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Charles Downing Lay papers

 Collection
Identifier: 4477

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

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

RELATED MATERIALS

Related collections: Oliver Ingraham Lay, Charles Downing Lay, and Lay family papers at the Archives of American Art, https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oliver-ingraham-lay-charles-downing-lay-and-lay-family-papers-6011.

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

  1. Battery Park
  2. Beaver Park, Albany, NY
  3. Bridgford Park, Albany, NY
  4. Butler, Pennsylvania
  5. Cemetary of the Gate of Heaven, Mount Pleasant, NY
  6. Central Park (A. Mitchell Memorial) New York City
  7. Coney Island (New York City Fair) 1943
  8. (Old) Essex County Golf Course, East Orange, New Jersey
  9. Erie, Pennsylvania
  10. Frear Park, Troy, New York
  11. Loudon Heights, Albany, New York
  12. Madison Square, New York City
  13. Marine Park
  14. North End Junior High School, Stratford, Connecticut
  15. Overview Park, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
  16. Philips Gallery, Washington, D.C.
  17. Prospect Park, New York City
  18. Recreation Terraces and Public Baths, New York City
  19. Ridgefield Public School, Ridgefield, Connecticut
  20. Rock Spring Country Club
  21. St. Nicholas Houses, Manhattan, New York
  22. Salem, Massachusetts
  23. Seaside Park, Westbrook, Connecticut
  24. Schenectady, New York
  25. Sheepshead Bay Houses, Brooklyn, New York City
  26. Stratford, Connecticut War Memorial and other
  27. Tompkins Square, New York
  28. Verona Civic Center, Verona, New Jersey
  29. Washington Square
  30. (Property of) Wheaton, Illinois
  31. Woodruff Park, Stratford, Connecticut

PRIVATE ESTATES INCLUDED IN THE COLLECTION

  1. Elbridge L. Adams, Great Barrington, Massachusetts
  2. George B. Agnew, Lewisboro, New York
  3. Robert C. Anderson, Upper Montclair, New Jersey
  4. J. Charles Andrews, Great Neck, Long Island
  5. J. Percy Bartram, Caritas Island, Stamford, Connecticut
  6. Edgar Bassick, Bridgeport, Connecticut
  7. Mrs. Edgar W. Bassick, Fairfield, Connecticut
  8. A. Bijur, Long Branch, New Jersey
  9. Mrs. H. S. Bowen/Belton Farms, Round Hill, Greenwich, Connecticut
  10. Thomas Bowen and J. Moss Ives, Mattapan, Locust Valley, Long Island
  11. Gilbert C. Brown
  12. Thomas W. Bryant, Torrington, Connecticut
  13. A. P. Budd, Brewster, New York
  14. Anson W. Burchard, Locust Valley, Long Island
  15. E. A. Cappleen
  16. Casagmo, Ridgefield, Connecticut
  17. J. P. Chamberlain, Waterbury and Middlebury, Connecticut
  18. K. F. Cooper, Great Neck, Long Island
  19. John O'Hara Cosgrave, Stamford, Connecticut
  20. Don W. Murray Crane, Dalton, Massachusetts
  21. W. M. Crane, Jr., Dalton, Massachusetts
  22. Mrs. Z. M. Crane, Dalton, Massachusetts
  23. Walter H. Crittenden
  24. John W. Davis, Locust Valley, Long Island
  25. Mrs. W. B. Devreux, Jr., Syosset, Long Island
  26. Dodge
  27. W. A. Donald, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts
  28. A. W. Eaton, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
  29. Florham
  30. Harold Forsberg, Stratford, Connecticut
  31. A. A. Fowler, Peapack, New Jersey
  32. S. Miller Gallaher, Charleston, West Virginia
  33. Gill
  34. Miss Grata Hostetter, Locust Valley, Long Island
  35. Miss Bertha M. Howland
  36. Mr. & Mrs. Jerome C. Hunsaker, Brookville, Long Island
  37. J. Percy Keating, St. Martins, Pennsylvania
  38. Kraushaar
  39. S. Forry Laucks, York County, Pennsylvania
  40. Edwin Lefevre, Dorset, Vermont
  41. H. H. Lehman, Harrison, New York
  42. Robert Scott Lovett
  43. Charles W. McAlpin
  44. R. L. McIntosh, Westfield, Connecticut
  45. C. A. Mallory, Danbur, Connecticut
  46. George O. May, Fairfield, Connecticut
  47. Mitchell Memorial
  48. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Mogul, Easton, Connecticut
  49. E. B. Morris, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  50. Mr. & Mrs. Winchester Noyes, Huntington, Long Island
  51. George M. Olcott, Ridgefield, Connecticut
  52. G. Pagenstecher, Storm King, New York
  53. Andrew J. Post, Sound Beach, Old Greenwich, Connecticut
  54. Charles W. Power, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
  55. Pratt Mausoleum, Glen Cove, Long Island
  56. Sherburne Prescott, Greenwich, Connecticut
  57. Ralph Pulitzer, Manhasset, Long Island
  58. Roberts
  59. Seift
  60. Sheldon
  61. William A. Siewers, White Plains, New York
  62. R. H. Simpson, Oyster Bay, New York
  63. L. A. Cappelan Smith, ___ Point, Long Island
  64. Edgar Stillman
  65. George J. Stockley, Great Neck, Long Island
  66. A. S. Storer, Ridgefield, Connecticut
  67. Mrs. Lyman Beecher Stowe, Forest Hills Gardens, Long Island
  68. Walker E. Swift, Norton, Connecticut
  69. T. L. Van Norden, South Salem, New York
  70. Mr. & Mrs. Alexander Van Rensselaer, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
  71. Annie Vietor [Victor?] Rumson
  72. Maurice Wertheim, Cos Cob, Connecticut
  73. James M. Willcox, Radnor, Pennsylvania
  74. Mrs. Willis D. Wood, Huntington, Long Island
  75. Charles Yarnall, Newton Square, Pennsylvania
  76. William Zinsser, Great Neck, Long Island
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

Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)