Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker Photographs, 1930-c.1933

Ralph Thomas Walker (1889-1973) joined the architectural firm McKenzie, Voorhees and Gmelin in 1919, after two years at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and two years in the Montreal atelier of Francis Swales. The firm, which became Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker in 1926, designed numerous prominent Art Deco buildings in New York City during the 1920s, and also worked on buildings for the 1939 World's Fair in New York. Ralph Walker served on the design committee, established by Raymond Hood, that advised the Board of Directors of the 1933 Century of Progress exposition. By lottery he received the commission to design the central tower, which was not built.

Walker's proposed design for the unbuilt central tower is featured in the two photograph albums that comprise this collection.

The album pages have been numbered sequentially; album 1 is lacking pages 6 and 7.

• Names
  • Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker.
  • Century of Progress International Exposition (1933-1934: Chicago, Ill.)
  • Walker, Ralph, 1889-1973.
• SubjectBell Laboratories. Communications Hall.

Portf.

HLW architectural records and drawings, ca. 1910-1990 (Columbia University, Avery Library).

HLW architectural records and drawings, ca. 1910-1990 (Columbia University, Avery Library).

This collection may be accessed by users in the Reading Room of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at The Art Institute of Chicago. Collections maintained on-site are available for patron use without prior arrangement or appointment. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance notification; please consult the Archivist for the current retrieval schedule. For further information, consult https://www.artic.edu/archival-collections/contact-usage-and-faq.

The Art Institute of Chicago is providing access to the materials in the Archives’ collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of the Art Institute is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Art Institute of Chicago Archives. In addition to permission from the Art Institute, permission of the copyright owner (if not the Art Institute) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distribution, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. The Art Institute makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.

Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker Photographs, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.

Exchange by the Department of Architecture by a prior gift of Carson Pirie Scott and Co.

The collection was processed by the staff of the Ryerson and Burnham Archives. This finding aid was revised and expanded by Annemarie van Roessel in 2003.

This collection was transferred from the Department of Architecture to the Ryerson and Burnham Archives in 1989.