Everything about Dumbarton Oaks totally explained
Dumbarton Oaks is a 19th century
Federal-style mansion with famous gardens in the
Georgetown neighborhood of
Washington, D.C. It currently houses the
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, a center for scholarship in
Byzantine studies,
Pre-Columbian studies and the history of
landscape architecture. The center publishes the academic journal
Dumbarton Oaks Papers.
The mansion was built in 1800. Famously, it was the Washington residence of U.S.
Senator, official, and
Vice President John C. Calhoun. It was purchased in 1920 by
Robert Woods Bliss (1875-1962), a longtime member of the
Foreign Service and his wife
Mildred Barnes Bliss (1875-1969), a prominent
art collector and daughter of
Demas Barnes who was an investor in
Charles Henry Fletcher's '
Fletcher's Castoria' via the corporate entity
The Centaur Company. Additions to the house have been made by several architects, including
Philip Johnson.
Over their lives, the Blisses assembled large and important collections of artifacts and books, which they housed at Dumbarton Oaks. In 1940, they donated their collections together with the house and its grounds to create the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, to be managed by the trustees of
Harvard University. The institution was originally dedicated solely to Byzantine studies, but the scope was later broadened to include Pre-Columbian studies and the history of landscape architecture. The libraries of Dumbarton Oaks contain over 100,000 volumes. There are a number of resident
scholars; in addition, about forty fellowships are awarded each year for visiting scholars.
There are about ten acres (four hectares) of gardens on the grounds of Dumbarton Oaks, designed from 1922-1947 by noted landscape architect
Beatrix Farrand in collaboration with Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss. The gardens comprise a series of terraces built on a hill behind the house, with the remaining areas laid out informally. They include the Star Garden, Green Garden, Beech Terrace, Urn Terrace, formal Rose Garden, Arbor Terrace, Fountain Terrace, Lover's Lane Pool, and Pebble Terrace, as well as a
Camellia Circle,
Prunus Walk,
Cherry Hill,
Crabapple Hill,
Forsythia Hill, and Fairview Hill. All are open to the public.
Dumbarton Oaks has lent its name to a major work by
Igor Stravinsky: Mr. Bliss commissioned Stravinsky to compose a
concerto for his thirtieth wedding anniversary in 1938. The resulting
"Concerto in E-flat" for chamber orchestra is more commonly referred to as the "Dumbarton Oaks" concerto.
In 1944, Dumbarton Oaks hosted the
Dumbarton Oaks Conference, an international meeting that laid the groundwork for the creation of the
United Nations.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dumbarton Oaks'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://dumbarton_oaks.totallyexplained.com">Dumbarton Oaks Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
