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Columbia University's Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library will acquire a vast archive of architectural designs, maps, photographs, mausoleum blueprints, correspondence, maintenance records, and other historical documents donated by Woodlawn Cemetery and spanning 140 years of the cemetery's operations.
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Irene and Vernon Castle memorial, At the End of the Day, Sally James Farnham, 1918
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The collection includes documentation on mausoleums and memorials designed by John Russell Pope; McKim, Mead, & White; Tiffany Studios; and other accomplished artists and architects. It also features documents related to memorials for many of the prominent figures in jazz, theater, literature, business, and politics who are buried on the cemetery's 400 acres, which include Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins, W.C. Handy, Milt Jackson, King Oliver, George M. Cohan, Herman Melville, Joseph Pullitzer, Robert Moses, Fiorello LaGuardia, William Whitney, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the Woolworths, the Belmonts, and the Julliards.
"The Woodlawn Cemetery Archive documents the development of one of the greatest of all American cemeteries" said Gerald Beasley, director of Avery Library. "It is also a fundamental part of New York's collective memory and as such, complements one of Avery's established collection strengths. This gift adds an invaluable resource for the national and international communities of architects, planners, historians, and preservationists that our drawings and archives collections are primarily designed to serve."
"It wasn't until we began working with the Avery staff that we became aware of what we had and how excited the academic community would be to have access to these materials," said Jonathan Butler, chair of the board of trustees of Woodlawn Cemetery. "By donating a major portion of our archives to Columbia, we have found a way to preserve Woodlawn's valuable records for generations to come."
Lot owners at Woodlawn have always been required to provide designs for memorials in advance, so the cemetery can assess their appropriateness and maintenance feasibility. These designs, records, and other materials were kept in the cemetery's downtown office until it was closed in 1982; for more than 20 years, the records were kept in boxes and file cabinets located in various storage areas on the cemetery grounds.
The cemetery will begin to transfer the archive immediately, and formal transfer of title will take place on June 15. Because of the volume of documents, it will take approximately five years for the collection to be completely processed and cataloged. |
