Abbott Merkt and Company records, 1906-1994

Summary Information

At a Glance

Arrangement

• Series 1: Abbott, Merkt & Company Project Records
• Subseries A: Project Lists
• Subseries B: Drawings
• Subseries C: Files
• Subseries D: Photographs
• Subseries E: Reports
• Subseries F: Specifications
• Series 2: Abbott, Merkt & Company Office Records
• Subseries A: Administrative Papers
• Subseries B: Associations and Committees
• Subseries C: Correspondence
• Subseries D: Financial Records
• Subseries E: Legal Files
• Subseries F: Licenses and Registration
• Subseries G: Product Literature and Samples
• Subseries H: Public Relations
• Subseries I: Reference Files
• Subseries J: Scrapbooks and Clippings
• Subseries K: Writings
• Series 3: Harrington and Cortelyou Records
• Subseries A: General Papers
• Subseries B: Photographs
• Subseries C: Reports and Writings
• Series 4: Public Works Administration Records
• Series 5: United States. Dept. of Agriculture. Bureau of Public Roads Records
• Series 6: United States War Department Records
• Series 7: Richard H. Tatlow III, Professional Papers
• Subseries A: Administrative Papers
• Subseries B: Associations and Committees
• Subseries C: Awards and Degrees
• Subseries D: Correspondence
• Subseries E: Datebooks
• Subseries F: Financial Records
• Subseries G: General Papers
• Subseries H: Legal Files
• Subseries I: Licenses and Registrations
• Subseries J: Photographs
• Subseries K: Public Relations
• Subseries L: Writings
• Series 8: Richard H. Tatlow III, Personal Papers
• Subseries A: Biographical Information
• Subseries B: Correspondence
• Subseries C: General

Description

Scope and Content

This collection primarily contains architectural drawings, photographs, business records and reference materials related to the projects and designs of architectural and engineering firm Abbott, Merkt and Company. A subsidiary portion of the collection includes drawings, photographs and papers related to the life and career of Richard H. Tatlow, III, president of Abbott Merkt, as well as the firms and agencies for which he also worked.

• Series 1: Abbott, Merkt & Company Project Records

• Series 2: Abbott, Merkt & Company Office Records

• Series 3: Harrington and Cortelyou Records

• Series 4: Public Works Administration Records

• Series 5: United States. Dept. of Agriculture. Bureau of Public Roads Records

• Series 6: United States War Department Records

• Series 7: Richard H. Tatlow III, Professional Papers

  This series, as created by Mr. Tatlow, contains materials about the general operations of Abbott Merkt, as well as items related to specific Abbott Merkt, Harrington & Cortelyou, and War Department projects; these items have been retained in this series as found.

• Series 8: Richard H. Tatlow III, Personal Papers

Using the Collection

Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Restrictions on Access

This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Columbia University is providing access to the materials in the Library's collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of Columbia University is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. In addition to permission from Columbia University, permission of the copyright owner (if not Columbia University) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distributions, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. Columbia University makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose. For additional guidance on restrictions and permissions see Columbia University Libraries Publication and Digital Reproduction Policy and Procedures. (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/services/preservation/publicationsPolicy.html).

Preferred Citation

Abbott, Merkt and Company records, Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source of acquisition--This collection was a gift from Richard H. Tatlow, IV. Date of acquisition--1999.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Iciar Lucena, under the direction of Annemarie van Roessel, Mellon Archivist, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Department of Drawings & Archives, in 2005-2006.

Revision Description

2006-04-06 File created.

2009-12-03 File revised.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Historical and Biographical Note

Abbott, Merkt and Company

Founded in 1923 in New York City by Hunley Abbott and Oswald L. Merkt as an engineering and construction service for industrial plants. The firm was expanded to include architectural services in 1929 and Abbott, Merkt and Company grew to become one of the leading architecture and engineering firms on the East Coast after World War II, acquiring major commissions for commercial and industrial and commercial buildings and civil infrastructure in the United States and internationally. Richard H. Tatlow, III was president from 1945 to 1985, later joined on the Board of Directors by J. Stanley Nants Jr. and Richard H. Tatlow, IV. Among Abbott Merkt's most prominent commissions were major terminal and support facilities for Pan American World Airways at John F. Kennedy Airport and for American Airlines at Newark International Airport; department stores and merchandise warehouses across the country for such clients as Macy's, Saks and Company, Hecht's, Bambergers, B. Altman, and J.C. Penny and Company; major bulk materials handling facilities for United Parcel Service and the United States Post Office; schools and commercial centers in France, Mexico, The Netherlands, Syria and Saudi Arabia; and for parking structures across the East Coast. Abbott, Merkt, beginning, in 1951, was also partnered with the New York architectural firm Kahn & Jacobs, later bought by the St. Louis-based architecture firm HOK, on variety of airport-related projects. Ceasing operations in 1985, Abbott Merkt Architects, Inc. was acquired in 1987 by a subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based architecture and engineering firm Daniel Mann Johnson and Mendenhall (DMJM).

Richard H. Tatlow, III (1906-1993)

Tatlow was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1906 and received his bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado in 1927 and his master's degree in engineering in 1933. In 1927, Tatlow was hired by the United States Bureau of Public Roads to assist in designing bridges and roads throughout the United States. Joining the Kansas City, Missouri, engineering firm of Harrington and Cortelyou in 1929, Tatlow was named partner with John Lyle Harrington in 1935. In 1940, Tatlow was commission to the United States War Department as a Lieutenant Colonel, serving on the department's Construction Advisory Board. He was eventually named Colonel in the Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for the supervision of new facilities and the implementation o statistical quality control. In 1945, Tatlow joined Abbott Merkt & Company as president and member of the Board of Directors, eventually becoming chairman of the board. Throughout his career, Tatlow authored numerous articles and reports on a variety of engineering and management topics, including merchandise distribution, bridge engineering, shopping center design, and transportation planning. He was an active member of the Construction Industry Advisory Council of the United States Chamber of Commerce; the Engineering Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences; and the National Academy of Engineering. Tatlow was also president of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1968. Tatlow retired from Abbott, Merkt and Company in 1985, and died in Scarsdale, New York, in 1993.