Alan Burnham (1913–1984) was an American architect and architectural historian who served as the Executive Director of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission from 1965 to 1973 as well as the Commission's Director of Research. This collection consists mainly of reference materials related to architectural history and New York City architectural history, as well as professional papers and papers relating to Richard Morris Hunt and the history of New York City apartment buildings.

Architectural drawings and photographs of buildings designed by the firm dating approximately from its founding to the 1950s. Among those represented are buildings at the World's Columbian Exhibition, Chicago, 1893; Pennsylvania Railroad Station, New York, 1906-1910; restoration, 1903, of the White House, Washington, D.C.; buildings at Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus, New York; Boston Public Library, Boston, Mass.; E.W. Morgan mansion; Municipal Building, N.Y.; Col. Elliott Shepherd House, Scarborough, N.Y.; buildings at Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.; Bellevue Hospital, New York; various New York City residences; and others. Also included are competition drawings for the New York Public Library; miscellaneous drawings and sketches; photographs of the partners and of other members of the firm; lists of the firm's work; clippings of articles about the firm; lists of the firm's employees; billing records, 1953-1955; account books, 1940s-1950s; bank books, 1895-1955; award certificates; and other office miscellany.