to keep the building "up to date."
The press -release quoted above was circulated to announce the
"facelift" of the venerable building. This project replaced oaken
Paneling, window trim and "1910 furniture" that was seen as being
old-fashioned by the 1940's. In this effort to update the
building's amenities, Studebaker employed a staff" of "uniformed
receptionists, one a former airline stewardess" in place of the
former "ushers."[7]
When the Studebaker Corporation put the building up for sale in
1965, it had again been redecorated and updated on the interior.
The company marketed the structure as "150,000 square foot of
modern office space ... that could accommodate a work -force of
over six-hundred."[8] They evidently had some difficulty selling
the structure, however, as the School Corporation, the next
occupant, did not occupy it until 1970.
Architectural Context
The building stands on a strip of land directly east of the
company's older office structure on Lafayette Street (now the
location of the Shetland Building, 1923). It is 80 feet high
(four stories) with an irregular "footprint" measuring 320 by 110
feet. This plan was designed to fill as much of the lot,
circumscribed by three streets and the railroad tracks due north
(elevated in 1928), as possi6le.[9]
The Wills Brothers, a contracting firm based in Chicago,
constructed the building. It was built of reinforced concrete
from top to bottom, including all walls, floors, ceilings and
supporting columns. The facade is faced with brick and Bedford
stone. The project took the better part of two years due to the
necessity of transporting the concrete to the site by wheelbarrow
and ramps and that work ceased during the winter months and
inclement weather.
The architect's design mimicked the form of Renaissance palaces
found in Italian metropolises. The design was, like those
structures, meant to be symbolic of business success and power.
Also similar to its European prototypes, the building's footprint
following existing lot lines results in a trapezoidal, hence
"irregular," plan. The masonry wall treatment is accentuated by a
rusticated base or first story, a second story stone sill course,
and 'a larger intermediate, molded stone belt course.
Openings are arranged in a rhythmic, two-tiered arcade. The two
-story arches are accented by keystones; those corresponding to
the lower tier are reflective of Mannerism --a late Renaissance
style. The lower tier is also characterized by heavy stone blocks
that emphasize the spring line of the arcade.
Most of the actual window sashes have been replaced. The sashes
on the upper portion of the lower tier originally filled the
entire arch. Sashes on the upper tier were three -over -one,
double -hung sashes; some of these are still in place.
r
An interior court, resembling the typical Renaissance palace
court yard, is a major interior feature. The upper zone of the
space is adorned with the Holloway mural cited above. This
two-story space, beginning at the third level, was probably lit
at one time by clerestory windows in the mechanical space, or
observation deck, at roof level. The balcony that surrounds the
space is protected by a wrought -iron railing topped with globed
lights on ornate, wrought -iron posts at one end and a four-sided
clock of matching materials at the other.
The artist responsible for the Administration Building mural,
Charles S. Holloway (1859-1941), was a Chicago -based artisan who
worked in art glass and was an oil painter and cartoonist as well
as being a muralist. Holloway painted murals in many theaters in
Chicago as well as the Court House in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the
old Post Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the State Capitol in
Pierre, South Dakota. His stained-glass windows were installed at
Northwestern University and the Keeley Institute in Dwight,
Illinois. He was a member of the National Society of Mural
Painters and received a gold medal at the 1900 Paris
Exposition.[10]
This mural remains significant as one of South Bend's few
remaining works of "public art." Its depiction of Studebaker's
place in transportation history is evidence of a company that
viewed itself as being profoundly influential beyond the bounds
of local commerce. It is quite evident that by 1907 the
Studebaker firm saw itself as having already made a major
contribution globally. Both the mural and the building itself
were intended to reflect stability and confidence and to command
respect.
The Architect: Solon Spencer Beman
Solon Beman (1853-1914) ranks as one of the nineteenth-century
Midwest's premier architects. He is most famous for being the
designer of Pullman, Illinois --the planned manufacturing
community built for business tycoon George Mortimer Pullman,
manufacturer of the famous Pullman railroad car.
Beman, along with landscape designer Nathan F. Barrett, was hired
in 1880 to design this new town south of Chicago on the west bank
of Lake Calumet that would contain Pullman's new manufacturing
facilities as well as housing for his workers. Historian Richard
C. Wade has described Pullman as both "an attempt to establish a
new system of labor relations [and] an experiment in town
planning." Beman's plan for the city was everything that typical
nineteenth-century industrial towns were not --it was "planned,
orderly, antiseptic" and thus could' be seen as a possible "agent
of fundamental social reform."[11]
Beman was just twenty-seven years old, although a seasoned
architect, when he took on this immense project., The town that
resulted was two -and -a -half by one-half miles in size. He
designed the broad range of buildings necessary for- the
development of a manufacturing town including factories,
residences and community structures. By April, 1882 over five
million dollars and three million bricks had been expended on the
town.
Beman's design for Pullman was intended to be primarily
functional. He eclectically chose from the broad range of styles
and influences typical to his time and tried no innovative plans.
The end result was considered "competent and credible" by his
contemporaries.[12] He continued this borrowing of historic
styles with his use of Renaissance ideas in the design of the
Studebaker Building. It too is an attractive and functional
building that is stylistically conservative, relative to its
time, serving to fulfill its intended function and exude an air
of quiet authority.
Beman went on to design many other buildings for Pullman as well
as the Proctor and Gamble factories in Cincinnati, the
Connecticut State Capitol and many other structures throughout
the country. Beman also designed the South Bend Y.M.C.A. (1908)
that was donated to the city by the Studebaker firm. It,
unfortunately, no longer exists. The Administration building
remains as the single local example of this important architect's
body of work.
Fred M. Holycross
Historic Preservation Commission
April, 1992
NOTES
1. Public notice of the company's intention to erect a new
structure can be found in: "Erecting an Office'' South Bend
Tribune 7-18-07:1. Other relevant information can be found in
Jeanne Denham, Studebaker Administration Building_ Tour,
(Studebaker National Museum Archives, South Bend, IN: n.d.).
2. A series of lithographs depicts the changing Studebaker
manufacturing facilities from the 1835 shop and home in Ashland,
Ohio to the mammoth twentieth-century facilities in: Albert
Russell Erskine History of the Studebaker_ Corporation (South
Bend: The Studebaker Corporation, 1918). Other sources for
Studebaker history, of varying quality, are: William A. Cannon
and Fred K. Fox, Studebaker: The Complete Story (Blue Ridge
Summit, Pa.: Tab Books, 1981); Kathleen Ann Smallzried and
Dorothy James Roberts, More Than You Promise: A Business at Work
in Society (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1942); Michael Beatty,
Patrick Furlong and Loren Pennington, Studebaker: Less Than They
Promised (South Bend: And Books, 1984); 100 Years On The Road
(South Bend: Studebaker Corp., 1952); Asa E. Hall and Richard M.
Langworth, The Studebaker Century: A National Heritage
(Contoocook, N.H.: 1983).
3. History: 64-66; an advertisement showing "principal
repositories" can also be seen in: Stephen Longstreet A Century
on Wheels: The Story of Studebaker (New York: Henry Holt, 1952):
illustrations, center fly -leaf.
4. Denham, 3.
5. "Morton Carriage Now in Collection," South Bend Tribune
8-1-11:15.
6. Studebaker Trade Papers Release (April, 1941); location:
Studebaker National Museum.
7. Studebaker Trade Papers: 2.
8. Studebaker Sales Brochure, Administration Building, (South
Bend: n.d.): Location: Studebaker National Museum.
9. Studebaker Corporation, South Bend. Indiana Yard and Floor
Plans (1912); location: Studebaker National Museum, South Bend,
Indiana.
10. Who Was Who in American Art (Madison, Conn.; Soundview
Press, 1985):288.
11. Richard C. Wade in forward to: Stanley Buder Pullman: An
Experiment in Industrial Order and Community Planning, 1880-1930
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1967): viii. Beman's career
is also discussed in: "Solon Spencer Beman, President of the
Illinois Chapter A.I.A," Architecture News 10-22-04:291.
12. Buder, 74.
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