Sept. 22, 2006
 
Noted Local Architect’s Drawings Donated to MU
 
By HNN Staff
 
Huntington, WV (HNN) – In February 2006, the preservation of the record of architect Sidney Logan Day’s work was assured through the donation of hundreds of his drawings to Marshall University’s Special Collections department by his daughter, Mary Day Tonnesen, and grandchildren.
 
At 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, 2006, a tea to honor Tonnesen and the gift of her father’s architectural drawings will take place in the Special Collections department on the second floor of the Morrow Library on Marshall’s Huntington campus.
 
Day left an enduring legacy to the citizens of Huntington when he died in 1968. That legacy is a tangible testimony because it is built with mortar, brick, stone, lumber and steel, and can be seen on many of the commercial and residential streets throughout the city.
 
For more than 40 years, Day practiced as an architect, designing numerous homes, businesses, schools and churches in Huntington and the surrounding communities. People pass by the buildings he designed every day without realizing his importance to Huntington.
 
“We are delighted to have this significant record of the architectural history of Huntington,” Special Collections curator Lisle Brown said. “The drawings will prove of estimable value for researchers. We are grateful that Sidney Day’s family has entrusted us with his beautiful drawings.”
 
Joining Mary Day Tonnesen in donating her father’s drawings were his grandson, David Tonnesen, and granddaughters, Barbara Tonnesen and Theresa Tonnesen-O’Brien.
 
Barbara Winters, dean of libraries at Marshall, said the gift of the important historical documents will ensure that the record of his work will be secured for the future, when scholars, students, and researchers mine the treasure trove of his papers.
 
Sidney Day’s home on Jefferson Avenue, which he designed, held a 15-drawer file cabinet filled with hundreds of architectural plans, schematics, floor plans, drawings, and renderings, according to Winters. She said the drawings reflect his skillful draftsmanship.
 
“Since he worked years before architects had computers, all of his designs and plans are hand-drawn in pencil and ink, as well as watercolor, showing his meticulous artistry and attention to detail,” Winters said. Indeed, many of them are works of art, she said. Kathryn Day, Mary’s sister, worked as her father’s assistant for many years and is probably responsible for preserving so many of the drawings, Winters said.
 
Sidney, the son of Robert L. and Mary Johnston Day, was born Dec. 4, 1887 in Huntington, and died on Feb. 22, 1968 at the age of 80. He was a veteran of the First World War, serving as an aerial photographer.
 
A graduate of Marshall College (Class of 1906), he also took correspondence courses in architecture. Feeling a need for more formal education, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a degree in architecture in 1912. Returning to Huntington, he opened his architectural business with his father, Robert, which proved to be a very successful venture. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects.
 
Subjects included in the architectural drawings are the Keith-Albee Theatre; Butler Furniture Company; Huntington Publishing Company; Westmoreland Baptist Church; First Church of Christ, Scientist; First Presbyterian churches in Logan, W.Va., and Maysville, Ky., and the Crossroads Baptist Church, as well as the Hite-Saunders Elementary School and the Emmons School, which is no longer standing. There are many private residences, from spacious mansions to humble log cabins.
 
Those interested in attending the Oct. 8 tea should RSVP by Oct. 1 to Pam Ford at (304) 696-2312. More information on the event is available by contacting Barbara Winters at (304) 696-2318 or wintersb@marshall.edu.