Lam Building Company Architectural Blueprints Collection

 

1909-1930 

 

SCRC 158

 

Lam Building Company

 

0.83 linear feet (1 box + 21 map folders) 

 

Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries

 

Materials in English.

 

 

The Lam Building Company was founded in 1876 by Dutch immigrant Charles M. Lam.  The firm is thought to be the first Jewish-owned construction company in Philadelphia.  After Lam’s death in 1922, the business was continued by his son, Alfred C. Lam, and later, his grandson, Charles M. Lam.  The firm constructed hundreds of buildings in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including synagogues, hospitals, charitable institutions, warehouses, stores, and private residences. The firm was also known as the Lam Building Corporation.

 

The Lam Building Company Architectural Blueprints Collection contains blueprints, drawings, and specifications related to the construction of Jewish establishments in the Philadelphia area.  This collection represents a small portion of the company’s work, and includes architectural blueprints for charitable organizations, synagogues, cemeteries, banks, and private residences.  

 

 

The collection is arranged into 2 series as follows:

 

Series 1: Architectural blueprints, 1909-1929, undated

Series 2: Specifications, 1909-1930

 

Series 1: Architectural blueprints, 1909-1929, undated, contains construction drawings and blueprints for buildings that housed Jewish organizations, hospitals, and businesses.  This series includes blueprints of charitable institutions, such as the Hebrew Orphans Home, the Downtown Jewish Orphans Home, the Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery, and the Hebrew Sheltering Home for the Aged.  There are construction drawings for Jewish organizations, including the Young Women’s Union, Young Men’s Hebrew Association, the Philadelphia branch of the United Synagogues of America, and the United Hebrew Charities.  Synagogues represented in this collection include Keneseth Israel, Tifereth Israel, Beth El Synagogue, Beth El Emeth’s Mikveh Israel Cemetery, and Beth Kehillah in Atlantic City.  This collection also includes blueprints from the Jewish Hospital and the Jewish Maternity Hospital, as well as People’s Bank, Emanuel Asher and Son Funeral Home, and a private residence.  Blueprints for an unidentified medical office can be found at the end of the collection.  This series represents the work of architects such as Louis Levi, Frank E. Hahn, Max Haupt, Louis Magaziner, William Woodburn Potter, Stanley K. Neubauer, and David Supowitz, among others.  

 

Please note that some blueprint sets are incomplete and some do not represent as-built structures.  For more complete blueprints, please consult the microfilm copy of the collection.  This series is arranged alphabetically by building project title.     

 

Series 2: Specifications, 1909-1930, contains specifications associated with projects located in Series 1: Architectural blueprints.  Specifications for construction on Beth Kehillah Congregation synagogue, Hebrew Orphans Home, Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery, Jewish Sheltering Home [for the Aged], Keneseth Israel Synagogue, and the Philadelphia branch of the United Synagogue of America, are included here.  This series is arranged alphabetically by building project title.

 

 

Series 1: Architectural blueprints are available on microfilm.   

 

A record for this collection is available in Temple University’s online library catalog: http://diamond.temple.edu/record=b5837716~S30

 

Collection is open for research.

 

This collection may be housed off-site at the Library Depository, and require up to two business days to retrieve. Please review the finding aid and be prepared to identify specific materials to be retrieved. Contact the Special Collections Research Center in advance of your visit, so that materials may be relocated to the reading room for research. 

 

Collection was treated for mold during processing and boxes have been marked; precautions will be offered at time of access.

 

The Lam Building Company Architectural Blueprints Collection is the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

 

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Lam Building Company Architectural Blueprints Collection, SCRC 158, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

 

The physical location of some blueprints is unknown.  Please consult the microfilm copy of the collection for the most complete drawing sets.

 

Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project (PAB). http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/.

 

National American Jewish History Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

 

 

Donated by the National Museum of American Jewish History in September 1986 

 

Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.

 

Collection processed and finding aid prepared in June 2015 by Jenna Marrone, Project Archivist, Special Collections Research Center. 

 

 

 

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in Temple University’s electronic catalog:

 

Hahn, Frank E.

Haupt, Max, 1890-1933

Levi, Louis

Stout, Howard A.

 

Beth El Synagogue (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Beth Kehillah Congregation (Atlantic City, N.J.)

Congregation Beth El Emeth(Philadelphia, Pa.) Mikveh Israel Cemetery 

Downtown Jewish Orphan’s Home (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Emanuel Asher and Son Funeral Home (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Fieldstein & Bieber

Hahn & Baylinson

Haupt & Franklin

Hebrew Orphans Home (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Hebrew Sheltering Home (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Jewish Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Jewish Maternity Hospital (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Jewish Sheltering Home for the Aged (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Lam Building Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Lam Building Corporation (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Magaziner & Potter

Neubauer & Supowitz

People’s Bank (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Sauer & Hahn

Silverman & Levy

Simon & Bassett

United Hebrew Charities (Philadelphia, Pa.)

United Synagogue of America. Philadelphia Branch

William H. Hoffman & Co.

Young Men’s Hebrew Association (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Young Women's Union (Philadelphia, Pa.)

 

Architects and builders

Buildings – Specifications

Commercial buildings – Design and construction

Hospital buildings  – Design and construction

Jewish architecture – Pennsylvania – Philadelphia Region

Jewish architects 

Synagogues – Design and construction

 

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Atlantic City (N.J.)

 

Architectural drawings

Manuscripts

Microfilms

 

 

Series 1: Architectural blueprints, 1909-1929, undated, contains construction drawings and blueprints for buildings that housed Jewish organizations, hospitals, and businesses.  This series includes blueprints of charitable institutions, such as the Hebrew Orphans Home, the Downtown Jewish Orphans Home, the Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery, and the Hebrew Sheltering Home for the Aged.  There are construction drawings for Jewish organizations, including the Young Women’s Union, Young Men’s Hebrew Association, the Philadelphia branch of the United Synagogues of America, and the United Hebrew Charities.  Synagogues represented in this collection include Keneseth Israel, Tifereth Israel, Beth El Synagogue, Beth El Emeth’s Mikveh Israel Cemetery, and Beth Kehillah in Atlantic City.  This collection also includes blueprints from the Jewish Hospital and the Jewish Maternity Hospital, as well as People’s Bank, Emanuel Asher and Son Funeral Home, and a private residence.  Blueprints for an unidentified medical office can be found at the end of the collection.  This series represents the work of architects such as Louis Levi, Frank E. Hahn, Max Haupt, Louis Magaziner, William Woodburn Potter, Stanley K. Neubauer, and David Supowitz, among others.  

 

Please note that some blueprint sets are incomplete and do not represent as-built structures.  For more complete blueprints, please consult the microfilm copy of the collection.  This series is arranged alphabetically by building project title.     

 

M1          A          Beth El Emeth, Mikveh Israel Cemetery: alterations and additions to the Chapel and Dwelling, 55th and Market Streets, Lam Building Company          March 1913

M1          A          Beth El Emeth, Mikveh Israel Cemetery: 1896 survey map (copy), Haupt & Franklin          undated

M1          A          Beth El Emeth, Mikveh Israel Cemetery: survey drawing, Lam Building Company          undated

M1          B          Beth El Synagogue: Rothschild Memorial Chapel, 58th and Walnut Streets, Louis Levi          November 1914-May 1915 (1 of 2)

M1          A          Beth El Synagogue: Rothschild Memorial Chapel, 58th and Walnut Streets, Louis Levi          November 1914-May 1915 (2 of 2)

M1          B          Beth Kehillah Congregation: Community Synagogue, Maryland and Pacific Aves., Atlantic City, NJ, Howard A. Stout          May 1921

M1          B          Downtown Jewish Orphan’s Home: 9th and Shunk Streets, J. E. Fieldstein and A.C. Bieber          March-December 1924

M1          B          Emanuel Asher and Son Funeral Home: alterations and additions, 1309 North Broad Street, Frank E. Hahn          April 1920

M1          B          Hebrew Orphans Home: alterations to the Main Building, [12th and Green Lane], Magaziner and Potter          June 1913

M1          B          Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery: alterations and additions, 510-512 N. 4th Street, Magaziner and Potter          1909, 1915

M1          B          Jewish Hospital: Laboratory, York and Tabor Roads, Magaziner & Potter          February-June 1916

M1          A          Jewish Hospital: Surgical Building, York and Tabor Roads, Children’s Ward and Toilet Room, Magaziner and Potter          May 1916

M1          A          Jewish Maternity Hospital: proposed alterations, 532-534 Spruce Street, Sauer and Hahn          May 1909

M1          B          Jewish Sheltering Home: additions, 315-317 South 3rd Street, M. Haupt          August 1915

M1          B          Keneseth Israel Synagogue: alterations to basement room of Alumni Building, 1717 North Broad Street, Silverman & Levi          July-August 1929

M1          A          People’s Bank: alterations, Southeast Corner of 5th and Bainbridge Streets, Frank E. Hahn and S. Brian Baylinson          July 1925

M1          A          Private residence and doctor’s office: alterations and additions, 2829 Girard Avenue, Neubauer and Supowitz          June-July 1925

M1          A          [Tifereth Israel Congregation]: proposed synagogue, [40th and Westminster Avenues], Magaziner and Potter.          April 1913

M1          A          United Hebrew Charities [Federation of Jewish Charities]: alterations and additions, 516 North 4th Street, Simon & Bassett.          July 1917

M1          B          United Synagogue of America, Philadelphia Branch: alterations and additions, 3425-3427 Walnut Street, Neubauer and Supowitz          circa 1925

M1          B          Young Men’s Hebrew Association: alterations, 1616 Master Street, Sauer and Hahn          August-October 1915

M1          A          Young Women’s Union: alterations, 428 Bainbridge Street, Magaziner and Potter          June 1916

M1          A          Unidentified medical office: address unknown, William H. Hoffman & Co.          undated

 

 

Series 2: Specifications, 1909-1930, contains specifications associated with projects located in Series 1: Architectural blueprints.  Specifications for construction on Beth Kehillah Congregation synagogue, Hebrew Orphans Home, Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery, Jewish Sheltering Home [for the Aged], Keneseth Israel Synagogue, and the Philadelphia branch of the United Synagogue of America, are included here.  This series is arranged alphabetically by building project title.

 

1          1          Beth Kehillah Congregation community synagogue          May 1921

1          2          Hebrew Orphans Home: alterations and additions          June 1913

1          3          Hebrew Sheltering Home and Day Nursery          1909

1          4          Jewish Sheltering Home [for the Aged]           circa 1915

1          5          Keneseth Israel Synagogue: alterations and repair work to Alumni Building          July 1930

1          6          United Synagogue of America, Philadelphia Branch: alterations and additions          circa 1925