Thomas R. Burleigh Collection, 1940-2000

Thomas R. Burleigh was born in Amherst, VA in 1919. He began his architectural education at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1937, where he studied for two years. After working in Boston for a year, Burleigh moved to Chicago, Illinois, and enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1940. While at IIT, Burleigh studied under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Ludwig Hilberseimer, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in architecture in 1943. After military service, Burleigh attended IIT as a graduate student in architecture and city planning from 1946 to 1948. He went on to work with architect Walter Netsch at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (1948-1951); and as a city planner on such projects as the Comprehensive Plan of Des Moines, Iowa (1959-1961) and an urban redevelopment feasibility study for Atlanta, Georgia (c.1962). Burleigh retired from city planning in June 1975 and died in Atlanta in 2007.

This collection consists primarily of drawings, papers, and photographs from Burleigh's years as a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Additional material, dating from the 1980s and 1990s, documents architectural research that Burleigh has pursued throughout his career. Series I contains architectural design drawings and studies, and both graphite and watercolor renderings of still lifes and nudes. Most, if not all, of these drawings were created in fulfillment of academic requirements while Burleigh was an undergraduate at IIT. Series II, Papers, includes class notes, schedules, an IIT yearbook, printed matter, and a rough draft of an unpublished autobiography. Series III consists of black and white photographs taken by Burleigh of buildings, property, and construction relating to IIT, buildings and projects of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and some candid views. The final series is Series IV, Negatives, which is a restricted series. Patrons interested in the negatives are requested to reference the contact prints found in Series III.

SERIES I: DRAWINGS. Drawings are divided into architectural design drawings and studies, and life drawings. Within each of these divisions, items are arranged chronologically.

SERIES II: PAPERS. Items are arranged chronologically and mainly consist of student materials.

SERIES III: PHOTOGRAPHS Photographs are divided into IIT and Mies-related projects, index of Mies buildings and projects, and candid and miscellaneous views. Within each of these divisions, items are arranged chronologically.

SERIES IV: NEGATIVES. Negatives are arranged chronologically.

• Names
  • Burleigh, Thomas R.
  • Burleigh, Thomas R.--Archives.
  • Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 1886-1969.
• Subject
  • Illinois Institute of Technology--Students.
  • Architecture--Illinois--Chicago--20th century--Sources.
  • Architects--Illinois--Chicago--Archives.

AIC

BOX.FF

c.

IIT

n.d.

N.B.

OP

Edward A. Duckett Collection, 1986.2.

Ludwig Karl Hilberseimer Papers, 070383.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Collection, 1984.2

Portions of this collection are restricted; wherever possible, surrogate copies are provided for patron use, as noted in the series listings. The remainder of 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.

Thomas R. Burleigh Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.

The majority of this collection was a gift from Thomas R. Burleigh to the Ryerson and Burnham Archives in 1986. Since the original gift, Burleigh has augmented the collection with photographs and additional material from his student days at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL.

Drawings in this collection were processed by Ryerson and Burnham staff prior to 2001; the remainder of the material was processed by Natasha Derrickson in October 2001 and Nathaniel Parks in June 2003. The finding aid was revised and expanded by Nathaniel Parks and Annemarie van Roessel in 2003 and 2004.