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Collection includes James Renwick's sketches, 1813, for the layout of Columbia University's second campus on Park Row (there have been four campuses to date: the first on Wall Street, the third on 49th Street and Madison Avenue, and the current campus in Morningside Heights), and a medal awarded him, 1824, by the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. James Renwick, Jr. is represented by his architectural drawings of St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, which he designed. Some of the drawings are signed by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Also, published drawings of the Cathedral, 1886; negatives and photographs, circa 1860s, showing the Cathedral under construction; interior and exterior photographs, circa 1930s-1960s, of the Cathedral; and photographs of Grace Church, New York, also designed by James Renwick, Jr. Renwick family correspondence, 1930s, and typescript copies of 19th century Renwick family correspondence relating to family history and genealogy; photographs of James Renwick, Jr; typescript copies of family Bible records, 1792-1863; Renwick coat of arms.

Files of the company, 1911-1920, much of which consists of unsucessful architectural bid documents, each noting the architect, building, and location, as well as estimated costs, sketches, and related correspondents. These bid documents represent commissions not awarded to NYATCC, and do, in some cases, indicate the outcome of the bid. Architects represented include McKim, Mead & White; Cass Gilbert; George Post; D.H. Burnham & Company; Warren & Wetmore, Schwartz & Gross, and many others. Also includes correspondence and office memoranda, including some describing the formative years, 1911-1914, of the National Terra Cotta Society, trade catalogs, and job photographs. Also, two albums containing photographs of sample pieces of terra cotta, and month by month construction records for three buildings, including the American Theater (42nd Street, New York, 1892) by Charles Coolidge Haight; the Renaissance Apartments (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1889) and the Imperial Apartments (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1890) both by Montrose Morris.

The collection of historical photographs and lithographs of New York City consists of about 3,000 items dated from the 1850s until the 1980s. The collection is made up of color photographic prints, color negatives, black-and-white photographic prints, black-and-white negatives, copy prints, studio and cabinet cards, stereo cards, cyanotypes, albumen prints, gelatin silver prints, lantern slides, glass negatives, and Polaroid prints, lithographs, woodcuts, tear sheets, and engravings. The collection also includes official images, newspaper images, and candid images. Also included are images from the photo morgue of the New York Herald-Tribune newspaper, which ceased publication in 1966. Other images were purchased as copies from New-York Historical Society, Museum of the City of New York, WNYC-FM Radio, the Bettman Archive, and from collectors, private vendors, and other institutions. Photos by noted photographers are included.