COLLECTION DESCRIPTION
Notebooks of architectural class notes and drawings, 1898, 1899; student papers; notebooks and sketchbooks on gardens; photographs of gardens and parks, especially Marine Park in Brooklyn; architectural drawings and renderings; pen and ink drawings; and articles on architectural topics. Also, papers relating to lectures; and club memberships, including the Century Club; miscellaneous correspondence; and condolence letters upon his death.
Dates
- 1898-1956.
Creator
- Lay, Charles Downing, 1877-1956. (Person)
Language of Materials
Collection material in English
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Landscape architect, architect, town planner.
Charles Downing Lay attended the School of Architecture at Columbia University from 1896 to 1900 and received a S.B. in Landscape Architecture from Harvard University's School of Landscape Architecture in 1902. From 1902 to 1948 he maintained a landscape architecture practice in New York City. He served as editor and publisher of Landscape Architecture with H. V. Hubbard and Robert Wheelwright. His projects included town planning for Albany, N.Y. and for the United States Housing Corporation in Erie and Butler, Pa.; parks in New York City, Troy, Albany, Schenectady, and Brooklyn, N.Y., Washington, D.C., and Stratford, Connecticut; school grounds in New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut; subdivisions in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey; and housing in New York City. He also was consulting architect to the 1939 New York World's Fair and worked on conservation efforts in the Housatonic River valley, founding the Housatonic Valley Planning Association in 1948.
Extent
11.6 cubic feet. (11.6 cubic feet.)
13 mapcase folders. (13 mapcase folders.)
Abstract
Notebooks of architectural class notes and drawings; student papers; notebooks and sketchbooks on gardens; photographs of gardens and parks; architectural drawings and renderings; pen and ink drawings; and articles on architectural topics.
SERIES LIST
Series I. Personal Box 1, Folders 1-4; Box 18, Folder 1; Box 19
Series II. Student Papers Box 1, Folders 5-14
Series III. Correspondence Box 1, Folders 15-39; Box 18, Folder 5-6
Series IV. Art and Artists Box 1, Folders 40-56
Series V. Private Homes and Estates Box 1, Folders 57-68
Series VI. Architecture, Planning, etc.: Housing, Parks, Committees and Other Box 2, Folders 1-49
Series VII. Writings Box 2, Folder 50 - Box 3, Folder 22; Box 18, Folder 10
Series VIII. Printed Material Boxes 4-7
Series IX. Photographs and negatives of private homes, estates, public areas and other Boxes 8-17
Series X. Oversize blueprints, sketches, drawings, paintings and photographs Box 19; Mapcase Folder 1-13
Series XI. Other Box 18, Folder 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9
Physical Description
Notebooks, papers, correspondence, photographs, drawings.
General
- Contact Information:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections 2B Carl A. Kroch Library Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-3530 Fax: (607) 255-9524 rareref@cornell.edu http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
- Compiled by:
- M. E. Warren
- Date completed:
- Apr. 1992
- EAD encoding:
- Julia Guarneri Aug. 2002
- Date modified:
- Jude Corina, February 2018
PUBLIC AREAS INCLUDED IN THE COLLECTION
- Battery Park
- Beaver Park, Albany, NY
- Bridgford Park, Albany, NY
- Butler, Pennsylvania
- Cemetary of the Gate of Heaven, Mount Pleasant, NY
- Central Park (A. Mitchell Memorial) New York City
- Coney Island (New York City Fair) 1943
- (Old) Essex County Golf Course, East Orange, New Jersey
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Frear Park, Troy, New York
- Loudon Heights, Albany, New York
- Madison Square, New York City
- Marine Park
- North End Junior High School, Stratford, Connecticut
- Overview Park, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- Philips Gallery, Washington, D.C.
- Prospect Park, New York City
- Recreation Terraces and Public Baths, New York City
- Ridgefield Public School, Ridgefield, Connecticut
- Rock Spring Country Club
- St. Nicholas Houses, Manhattan, New York
- Salem, Massachusetts
- Seaside Park, Westbrook, Connecticut
- Schenectady, New York
- Sheepshead Bay Houses, Brooklyn, New York City
- Stratford, Connecticut War Memorial and other
- Tompkins Square, New York
- Verona Civic Center, Verona, New Jersey
- Washington Square
- (Property of) Wheaton, Illinois
- Woodruff Park, Stratford, Connecticut
PRIVATE ESTATES INCLUDED IN THE COLLECTION
- Elbridge L. Adams, Great Barrington, Massachusetts
- George B. Agnew, Lewisboro, New York
- Robert C. Anderson, Upper Montclair, New Jersey
- J. Charles Andrews, Great Neck, Long Island
- J. Percy Bartram, Caritas Island, Stamford, Connecticut
- Edgar Bassick, Bridgeport, Connecticut
- Mrs. Edgar W. Bassick, Fairfield, Connecticut
- A. Bijur, Long Branch, New Jersey
- Mrs. H. S. Bowen/Belton Farms, Round Hill, Greenwich, Connecticut
- Thomas Bowen and J. Moss Ives, Mattapan, Locust Valley, Long Island
- Gilbert C. Brown
- Thomas W. Bryant, Torrington, Connecticut
- A. P. Budd, Brewster, New York
- Anson W. Burchard, Locust Valley, Long Island
- E. A. Cappleen
- Casagmo, Ridgefield, Connecticut
- J. P. Chamberlain, Waterbury and Middlebury, Connecticut
- K. F. Cooper, Great Neck, Long Island
- John O'Hara Cosgrave, Stamford, Connecticut
- Don W. Murray Crane, Dalton, Massachusetts
- W. M. Crane, Jr., Dalton, Massachusetts
- Mrs. Z. M. Crane, Dalton, Massachusetts
- Walter H. Crittenden
- John W. Davis, Locust Valley, Long Island
- Mrs. W. B. Devreux, Jr., Syosset, Long Island
- Dodge
- W. A. Donald, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts
- A. W. Eaton, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- Florham
- Harold Forsberg, Stratford, Connecticut
- A. A. Fowler, Peapack, New Jersey
- S. Miller Gallaher, Charleston, West Virginia
- Gill
- Miss Grata Hostetter, Locust Valley, Long Island
- Miss Bertha M. Howland
- Mr. & Mrs. Jerome C. Hunsaker, Brookville, Long Island
- J. Percy Keating, St. Martins, Pennsylvania
- Kraushaar
- S. Forry Laucks, York County, Pennsylvania
- Edwin Lefevre, Dorset, Vermont
- H. H. Lehman, Harrison, New York
- Robert Scott Lovett
- Charles W. McAlpin
- R. L. McIntosh, Westfield, Connecticut
- C. A. Mallory, Danbur, Connecticut
- George O. May, Fairfield, Connecticut
- Mitchell Memorial
- Mr. and Mrs. Edward Mogul, Easton, Connecticut
- E. B. Morris, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Mr. & Mrs. Winchester Noyes, Huntington, Long Island
- George M. Olcott, Ridgefield, Connecticut
- G. Pagenstecher, Storm King, New York
- Andrew J. Post, Sound Beach, Old Greenwich, Connecticut
- Charles W. Power, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
- Pratt Mausoleum, Glen Cove, Long Island
- Sherburne Prescott, Greenwich, Connecticut
- Ralph Pulitzer, Manhasset, Long Island
- Roberts
- Seift
- Sheldon
- William A. Siewers, White Plains, New York
- R. H. Simpson, Oyster Bay, New York
- L. A. Cappelan Smith, ___ Point, Long Island
- Edgar Stillman
- George J. Stockley, Great Neck, Long Island
- A. S. Storer, Ridgefield, Connecticut
- Mrs. Lyman Beecher Stowe, Forest Hills Gardens, Long Island
- Walker E. Swift, Norton, Connecticut
- T. L. Van Norden, South Salem, New York
- Mr. & Mrs. Alexander Van Rensselaer, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
- Annie Vietor [Victor?] Rumson
- Maurice Wertheim, Cos Cob, Connecticut
- James M. Willcox, Radnor, Pennsylvania
- Mrs. Willis D. Wood, Huntington, Long Island
- Charles Yarnall, Newton Square, Pennsylvania
- William Zinsser, Great Neck, Long Island
- Architects and housing developers.
- Architectural drawings.
- City planning -- New York (N.Y.)
- City planning -- Pennsylvania -- Butler.
- City planning -- Pennsylvania -- Erie.
- Gardens -- Design.
- Housatonic Valley Planning Association
- Housing -- New York (N.Y.)
- Housing development -- Connecticut.
- Housing development -- New Jersey.
- Housing development -- New York (State)
- Housing development -- Rhode Island.
- Landscape architects.
- Landscape architecture.
- Landscape architecture.
- Marine Park (New York, N.Y.)
- New York World's Fair (Location of meeting: New York, N.Y.). Date of meeting or treaty signing: (1939-1940 :.)
- Photographs.
- School grounds -- Connecticut -- Stratford.
- School grounds -- New York (State)
- School grounds -- Washington (D.C.)
- United States Housing Corporation
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Compiled by M. E. Warren
- Date
- Aug. 2002
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)
rareref@cornell.edu