Taliesin Diary

Winner of the Wisconsin Historical Society's 2013 Book Award of Merit, the first publication of the diary of a Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice, 1942–43, with notes, contextual essays, and contemporaneous photographs. Priscilla J. Henken lived at Taliesin with her husband David as part of The Fellowship, the group of acolytes who made Taliesin an architectural colony from the 1930s through the 1950s. Her lively description of day-to-day life on a communal working farm in south central Wisconsin provides unique insights into the world of Wright during the period and will fascinate Wright enthusiasts as well as those with specialized interest in midcentury architecture; social and spiritual movements; and the clash of cultures represented by two socialist, Jewish New Yorkers and the Midwestern farm community at Taliesin. Henken vividly describes the daily program, from cooking duties to editing the great architect’s autobiography and watching films. The internecine battles of the apprentices and the contentious relationship between Wright, the apprentices, and his third wife, Olgivanna Lazovich, enliven the account. Annotations supplement the diary, and accompanying essays by several scholars explore the cultural history of the period.