Alumni Association of the School of Architecture at Columbia University records, 1898-1943

Instruction in the principles of civil and military architecture for the Senior Class appears in the Columbia College Statutes as early as 1836, but the establishment of a professional school of architecture would have to wait a few years. William Robert Ware, who established the first school of architecture in this country at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1865, organized the initial courses in architecture at Columbia College in 1881 and within the School of Mines. In 1902, the School of Architecture became its own independent unit in the University.

The formation of an association of the alumni of architecture dates back to a circular letter of information from Professor Talbot Hamlin sent in December 1903 to its graduates and former students. At a meeting on April 25, 1904, the Society of Columbia University Architects came into existence. In 1911, the name was changed to the Alumni Association of the School of Architecture of Columbia University. Every year, the Alumni Association gave out a medal for excellence in design and other endowed prizes.