We are very pleased to announce that the Roger Hayward Papers are now part of the OSU Libraries Special Collections. To commemorate the occasion, here are three sketches from Hayward’s notebooks.
In 1925, Hayward moved to Cram and Ferguson, a well-known Boston architectural firm specializing in gothic design. Cram and Ferguson were working on the New York cathedral, St. John the Divine, and Roger did a number of architectural designs and renderings of the north face. He also did similar artistic renderings for the two World War I military cemeteries in France at Aisne-Marne and Oise-Marne for which Cram had commissions. Ralph Cram sent Roger and his wife Betty to Europe in 1926 to examine and sketch many classical buildings and to see “real Gothic structure”. During the trip, Roger filled sketchbooks with his carefully-rendered drawings and color studies. This “inspection trip” would be valuable in developing ideas for many of the later California architectural projects. Although his trip was confined to Italy, France and England, one of the sketch books opens with a watercolor drawing of the Hagia Sophia in “Constantinople.”
-extracted from Roger Hayward (1899-1979): Architect, Artist, Illustrator, Inventor, Scientist


Roger worked “for the fun of it”. He was a curious individual and was satisfied when he discovered or exhibited something new. In this regard he was a true dilettante, but a brilliant one.
-extracted from Roger Hayward and Linus Pauling
Much more on Roger Hayward is available here.
Filed under: Roger Hayward | Tagged: Gothic architecture, Hagia Sophia, Roger Hayward, sketches, St. John the Divine |
It’s always convenient to put one’s ideas immediately on paper when the tools needed are available. This is why I always make sure to carry around my sketch pad with me.
I really enjoyed reading this. Roger is my Uncle. His wife and my grandmother were sisters. I only knew him when he was older and I was very young. He was warm, kind and funny. He would show I’d all of his things when we would visit in Merced. I loved his puppets the most. I have some of his paintings and a couple of other things if his, my grandmother gave me before she passed. I loved Betty and Roger.