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Creator:

Valentine, P. O. (33 Homestead, Park, Newark)  Search this

Gilbert, Cass, 1859-1934  Search this

Belden & Company (45 Clinton Street, Newark, N.J.)  Search this

Source:

Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of (NMAH, SI)  Search this

Former owner:

Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Division of (NMAH, SI)  Search this

Names:

New York Life Insurance Building.  Search this

Seaside Sanatorium (Waterford, Conn)  Search this

Supreme Court Building (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Woolworth Building (New York, N.Y.)  Search this

Extent:

15 Cubic feet (71 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Drawings

Business records

Clippings

Contracts

Personal papers

Photographs

Pastels (visual works)

Pencil works

Pamphlets

Booklets

Specifications

Correspondence

Statistics

Sketchbooks

Date:

1897-1963

bulk 1897-1936

Scope and Contents:

The contents of the collection date from 1897 to 1936. The bulk of the collection consists of loose-leaf binders of photo prints of forty-one Cass Gilbert buildings under construction between 1908 and 1936. (This represents less than half of his firm's total output.) The volumes are arranged alphabetically by name of building. A few additional photo prints of buildings under construction are found in the unbound materials.

The collection also includes correspondence (1919-1932), contracts, statistical data, news clippings, booklets, and other miscellaneous Gilbert papers. There are three volumes of correspondence, specifications and blueprints, 1932-1935, for the construction of the U.S. Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. Also included are twenty pencil and pastel sketch books of Gilbert's travels in Europe, 1897 to 1932, and miscellaneous loose sketches (including photo prints and negatives of his studies for the George Washington Bridge. The photographic prints are mostly mounted on cloth in loose-leaf binders. Some of the photographers are identified, although many are not. Photographers included P.O. Valentine of 33 Homestead Park, Newark, New Jersey.

Arrangement:

Collection arranged into six series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1919-1932

Series 2: Personal Papers, 1914-1963

Series 3: New York Life Insurance Building Contracts, 1934-1935

Series 4: Woolworth Building, 1911-1913

Series 5: Sketches and Sketch Books, 1897-1932

Series 6: Photoprints, 1908-1936

Biographical / Historical:

Cass Gilbert, 1859-1934, was a prominent American architect best known for his commercial and public buildings. Gilbert was born in Zanesville, Ohio and educated in St. Paul, Minnesota. After only a year of study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and subsequent travels in Europe, he began working for the New York firm of McKim, Mead, and White in 1880. In 1883 he returned to St. Paul where he practised briefly with James Knox Taylor, a classmate at M.I.T., designing private homes, churches, and commercial buildings. His first major commission was the Minnesota State Capitol (1895), which he modeled after the National Capitol and the dome of St. Peter's, Rome. Gilbert returned to New York in 1899 when he won the prized commission for the design of the U.S. Customs House. This was followed by many other major projects. The most famous of these was the Woolworth Building in New York (1913); with its fifty‑five stories and Gothic ornament it is considered Gilbert's greatest achievement. Firmly supportive of the European tradition and eastern academic architecture, Gilbert continued his numerous and successful designs until his death in 1934. Among his many familiar public buildings are the Treasury Annex and the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, the state capitol buildings of West Virginia and Arkansas, and the public libraries of St. Louis and Detroit.

Related Materials:

Materials at Other Organizations

Library of Congress

Cass Gilbert Archive, 1890-1939

Montana Historical Society

Cass Gilbert Papers, 1902-1910

Oberlin College Archives

Cass Gilbert Collection, 1903-1984, 2000

University of Minnesota, Archives and Special Collections

Cass Gilbert Collection, 1909-1910

United States Supreme Court, Office of the Curator

Provenance:

Gift of Emily Gilbert and Cass Gilbert, Jr. through Mr. Silvio Bedini, November 30, 1961, January 15, 1962, and later in 1962.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Engineering -- 1890-1940 -- U.S.  Search this

Bridges -- 1890-1940  Search this

Civil engineering -- 1890-1940 -- U.S.  Search this

Civil engineers  Search this

Commercial buildings -- 1890-1940 -- U.S.  Search this

Architects -- 1890-1940  Search this

Architecture -- 1890-1940 -- United States  Search this

Public architecture -- 1890-1940 -- U.S.  Search this

Genre/Form:

Drawings -- 1890-1940

Business records -- 1880-1950

Clippings -- 1900-1950

Contracts -- 1890-1940

Personal papers -- 1890-1940

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- 1900-1950

Pastels (visual works)

Pencil works

Pamphlets

Booklets

Specifications

Correspondence -- 1900-1950

Statistics

Sketchbooks -- 1890-1940

Citation:

Cass Gilbert Collection, 1897-1936, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0214

See more items in:

Cass Gilbert Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0214