Search

This series includes 1,641 architectural drawings including renderings, plans, elevations, sections and details for 101 projects (both independent commissions and work completed by the firm Welch, Smith & Provot). The majority of the projects in this collection are for townhouses in New York City (often described in the finding aid as town house, city house, or more generally as house), however some office buildings, churches, country estates, and funeral monuments are also included. The dates of the drawings span from 1897 to 1921, and the bulk dates are 1901-1911. Each project was catalogued separately in the online catalog. This finding aid provides a link to each project's associated record. Sheet level description can be found in these project-level records. Each sheet is individually cataloged with numbers ranging from 1000.016.00197 through .01838. The drawings are arranged in this finding aid in the order they were cataloged. Drawings were cataloged by project in job number order, followed by miscellaneous projects in alphabetical order, and with unidentified drawings listed last.

This series consists primarily of project specifications, unless otherwise noted. The series includes papers for the restoration (1910-1917) of the Dyckman House, an 18th century farmhouse in upper Manhattan. New York City based projects are listed first (in alphabetical order) followed by projects outside Manhattan.

This series includes 99 loose photographs and 3 photographic albums of project photography. The majority of the photographs document Welch's townhouse commissions. The loose photographs are primarily exterior views and are listed by project. Whereas the 3 photographic albums primarily document interior views and span various projects. Projects in New York City are listed first in alphabetical order followed by projects outside the Bronx and Manhattan; unidentified projects are listed last.

This series is divided into two subseries. Subseries 1: Student drawings consist of 196 drawings made by Alexander M. Welch roughly between 1886 and 1903. Some drawings were made for class assignments when Welch was a student at Columbia. They include drawing exercises, engineering exercises, plans, elevations, renderings and the like. The collection also includes sketches from Welch's travels in Europe and his drawings from when he studied at L'École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Subseries 2: Student Notebooks includes 14 course notebooks, 1 sketchbook, and 1 journal. The course notebooks include some drawings but are mostly detail notes from lectures given by Columbia School of Mines professors including figures such as William R. Ware, Russell Sturgis, James Greenleaf, John Newberry, and David W. King.

This series consists a mix of professional papers and reference materials; including Welch's Columbia degree and architectural; correspondence relating to Welch's appointment as a U.S. delegate to the fourteenth International Congress of Architects in 1937; membership papers to New York Historical Society; and promotional brochures for two non-Welch buildings.