Max Abramovitz architectural records and papers, 1925-1990

Series V: Professional Papers

The series is arranged into the following subseries: Correspondence, Writings of Max Abramovitz, Lectures, Exhibitions, Faculty Papers, Awards and Honors, Associations, Liscenses and Certificates, and Photographs.


Subseries 1: Correspondence

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically. Arrangement is by name of personal correspondent/organization or by subject when a substantial number of letters constitute a clearly defined topic or category, such as Autograph Requests. Titles listed under Contents are either supplied or taken from handwritten annotations on letters. All folders contain incoming and outgoing correspondence. General correspondence includes letters on a variety of topics. Highlights from each folder are noted. Files may include clippings and photographs. Some correspondence was duplicated and may appear in more than one folder


Box 02 Folder 11 American Academy in Rome, 1960


Box 02 Folder 12 American Institute of Architects, 1949


Box 02 Folder 13 Amercian Institute of Architects, 1952

Congratulatory letters to MA on his advancement to Fellowship.


Box 02 Folder 14 American School Publishing Corp., 1940


Box 02 Folder 15 Associations and Committees, 1958, 1963, 1966, 1970-1972


Box 02 Folder 16 Austin, Warren R., 1952


Box 02 Folder 17 to 18 Autograph requests, 1964-1967, 1970, 1979-1981, 1983


Box 04 Folder 1 Awards and honors, 1952-1956, 1960, 1963, 1974


Box 04 Folder 2 Beranek, Leo, 1961


Box 04 Folder 3 to 4 Brandeis University, 1955-1959, 1962-1967, 1970, 1973, 1989, 1992


Box 04 Folder 5 to 6 Columbia University, 1980, 1987, 1989-1990, 1993


Box 04 Folder 7 Employee letters, 1960, 1963


Box 04 Folder 8 Fouilhoux, Andre, 1945


Box 04 Folder 9 Galbreath, John W., 1983


Box 04 Folder 10 GAN (Groupe des Assurances Nationales), Paris, 1972, 1981, undated

File includes letters from Jean Arvis and L. Peyroux.


Box 04 Folder 11 General correspondence, 1945, 1967, 1976-1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990-1994

1945 obituary and photo of Fouilhoux. Copies of Oscar Niemeyer's account of his UN work as related to Linda Phipps in 1992 and MA's 1992 resignation letter from Abramovitz-Kingsland- Schiff


Box 04 Folder 12 General correspondence, 1954, 1958, 1960-1969, 1971

Correspondence with Ada Louise Huxtable and University of Pittsburgh regarding potential articles. MA's reply to Progressive Architecture interior design questionnaire.


Box 04 Folder 13 General correspondence, 1954-1980

Jurying by MA, appointment to NYC Board of Education's Advisory Committee on School Construction, and letters on a variety of topics. File consists chiefly of clippings.


Box 04 Folder 14 General correspondence, 1955-1960, 1962-1965, 1967-1969, 1971, 1973

Includes letters from H.F. [Hugh Ferriss], Sibyl [Moholy-Nagy], clippings, and photo.


Box 04 Folder 15 General correspondence, 1959-1969, 1972-1973, undated

Requests for speaking engagements, personal meetings, and architectural advice. Thank you note from H&A summer intern.


Box 04 Folder 16 General correspondence, 1961-1962, 1968-1970, 1972, 1974,1982, 1986

Appointment to National Advisory Council of Urban America, requests for autographs, speaking engagements and meetings with aspiring architects.


Box 04 Folder 17 General correspondence, 1983


Box 04 Folder 18 General correspondence, 1994


Box 04 Folder 19 Hamlin, Talbot, 1946


Box 04 Folder 20 Harrison, Wallace K., 1944

MA's letters to "Wally" Harrison and "Andy" Fouilhoux written while in the military.


Box 04 Folder 21 Harrison, Wallace K., 1982, 1984, 1987-1990

Correspondence about Harrison.


Box 04 Folder 22 Haskell, Douglas, 1962


Box 04 Folder 23 Hosken, Franziska P., 1964


Box 04 Folder 24 Interiors (magazine), 1957


Box 04 Folder 25 Interviews and personal meetings, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1971


Box 04 Folder 26 Introductions, 1963


Box 04 Folder 27 Invitations, 1958, 1962-1963, 1965-1969, 1971, 1973

MA's letters of regret to requests for speaking engagements, papers, etc.


Box 05 Folder 1 Israel, 1958-1960, 1962-1963, 1966, 1988

Correspondence regarding the Knesset Building and the National Museum. File includes letters from Teddy Kollek.


Box 05 Folder 2 Israel Museum (Jerusalem), 1958-1960, 1963-1965

Correspondence received in envelope marked: Isreal [sic] Museum, 1965. Envelope containing pen sketches is included in file


Box 05 Folder 3 Jurying, 1955-1956, 1962, 1965-1966, 1969


Box 05 Folder 4 Krannert, Herman, 1967


Box 05 Folder 5 Leich, Jean F., 1978-1979

Correspondence about Leich's Hugh Ferriss manuscript.


Lincoln Center : Philharmonic Hall


Box 05 Folder 6 Lindsay, John v., 1973


Box 05 Folder 7 Lipschitz, Jacques, 1968


Box 05 Folder 8 Moore, Henry, 1962


Box 05 Folder 9 New York City Board of Education, 1963


Box 05 Folder 10 New York City zoning, 1960-1961


Box 05 Folder 11 New York Times, 1967


Box 05 Folder 12 New York Times, 1979

MA's editorial letter on bus stop shelters


Box 05 Folder 13 to 14 New York University, 1961, 1963, 1969


Box 05 Folder 15 Newhouse, Victoria, 1982-1990


Box 05 Folder 16 Parsons School of Design, 1961, 1963, 1969-1969


Box 05 Folder 17 Princeton University, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1962-1963, 1967


Box 05 Folder 18 Progressive Architecture, 1961


Box 05 Folder 19 Radcliffe College, 1967, 1969


Box 05 Folder 20 Recommendation letters, 1962-1963, 1968, 1979


Box 05 Folder 21 Regional Plan Associations, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1966-1969


Box 05 Folder 22 Reinhold Publishing, 1963


Box 05 Folder 23 Rockefeller, Nelson A., 1938 Aug. 5

MA's explanation of the "unsymmetrical scheme" of Rockefeller Center buildings.


Box 05 Folder 24 Rockefeller, Nelson A., 1964


Box 05 Folder 25 Rose, Billy, 1960


Box 05 Folder 26 Rosenberg, Annna M., 1951


Box 05 Folder 27 to 28 Rothschild, Guy de, 1969

Correspondence between Rothschild and MA regarding house in Ferrieres, France. Letters removed from roll of drawings for residence.


Box 05 Folder 29 Rothschild, Guy de, 1968-1971

Correspondence with Rothschild regarding Ferrieres residence and Banque Rothschild, Paris


Box 05 Folder 30 Rutgers University, 1959-1960


Box 05 Folder 31 Shahn, Ben, 1967


Box 05 Folder 32 Students, Letters from, 1960-1961, 1964, 1966, undated


Box 05 Folder 33 Talks, 1960-1961, 1965-1966


Box 05 Folder 34 to 35 Temple Beth Zion, 1966-1967, 1975, 1981, 1983

Four sketches have been removed from the correspondence and are now placed with the architectural drawings.


Box 05 Folder 36 United States Air Force, 1964


Box 05 Folder 37 United States Department of Defense, 1962


Box 05 Folder 38 United States Military Academy . Jewish Chapel, 1982-1983


Box 05 Folder 39 to 42 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


Box 05 Folder 43 University of Illinois, 1988-1991

Max Abramovitz Distinguished Lectureship Program in Architecture.


Box 05 Folder 44 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Assembly Hall addition, 1996


Box 05 Folder 45 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Krannert Art Museum, 1963-1964, 1970


Box 05 Folder 46 University of Michigan, 1964


Box 05 Folder 47 University of Pittsburgh, 1961, 1964-1965


Subseries 2: Writings of Max Abramovitz


Box 06 Folder 1 High school for the community, Architectural Forum, 1935 Jan.


Box 06 Folder 2 School can be an aesthetic contribution to the community, 1940

Typescript of an article written for the American School Publishing Corp.


Box 06 Folder 3 China airfield construction, CBI Dromes, 1944 Dec.


Box 06 Folder 4 to 5 Trends in synagogue design, Bulletin of the American Institute of Architects, 1948 May

File includes article typescript and correspondence.


Box 06 Folder 6 to 7 Disciplines of fenestration : a study prepared with the assistance of Max Abramovitz, Architectural Record, 1955 Apr.


Box 06 Folder 8 Architect's message, Opera news, 1962 Sept. 29


Box 06 Folder 9 to 10 City of tomorrow, Pitt, 1963 Oct

File includes article typescript and correspondence.


Box 06 Folder 11 Treatise on seismic forces and their effects on structures, submitted as part of the requirement by the California State Board of Architectural Examiners towards registration to practice architecture in the State of California., 1965 Jan. 21


Box 06 Folder 12 Changing practice : theaters, Progressive Architecture, 1965 Oct.

Section entitled Programming and the client-user includes a discussion with Max Abramovitz and others.


Box 06 Folder 13 Troubled search : new dimensions in a changing environment, 1966 Sept. 18

Transcript of the address presented by MA at the New Year Convocation for Students, University of Illinois.


Box 06 Folder 14 Essay on architectural and planning problems in New York City, 1967 Nov. 29

Written in the form of a letter to John B. Oakes, New York Times.


Box 06 Folder 15 What the architect can do, Build international, 1969 Jan./Feb.


Box 06 Folder 16 to 17 Designing for the performing arts, Journal of Aesthetic Education, 1969 Jan

File includes article typescript and correspondence.


Box 06 Folder 18 New York: the shape of the future, New York Sunday New Magazine, 1969 Sept. 7


Box 06 Folder 19 to 20 Susan Morse and Frederick Whiley Hilles Library at Radcliffe College, Harvard Library Bulletin, 1969 Oct.

Bulletin contains pencil sketch on fron cover.


Subseries 3: Lectures

Lectures delivered by MA, arranged chronologically. Consists chiefly of typed manuscripts. Files also contain note cards, clippings, printed materials, and correspondence.


Box 06 Folder 21 Lectures, 1947-1948


Box 06 Folder 22 Lectures, 1949


Box 06 Folder 23 Lectures, 1953-1954


Box 06 Folder 24 Lectures, 1955


Box 07 Folder 1 Lectures, 1956-1957


Box 07 Folder 2 Lectures, 1958-1959


Box 07 Folder 3 Lectures, 1960-1961


Box 07 Folder 4 Lectures, 1962


Box 07 Folder 5 to 6 Lectures, 1963


Box 07 Folder 7 Lectures, 1964-1965


Box 07 Folder 8 to 9 Lectures, 1966


Box 07 Folder 10 Lectures, 1967


Box 07 Folder 11 Lectures, 1968-1969


Box 07 Folder 12 Lectures, 1970-1972


Box 07 Folder 13 Lectures, 1979


Box 08 Folder 1 Lectures, 1981


Box 08 Folder 2 to 3 Lectures, 1987


Box 08 Folder 4 Lectures, undated


Subseries 4: Exhibitions


Box 08 Folder 5 to 6 The Architecture of Max Abramovitz, 1963

Catalog of the exhibition which appeared at the Krannert Art Museum, College of Fine and Applied Arts, University of Illinois, Champaign, November 2 through December 1,1963; College of Architecture and Art, University of Illinois, Chicago, December 4 through December 20, 1963


Box 08 Folder 7 Correspondence , lecture transcripts, and other documents related to the 1963 exhibition, 1963-1964, 1981

File also contains 1981 correspondence regarding exhibit at Hillsborough Community College.


Box 08 Folder 8 La Belle Epoque, 1985

Exhibition at the Katonah Gallery of posters from the collection of Max and Anita Abramovitz .


Subseries 5: Faculty Papers

Faculty papers include administrative papers and lecture notes.


Box 08 Folder 9 Administrative papers: Columbia University, 1930-1933, 1936-1937


Box 08 Folder 10 Administrative papers: New York University, 1937


Box 08 Folder 11 Administrative papers: Princeton University, 1966-1967


Box 08 Folder 12 Administrative papers: University of Illinois, 1929


Box 08 Folder 13 Administrative papers: Yale University, 1938-1940, 1942


Box 08 Folder 14 Lecture notes: Columbia University, 1932


Box 08 Folder 15 Lecture notes: Syracuse University, 1952


Subseries 6: Awards and Honors


Box 08 Folder 16 Architectural League of New York, 1954

Silver Medal of Honor, Corning Glass Center


Box 08 Folder 17 Architectural League of New York, 1960

National gold medal exhibition of the building arts: Achievement in the building arts.


Box 08 Folder 18 Brandeis University, 1963

Dinner in honor of Max Abramovitz, Fellow of the University.


Box 08 Folder 19 Architectural League of New York, 1965

Architecture and the Arts Award: the gold medal exhibition of the building arts.


Box 08 Folder 20 State of California Governor's Design Awards, 1966

Certificate of Excellence for Union Bank Square.


Box 08 Folder 21 American Association of School Administrators and The American Insitute of Architects, 1974

Exhibition of School Architecture, United Nations International School.


Box 08 Folder 22 American Institute of Steel Construction, 1975

MA served as member of jury for Architectural Awards of Excellence competition.


Box 08 Folder 23 Design & Environment Award for Excellence, 1975

McGraw Hill Pedestrian Mall


Box 08 Folder 24 National Academy of Design, 1975

150th Anniversary Gold Medal


Box 08 Folder 25 Prestressed Concrete Institute Award, 1975

United Nations International School.


Box 08 Folder 26 New York State Association of Architects, 1977

Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Design, Rock-McGraw Mini-Park


Box 08 Folder 27 Greater New York Councils, Boy Scout of America, 1986

Certificate of appreciation for outstanding service.


Box 08 Folder 28 New York Society of Architects, 1987

Special Award for Lifetime Achievement


Box 08 Folder 29 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988

Illinois Medal in Architecture


Subseries 7: Associations


Box 08 Folder 30 Brandeis University, Board of Fellows, 1980-1981


Box 08 Folder 31 Century Association, 1958, 1980, 1982-1983, 1985, 1988- 1990


Box 08 Folder 32 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 1991


Box 08 Folder 33 National Academy of Design, 1969, 1971, 1973-1974, 1989


Subseries 8: Licenses and Certificates


Box 08 Folder 34 California, 1965, 1989


Box 08 Folder 35 Colorado, 1979, 1989-1991


Box 08 Folder 35 Connecticut, 1988-1989


Box 08 Folder 35 District of Columbia, 1988-1990


Box 08 Folder 35 Florida, 1976-1977, 1987, 1989-1991


Box 08 Folder 35 Illinois, 1990


Box 08 Folder 35 Kentucky, 1986


Box 08 Folder 35 Maryland, 1979, 1986, 1990, 1992


Box 08 Folder 35 Massachusetts, 1989-1990


Box 08 Folder 35 Michigan, 1989


Box 08 Folder 35 New Hampshire, 1989


Box 08 Folder 35 New Jersey, 1989-1991


Box 08 Folder 35 New York, 1937, 1990, 1997


Box 08 Folder 35 North Carolina, 1990


Box 08 Folder 35 Ohio, 1988-1989


Box 08 Folder 35 Pennsylvania, 1987-1989


Box 08 Folder 35 Texas, 1990


Box 08 Folder 35 West Virginia, 1984, 1989-1990


Box 08 Folder 36 National Council of Architectural Registration Boards documents, 1961, 1976-1978, 1982, 1988


Subseries 9: Photographs

24 photographs, 16 of which are included in the Album. All photos are black and white unless otherwise noted.


Box 08 Folder 37 Abramovitz and Harrison, [ca. 1947-1948]

1 photo


Box 08 Folder 37 Portrait of Abramovitz, [ca. 1961-1962]

1 photo


Box 09 Folder 1 Wallace K. Harrison at work, [ca. 1958]

5 photos : Photos by Katrina Thomas of WKH working on sketch for Stamford Church and during the Lincoln Center period.


Box 09 Folder 2 Architects and designers of Lincoln Center, [ca. 1959]

1 photo : Photo by Arnold Newman is signed by the photographer and autographed by the design team.


Box 09 Folder 3 Album, [ca.1947-198-]

16 photos: 15 b&w, 1 col. ; Album includes photos of MA with members of the UN design team, during the Lincoln Center period and office photos.