Series II. Office Files

The office correspondence is mostly incoming and any significant amounts of outgoing copies are filed separately. The letters are filed by date and then by correspondent. The general office correspondence consists of letters regarding potential projects, businesses promoting their products, and orders for supplies. Correspondence regarding workers consists of letters of introduction, men's letters asking for work, and a set of letters from office employees who want recommendations to serve in World War I. The correspondence also includes professional matters such as asking Cass Gilbert to speak at events or to judge architecture competitions. This subseries includes letters from Cass Gilbert Jr. if they relate to the business. Personal letters from Cass Gilbert, Jr. can be found in Series IV.

This subseries contains memoranda regarding office procedures, office spaces, the documentation of phone calls, and the discussion of possible projects.

The reports in this subseries relate to Gilbert's office, business, or planning strategies for New York City and Washington, DC.

This subseries contains contracts and agreements for services and office space.

The financial documents relate to employee payments, rents for office space, and payments for general goods and services.

This subseries includes weekly calendars with space for a daily agenda. The calendars document his meetings, travel plans, and what he completed in the office for a particular day.

This subseries includes offers from various magazines for the publication of plans or for subscriptions to the magazine.

The clippings in this subseries include articles related to the architectural projects of Gilbert's office or by other architects. The subseries also contains clippings regarding the proposed power plant in Washington D.C. and city plans for New York City.

This subseries contains other office and professional files. It includes documents regarding the NYC Regional Plan, the Washington DC Power Plant Site, office spaces, office policies, employees, John Rockart vs. Cass Gilbert Inc., etc.

Most of the volumes are letterbooks that contain copies of outgoing letters from Gilbert's office. Other volumes include contract records, cash books, journals of expenses, records of work, payroll ledgers, and a transcript from James Stewart & Co. vs. US Claims Court. Many of these volumes are fragile and access is dependent upon the judgment of the print room staff.

The oversize materials include a brochure on the Hollar Company, a copy of Skyscrapers of New York by Vernon Howe Bailey, service sheets by the Architectural Service Corporation, and a photograph of the artists at the Columbian Exposition Building.