Collections : [Avery Drawings & Archives]

This collection is made up of architectural drawings, correspondence, specifications, contracts, invoices, minutes, financial statements, patents, advertisements, photographs, photograph album, test results and reports, memoranda, tile samples, factory order cards, and other materials pertaining to The Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company's projects. The dates of the materials span 1866-1985, with bulk dates 1890-1942. The architectural records include structural, decorative, and acoustical sample products and fragments. Also included are materials added to the files by George Collins (1917-1993), Professor of Art History at Columbia University. Prof. Collins secured the donation of this archive in 1963, and remained its custodian until it was transferred to the Drawings and Archives Collection at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library in 1988. The records document Prof. Collins' research efforts, as well as the Company's projects in forty states (including District of Columbia), four Canadian provinces, and eleven other foreign countries.

Walker O. Cain (1915-1993) was an American architect associated with the firms of McKim, Mead & White (1940-1961), Steinmann, Cain & White (1961-1965), Steinmann & Cain (1965-1967), Walker O. Cain & Associates (1967-1978), and Cain, Farrell and Bell (1978-1986). Collection consists chiefly of travel sketches, cartoons, invitations, and other ephemera. The collection also includes correspondence with Alexander Calder and photographs of the sculptor and his works; photographs and printed materials related to the firm of McKim, Mead & White; Scrapbooks; Medals; and a few architectural drawings.