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John H. Herrick Archives:
Documenting Structures at The Ohio State University
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About John H. Herrick
John H. Herrick was associated with The Ohio State University as a student, faculty member, administrator, and retired administrator for 60 years. He came to the University in 1920, graduated with a Bachelor's degree in education in 1928, a Master's degree in 1936, and a Doctorate degree in 1944. John Herrick served as head administrator of University Campus and Facilities Planning after it was established by former OSU President Fawcett. He was considered by his peers to be of the leading professionals in campus and facilities planning in the United States.
After his retirement in 1972, Herrick continued to donate his time and efforts to Ohio State, without compensation, for another 18 years. According to one account he spent an estimated 5500 hours recording detailed information on over 1500 buildings. Herrick located and placed in the archives more than 300 historical maps showing campus development over the years and wrote a history of the Oval, Mirror Lake Hollow, and continued to engage in campus planning activities.
While doing research for one of his books, Herrick learned that the records of campus buildings were incomplete and unclear. Herrick resolved that he would try to determine the dates associated with each building as well as who built, planned, moved and destroyed every building that ever stood on campus. From 1970 to 1980, he voluntarily worked three hours a day, five days a week to pull this information together. Using an office provided him by the University; he studied old maps, minutes from past Board of Trustee's meetings, old telephone directories, old photographs and gathered accounts of "old timer’s memories and diaries." His resulting records consist of the indexed names of all the structures for which he found references, a brief report about each building including such specific information as location, type of construction, size, names of the architects involved, bid dates, contractors, completion date, and date of demolition. These records (what we now call the Herrick Archives) were typed and then complied into a set of three-ring binders. Copies of these can be found in various locations including: the Columbus Public Library, the Ohio State University Library, the Knowlton School of Architecture, the Ohio Historical Society, the Ohio State University Archives, and the Office of Facility Planning and Development. It is not easily accessible and, although it is a unique and unprecedented resource, it is relatively unknown.