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Archival Collections Portal > Avery Drawings & Archives Collections > Finding Aid: Abbott, Merkt and Company records
Abbott, Merkt and Company records,
1906-1994
Preferred Citation
Abbott, Merkt and Company records, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
COinS Metadata
available (e.g., for Zotero).
Summary Information
At a Glance
| Avery ID: | D&A Abbott Merkt View CLIO record |
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| Creator(s): | Abbott, Merkt and Company. |
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| Title: | Abbott, Merkt and Company records,
1906-1994
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| Physical description: | 77 linear feet of papers, 14,099 drawings, 6,882 photographic items.
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| Language(s): |
In English.
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| Access: |
This collection is
available for use by qualified readers by appointment in the Dept. of Archives & Drawings' Reading Room, Avery Architectural
and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. The majority of this collection is maintained in off-site storage and must retrieved with advance
notification. For further information and to make an appointment to use this collection, please call (212) 854-4110.
More information » |
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| Types of Materials in the Collection: | Correspondence,
typescript papers,
carbon typescript papers,
holograph papers,
printed papers,
photographic prints,
film negatives,
photographic transparencies,
architectural reprographic prints,
and
mixed media drawings.
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Arrangement
Arrangement
This material is arranged in eight series: Abbott, Merkt & Company Project Records; Abbott, Merkt & Company Office Records;
Harrington and Cortelyou Records; Public Works
Administration Records; United States. Dept. of Agriculture. Bureau of Public Roads Records; United States War Department Records;
Richard H. Tatlow III, Professional Papers; and Richard H. Tatlow III, Personal Papers.
The arrangement of materials within these series is described at the beginning of each subseries inventory, where appropriate.
Return to top Description
Scope and Content
This collection primarily contains architectural drawings, photographs, business records and reference materials related to the projects and designs of architectural and
engineering firm Abbott, Merkt and Company. A subsidiary portion of the collection includes drawings, photographs and papers related to the life and career
of Richard H. Tatlow, III, president of Abbott Merkt, as well as the firms and agencies for which he also worked.
Return to top Using the Collection
Access Restrictions
 This collection is
available for use by qualified readers by appointment in the Dept. of Archives & Drawings' Reading Room, Avery Architectural
and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. The majority of this collection is maintained in off-site storage and must retrieved with advance
notification. For further information and to make an appointment to use this collection, please call (212) 854-4110.
Restrictions on Use
Columbia University is providing access to the materials
in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including,
but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited.
All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director,
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For additional guidance, see
Columbia University Libraries' publication policy.
In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission
of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal
assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item.
Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.
Preferred Citation
Abbott, Merkt and Company records, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.
For Further InformationFor more information about using the collections and conducting research in the Department of Drawings & Archives, please see our FAQ. Return to top About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Finding aid written by Annemarie van Roessel, Mellon Project Archivist, Dept. of
Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts LIbrary, Columbia University.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Iciar Lucena, under the direction of Annemarie van Roessel, Mellon Project Archivist,
Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, in 2005-2006. Additions were processed
by Scott Bisogni (Archives Intern) under the direction of Shelley Hayreh, Avery Archivist.
EAD instance generated by Annemarie van Roessel from Access database and MS Word file, April 4, 2006.
Finding aid written in English.
CLIO ID: 5654955 View CLIO record Return to top Index Terms
The names and terms listed below are represented in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a consortial/union catalog offered by OCLC that allows users to search the holdings of multiple archives and libraries. All links open new windows.
Subjects (Corporate Names)
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Topics
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Additional Creators (Personal Names)
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Additional Creators (Corporate Names)
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Return to top History / Biographical Note
Historical and Biographical Note
Abbott, Merkt and Company
Founded in 1923 in New York City by Hunley Abbott and Oswald L. Merkt as an engineering and construction service for industrial plants.
The firm was expanded to include architectural services in 1929 and Abbott, Merkt and Company grew to become one of the leading architecture and engineering
firms on the East Coast after World War II, acquiring major commissions for commercial and industrial and commercial buildings and civil infrastructure in the United States
and internationally. Richard H. Tatlow, III was president from 1945 to 1985, later joined on the Board of Directors by J. Stanley Nants Jr. and Richard H. Tatlow, IV. Among
Abbott Merkt’s most prominent commissions were major terminal and support facilities for Pan American World Airways at John F. Kennedy Airport and for
American Airlines at Newark International Airport; department stores and merchandise warehouses across the country for such clients as Macy’s, Saks and
Company, Hecht’s, Bambergers, B. Altman, and J.C. Penny and Company; major bulk materials handling facilities for United Parcel Service and the United States
Post Office; schools and commercial centers in France, Mexico, The Netherlands, Syria and Saudi Arabia; and for parking structures across the East Coast.
Abbott, Merkt, beginning, in 1951, was also partnered with the New York architectural firm Kahn & Jacobs, later bought by the St. Louis-based architecture firm HOK, on variety of airport-related projects.
Ceasing operations in 1985, Abbott Merkt Architects, Inc. was acquired in 1987 by a subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based architecture and engineering firm
Daniel Mann Johnson and Mendenhall (DMJM).
Richard H. Tatlow, III (1906-1993)
Tatlow was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1906 and received his bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado in 1927 and his
master’s degree in engineering in 1933. In 1927, Tatlow was hired by the United States Bureau of Public Roads to assist in designing bridges and roads
throughout the United States. Joining the Kansas City, Missouri, engineering firm of Harrington and Cortelyou in 1929, Tatlow was named partner with
John Lyle Harrington in 1935. In 1940, Tatlow was commission to the United States War Department as a Lieutenant Colonel, serving on the department’s
Construction Advisory Board. He was eventually named Colonel in the Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for the supervision of new facilities and the
implementation o statistical quality control. In 1945, Tatlow joined Abbott Merkt & Company as president and member of the Board of Directors, eventually
becoming chairman of the board. Throughout his career, Tatlow authored numerous articles and reports on a variety of engineering and management topics,
including merchandise distribution, bridge engineering, shopping center design, and transportation planning. He was an active member of the Construction Industry
Advisory Council of the United States Chamber of Commerce; the Engineering Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences; and the National Academy
of Engineering. Tatlow was also president of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1968. Tatlow retired from Abbott, Merkt and Company in 1985, and died in Scarsdale,
New York, in 1993.
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