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The Sheppard Pratt Asylum was founded in 1853 for the progressive treatment of the mentally ill by the Baltimore merchant Moses Sheppard. The New York architect Calvert Vaux was hired in 1858 to design the buildings for the institution at the same time Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted won the competition for the design of Central Park. Construction on the Asylum began in 1862, during the Civil War, and because of lack of financial constraints, the Asylum opened in 1891. The Sheppard Pratt Asylum is now on the National Historic Register. The 17 drawings for the project include floor plans, elevations, sections, and detail drawings.

The collection is made up of clippings, photographs, notes, and other research material gather on various architectural projects by Calvert Vaux in support of the writing of the publication Calvert Vaux: Architect & Planner (1994).

This collection includes Giorgio Cavaglieri's preliminary studies, working drawings, presentation drawings, and specifications, circa 1962-1965, for his renovation of the Jefferson Market Courthouse into a library. Also, prints of drawings, 1876, by Vaux and Withers for the original building, and drawings, circa 1918-1940, for alterations.

Also, biographical manuscripts, illustrations of coats of arms, pedigree, and lists of his drawings and his library, to circa 1900, much of it done by Joseph B. Davis.

This collection includes original and reprographic architectural drawings, project files, photographs, correspondence, and professional papers related to preservation architect Giorgio Cavaglieri's architectural work, professional associations, and writings.

Also, minutes kept by Richard Michell Upjohn for the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter, Committee for Library and Publications, 1868-1877, and Executive Committee, 1867-1889; sketchbooks, 1850s-1870s; photographs of Upjohn buildings and portraits of Richard Upjohn; correspondence, wills, memorial tributes, manuscripts, printed material, and miscellaneous personal and business documents; and several drawings by other architects including Alexander Jackson Davis, Hobart Brown Upjohn, and Calvert Vaux