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Lewis & Valentine company records

Creator:
Lewis & Valentine Company  Search this
Donor:
Lewis, Hewlett Withington  Search this
Names:
Lewis & Valentine Company  Search this
Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, Pa.)  Search this
Rodin Museum (Philadelphia, Pa.)  Search this
Lewis, Harold Carman  Search this
Owner:
Auchincloss, Hugh D.  Search this
Du Pont, Eugene  Search this
Kahn, Otto Hermann, 1867-1934  Search this
Schwab, Charles M., 1862-1939  Search this
Stotesbury, Edward Townsend, 1849-1938  Search this
Woolworth, F. W.  Search this
du Pont, Pierre S.  Search this
Extent:
2.5 Cubic feet (documents, 366 photographs, 1 videotape.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Videotapes
Brochures
Books
Lists
Correspondence
Trade catalogs
Photographs
Place:
New York (State) -- Greenvale
New York (State) -- Roslyn
Date:
1916-1971
Summary:
The Lewis & Valentine Company Collection contains records of the Lewis & Valentine Company dating from 1916 to 1971 including photographs, negatives, brochures, books, trade catalogs, company papers, letters from clients, customer lists and a history of the company written by Harold Carman Lewis. Photographs document the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, estates in Long Island, New York, and the properties of Hugh D. Auchincloss, Eugene du Pont, Walter P. Chrysler, Otto H. Kahn, F. W. Woolworth, Pierre S. du Pont (Longwood Gardens), Charles M. Schwab and Edward T. Stotesbury. This collection contains only a sampling of the records of Lewis & Valentine and should not be considered comprehensive.
Arrangement note:
The collection is arranged into 3 series:

Series 1: Documents Series 2: Photographs Series 3: Videotape
Biographical/Historical note:
Specializing in moving and replanting large trees, Lewis & Valentine was one of the most prominent landscape contracting companies in the eastern United States during the first half of the twentieth century. The Lewis & Valentine Company was formed by five brothers whose father had hoped that his sons would grow up to be lawyers. Instead, the Lewis brothers formed a landscape design, installation and nursery firm that specialized in developing "successful methods for transplanting full-grown trees." Their success was based on "doing well the task which is usually considered impossible."

The company was the inspiration of H.C. Lewis, the oldest of seven brothers, who believed that estate owners should have the luxury of immediate landscapes, rather than waiting decades for their landscapes to mature. The Lewis brothers started their business in the early 1900s. Shortly afterwards, a Mr. Valentine, roommate of Albert Addison Lewis at the Amherst Landscape School in Massachusetts, invested in the business. After three years Mr. Valentine moved on and the Lewis brothers bought back his interest, but continued to keep Valentine part of the company's name.

Lewis & Valentine was the largest firm in America devoted to transplainting mature trees in the years leading up to the Great Depression. It claimed to be "the most experienced and most versatile, backed by an intimate knowledge of horticulture and the development of fine estates." The company was noted as a leader in providing complete landscape services, from selling and guaranteeing the plants, to designing and installation, requiring that its staff be men "of good character and not afraid of hard work." This was evident in the firm's principle of no limitations to the size of trees that they were willing to deliver. The trees were often full-grown and ranged in age from twenty to a hundred years old. Many were so large that 20 or more tons of earth had to be moved during the relocation process.

During its first 25 years in business, Lewis & Valentine opened nineteen offices east of the Mississippi serving such notable clients as Charles A. Schwab and Pierre du Pont at his estate, Longwood. The business was set up as an organization of independent companies. Each was incorporated under the laws of the state in which it operated. The offices were located in Connecticut (Darien), Florida (Palm Beach), Illinois (Chicago), Maryland (Baltimore), Massachusetts (Boston and Hanover), Michigan (Detroit), Pennsylvania (Ardmore and Pittsburg), New Jersey (Ashbury Park and Morristown), New York (Buffalo, Roslyn-Long Island, Rye, Valley Stream-Long Island, New York City), North Carolina (Winston-Salem) and Ohio (Cleveland and Cincinnati). Although no longer owned by any members of the Lewis family, the company still exists and operates in Long Island under the name Lewis & Valentine Nurseries.
Separated Materials:
Dozens of historic photographs from the Lewis & Valentine Co. were found In the Eleanor Weller Collection at AAG amongst images that had been amassed by Weller for possible use in The Golden Age of American Gardens: Proud Owners, Private Estates, 1890-1940. These photos were removed from the Weller Collection and added to the Lewis and Valentine Co. Records.
Provenance:
Gift from Hewlett Withington Lewis, former owner of Lewis & Valentine Nurseries.
Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Nurseries (Horticulture) -- United States  Search this
Gardens -- New York (State)  Search this
Tree moving  Search this
Landscape gardening -- New York (State)  Search this
Genre/Form:
Videotapes
Brochures
Books
Lists
Correspondence
Trade catalogs
Photographs
Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Lewis & Valentine Company Records.
Identifier:
AAG.LVC
See more items in:
Lewis & Valentine company records
Archival Repository:
Archives of American Gardens
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6b87d85b6-90fe-4657-96f1-2b4c381715e0
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-aag-lvc
Online Media:

James Forgie Papers

Creator:
Forgie, James  Search this
Names:
Pennsylvania Railroad.  Search this
Extent:
38.8 Cubic feet (85 boxes; 33 map-folders; 18 volumes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Photographs
Patents
Clippings
Business records
Correspondence
Contracts
Reports
Blueprints
Drawings
Legal documents
Place:
Hudson River
New York (N.Y.) -- Transportation
Date:
1856-1952
bulk 1900-1935
Scope and Contents:
The papers contain correspondence, reports, drawings, blueprints, cost estimates, contracts, specifications, regulations, legal documents, photographs, profiles, diagrams, clippings, and publications concerning projects which Forgie worked on, especially the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels, the Midtown Hudson Tunnels in New York City. Also included are publications and patents on subaqueous tunneling, subway stations, and bridges, and material on the Forgie submarine.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series.

Series 1: Professional Papers, 1892-1945

Series 2: Projects, 1914-1957

Series 3: Publications, 1856-1952

Series 4: Drawings, 1888-1951
Biographical / Historical:
James Forgie (1868-1958) was born in Longside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Forgie graduated from Gordon's Technical College, Aberdeen, Scotland (1881-1885) and apprenticed in the office of civil engineer George Gordon Jenkins from 1885-1889. Forgie came to the United States in 1902 to work as a chief assistant engineer to the Pennsylvania Railroad on tunnels in New York City. He joined the private engineering practice with partners Charles M. Jacobs and J.Vipond Davies of Jacobs and Davies, Inc. from 1909-1923. Forgie was awarded the Tedlford Gold Medal from the Institute of Civil Engineering (British) in 1915 in recognition of his paper "The Laxaxalpam Aqueduct Tunnels in Mexico." He authored numerous articles about tunneling and consulted as a an expert witness and arbitrator in many legal cases involving tunneling. Forgie was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Institute of Civil Engineers of Canada, and New York Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Forgie married Martha Maitland Thom (1868-1936) in 1895. They had four children: Martha (b. 1900), Wilhelmina (b. 1902), James (b. 1904), and Christina (b. 1906). Forgie later married Anne McDougall (b. 1872) in 1937.
Related Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History:
Materials at the Archives Center

The Foundation Company Records (AC0974)

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Tunnels (AC0060)

Herbert S. Grassman Papers (AC0955)

Penn Station, New York Photographs (AC1048)

Lawrence Talma Smith Papers (AC0988)

Silas H. Woodward Papers (AC1038)

Alfred Maevis Collection (AC0954)

William R. Hutton Papers (AC0987)

Montgomery C. Meigs Papers (AC0984)

Henry Grattan Tyrrell and Mary Maude Knox Tyrrell Papers (AC0948)

Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas Records Collection (AC0969)

Chicago Surface Lines Drawings (AC0212)

Grand Central Terminal Collection (AC1071)

Modjeski and Masters Company Records (AC0976)

Thomas Norrell Railroad Photographs Collection (AC1174)
Separated Materials:
The Division of Work and Industry holds a model of a Ram for driving tunnel shields (1933). It was used in driving the Union Tunnel for the Pennsylvania Railroad, 1933-1934 by James Forgie. See accession #MC.329243.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Mrs. James Forgie, 1967.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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:
Tunnels  Search this
Subways -- New York (N.Y.)  Search this
Bridges -- 1890-1940  Search this
Civil engineering -- 1890-1940 -- U.S.  Search this
Civil engineers  Search this
Genre/Form:
Photographs -- 1900-1950
Patents
Clippings -- 1890-1960
Business records
Correspondence
Contracts -- 1890-1940
Reports
Blueprints -- 20th century
Photographs -- 1890-1900
Drawings
Legal documents
Citation:
Archives Center, James Forgie Papers, 1890-1949, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0986
See more items in:
James Forgie Papers
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep80d529021-1c69-44d2-b02b-42b00b4d0ea0
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0986
Online Media:

Folder 40 Dutch Posters: 1890-1940, Costs/Insurance/Contract, 1988-1989

Container:
Box 5 of 18
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 06-123, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Office of the Registrar, Loan Files (Incoming Loans)
See more items in:
Loan Files (Incoming Loans)
Loan Files (Incoming Loans) / Box 5
Archival Repository:
Smithsonian Institution Archives
EDAN-URL:
ead_component:sova-sia-fa06-123-refidd1e3258

Cass Gilbert Collection

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
Former owner:
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering  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
GUID:
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8476cd02d-1b0d-4583-a43f-663208d06e16
EDAN-URL:
ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0214
Online Media:

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