Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm73022780
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Cass Gilbert, architect, were deposited in the Library of Congress by his granddaughter, Julia Gilbert Post Bastedo, in 1962. In 1967, Bastedo converted the deposit to a gift, and in 1971 she gave additional papers to the Library.
The collection was processed in 1963 and reprocessed with an addition in 1972. The finding aid was revised in 1979 and 2012. The finding aid was updated in 2023 by Maria Farmer as part of a division-wide remediation project by the Inclusive Description Working Group.
Photographs, water colors, and drawings received with the Cass Gilbert papers have been transferred to the Prints and Photographs Division where they are identified as part of these papers.
Other papers of Cass Gilbert are at the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn., chiefly relating to the Minnesota State Capitol Building. A collection of Gilbert's portraits, paintings, and sketch books is at the Archives Center, National Musuem of American History, Washington, D.C.. The largest collection of Gilbert's papers is at the New-York Historical Society in New York, N.Y.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Cass Gilbert in these papers and in other collections of papers in the custody of the Library of Congress was dedicated to the public, except that these rights were reserved to Julia Gilbert Post Bastedo for her lifetime.
The papers of Cass Gilbert are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Cass Gilbert Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Cass Gilbert (1859-1934) span the years 1801-1961, with the bulk of the papers dated between 1886 and 1934. The collection is organized into seven series: Diaries; General Correspondence; Special Correspondence; Speech, Article, and Poetry File; Letterbooks of Cass Gilbert, Jr.; Miscellany, and Oversize.
There are letters sent and received by Cass Gilbert for the years 1880-1934 as well as correspondence of his wife, Julia Finch Gilbert; brother, Samuel Gilbert; other family members; and letterbooks of his son, Cass Gilbert, Jr. (born 1894). The General Correspondence mainly concerns his architectural plans for the Woolworth Building, the New York Life Insurance Building, the Federal Courts Building in New York, the United States Treasury Annex, the United States Chamber of Commerce Building, the United States Supreme Court Building, and state capitol buildings in Minnesota, Arkansas, and West Virginia. The correspondence also reflects Gilbert's interest in national and international political affairs. Among the principal correspondents are Edwin Howland Blashfield, Nicholas Murray Butler, Arthur Cope, Kenyon Cox, Daniel Chester French, Edward Mandell House, J. J. Jusserand, Charles Moore, Elihu Root, and Aston Webb.
The Special Correspondence contains two letters received by President Thomas Jefferson from William Thornton on June 9, 1802, and June 28, 1804, and a typescript copy of James R. Dermott's letter to Jefferson dated March 7, 1801. These manuscripts came into Gilbert's possession in 1915 when they were presented to him by W. R. Bixby.
The papers also include many of the diaries that Gilbert kept from 1890 to 1934 as well as speeches, articles, and poems in manuscript and printed form. A Miscellany file and Oversize series complete the collection.
This collection is arranged in seven series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm73022780
Diaries of Cass Gilbert.
Arranged chronologically.
Letters sent and received, including family letters.
Arranged chronologically.
Three letters addressed to Thomas Jefferson.
Arranged chronologically.
Handwritten and printed writings.
Arranged by type of writing or material.
Volumes of letters sent by Cass Gilbert's son.
Arranged chronologically.
Financial papers, biographical material, printed matter, and certificates and awards.
Arranged by type of material.
Certificates and awards.
Described according to the series and container from which the material was removed.