Arthur T. Sutcliffe Papers, 1838-1962

Summary Information

At a Glance

Arrangement

• Series I: Personal Papers
• Series II: Project Records
• Series III: George L. Sutcliffe Papers
• Series IV: Family Papers

Description

Scope and Content

The collection documents the life and activities of architect Arthur T. Sutcliffe. The collection is made up of four series: Personal Papers, Project Records, George L. Sutcliffe Papers, and Family Papers.

• Series I: Personal Papers

  documents the life and development of architect Arthur T. Sutcliffe. The series is composed primarily of diaries, photographs, architectural drawings, watercolor sketches, correspondence, architectural drawing tools, 2,495 postcards and other collected ephemera of Arthur T. Sutcliffe. The subjects of the watercolor sketches range from residential renderings to still life drawings. The diaries in the collection were kept by Arthur Sutcliffe from 1884 to 1971. Each year has its own diary and every day has an entry by Sutcliffe..

• Series II: Project Records

  consists of photographs, correspondence, and some architectural drawings related to various projects Arthur T. Sutcliffe worked on as an architect. The architect for Commodore F.G. Bourne's Residence is not Sutcliffe, but rather Ernest Flagg. The majority of the projects are renovations of residences located in Long Island, New York.

• Series III: George L. Sutcliffe Papers

  contains the papers of Arthur Sutcliffe's brother. A significant portion of the collection documents George L. Sutcliffe's 1909-1910 world cruise on the "Cleveland" (Hamburg-Amerika Line) to, among other places, Bombay, Rangoon, Kobe, Osaka, Honolulu, Hong Kong, Batavia, Java, and Yokohama.

• Series IV: Family Papers

  includes materials belonging to various members of the Sutcliffe family. The Sutcliffe family papers include correspondence, news clippings, diaries recounting various world trips, photographs, genealogical research, collected ephemera and phrenology reports. Also of note in the collection is the 1838 third edition of O.S. and L.N Fowler's Phrenology Proved, Illustrated, and Applied..

Publication Date

1838-1962

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

Permission to publish must be obtained in writing from the Director, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, 1172 Amsterdam Ave., MC 0301, New York, NY 10027.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession number--1995.019.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library

Revision Description

2010-11-12 File created.

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.

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Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Architect Arthur T. Sutcliffe was born July 23, 1876 in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was the son of William Henry Sutcliffe and Ida M. Johnson and brother of George L. Sutcliffe.

After graduating in 1895 from Poughkeepsie's Eastman Business College, where he studied art and architecture with William Henry Cusack, Sutcliffe entered Drexel Institute's School of Architecture, receiving a degree in 1897.

After graduation, Sutcliffe was employed by Philadelphia architect Theophilus P. Chandler from 1897 to 1902. He left Philadelphia to work for architect Ernest Flagg in New York. He remained with Flagg for the entirety of his career, leaving only for a year and half in 1906-1907 to study at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.