Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Grant, U. S. (Ulysses S.), 1881-1968
Title:	Ulysses S. Grant III Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1850-1937
Quantity:	7 linear ft.
Abstract:	Bulk of collection consists of advertisements, blueprints, bids and other material relating to architectural projects; a few articles on conditions in Russia by Princess Cantacuzene (Julia Dent Grant, sister of Ulysses), including one about her escape from Russia.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Ulysses S. Grant III (1881-1968) was an American army officer, civil engineer and architect. The grandson of Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States, he was born on the Fourth of July and attended Cutler School (1895-1897) and Columbia University (1898), both in New York City. He left in 1898 to fight in the Spanish-American War, and in 1899 entered West Point where he was a classmate of Douglas MacArthur. In 1907 he married Edith Root, daughter of Elihu Root, Roosevelt's secretary of state.

As a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, he served in the Philippines, Cuba, and Mexico. In 1918 he served as secretary of the American section of the Supreme War Council in Paris (for which he received a Distinguished Service Medal). After the war he was assigned to various engineering commands in the United States, eventually becoming Director of Public Buildings and Parks for Washington, D.C. (1926-1933). By 1942 he had advanced to the rank of Brigadier General; from 1942-1944 he was Chief of the Office of Civilian Defense, protection branch. He retired in 1945 with the rank of Major General, and shortly thereafter became president of George Washington University (1946-1951).

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Ulysses S. Grant III Papers consists primarily of advertisements, blueprints, bids and other material relating to architectural projects. Other material of interest, although unexpected in this technical collection, is a series of articles on the Russian political situation from the Saturday Evening Post (1918-1919) by Princess Cantacuzene (Julia Dent Grant, sister of Ulysses) A news story from 1920 mentions briefly her escape from Russia. Although the date range for this collection is 1850-1937, the bulk is the period of Grant's service as Director of Public Buildings and Parks in Washington, D. C., 1926-1933.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Save for miscellaneous printed materials at the end of the collection, everything has been placed in a single alphabetical run, to include public projects, articles and speeches, notes, and court cases. Within each project, items are listed in chronological order (advertisements for bid, then contracts, then blueprints, finally other material).

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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.

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Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has a substantial number of architectural collections, both of firms and individuals. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Ulysses S. Grant III Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. John Dietz, 1982.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: --
Date: circa 1970
Revision history: Dec 2008 - converted to EAD (MRC)

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Inventory

	Architectural materials
		American River, California
Box 1			"Report to the Federal Power Commission on the uses of American River," for California Power Board 1924 - typescript and printed copies
		Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission, Washington, D. C. McKim Mead and White, Architects, W. J. Douglas, Consulting Engineer
Box 1			Advertisement, proposals for constructing piers and abutments Nov. 19, 1925
Box 1			Advertisement, contracts 3 & 4 (furnish and deliver granite) March 22, 1926
Box 1			Blueprints, contracts 3 & 4 (8 pieces)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 16 (superstructure and foundations) Oct. 10, 1927
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 16 (12 pieces)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 22 (bascule draw span) June 15, 1928
				See also Phoenix Bridge Co. vs. U. S. (Box 4)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 23 (granite, boundary bridge channel) June 25, 1928
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 23 (2 pieces)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 24 (boundary channel bridge) Sept. 1, 1928
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 24 (7 pieces)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 28 (foundations, bridge plaza, water gate) March 25, 1929
				See also Grier-Lowrance Construction Co. vs. U. S. (Box 4)
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 28
Box 1			Transcript, contract 28, daily progress reports
Box 1			Field log entries, contract 28
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 31-33 (granite for bridge plaza, approach structure) June 1, 1929
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 31-33 (13 pieces)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 34 (superstructure, bridge plaza, water gate) Aug. 1, 1929
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 34 (4 pieces)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 40 and 41 (granite carving) March 1, 1930
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 43 (elm trees) May 7, 1930
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 44 (fenders for Bascule draw span) July 2, 1980 (6 pieces)
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 44
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 46 (grading parkway to Memorial Entrance to Cemetery) Sept. 8, 1930
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 46 (4 pieces)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 48 (granite for pedestals) Dec. 6, 1930
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 48
Box 1			Advertisement, contracts 49-52 (granite for memorial entrance to cemetery) Feb. 2, 1931
Box 1			Blueprints, contracts 49-52 (9 pieces)
Box 1			Advertisement, contract 53 (grading west end of project) March 16, 1931
Box 1			Blueprints, contract 53 (1 piece)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 55 (tunnel under parkway to cemetery) March 16, 1931
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 55 (4 pieces)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 56 (bridge plaza drainage) April 15, 1931
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 56 (2 pieces)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 57 and 58 (equestrian groups on plaza) no date
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 62 (paving Arlington Memorial Bridge & Boundary Channel Bridge) August 15, 1931
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 62 (1 piece)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 63 (paving curb, sidewalks, etc., for bridge plaza) Sept. 3, 1931
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 63 (8 pieces)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 65 (asphalt penetration macadam paving on Columbia Island) Oct. 19, 1931
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 69 (4 pieces)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 75 (reinforced concrete pavement, etc., Memorial Ave. to cemetery) August 2, 1932
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 70-72 (ornamental evergreens) Jan. 18, 1932
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 70-72 (3 pieces)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 73 (pavement, etc. on road to Ericsson Memorial) Feb. 23, 1932
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 73 (2 pieces)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 74 (temporary gravel surface, Memorial Ave. to cemetery) Feb. 13, 1932
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 74 (1 piece)
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 75 (7 pieces)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 76 (transplanting elm trees, east end of bridge) March 9, 1932
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 76 (1 piece)
Box 2			Advertisement, contract 78 (Memorial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery) April 11, 1932
Box 2			Blueprints, contract 78 (18 pieces)
Box 2			Advertisement, transplant white pine and American elm Dec. 7, 1931
Box 2			Specifications for carving frescoes Nov. 21, 1927
Box 2			Specifications, and blueprints for Keystone carving Nov. 14, 1927
Oversize 1			Contract drawings, contracts 1, 16, 22, 24, 34 (2 copies)
Box 2		Articles, speeches, etc. 1925-1932
		Astronomy
Box 2			Program for field 1906-1907
Box 2			Azimuth observations
Box 2			Latitude by sextant
Box 2			Latitude by zenith telescope
Box 2			Latitude, transit in prime vertical
Box 2			Time, by sextant
Box 2			Time, transit in the meridian, chronograph method
Box 2			Time, transit in the meridian, eye and ear method
Box 2		Breakwater, Gloucester, Mass. - 1 pg., costs and measurements
Box 2		Calaveras River, California, flood control 1923
		Civil engineering
Box 2			Building construction, ventilating, heating, roofs and bridges
Box 2			Cement, masonry, concretes, foundations
Box 2			Hydraulics, river and harbor improvements, lock gates
Box 2			Water supply and sewage disposal
Box 2			[Civilian engineers and the military] 1921
Box 2		Dam across Suison Bay, California 1923
Box 2		Drydocks; Gonzalez, Teodomino - correspondence, etc
		East Potomac Park, Washington, D. C., Tourist Camp Field House
Box 2			Advertisement for bids May 21, 1926
Box 2			Blueprints (9 pieces)
		Feather River, California
Box 3			Survey recommendations Feb., 1923
Box 3			Survey report May, 1925
Box 3			Maps, index, sheets 1-7
Box 3			Maps, sheets 8-13 (2 copies of sheet 13)
Box 3			Maps, profile and cross-sections, sheets 1-4
		Federal Warehouse, Washington, D. C. William T. Partridge, Consulting Architect, Lockwood Greene Engineers, Inc., Consulting Engineers
Box 3			Advertisement for bids July 31, 1931
Box 3			Blueprints, location plan, survey of site (2 pieces)
Box 3			Blueprints, 1st-7th floors, basement, roof (6 pieces)
Box 3			Blueprints, elevations, N/S and E/W (2 pieces)
Box 3			Blueprints, sections through building, plumbing section (2 pieces)
Box 3			Blueprints, architectural details (3 pieces)
Box 3			Blueprints, structural (2 folders, 11 pieces)
Box 3			Blueprints, heating and ventilation (5 pieces)
Box 3			Blueprints, electrical (4 pieces)
Box 4			Blueprints, sprinkler system (4 pieces)
Box 4			Blueprints, vacuum cleaning system (1 piece)
		Francis Junior High School, Washington, D. C., Bath house and pools. Thomas M. Medford, Architect, W. B. Montgomery, Structural engineer, E. A. Hind, Mechanical engineer
Box 4			Advertisement, bid ca. Jan. 1928
Box 4			Blueprints (17 pieces)
Box 4		Grier-Lowrance Construction Co., Inc. vs. United States 1931-1937 (2 folders)
			See also Arlington Memorial Bridge, contract 28, foundations (Box 1)
Box 4		Industrial mobilization speech 1925
Box 4		Lights [intensity of various illuminants data] and printed material 1908-1926
Box 4		Locks and canals in the U. S. not owned by the government April-May, 1904 - table, 6 sheets
		Locks for rivers and canals
Box 4			Examples Sept 21, 1910 - text and 4 sheets
Box 4			Moline, Illinois Mar. 1912
Box 4			Lock no. 6, Warrior River, Alabama Aug. 1911 - text and 5 drawings
Box 4			Illinois and Mississippi Canal, Illinois June 1912 - text and 4 drawings
		McKinley High School, Washington, D. C., bathhouse and pools. Thomas M. Medford, Architect, W. B. Montgomery, Structural Engineer, E. A. Hind, Mechanical Engineer
Box 4			Advertisement, bid July 25, 1927
Box 4			Amendment, Aug. 8, 1927
Box 4			Blueprints, location plat, electrical, plumbing (6 pieces)
Box 4			Blueprints, details (2 folders, 24 pieces)
		Military engineering
Box 4			Defense of Subic Bay, Philippines 1906 - text, diagram map
Box 4			Strategy, naval and coastal defense undated
Box 4		Mining Convention/Conference, on federal control of hydraulic mining for gold 1923
Box 4		Phoenix Bridge Co. vs. United States 1937
			See also Arlington Memorial Bridge, contract 22, Bascule draw span (Box 1)
		Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, Washington, D. C
			"L" Street Bridge. D. H. Gillette, Chief, Engineering Div., John L. Nagle, Chief, Design Sect
Box 4				Advertisement, bids Dec. 7, 1931; Sept. 16, 1932
Box 4				Blueprints (6 pieces)
			Lyons Mill Bridge. D. H. Gillette, Chief, Engineering Div., John L. Nagle, Chief, Design Sect
Box 4				Blueprints (4 pieces)
			Waterside Drive Overpass. D. H. Gillette, Chief, Engineering Div., John L Nagle, Chief, Design Sect
Box 4				Advertisement bid April 24, 1931
Box 4				Blueprints (11 pieces)
		Rock Creek Park, Washington, D. C
Box 5			Milkhouse Ford Bridge blueprints 1925 (3 pieces)
Box 5			Grapevine Bridge blueprints 1928 (2 pieces)
		Sacramento River, California
Box 5			Survey, Sacramento to Collinsville 1924 - text and 5 blueprints
		Sacramento River Flood Control Project
Box 5			1925 - text and maps
Box 5			Revision report 1925 - text and maps (2 folders)
		Sacramento, San Joaquin Rivers, California
Box 5			Notes and speeches 1920-1924
Box 5			Report of preliminary examination and survey 1924
Box 5			Physical description, commercial estimate 1920
Box 5			Flood control 1925-1927
		San Joaquin River
Box 5			Bridge above Antioch, application for ca. 1925
Box 5			Fresno County, California, power development, 1924
Box 5		Seacoast fortification, tests of parapets, Sandy Hook, New Jersey Dec., 1918
Box 5		Severn et al vs. United States 1936-1937
Box 5		Staniaus River, California, report to the Federal Power Commission on use 1924
Box 5		Stockton, California, Deep waterway 1922-1924 - includes report of survey (2 folders)
		Trinity River, California
Box 5			Report to the Federal Power Commission on uses 1924
Box 5			Waterflow 1902 - notes
		White House, Washington, D. C
			Rebuilding of roof, 3rd and 2nd floor ceilings
Box 5				Advertisement, bid Nov. 19, 1926
Box 5				Blueprints, work in place, ground floor, 1st and 2nd floor (3 pieces)
Box 5				Blueprints, ground floor, 2nd & 3rd floors (6 pieces)
Box 5				Blueprints, attic, roof and west terrace (3 pieces)
Box 5				Blueprints, transverse and longitudinal sections (2 pieces)
Box 5				Blueprints, exterior elevations (4 pieces)
Box 5				Blueprints, interior elevations (4 pieces)
Box 6				Blueprints, roof framing, 3rd floor framing (3 pieces)
Box 6				Blueprints, details (6 pieces)
Box 6				Blueprints, mechanical and truss detail (2 pieces)
			Swimming pool, West terrace. Lorenzo S. Winslow, Architect, John L. Nagle, Chief, Engineering Div., D. H. Gillette, Chief, Design sect
Box 6				Advertisements, bid April 5, 1933
Box 6				Blueprints (6 pieces)
Box 6		Miscellaneous printed material on flood control, military engineering, evaluation of building materials, sewage, harbors, etc. 1850-1932

	Clippings
Oversize 1		Cantacuzene, Princess (Julia Dent Grant) 1918-1919 - printed material; on Russia

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