Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Welch, Alexander McMillan, 1869-1943, Welch, Smith & Provot, and Wurts Brothers (Photographers : New York, N.Y.)
- Abstract:
- Alexander McMillan Welch (1869-1943) was a New York City based architect who practiced independently and as a member of Welch, Smith & Provot. His firm was best known for designing New York City townhouses in the Beaux-Arts style. The collection includes 1,641 architectural drawings, 196 student drawings, 14 student notebooks, 99 loose photographs and 3 photo albums of project photography, project specifications and files, and some professional ephemera.
- Extent:
- 1,838 architectural drawings, 3 manuscript boxes, 4 print boxes, and 3 photo albums
- Language:
- English .
Background
- Scope and Content:
This collection included primarily original and reprographic architectural drawings by Alexander McMillian Welch and the firm Welch, Smith & Provost, largely of townhouses located in Manhattan and designed during the 1900s and 1910s (many for the speculative builders of William W. and Thomas M. Hall). The collection also includes some project photography and specifications. In addition to documenting Welch's architectural practice, the collection also documents Welch's architectural training at Columbia's School of Mines from 1888 to 1890, as well as at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1891 and 1892.
- Biographical / Historical:
Alexander McMillan Welch (1869-1943) was an American architect based in New York City. Welch graduated from the School of Mines at Columbia College in 1890, and later studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Welch practiced independently and as a member of Welch, Smith & Provot. The firm was best known for designing New York City townhouses in the Beaux-Arts style. Welch designed townhouses and other properties for speculative developers William W. Hall and Thomas M. Hall. Welch also served as a consulting architect for restoration projects for historic sites, including the Dutch Colonial Dyckman House in Manhattan's Inwood neighborhood.
- Acquisition information:
- Source of acquisition--Gift. Accession number--1000.016.
- Processing information:
Drawings for the collection were cataloged in 1978 during Project AVIADOR (Avery Videodisc Index of Architectural Drawings on RYAN). The collection was re-inventoried by Paul Guidos (Student Assistant) in 2022. Shelley Hayreh (Archivist & Collection Manager) edited and published the finding aid for the collection in 2022.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed Terms
- Subjects:
- Architecture, Domestic -- New York (State) -- New York
Architecture -- United States -- Designs and plans
Apartment houses -- New York (State) -- New York
Dwellings -- New York (State) -- New York
Buildings -- New York (State) -- New York
Architecture -- Study and teaching
Architecture -- New York (State) -- New York
Schools of architecture -- New York (State) -- New York
Real estate development -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- 20th century
architectural drawings (visual works)
Photographic prints
Drawings (visual works)
Sketchbooks
Architects - Names:
- École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts (France)
Columbia University. School of Architecture
International Union of Architects. Congress (14th ) (Location of meeting: Paris, France). Date of meeting or treaty signing: 1937 :.)
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum (New York, N.Y.)
Ware, William R (William Robert), 1832-1915
Sturgis, Russell, 1836-1909
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
300 Avery Hall1172 Amsterdam Avenue M.C. 0301New York, NY 10027, United States
- CONTACT:
-
212) 854-6199avery@library.columbia.edu