Collections : [Avery Drawings & Archives]

The archive consists of 250 + letters, drawings, invoices, leases, mortgages, bonds, and deeds related to the 516 Broadway, New York, NY, which was owned then by Edward Livingston and his partner. The bulk of the material consists of correspondence from the architects, Hugh Lamb and Charles Rich, who were hired to convert a portion of the building into stores. They worked with Cornell Iron Works, Otis Elevator etc. and approved all work and payment of bills.

The collection documents the New York Monthly Meeting of Relgious Society of Friends financial activities from the 1880s until the 1920s. The majority of the collecion consists of cancelled checks, vouchers, and correspondence related to the payment of mortgages held by the N.Y. Monhtly Meeting of Religious Society of Friends. Much of the material is addressed to David S. Taber (Treasurer) or George D. Hilyard.

The collection consists of personal, professional, and project-related papers. The project and professional papers are made up of contracts, specifications, proposals, published speeches, reports, clippings, trade catalogs, and engineering drawings and documents. Among the projects documented in the collection are T. Kennard Thomson's Niagara River Water Power project, Manhattan Extension project, New York City Belt Line Railroad and Elevated Highways project, and Fifth Avenue Traffic Puzzle project. Additional engineering projects represented in the collection include those primarily related to bridge and elevated railroad projects. The personal papers include photographs, financial records, obituaries, clippings, and collected ephemera of Thomson and his extended family members. The personal papers also include menus, programs, and bulletins from various clubs and societies Thomson was associated with, including the Canadian Club of New York and the University of Toronto Engineering Society (founded by Thomson while at University).