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Collection includes James Renwick's sketches, 1813, for the layout of Columbia University's second campus on Park Row (there have been four campuses to date: the first on Wall Street, the third on 49th Street and Madison Avenue, and the current campus in Morningside Heights), and a medal awarded him, 1824, by the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. James Renwick, Jr. is represented by his architectural drawings of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, which he designed. Some of the drawings are signed by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Also, published drawings of the Cathedral, 1886; negatives and photographs, circa 1860s, showing the Cathedral under construction; interior and exterior photographs, circa 1930s-1960s, of the Cathedral; and photographs of Grace Church, New York, also designed by James Renwick, Jr. Renwick family correspondence, 1930s, and typescript copies of 19th century Renwick family correspondence relating to family history and genealogy; photographs of James Renwick, Jr; typescript copies of family Bible records, 1792-1863; Renwick coat of arms.

The collection includes 1134 images (photographs and postcards, with some duplicates) of approximately 60 buildings, including some earlier photographs, plans, and renderings that Morris copied to add context to her own contemporary photographs. Of properties with identified architects, the great majority were designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, with a few examples of the work of Richard Upjohn, James Renwick, and several other lesser-known architects. Major sites depicted include Lyndhurst, Tarrytown, N.Y.; Fonthill Castle, Bronx, N.Y.; Lovat, Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.; Hurst-Pierrepont, Garrison, N.Y.; Belvoir, Yonkers, N.Y.; Beechwood, Yonkers, N.Y.; Mount Ida, Troy, N.Y., Llewellyn Park, Orange, N.J.; and Malbone, Newport, R.I. Some 18th-century buildings, and one 17th-century building (the Christopher Billop House, near Tottenville, Staten Island, built circa 1699), are also depicted.

This collections contains the professional research, writing, publications, and correspondence produced and collected by Rattner through her study of the architect James Renwick, Jr. The bulk of Rattner's research addresses the life and works of Renwick, but other research topics represented in her papers range from the Renwick family genealogy to the institutional architecture of New York City. Types of research material include personal research notes (in notecard format, both typed and holograph), correspondence (1963-2001), newspaper and magazine clippings, Xerox copies of archival material and secondary sources, transcribed articles and correspondence, brochures from historic sites, photographs and slides of buildings and sites, sketches, historic structure inventory forms, landmark nomination forms, landmark designation reports, and postcards.