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Ralph T. Walker Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: JMB
Date: Jun 1978



Biographical History

Ralph Thomas Walker (1889-1973) was an American architect.

Walker attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and studied with Rhode Island architect Howard K. Hilton. In 1916 he went to work for the New York firm of McKenzie, Voorhees and Gmelin, where he remained for the rest of his career. In 1955 he led a group of architects sent to Berlin to participate in planning for the International Building Exhibition (IBA) to be held in 1957; as part of this effort, he and his team proposed building a Congress Hall, to "promote international understanding through the advancement of culture, education and science." The Benjamin Franklin Foundation, a joint German-American organization with Walker as its chairman, was created to oversee the planning and construction of the Berlin Congress Hall, completed in 1957. The Foundation went on to spend another 13 years in reconstruction projects in and around Berlin.

Most of Walker's buildings are in New York City, including the AT&T building on Broadway, the iconic One Wall Street (originally the Irving Trust Building), and the Barclay-Vesey Building (later known as the Verizon Building, severely damaged during the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks).


Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Ralph T. Walker Papers spans nearly sixty years, almost the entire career of the American architect. The collection is divided into 16 series.

Correspondence contains material foldered as such by Walker. Much of it relates to travel, including London and Trinidad. There is also some World's Fair material.

Walker was heavily involved with the International Union of Architects (IUA), including serving on its Executive Committee. This series includes meeting minutes, annual Congresses, reports, and other items.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) files include alumni and "friends of the library" material as well as material relating to his teaching at the School of Architecture and to the Charles Hayden Library, a project undertaken by Walker's firm.

Photographs are of various subjects, both personal (family and friends) and professional (projects undertaken by Walker and/or his firm). It includes glass slides which Walker used for teaching.

Project files consist primarily of two major projects, one in Berlin and the other in Trinidad. The Benjamin Franklin Stiftung (BFS) was created as a nonprofit foundation for the United States to fund and build the Berlin Congress Hall in time for the International Building Exhibit in Berlin (1957). Walker was chief architect as well as chairman of the Stiftung, which was also known as the Benjamin Franklin Foundation. The Trinidad material deals mostly with the work done to create Fort Read in Trinidad (near Cumuto) by the US Army during WWII, now known as Wallerfield. There is also a small amount of material relating to a project in Nicaro, Oriente Province, Cuba.

Published material is subdivided into material by Walker and/or his firm, and about Walker and/or his firm. There is also a small amount of miscellaneous published material which bears no clear connection to Walker or his firm.

Four Scrapbooks contain material relating to the American Institute of Architects, the Berlin Congress Hall, and other jobs.

Sketches includes pieces relating to specific jobs (MIT Library, Barclay-Vesey Building, Petroleum Building, Philadelphia Opera House) and to various topics (imaginary buildings, Rotch Scholarship, West Indies, World's Fairs). There are also a few sketches by other architects or artists.

The collection originally contained an alphabetical series of folders and a chronological series of folders, much of which overlapped or duplicated one another. These have been organized into a single Subject files series, arranged alphabetically. Included here is material related to Walker's expulsion from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), as well as files on various topics ranging from city planning and Frank Lloyd Wright to geometry and T.S. Eliot.

Finally, Writings contains Walker's written output -- articles, book reviews, books or book chapters, editorials, essays, poetry, speeches, and miscellaneous other items.


Arrangement of the Collection

Generally, the collection is organized alphabetically by series, subseries, and folder title.


Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.


Subject Headings

Persons

Walker, Ralph, 1889-1973.

Corporate Bodies

American Institute of Architects.
Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-1934 : Chicago, Ill.)
International Union of Architects.
Kongresshalle Berlin.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Subjects

Architects -- United States.
Architectural design -- 20th century.
Architecture -- Berlin (Germany)
Architecture -- New York (N.Y.)
Architecture -- Philadelphia.
Architecture -- Trinidad and Tobago.
Architecture -- United States -- 20th century.
Exhibitions.

Genres and Forms

Architectural drawings (visual works)
Articles.
Blueprints (reprographic copies)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Essays.
Lantern slides.
Manuscripts for publication.
Notebooks.
Notes (documents)
Photographs.
Scrapbooks.
Sketches.
Slides (photographs)
Speeches (documents)

Occupations

Architects.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Ralph T. Walker Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Ralph Walker, Mrs. Ralph Walker.


Table of Contents

Correspondence

International Union of Architects (Union Internationale des Architectes)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology files

Photographs

Project Files

Published materials

Scrapbooks

Sketches

Sketches, mounted

Sketches by others

Subject files

Writings


Inventory