Print

Guide to the William Adams Delano Collection
1899-1949, undated
PR 244

The New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024

© 2006 The New-York Historical Society. All rights reserved.
New York UniversityLibraries, Publisher
Processed by Sandra Markham
Machine-readable finding aid derived from Microsoft Word, 2006. Machine-readable finding aid created by [Archivist Four]. Description is in English.

Descriptive Summary

Creator: Delano, William Adams, 1874-1960
Title: William Adams Delano Collection
Dates: 1899-1949, undated
Abstract: The William Adams Delano Collection contains photographs and drawings documenting his education in Paris, and some photographs of the projects his architecture firm designed.
Quantity: 3.25 lin. ft., 2 boxes
Call Phrase: PR 244
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Biographical Note

William Adams Delano (1874-1960) was born in New York, was a graduate of the Lawrenceville School and Yale University, and studied architecture at Columbia University and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. After working in the New York firm of Carrere & Hastings, he formed a design firm with Chester Holmes Aldrich (1871-1940) in 1903

Further information on Delano and his firm can be found in Peter Pennoyer and Anne Walker, The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich (New York and London: W. W. Norton & Co., 2003). The book includes a chronology of the architects' life and design projects.

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Scope and Content Note

The William Adams Delano Collection spans the period from 1899 through the 1940s; it contains photographs and drawings documenting his education in Paris, and some of the projects his architecture firm designed.

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Arrangement

The collection is divided into the following series:

Series I. Photographs

Series II. Student Drawings

Series III. Commissions

Oversize material from Series I.

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Related Material at the Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections

Drawings by Delano & Aldrich for the Battery Park (New York City) design competition are in the Architects and Engineers File (PR 003). The Delano & Aldrich firm's archive is at the Avery Art and Architecture Library, Columbia University.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers.

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. See guidelines in Print Room for details.

Use Restrictions

Permission to reproduce any Print Room holdings through publication must be obtained from:

Rights and Reproductions
The New-York Historical Society 170 Central Park West New York, NY 10024
Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 270
Fax: (212) 579-8794

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Access Points

Subject Organizations:
Cornell University
Delano & Aldrich
Yale University

Subject Topics:
Architecture -- United States -- 20th century
Architecture -- United States -- Pictorial works
College buildings -- United States -- Pictorial works

Subject Places:
New York (N.Y.) -- Buildings, structures, etc. -- Photographs

Document Types:
Architectural drawings
Photographic prints
Technical drawings

Other Names:
Duryea, Drix, photographer
Fischer, Sigurd, photographer
Hewitt, Mattie Edwards, d. 1956, photographer
Wurts Bros., photographer
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Administrative Information

Provenance

Gift of William Adams Delano, May 29, 1956, and June 28, 1956.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as William Adams Delano Collection, PR 244, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

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Container List

Series I: Photographs

Series I holds vintage original photographs of buildings designed by the firm of Delano & Aldrich. They are arranged in two subseries: Commissions, and Competition Drawings, filed alphabetically by the name of the client. Commissions includes homes and estates, academic buildings at Cornell and Yale universities, private clubs, and government buildings, primarily in the United States. Competition drawings are photographs of presentation drawings made for potential commissions. No attempt was made to assign dates to either the photographs or the projects. Photographers included are Mattie Edwards Hewitt, Drix Duryea, Sigurd Fischer, and Wurts Brothers.

Subseries I: Commissions

Photographs are arranged alphabetically by client.
Box Folder Title Date
1 1 Astor, Vincent, Sands Point, NY
1 2 Baker, George F., Jr., New York, NY
1 3 Brook Club, New York, NY
1 4 Burden, James A., estate (Woodside), Syosset, NY
1 5 Chapin School, New York, NY
1 6 Cornell University, Willard Straight Hall, Ithaca, NY
1 7 Debevoise, Thomas, Green Village, N
1 8 Delano & Aldrich, New York, NY
1 9 Dutch Reformed Church, Brookville, NY
1 10 John F. Kennedy Airport, New York, NY
1 Kahn, Otto H., estate (Oheka), Cold Spring Harbor, NY

See: Oversize photographs, Box 2
1 11 Kips Bay Boys Club, New York, N
1 12 La Guardia Airport, New York, NY
1 13 Morawetz, Victor, estate (Three Ponds), Woodbury, NY
1 Staten Island Savings Bank, New York, NY

See: Oversize photographs, Box 2
1 14 Straight, Willard D., New York, NY
1 15 Straight, Willard D., Westbury, NY
1 16 1040 Park Avenue, New York, NY
1 17 Tree, Ronald F., estate (Mirador), Greenwood, VA
1 18 Tuck, William H., estate, Waterloo, Belgium
1 19 Union Club, New York, NY
1 20 United States Government Building, Paris, France--Interiors and floor plans
1 United States Government Building, Paris, France--Exteriors

See: Oversize photographs, Box 2
1 21 United States Post Office Department, Washington, DC
1 22 Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD
1 23 Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt, Westbury, NY
1 24 Wood, Chalmers, estate (Little Ipswich), Syosset, NY
1 25 Yale University, Sage Hall, New Haven, CT
1 26 Yale University, Sterling Chemistry Laboratory, New Haven, CT
1 27 Yale University, Sterling Divinity School, New Haven, CT
1 28 Yale University, William L. Harkness Hall, New Haven, CT
1 29 Yale University, Wright Memorial Hall, New Haven, CT

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Subseries I: Competitions

Photographs are arranged alphabetically by competition.
Box Folder Title Date
1 30 Chateau des Beaux-Arts, Huntington, NY
1 31 Federal Reserve Bank, New York, NY
1 32 Federal Reserve Board [Washington, DC?]
1 33 Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY
1 34 New Haven City Hall, New Haven, CT
1 35 New York City Court Courthouse, New York, NY
1 36 Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, Washington, DC
1 37 United States Department of Justice [Washington, DC?]
1 38 Waterbury City Hall, Waterbury, CT
1 Unidentified airport [?] retail plaza and parking lot [?]

See: Oversize photographs, Box 2
1 39 Unidentified gallery and courtyard, New York, NY
1 40 Unidentified theatre

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Series II: Student Drawings

Series II contains twenty-one drawings, dating from 1899 to 1901, made by Delano during his years as a student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. While in Paris, Delano was part of the atelier of Victor-Alexandre-Frederic Laloux (1850-1937), a noted architect and one of the academy's great instructors. For further explanation and discussion of these drawings, see Peter Pennoyer's article on Delano as a student in the New-York Journal of American History, number 4.

Drawings are arranged in two subseries by date, with undated drawings filed last. Unless otherwise noted, all drawings are graphite, ink, and wash on light paperboard, and uniform in size: 24-3/4 x 18-3/4 in. Titles given were inscribed by Delano [and descriptions in brackets for untitled drawings].

Subseries I: Exercises, Dated
Box Folder Title Date
2 41 Etablissement Financier 1899 Jan. 4

[screen on Legion of Honor?]
2 41 Un Theatre Municipal 1899 Jan. 16
2 41 Un Poste de Pompiers 1899 Jan. 21

[firehouse]
2 41 Une Ecurie d'Etat 1899 Jan. 23

[classical doorway]
2 41 Salle des pas Perdus 1899 Feb. 10

[courthouse waiting room]
2 42 Une Fontaine Monumentale 1899 Feb. 11
2 42 Un Etablissement Thermal 1899 Mar. 2

[casino facade?]
2 42 Entree d'une Cour d'Honneur 1899 Mar. 8

[domed classical facade]
2 42 [Hotel Crillon, Place de la Concorde, measured drawing] 1899 Mar. 21
2 42 Un Pavillon de Repos 1899 Mar. 22
2 42 Une Salle de Lecture 1899 Mar. 31
2 43 [Untitled classical portico and facade, six columns] 1899 Apr. 7
2 43 [Untitled aquarium/marine laboratory facility] 1899 Sep. 6

watercolor, graphite, and ink on paper, 11-7/8 x 16 in.
2 43 Coupe parle cour de service... 1899 Dec. 6

[slaughterhouse and market]; graphite and ink on gray paper, 23-7/8 x 17-3/4 in.
2 43 [Untitled design for public park] 1900 Feb. 7

brown ink and graphite on paper, 23-7/8 x 19 in.
2 43 [Untitled animal study/care facility] 1901

conte crayon and wash on Bristol board, 24-1/2 x 16-7/8 in.

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Subseries II: Exercises, Undated
Box Folder Title Date
2 44 Une Bourse Maritime [ca. 1899]
2 44 Un Hotel de Ville [ca. 1899]

[city hall]
2 44 [Unidentified building, rez de chaussee (ground floor)] [ca. 1899]
2 44 [Untitled lecture hall] [ca. 1899]

[perspective projection exercises]
2 44 [Untitled classical facade, perhaps archeological exercise] [ca. 1899]

graphite on paper mounted on board, 19-3/4 x 18-1/4 in.

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Series III: Commissions

Series III holds just three minor drawings for projects designed by Delano. Probably the most historically important inclusion is the only existing rendering of the first house ever designed by Delano, created for the mother of a friend in Ontario, Canada.

Drawings are arranged chronologically.
Box Folder Title Date
2 45 Shaw, Mrs., Murray Bay, Ontario, Canada, house rendering 1902 Dec.

ink wash on paper mounted on pulpboard, 21-3/4 x 21 in.
2 46 Wood, Chalmers, Syosset, NY, house plan [1927-1928]

graphite and ink on paper mounted on board, 9-3/4 x 13-3/4 in.
2 46 White House, Washington, DC, main hall 1949 Sep. 29

colored pencil on paper mounted on board, 10-1/2 x 18-1/2 in.

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Oversize Material from Series I: Photographs

Series III holds just three minor drawings for projects designed by Delano. Probably the most historically important inclusion is the only existing rendering of the first house ever designed by Delano, created for the mother of a friend in Ontario, Canada.

Box Folder Title Date
2 47 Kahn, Otto H., estate (Oheka), Cold Spring Harbor, NY undated
2 48 Staten Island Savings Bank, New York, NY undated
2 49 United States Government Building, Paris, France, Exteriors undated
2 50 Unidentified airport [?] retail plaza and parking lot [?] undated

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