Scope and Content Note
The papers of Lee Lawrie (1877-1963) span the years 1908-1990 with the bulk dating from 1920 to 1963. The collection is organized in eight series: General Correspondence, Family Correspondence, Special Correspondence, Sculpture Commission Files, Biographical File, United States Commission of Fine Arts, Addenda, and Oversize. Lawrie's personal life and career are well documented by correspondence with his family, fellow sculptors, architects, bronze founders, and other artisans.
Lawrie specialized in architectural sculpture. Many of his finest early works were for buildings designed by Bertram G. Goodhue, with whom Lawrie shared the view that sculpture was integral to architecture and not simple adornment. Correspondence in the collection between Lawrie and Goodhue concerns their many collaborations, including St. Thomas' Church, the Church of the Heavenly Rest, and the Goodhue Memorial Tomb at the Chapel (now Church) of the Intercession, all in New York City; the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C.; and the state capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska. Goodhue correspondence can be found in the General Correspondence and in the Sculpture Commission Files.
The Sculpture Commission Files document Lawrie's projects and his role in the creation of public buildings. Correspondence between the many persons involved in public works reveals that adjustments in viewpoints were made to achieve a final artistic unity. Important works documented in the series, in addition to those done with Goodhue, include the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the bronze "Atlas" and sculptured stone screen for the International Building, Rockefeller Center in New York City; statues for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; the Los Angeles Public Library; Bok Singing Tower in Florida; Louisiana State Capitol; Yale University's Harkness Memorial Tower; the Memorial Bridge eagles in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and George Washington at the National Cathedral, Washington D.C.
Lawrie served as consultant in sculpture to the Board of Design for the New York World's Fair in 1939, to the Architect of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., during the renovation of the Senate and House chambers, and to the American Battle Monuments Commission in the 1940s, and he was sculptor-member of the national Commission of Fine Arts, 1933-1937 and 1945-1950. Papers relating to these assignments are included in the General Correspondence series, the Sculpture Commission Files, and the Commission of Fine Arts series. Papers added to the collection after 1963 are included in the Addenda.
The National Academy of Sciences holds records that document the design and construction of its building.