Alfred A. Hahn Architectural Drawings

Collection

Identifier: RG 30-110

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Hahn papers, mainly consisting of drawings, 1933-1934, include the following architectural materials relative to the post office at Oberlin: originals and photostats of floor plans, a dedication plaque, and a site plan. Also located here is a bound set of drawings on tracing paper, including one of the dedication plaque, a site plan, a basement plan, a first floor plan, a front elevation plan, the right side elevation plan, and a longitudinal section plan. On unbound tracing paper are two drawings of dedication plaques. Also included: A detail of a splash course lintel, a section drawing of the front stair, and a blueprint of a section detail of the location of support beams.

Dates

Creation: 1932-1933, undated
Other: Date acquired: 11/07/1977

Creator

Hahn, Alfred A. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted.

Biographical Sketch

Alfred Anthony Hahn (1890-1964) was born on June 25, 1890 in Toledo, Ohio, to Carl "Charles" Friedrich William Hahn (1862-1942) and Louisa M Schultz (1861-1909). He had two brothers - William Carl (1883-1969) and Carl B (1888-1930). Hahn married Alice Bernardine Thobe (1891-1963) and together, they had four children: Virginia "Ginny" Louise (1919-2017), Alfred A. Hahn Jr (1924-2010), Mary Rose (1925-1988), and Walter Frederick (1932-1981). Hahn was an architect and a founder of the Hahn and Hayes architectural firm. He designed the neoclassical United States Post Office at Oberlin, which opened for public use on S. Main Street on May 1, 1934. The contract for the erection of the new post office stood at a cost of $85,000. Hahn’s son, Alfred Jr., a Toledo architect who became a partner in the firm in 1940, deposited this collection of drawings of the post office with the Oberlin College Archives.

Extent

3.83 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Method of Acquisition

The collection was received from Alfred A. Hahn, Jr. in 1977 after an Oberlin student, Robert Weis, sought information about the architecture of the Oberlin post office. Mr. Hahn stated that all other drawings for the building were lost as a result of flooding in the early spring of 1977.

Accruals and Additions

Accession No: 1976/036

Related Publications

For a history of the Oberlin post offices, readers should consult the note on page 64 in Wilbur A. Phillips, Oberlin Colony: The Story of a Century (Oberlin, 1993).

The Electronic Oberlin Group website on the Post Office at http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/NewsTrib1935/PostOffice.html, accessed April 7, 2017.

Oberlin Post Office, Ohio Historic Inventory, Ohio Historic Preservation Office, September 30, 2000, accessed from the Oberlin Heritage Center at http://www.oberlinheritagecenter.org/cms/files/File/inventory/mainsouth68.pdf, April 7, 2017.