By Nathalie Belkin, Lead Processor; Gabriella Carl-Johnson, Kay Menick, Sara Fetherolf, Erin Allsop, Jessica Mack, and Katie Alleman, Interns
Title: Architectural Drawings and Blueprints, c. 1880s-1990s
Predominant Dates:1910-1930s
Extent: 0.0
Subjects: A. Faranda and Son, Acea family, Agoglia family, Altar to Liberty: Minerva, Architectural Drawings, Architecture, Arnold, K.F., Arnold, N.B., Arnold family, Art nouveau (Architecture), Bahrenburg, John H., Bahrenburg family, Barclay family, Barrow, ME James T., Barrow family, Barthman family, Beaux-Arts architecture, Benisch Bros. Monumental Works, Blueprints, Bourne family, Bromell family, Brown, John W., Brown family, Buildings--Design and construction, C.E. Tayntor & Co., Cemeteries--New York (State)--New York--History, Cinerary urns, Colyer family, Cushman, Eugene, Cutting, James D.W., Cutting family, Daly, Margaret, Daly family, Davis Granite Co, Architects and Contractors, de Aldama family, DeLaCour and Ferrara, Delafield, Major Rich D., Delafield family, Dewey family, Doerschuck family, Dunne family, Egyptian revival (Architecture), Euler family, Farrington, Gould and Hoagland, Feitner, John, Felzmann family, Flagg, Ernest, Gilbert family, Goodnough family, Gothic revival (Architecture), Gould, J. R, Gould, James S., Gould family, Green-Wood Cemetery--New York, N.Y., Greve family, Griswold family, Hapgood family, Harder family, Harrison Granite Co., Havemeyer family, Heins and La Farge Architects, Higgins, Charles, Higgins family, Hillside architecture, Hoffman & Prochazka, Designers, Sculptors, and Builders, Horn, Alfred E., Horn family, Howland family, John Thatcher & Son, Kampfe family, Kenneth, W.D., Lawrence family, Lingard family, Ludlum, Emma R., Ludlum family, Martin, Robert, Martin family, Mausoleums, McAlpin family, Murdock family, Obelisks, Parish family, Parsons family, Penn Brass and Bronze Works, Pitbladdo Monumental Works, Polak family, Presbrey-Coykendall Company, Presbrey-Leland Monument Company, Renwick, Aspinwall, and Tucker, Reynolds family, Riley family, Ritzheimer family, Robinson, F. Delancey, Romanesque architecture, Rosanelli family, Ruckstull, F. W. (Fred Wellington), 1853-1942, Sands family, Sarcophagi, Sculpture and architecture, Sepulchral chapels, Sepulchral monuments, Victorian, Sepulchral monuments--New York (State)--New York, Sepulchral monuments--United States, Sepulchral monuments industry, Smallman, Thomas F., Smallman family, Somers family, Stephens, Annie W., Stephens, Benjamin F., Stephens family, Stevenson family, Stone, Gould, & Co, Designers and Builders, Sullivan, John W., Sullivan family, Texter family, Tiefel family, Tombs & sepulchral monuments, Torrio, Johnny, Torrio Family, Umberto Innocenti and Richard K. Webel, Landscape Architects, Underground architecture, Upjohn, Hobart, VanRensselaer family, Vaults (Sepulchral), W.F. Benedict & Son, W.W. Leland Co. Inc., Walsh, James F., Warren & Wetmore, Wesselman family, Wood family, Woolley family
Languages: English
The Architectural Drawings and Blueprints collection contains over 150 separate series of designs, each of which has one to around 20 individual drawings. Each series represents designs for a mausoleum or other architectural feature at Green-Wood Cemetery.
Most of the designs are for private family mausoleums, although the collection also includes blueprint materials for the historic Green-Wood chapel designed by Warren & Wetmore, alterations made to the Fifth Avenue gate, and plans for the mid-twentieth-century Columbarium. Other notable features in the collection include the Higgins mausoleum series, which contains photographs and early designs of the famous Battle Hill monument Altar to Liberty: Minerva by sculptor F. Wellington Ruxell. Many additional series may include more famous names in New York City history, such as those for the Cooper-Hewitt family and the Torrio family.
The majority of these drawings are printed on large blueprint paper, although there are a significant number of series that contain original drawings on tracing paper or drafting linen, as well as prints on Mylar, photocopy paper, or other reproduction materials. Many series also contain specifications documents—legal agreements between the architectural firm and the cemetery, which outline the plans, materials, and workman regulations for construction. In some cases, there is additional material, such as correspondence with lot owners and alternate mausoleum designs.
The collection’s dates range from the 1880s to the 1990s; the majority of the mausoleum designs were created between 1910 and 1930, at a time when it was widely popular among upper-class families to have a mausoleum or vault in which to inter their deceased relatives. Many architects of the time specialized in mausoleum design. Architectural firms that produced a large number of mausoleum designs in this collection include the Presbrey-Leland Monument Company, John Feitner Architects, and the Harrison Granite Company.
Researchers may wish to consult a specific series, which can give an interesting insight into the family in question, or they may wish to look at multiple series in the collection, in order to gain an example of the way construction and design aesthetics changed over time. The collection is a particularly valuable example of the way cemetery architecture developed in its golden years, particularly because many of the wealthiest and most prestigious New York families chose to be interred at Green-Wood.
The collection is currently stored in two locations—some material is in the Green-Wood archives, while many other blueprints are kept in the surveyor’s office of the administrative building. The container list has additional information on each item in this significant and highly variable collection, including notes on the date of designs, the architectural firm that created the drawings, and information on the size, condition, markings, and design features of each piece. All blueprint materials have been scanned and are digitally available; a preview of the image file is attached to each item. High-resolution images of each scan are available upon request.
The material is in varying condition, and embrittled drawings have been encapsulated in Mylar to ensure preservation.
The Green-Wood archives hold additional records acquired from the Presbrey-Leland Monument Company relating to Green-Wood Cemetery, and researchers may find it useful to consult this collection in conjunction with the Architectural Drawings and Blueprints.
A. Faranda and Son
Acea family
Agoglia family
Altar to Liberty: Minerva
Architectural Drawings
Architecture
Arnold, K.F.
Arnold, N.B.
Arnold family
Art nouveau (Architecture)
Bahrenburg, John H.
Bahrenburg family
Barclay family
Barrow, ME James T.
Barrow family
Barthman family
Beaux-Arts architecture
Benisch Bros. Monumental Works
Blueprints
Bourne family
Bromell family
Brown, John W.
Brown family
Buildings--Design and construction
C.E. Tayntor & Co.
Cemeteries--New York (State)--New York--History
Cinerary urns
Colyer family
Cushman, Eugene
Cutting, James D.W.
Cutting family
Daly, Margaret
Daly family
Davis Granite Co, Architects and Contractors
de Aldama family
DeLaCour and Ferrara
Delafield, Major Rich D.
Delafield family
Dewey family
Doerschuck family
Dunne family
Egyptian revival (Architecture)
Euler family
Farrington, Gould and Hoagland
Feitner, John
Felzmann family
Flagg, Ernest
Gilbert family
Goodnough family
Gothic revival (Architecture)
Gould, J. R
Gould, James S.
Gould family
Green-Wood Cemetery--New York, N.Y.
Greve family
Griswold family
Hapgood family
Harder family
Harrison Granite Co.
Havemeyer family
Heins and La Farge Architects
Higgins, Charles
Higgins family
Hillside architecture
Hoffman & Prochazka, Designers, Sculptors, and Builders
Horn, Alfred E.
Horn family
Howland family
John Thatcher & Son
Kampfe family
Kenneth, W.D.
Lawrence family
Lingard family
Ludlum, Emma R.
Ludlum family
Martin, Robert
Martin family
Mausoleums
McAlpin family
Murdock family
Obelisks
Parish family
Parsons family
Penn Brass and Bronze Works
Pitbladdo Monumental Works
Polak family
Presbrey-Coykendall Company
Presbrey-Leland Monument Company
Renwick, Aspinwall, and Tucker
Reynolds family
Riley family
Ritzheimer family
Robinson, F. Delancey
Romanesque architecture
Rosanelli family
Ruckstull, F. W. (Fred Wellington), 1853-1942
Sands family
Sarcophagi
Sculpture and architecture
Sepulchral chapels
Sepulchral monuments, Victorian
Sepulchral monuments--New York (State)--New York
Sepulchral monuments--United States
Sepulchral monuments industry
Smallman, Thomas F.
Smallman family
Somers family
Stephens, Annie W.
Stephens, Benjamin F.
Stephens family
Stevenson family
Stone, Gould, & Co, Designers and Builders
Sullivan, John W.
Sullivan family
Texter family
Tiefel family
Tombs & sepulchral monuments
Torrio, Johnny
Torrio Family
Umberto Innocenti and Richard K. Webel, Landscape Architects
Underground architecture
Upjohn, Hobart
VanRensselaer family
Vaults (Sepulchral)
W.F. Benedict & Son
W.W. Leland Co. Inc.
Walsh, James F.
Warren & Wetmore
Wesselman family
Wood family
Woolley family
Scale: 1” = 1'
Details: Noted in lower right corner: “Est 2758”.
Size: 25” x 34”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: Noted on reverse in black ink: “Dunne”. Stamping in blue ink near lower right.
Condition: Embrittled. Numerous small tears along edges, especially lower edge and upper edge on right side. Small holes along right side from binding.
Style/Design Details: Neoclassical, Greek chapel style design. Four columns at front façade. Family name inscribed in header of door frame. Unadorned architrave and tympanum. Tuscan columns without ribbing at front façade.
Scale: 1” = 1’
Details: Noted in lower right corner: “Est 2758”.
Size: 25” x 34”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Stained glass window.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in blue ink near lower right corner; not signed. Noted on reverse in pencil: “Dunne”, “9063 etc”.
Condition: Embrittled. Numerous tears along edges, ranging from one to twelve inches long. One eight inch tear at lower edge toward center, through main portion of drawing.
Style/Design Details: Altar below stained glass window at center of back wall. Two fluted Ionic columns rise from level of altar surface, surmounted by peaked window header with cross and floral details in frieze. Five catacombs tall on either side.
Scale: 1” = 1’
Details: Noted in lower right corner: “Est 2758”.
Size: 25” x 34”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in blue ink near lower right.
Condition: Embrittled. Numerous tears along right edge from binding.
Style/Design Details: Four courses of heavy rusticated masonry between plinth and top of columns. One additional course at architrave height. Windowless side elevation.
Scale: 1” = 1’
Details: Noted in lower right corner: “Est 2758”.
Size: 25” x 34”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Granite floor, bronze doors, slate, bronze threshold, bronze grille, stained glass.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in blue ink near lower right.
Condition: Embrittled. Numerous tears along all edges. Holes from staples at upper edge; was in bound packet of four drawings. Some wrinkling and warping of the drawing.
Style/Design Details: Neoclassical design, Greek chapel style plan. Entry portico is fronted by a line of four Tuscan columns. Broad and deep visitor space within the mausoleum—8’ x 14’ 6”, with additional 7’ x 7’ space between catacombs, in front of altar—in total approximately 165 square feet of visitor space, an atypically large amount.
Scale: ½” = 1’
Details: Composite—includes foundation plan, but also ½ front elevation, ½ cross section, longitudinal section, and axonometric.
Size: 25” x 34”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Concrete.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in lower right in blue ink. Pencil sketches of full plot on reverse, with survey details included. “Dunne” noted in black ink on reverse. “16 strips” also noted in pencil on reverse.
Condition: Wrinkled and embrittled throughout. Discolored on reverse. Small tears along all edges. Holes along right edge from binding.
Style/Design Details: Laterally symmetric.
Scale: 1” = 1’
Details: Noted in lower right corner: “Est 2758”.
Size: 26” x 34”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: None specified.
Notes/Markings: Stamped in blue ink near lower right. Original signed by Desmond Dunne, reproduced in blueprint.
Condition: Embrittled and weakened. Lower edge particularly damaged, with two eight inch tears severely weakening drawing. Smaller tears along all edges.
Style/Design Details: Four courses of heavy rusticated masonry between base and roof level. One rear window placed centrally between first and third courses of masonry, with thick window head.
Scale: 1” = 1’
Details: Noted in lower right corner: “Est 2758”.
Size: 26” x 34”
Drawing Materials: Blueprint reproduction on paper.
Materials Noted: Marble.
Notes/Markings: Stamped at center of lower edge, but not signed. Original signed by Desmond Dunne and Harrison Granite Co, reproduced in blueprint. “Dunne” noted in black ink on reverse.
Condition: Embrittled. Lower edge torn, folded, and weakened. Smaller tears along all edges. Small holes along right edge from binding.
Style/Design Details: Catacombs five high. Full ceiling height is nearly twice the height of entrance doorway. Front columns massive and proportionally short.
Details: Nine-page signed contract document.
Size: 8” x 13”
Drawing Materials: Typewritten document on pure linen bond paper.
Materials Noted: Brick, Atlas cement mortar, light barre Vermont granite, Meyers Pruzzolan cement, white Italian Caviara marble, Pennsylvania ribbon slate, bronze doors, bronze grilles and handles, bronze hangers and window frame, art glass window.
Notes/Markings: Signed: “WH Harrison Pres” (of the Harrison Granite Company), and “Desmond Dunne”. Noted: “In presence of M. Winter.”
Condition: Some discoloration and wear along edges and on reverse of final page, as well as first page. Upper edge bound with two metal grommets, through which brass brads are fastened.
