Collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access will require additional advanced notice. Copies of digital files may be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room upon request.
The Reginald D. Tillson Landscape Architecture Papers contains drawings, sketches, specifications, correspondence, notes, plant guides, and other materials that document the landscape design work of Tillson from the 1920s to the 1970s. The collection also contains an oral history interview of his son, David Tillson, in 2016. These materials encompass Tillson's work as a landscape architect, creating designs for small-scale residential locations, large-scale private subdivision, public parks, public housing projects, schools, churches, and hospitals. The collection represents Tillson's work throughout the southeastern United States, with the majority of the projects based in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region. The earlier materials from 1906 to 1928 demonstrate Tillson's beginnings in landscape architecture while gaining knowledge and experience in the field. The bulk of the collection covers Tillson's career as a practicing landscape architect between 1928 and 1969. The collection ranges from 1906 to 2016.
Reginald D. Tillson was a landscape architect in High Point, North Carolina, who designed significant improvements to the built environment of High Point and other communities of the Piedmont Triad area. His early career focused on residential design work for the wealthy and upper-middle-class residents of High Point, which at the time was a prosperous center of the textile and furniture industries. In the 1950s and following decades, as North Carolina's population grew and planning and development trends evolved, Tillson's work grew in scale and complexity. He designed dozens of subdivisions and grounds for schools, churches, and hospitals. Overall, his career provides a unique view into planning and landscape architecture practice in the Southeast during decades of immense technological and social change.
Reginald D. Tillson was a landscape architect in High Point, North Carolina, who designed significant improvements to the built environment of High Point and other communities of the Piedmont Triad area. His early career focused on residential design work for the wealthy and upper-middle-class residents of High Point, which at the time was a prosperous center of the textile and furniture industries. In the 1950s and following decades, as North Carolina's population grew and planning and development trends evolved, Tillson's work grew in scale and complexity. He designed dozens of subdivisions and grounds for schools, churches, and hospitals. Overall, his career provides a unique view into planning and landscape architecture practice in the Southeast during decades of immense technological and social change.
During the 1930s, Tillson worked as a landscape foreman and landscape architect for the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), contributing to public park and land-conservation programs. With the CCC, Tillson designed parks and nature preserve amenities throughout the Southeast, including the High Point City Lake Park, where many of the features designed by Tillson remain intact today.
Reginald D. Tillson was born in 1899 in Whitman, Massachusetts, to I. Lewis and Nellie Drury Tillson. By the 1920s, he had received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst. After graduating, he practiced for five years as a landscape architect with the Reasoner Brothers of Oneca, Florida. He settled in the 1920s in High Point, North Carolina, where he lived and worked until his death in 1974.
The Reginald D. Tillson Landscape Architecture Papers contains drawings, sketches, specifications, correspondence, notes, plant guides, and other materials that document the landscape design work of Tillson from the 1920s to the 1970s. The collection also contains an oral history interview of his son, David Tillson, in 2016. These materials encompass Tillson's work as a landscape architect, creating designs for small-scale residential locations, large-scale private subdivision, public parks, public housing projects, schools, churches, and hospitals. The collection represents Tillson's work throughout the southeastern United States, with the majority of the projects based in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region. The earlier materials from 1906 to 1928 demonstrate Tillson's beginnings in landscape architecture while gaining knowledge and experience in the field. The bulk of the collection covers Tillson's career as a practicing landscape architect between 1928 and 1969. The collection ranges from 1906 to 2016.
The collection is arranged into three series: 1) Drawings 2) Office and Personal Records 3) Oral History with David Tillson
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.
[Identification of item], Reginald D. Tillson Landscape Architecture Papers, MC 00592, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Gift of David Tillson, 2016 June (Accession 2016.0210), 2016 September (Accession 2016.0276), 2016 October (Accession 2016.0320).
Processed by: Lindsey Naylor and Gwynn Thayer; machine-readable finding aid created by: Lindsey Naylor and Gwynn Thayer, 2017 September; updated by Taylor Wolford and Phillip MacDonald, 2019 January-June; with assistance processing from Shannon Reynolds, Caitlyn Sosbe, Hanna Howard, Oliver Robinson, and Samantha Thorne.
The collection is organized into three principal series:
Collection is open for research; access requires at least 48 hours advance notice. Because of the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access will require additional advanced notice. Copies of digital files may be provided for use in the SCRC Reading Room upon request.
For more information contact us via mail, phone, or our web form.
Mailing address:
Special Collections Research Center
Box 7111
Raleigh, NC, 27695-7111
Phone: (919) 515-2273
[Identification of item], Reginald D. Tillson Landscape Architecture Papers, MC 00592, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.