The Smart Sponsor: William Hewitt builds the Deere & Company Administrative Center

Annual Meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians, 1999

The Deere & Company Administrative Center is considered one of Eero Saarinen's finest works. Temko termed the complex 'incomparable . . . the concept is in every way successful.' Kidder Smith declared it 'a stupendous building with an integrity not likely to be seen again soon.' The AIA bestowed both a First Honor Award (1965) and a Twenty-five Year Award (1993).

In 1956, William Hewitt, Deere's 40-year-old president, determined a new headquarters campus critical as he retooled the insular company into the world's leading manufacturer of farm equipment. Through the consideration of key project moments, this paper studies the smart sponsor's visions and blind spots as he built a dominant corporation, a global agri-culture, and a signature building.

Research activities included interviews with William Hewitt and former Deere and Saarinen employees, archival searches, and the author's life on a working farm from birth to age eighteen.