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Benjamin Doctorich Photographs and Blueprints of New York City Hall

Call Number

TAM.636

Date

1954-1956, inclusive

Creator

Doctorich, Benjamin
Kahan, Douglas (Role: Donor)

Extent

0.75 Linear Feet in one manuscript box and two oversize folders

Language of Materials

Materials are in English

Historical/Biographical Note

Benjamin Doctorich was born in the United States, but grew up in Goriizia, a city in northeast Italy near the Slovenian border. He studied at a Polytechnic school in Vienna and trained as an architectural engineer. He spoke several languages fluently, and traveled extensively. He married in Italy and started a family there. He then later immigrated to New York City, and lived in the Bronx. In the United States he started a second family and worked drawing, drafting, and building; he also worked as a photographer. He died in 1967, at the age of 84.

Doctorich may have worked for Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon Associates, a prominent architectural firm best known for designing the Empire State Building.

Arrangement

The order in which these materials were sent to the Tamiment Library has been maintained.

Scope and Content Note

Collection of materials from the files of Benjamin Doctorich consisting of circa 165 black and white photographs and 42 blueprints documenting the replacement of stonework on New York City's City Hall during the mid-1950s.

The subjects of all the photographs are details of the building, the construction, or construction materials (including numerous close-ups) and worksites. Most have dates and detailed captions on the back describing what is shown, in architectural and technical language, as for example, "South Portico," "Slope for copper flushing, 3rd floor east elevation," "grouting over first floor window," and "View taken elevation 'A', new granite facing." In addition, many of the images bear a stamp which reads: "NOTE: Check photo number with accompanying drawing(s) for exact location of photographs." Only a small number of these images are full shots of City Hall or its surrounding buildings, and the very few people included in the photographs are clearly incidental to what the photographer intended to document.

The drawings consist of blueprints and working drawings that appear to have been produced by by the contractor that performed the work and/or the architectural firm that produced the designs for the job (the Republic-United Stone Corporation and the architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon, respectively--the names of each appear on the drawings) and they were submitted to and approved by the New York City Department of Public Works.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created in 1954-1956, are expected to enter the public domain in 2076.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; Benjamin Doctorich Photographs and Blueprints; TAM 641; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials are housed at the Tamiment Library.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Douglas Kahan in 2001. The accession number associated with this gift is 2013.040.

Appraisal

No materials were separated from this collection.

Bibliographical Note

Information for this guide was drawn in part from a telephone interview with Douglas Kahan conducted circa 2001-2002 by Tamiment Library archivist Janet Greene .

Collection processed by

Erika Gottfried

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:39:40 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English

Processing Information

At the time of accessioning, materials were moved into archival housing, and a collection-level finding aid was created to describe these materials.

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

Container

Box: 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012