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
Details: Type-written instructions detailing how the mausoleum is to be erected. The document includes materials to be used, measurements, instructions for waterproofing, alterations, specifics for doors and windows. There are handwritten changes and additions which are signed and the document itself is signed and approved.
Drawing Material: Typewritten on thin paper, with handwritten changes in pen.
Materials Noted: Bronze, granite, marble, cement, hemp, mortar and sand.
Notes/Markings: Page 1 of the document has handwritten additions that state, “drawings, details, specifications section.” This is initialed.
Condition: very good, paper has yellowed over time; one clip at the top of the document on the left-hand side is missing.
Scale: ½” = 1’
Details: Includes transverse section in upper left side of drawing.16'9” concrete bottom; longitudinal section center AA 25'5½”; Arch split into 3 with semi-circular middle, radius of 7:1 from bottom center of semi-circle.
Size: 15.5” x 16.5”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: concrete – made up of cement, sand and broken stone; asphaltum
Notes/Markings: Center notes the combination to be used for the concrete “approved by greenwood cem.” Transverse section notes an unexcavated portion. Left side of drawing notes “one coat of asphaltum 2’ below grade on main wall.” All measurements for each part of the foundation are written out.
Condition: Fold marks from square folding; some water damage across the blueprint
Scale: ½” = 1’
Details: The only differences between the two foundation plans are an illegible note in the center of the semi-circle and pencil lines in the top half of the transverse section.
Size: 15.5” x 16.5”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: concrete – made up of cement, sand and broken stone; asphaltum
Notes/Markings: Center notes the combination to be used for the concrete “approved by greenwood cem.” Transverse section notes an unexcavated portion. Left side of drawing notes “one coat of asphaltum 2’0 below grade on main wall.” All measurements for each part of the foundation are written out.
Condition: Fold lines into a square; tape on back of blueprint over fold lines; staple holes along the bottom left and right corner. Minor tear on the top right.
Scale: 2” = 1’
Details: Wainscot marble with Greek-style urns (left side on a square mount, right side on a column) to showcase the center stained glass piece, “The Ascension of St. Germain.” Bronze buckles run through the ceiling slabs. The floor is made up of mosaic tile, cement and concrete. The bottom section of the plan is thick concrete walls. Ceiling slabs will be 2” when finished.
Size: 18” x 26”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: marble, concrete, glass, mosaic tile, bronze.
Notes/Markings: right side of the drawing notes that the system of ventilation is shown on the blueprint by arrows. Top right of the roof has hand written measurement of <1’-0”.
Condition: Very good. Four holes along the top of the blueprint.
Details: two Roman-style columns are to the left of the drawing, with a vent system and bronze door to the left of the second column. The inner part of the drawing has a rectangular plaque reading, “Dedicated to The Sacred Memory of ALTHEA RUDD WARD.” The base of this part has two claw foot stands and in the center it reads “1875 – ALTHEA - RUDD – WARD -1905.” The right-hand side has one Greek-style urn atop a square base with a claw foot stand. To the left of the urn is a “stained glass plate set in a Bronze sash,” and within that is a “bronze grill.” Below ground is concrete.
Size: 26” x 18”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: concrete, bronze, mosaic tile, stained glass.
Notes/Markings: No. 5 in a circle on the bottom left of blueprint. Bottom left side has handwritten signature next to “approved by” stamp. Two vents at bottom of mausoleum are crossed-out by a pen marking. Above air outlet on top right of roof is a handwritten measurement of 1’:0.”
Condition: staple holes along right side of blueprint. Minor tears along top left.
Details: large No. 4 inside a circle on the bottom left of plan. The floor plan from the bottom up starts with a large semi-circle split into 3. The innermost part of the semi-circle has 4 circles that look like the top of columns, with the note, “line of architrave,” the beam that sits across the top of the columns. This left side also includes soffit paneling. The inner part of the plan details a bronze door with “Bronze frame constructed double to swing on pivots see specs.” The swing of the door is outlined. The left side of the main part of plan details space for three sarcophagi, with one “under window and one at each side.” Next to this is ½ of the floor plan with shaded areas. There is one more sarcophagus at the top of the plan with a bronze sash built in to accommodate “art and plate glass.” “Flooring marble border with marble mosaic fields.” Details of the design are ornate. Decorative moldings are shown. There are two bronze ornamental flowers to ceiling hanger.
Size: 18” x 26”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Notes/Markings: right side of plan, “Interior ventilated thro space allowed for between ceiling slabs and cornice.” The top left of the plan notes, “End of beam to have bearing on granite wall.
Condition: Excellent. Five holes along the top of the blueprint.
Details: No. 3 in a thick circle on the bottom left of the plan. Apertures for ventilation are marked by an A in a circle along the top of the rear elevation, with bronze guards over them. There are also two apertures with bronze guards at the bottom of the plan – one on the left and one on the right. Center of plan has decorative oval with wheel-like spokes coming out of center. Measurements of the height of rear elevation is 17’.
Size: 26” x 17.5”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Materials Noted: Bronze
Notes/Markings: Approved and by notes on bottom left of plan.
Condition: excellent, with a few holes on the right-hand side of the plan.
Details: No. 2 in a thick circle on the bottom left of the plan. Apertures for ventilation and light are marked along the bottom and top of the side view. Center of plan has decorative oval with wheel-like spokes coming out of center. The top left of the roof, shows the end of the name, “RUDD – WARD.” Below this are two Roman-style columns with a width of 10 ½” between them. There are three steps leading up to the columns with the columns themselves on the third step.
Size: 26” x 17.5”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Notes/Markings: Approved and by notes on bottom left of plan.
Condition: Very good. Some tears along the top left-hand side of the plan with a small piece missing from the corner (does not affect blueprint diagram itself). Staple marks along right side.
Scale: 7” = 1’
Details: No. 1 in a thick circle on the bottom left of the plan. Three steps lead up to the front doors with insert designs in stained glass. Two Roman-style columns on each side flank the doors. Above the doors is a decorative rectangle with a rectangle above that with the words, “IN MEMORIAM” written. Above this, below the roof is the name of the interred, “ALTHEA RUDD WARD.” To the right of the main plan is a smaller plan detailing the “doorway at the rear of OWMN.” (last part unclear). Measurement of the height of stairs and base are 16’9.”
Size: 26” x 17.5”
Drawing Material: Blueprint
Notes/Markings: Approved; notes on bottom left of plan.
Condition: Very good. Small tear in bottom the middle and staple marks of the right side of the plan.
