Carnegie Hall Archives Preservation Project: Architectural Drawings Collection

FAIN: PG-252937-17

Carnegie Hall Society (New York, NY 10019-3293)
Gino Francesconi (Project Director: May 2016 to June 2019)

The purchase of archival supplies to properly rehouse and store 410 architectural drawings—dated 1889 through 1977—associated with the planning, construction, and history of New York’s Carnegie Hall. The purchase of archival folders, interleaving paper, archival tubes, and polyester film would implement recommendations presented in a March 2016 collection survey conducted by conservators from the Northeast Document Conservation Center, and result in improved organization and environmental conditions for this historic collection. Significant items to be rehoused include William B. Tuthill’s 45 original drawings from the 1891 construction of Carnegie Hall, John McNamara’s 1969 pencil sketch for a new marquee, and floor-by-floor plans of the historic studio apartments once populated by some of the world’s leading artists.

The project will enable Carnegie Hall's Archives to purchase archival folders, interleaving paper, and archival polyester film to properly house the Hall’s Architectural Drawings Collection. Spanning 1889-1977, the collection consists of 410 drawings by architects associated with Carnegie Hall’s history—including William B. Tuthill, Ely Jacques Kahn and Robert Allan Jacobs (Kahn and Jacobs), and John J. McNamara. The Collection documents the construction of Carnegie Hall in 1891 and subsequent renovations and improvements. Preservation measures of this project are based on an assessment conducted in 2016 by professional consultants in paper conservation. The architectural drawings are noteworthy for those studying the humanities because they not only document the building plans of Carnegie Hall, but have broader historical significance in terms of the cultural, social, and economic trends of their time.