Alan Burnham papers, 1874-1999, bulk 1940-1982

After clicking 'Submit Request', users will login with their UNI and password (Columbia affiliates) or their special collections account (external users). Appointments are required and will be arranged according to each individual repository's policy.

Series I: NYC Reference

Comprised of two subseries: Architects and Topical . The first subseries mostly contains newspaper and magazine clippings that reference nineteenth and early twentieth century architects who designed buildings that stood within the New York metropolitan area. Files are sorted according to the name of the architect or architectural firm. Architects who almost exclusively designed structures in Brooklyn are grouped together under the file folder name, Brooklyn, NY. In addition to clippings, some folders contain photographs, negatives, slides, notes, and correspondence. Burnham collected a significant amount of reference and photographic material for McKim, Mead, & White, Frederick C. Withers, and Alexander Jackson Davis. The second subseries contains topical reference files regarding subjects, places, or structures that are located in or somehow related to New York City architecture or landscapes. Most of the material is newspaper and magazine clippings with some photographs, negatives, slides, publications, and correspondence. The Manhattan Parks file folders contain material Burnham gathered for an unfinished project that surveyed New York City public parks and squares. File folders Burnham sorted according to borough, such as Manhattan, NY, or type of structure, like churches, have been maintained in this subseries.

Series II: General Reference

Comprised of three subseries: Architects, Topical, and Cities, USA. The first subseries contains materials that reference twentieth century architects who designed structures within the United States, not exclusively limited to American-born architects. A majority of this material is newspaper and magazine clippings. The second subseries contains topical reference files regarding a wide-range of people, places, buildings, and subjects. Burnham maintained a series of file folders on architectural critics, architectural styles, and sculptors. This second subseries also contains the reference card catalogue Burnham used for his American Architectural Archive as well as miscellaneous reference material and photographs Burnham did not sort into file folders. The third subseries contains mostly newspaper and magazine clippings regarding architects, buildings, and subjects within or referencing cities in the United States. File folders are organized by the name of the city in alphabetical order.

Subseries III: Professional Papers

Contains correspondence, clippings, photographs, negatives, slides, organizational newsletters, notes, and publications regarding professional organizations Burnham participated in or extensive research projects Burnham conducted for a professional organization as well as original articles and talks written by Burnham. He maintained a series of files for organizations like the American Institute of Architects, the Municipal Arts Society, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. This series contains files from Burnham's architectural history class that he taught at the New School in 1965 under file folders named Architecture US as well as research he undertook for the Friends of Cast Iron Architecture regarding James Bogardus and Niels Poulson. It also contains a draft of Burnham's manuscript for New York Landmarks as well as correspondence regarding its publication. There is an oversided folder containing some of Burnham's larger pencil drawings and architectural renderings.

Series IV: A.I.A. Committee on Housing

Contains correspondence, clippings, photographs, negatives, floor plans, notes, publications, and other reference materials Burnham used in his research for his A.I.A. Committee on Housing report documenting the history of the apartment building in New York City, entitled The Dwelling in Greater Manhattan: The Apartment 1850 – 1895. This series contains drafts of Burnham's committee report under file names Draft Committee Report and Dwelling in Greater Manhattan, in addition to the final committee report divided into four volumes held in three ring binders. Other research materials are divided by subject, such as French flats or tenement housing, by Burnham's folder titles, such as Historic Research or General Reference, or if research pertained to a specific apartment building, that material is sorted by apartment house name.

Series V: Richard Morris Hunt Family Papers

Contains correspondence, clippings, photographs, negatives, notes, publications, student papers, and other reference materials Burnham collected regarding an unfinished project for a biography on Richard Morris Hunt. This series contains a manuscript written by Hunt's wife, Catherine Howland Hunt, documenting Hunt's life and professional career. Burnham originally index the papers in 1939, and a revised edited version of the Catherine Howland Hunt manuscript can be found in an oversized file. This series contains correspondence between Burnham and a variety of professionals and students regarding Hunt or the Hunt manuscript dating from 1940 to 1981. Burnham collected photographs, negatives, and illustrations that he planned to use in a published version of the manuscript. This series also contains a scrapbook in memoriam of Hunt assembled by Catherine Howland Hunt in an overside file and a letter removed from the scrapbook from Catherine Howland Hunt to Joseph H. Hunt. Finally, this series contains an edited manuscript, with notes by Burnham, of Paul R. Baker's biography of Richard Morris Hunt published in 1986 by The MIT Press.

Collection Overview

Collection Contents