Kurt Kranz was born at Emmerich on the Rhine in 1910 and joined the Bauhaus in 1930. In 1950 he became an Assistant Professor to the Hamburg Academy of Art. During much of the 1930s, Kranz headed Herbert Bayer's Dorland Studio in Berlin. He held a number of visiting professor or similar positions in the United States: Tulane University (1957-1958); University of California, Santa Barbara (1965); Academy of Honolulu(1966); Nihon University, Tokyo; and Harvard (1967-1968). The Chammber of the Turk series of watercolors were included in the circulation exhibition by the Smithsonian Institute 1973-1975 entitled "kurt kranz bauhaus and today."
This series contains three sub-series: Layouts & Furnishings, Receipt of Gifts, etc. and Archives. The first sub-series, Layouts and Furnishings, consists of photos of the Brandon College and University libraries from the 1940’s to the present time. These photos highlight interesting areas of the library and include past and present library staff members. The second sub-series contains photos taken in the library during presentations of gifts, and other important events, such as the naming of the Robbins Library. The third sub-series contains photos taken in the McKee Archives, at its former location in the Jeff Umphrey Building, and since 1997, in its new location on the mezzanine floor of the John E. Robbins Library.