The Wilbur H. Burnham Studios records were donated in 8 accessions by Wilbur H. Burnham, Jr., from 1977-1981 and by Wilbur C. Burnham, grandson of the founder, in 1990-1991 and 2021. Scott McDaniel, co-owner of the firm, contributed to the 1990 donation.
The collection was processed to a minimal level and a finding aid prepared by Stephanie Ashley in 2011-2012, with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Minimal processing included arrangement to the series and folder levels. Generally, items within folders were simply verified with folder titles, but not arranged further. Folders within boxes were not physically numbered, although folder numbers are included in the finding aid. The collection was rehoused in archival containers and folders, but not all staples and clips were removed.
Wilbur H. Burnham Studios records, circa 1901-1991. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center.
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the
Boston, Massachussets stained glass design firm, Wilbur H. Burnham Studios, was founded by master stained glass craftsman Wilbur H. Burnham, in 1922. Together with Charles J. Connick and Joseph G. Reynolds, Burnham studios became recognized as one of the most prominent stained glass design companies in the United States. Burnham took early commissions from influential American architect Ralph Adams Cram, and believed strongly in the medieval stained glass tradition. In the late 1930s his son, Wilbur H. Burnham, Jr., who had received an informal education on tours of Europe with his family, and a BFA from Yale University, joined the firm.
Some of the studio's most notable commissions included seventeen windows for the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D. C., all the windows and murals for Saint Mary's Cathedral, Peoria, Illinois, ten windows for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City, and five for the Riverside Church, also in New York City.
Both Burnham and Burnham, Jr., served as presidents of the Stained Glass Association of American from 1938-1941 and 1956-1957 respectively. Burnham, Jr., took over the studio in 1968 when his father retired, and sold the studios in 1982.
The records of nationally renowned Boston, Massachussetts, stained glass design company, Wilbur H. Burnham Studios, measure 40.3 linear feet and date from circa 1901-1991. The majority of the collection consists of project files for the studio's stained glass window contracts throughout the United States from the 1920s-1980s. In addition to project files, records include biographical material for the owners, correspondence relating to personal and studio business, general business and financial records, writings such as published articles by Wilbur H. Burnham, scrapbooks and other printed material documenting the history of the company, artwork including extensive watercolor design studies for stained glass, and photographic material. There is a 3.4 linear foot unprocessed addition to this collection donated in 2021 that includes sketches, awards, printed material, passports, biographical material, Christmas cards, photographs and negatives of Burnham and works of art, slides and postcards of stained glass windows, posthumous material, a bound ledger, legal papers, invoices and receipts, project files and glass plate negatives. Materials date from circa 1901-1991.
Biographical material includes resume details and autobiographical notes for Burnham and Burnham, Jr., in addition to membership and fellow certificates.
Correspondence documents general studio business and includes correspondence with current and prospective clients, correspondence related to exhibitions, Burnham, Jr.'s activities on the Executive Committee of the America Arts Exposition, Inc., and the 1940 annual meeting of the Stained Glass Association of America and related business. Also found is some personal correpondence with friends and colleagues. Of note are 4 letters from stained glass artist Charles J. Connick giving his opinions on other stained glass artists, including Burnham, and a letter written by sculptor and designer, Joseph D. Portanova.
General business files include personnel records, records relating to a studio apprenticeship in stained glass design, a 1932 inventory of the studios, and leases and other legal documentation.
Writings include published articles by Burnham, in addition to draft typescripts for a book on stained glass which was never published, and research notes used as background material for stained glass studies. These notes include a number of pencil sketches.
19 diaries and journals consist of travel diaries and date books containing notes on daily appointments, financial notes, and addresses.
Project files form the bulk of the collection and document projects in circa 250 locations throughout the United States and Bellau, France, from the 1920s-1980s through correspondence with clients, architects and builders, contracts, purchase orders, building plans, sketches, scattered photographs and some printed material. Of particular note are extensive files on stained glass for New York's Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Saint Mary's Cathedral in Peoria, Illinois, Saint Martin's Church in Providence, Rhode Island, and the National Cathedral in Washington D. C. The series also includes a group of contract files for the company Reynolds, Francis & Rohnstock (later Joseph G. Reynolds), a contemporary of Wilbur H. Burnham Studios.
Financial records include payment and receipt journals, expense reports, bills, account books and general ledgers which provide finanical documentation from the 1930s to the 1980s.
Printed material includes news clippings about Burnham studios and stained glass in general, in addition to source material used in subject research.
Additional newsclippings about Burnham Studios can be found in three scrapbooks which also house announcements and invitations, and scattered photographs. One scrapbook contains photographs of windows designed by the studios for the Church of Saint Vincent De Paul in Los Angeles, California.
Artwork and sketchbooks include some artwork by Burnham, Jr., such as pencil and ink sketches, life drawings, and some watercolors. The bulk of the series consists of watercolor design studies on board for many of the studio's projects documented in the project files. Also found are some stained glass design sketches and cartoons, primarily in pencil and charcoal with scattered watercolors, as well as seven folders of material used in creating stained glass patterns and templates.
Photographic material includes photos of Burnham and Burnham, Jr., and of studio work in progress, as well as photographs of artwork, primarily of stained glass created for a significant number of the studio's contracts.
The collection is arranged as 12 series:
Biographical materials include resume details for Burnham and Burnham, Jr., and autobiographical notes handwritten by Burnham. Also found are fellow and membership certificates for the Stained Glass Association of America, a fellow certificate for the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce, and a mounted blank check given as a Christmas gift to Burnham.
oversized material housed in Box 27
oversized material from Box 1, F 1
Correspondence relates to general studio business and includes correspondence with current and prospective clients, general inquiries, financial material, plans for exhibitions. Also found are four letters from stained glass artist, Charles J. Connick, and one letter from sculptor and designer, Joseph D. Portanova.
Personal correspondence concerns matters such as involvement with alumni and business associations, personal exchanges regarding stained glass art and techniques, correspondence with friends, arrangements for travel and events, and correspondence regarding Christmas greetings.
Also found is material relating to the American Arts Exposition, Inc., a corporation formed to advise agencies and sponsoring groups in gathering together works of art representing American fine and related arts. Burnham, Jr., served on the Executive Committee of the organization and his files include correspondence, notes, lists of members and exhibition planning documentation.
Correspondence relating to Stained Glass Association of America business, particularly the Association's 1940 annual meeting in New York City, can also be found here.
Records are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Files relate primarily to employees and include records of those selected for an apprenticeship in stained glass work that the company was approved to offer in 1945. Other employee records relate to pay and on the job injuries and include a set of index cards recording skills, experience, and dates of employment. Also found is a handwritten inventory of the contents of the studio in 1932, and legal material including records of the studio lease on Boylston Street, Boston.
Writings include draft typescripts for a book on stained glass, and possibly other articles, by Burnham that were never completed and/or published. Copies of published articles by Burnham include: "Stained Glass Construction and Details," (1924), "The Clerestory Apse Windows" (of Riverside Church in New York City; 1929), a catalog for "An Exhibition of Stained Glass by American Art-Craftsmen" at Springfield Art Museum (1931), "The Spiritual Significance of a Stained Glass Window" (1945), and "the Art and Craft of Stained Glass" (1951). Also found is a typescript of Burnham, Jr.'s thesis, submitted at Yale University, "The Rebirth of Secular Stained Glass." Typescripts and notes appear to consist of research notes for stained glass studies, and include a group of typescripts on the history of Detroit, with pencil sketches.
Diaries and journals consist of 19 items that are a combination of journals with entries describing travel, including a trip to Europe in 1955, and date books containing daily appointments, financial notations, and addresses.
Items are arranged in chronological order.
Project, or "Job," files provide documentation of contracts for approximately 250 locations held by Burnham Studios throughout the United States and in Bellau, France, from the 1920s-1980s. Files typically include correspondence with clients, architects and builders, contracts, purchase orders, building plans, sketches, scattered photographs and some printed material. Found at the beginning of the series are some files relating to projects in general, including correspondence and job orders with metal window specialists, Chas. Haas Company; 2 sets of index cards listing project numbers and materials used; records of repair contracts; and a set of completed contracts for the firm Reynolds, Francis & Rohnstock from 1920s-1960s.
The series contains significant documentation for the following projects in particular: New York's Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Saint Mary's Cathedral in Peoria, Illinois, Saint Martin's Church in Providence, Rhode Island, and the Washington National Cathedral in Washington D. C.
Arrangement of this series reflects the studio's main system for organizing project files alphabetically by name of the town in which the job site was located. It can be assumed that all folder titles containing references to letters elsewhere in the collection (e.g. "Repairs, A-C, E,") also follow that system of arrangement. Beginning in the 1920s Burnham Studios began assigning numbers to contracts and several copies of a list of contracts by number were found in the collection. That list is provided below and allows for cross-referencing (albeit incomplete) of the projects arranged by location in this series with the design studies found in Series 10: Artwork and Sketchbooks. The list was transcribed from hand-written records which were incomplete and sometimes illegible.
index cards housed in Box 42
Bellau, France, Bellau Chapel
Concord, MA, Trinity Church
Frankfort, KY, Church of the Ascension
Fredericksburg, VA, Saint George's Episcopal Church
Montpelier, VT, Saint Augustine's Church
New York, NY, Saint Thomas Chapel
Portland, OR, Holy Redeemer Church
Southhampton, NY, Saint Andrew's Dune Church
Winter Park, FL, Rollins College, Knowles Memorial Chapel
Winter Park, FL, Rollins College, Knowles Memorial Chapel
index cards from Box 2, F36
Financial records include general accounting and payroll records (restricted due to personal information), such as account books for project numbers 600s-700s, financial journals, purchase orders, bills and receipts, including those for work (primarily stained glass cabinet doors) supplied to the Gardner, Massachussetts furniture company Heywood-Wakefield Company in the 1970s, and orders submitted to glass suppliers S. A. Bendheim Co., Inc.
Folders are arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Printed material includes announcements and invitations for Burnham studio exhibitions; publications and news clippings about the Burnhams and their studio, and about stained glass in general; news clippings of source material; and news clippings about other subjects of interests to the Burnhams such as "Stained Glass, Contemporary Artists Work" and "Stained Glass, Modern Uses of."
Material is arranged by type and is in rough chronological order thereafter.
oversized material housed in Box 27
oversized material housed in Boxes 27-28
oversized material from Box 14, F 9-28
oversized material from Box 15, F 4-16
oversized material from Box 15, F 4-16
Scrapbooks 1, 2 and 5, primarily contain news clippings in addition to invitations and announcements to Burnham Studios exhibitions and dedications of stained glass windows, and scattered phtotographs. Scrapbook 2 also contains clippings of artwork, primarily portraits and busts. Scrapbook 3 contains photographs of stained glass window art. Scrapbook 4 contains photographs of windows for the Church of Saint Vincent De Paul, Los Angeles, California. One folder contains scrapbook fragments from an unidentified source.
The series also contains a 2 volume scrapbook, presumably compiled by Wilbur H. Burnham, Jr., related to a Pictorial Art course at Yale School of Fine Arts.
oversized material housed in Box 28
oversized material housed in Box 28
OV material housed in OVs 48-49
bound volume housed in BV 84
OV material housed in Box 28
oversized material from Box 15, F 26
oversized material from Box 15, F 27
oversized material from Box 15, F 30
oversized material from Box 15, F 28
bound volume fron Box 15, F 29
Artwork by Wilbur H. Burnham, Jr., includes pencil and ink sketches and paintings illustrating different styles for stained glass, such as Byzantine, Italian Rennaissance and French Gothic. Also found are a group of life sketches and some watercolors by Burnham, Jr.
The bulk of the series consists of watercolor design studies on board for many of the studio's projects. Also found are stained glass design sketches and cartoons primarily in pencil and charcoal with scattered watercolors, as well as seven folders of material used for stained glass patterns and templates.
Design studies on board are arranged in three groups. Studies numbered according to the "List of Numbered Contracts" from Series 5: Project Files, form the bulk of the material. A second group of studies is arranged according to a set of numbers for which no list or other cross-reference tool appears to exist. The third set of unnumbered studies is arranged at the end of the series. Some of the unnumbered studies have other identifying information indicating the location for which the design was created but they have not been arranged according to location.
oversized material housed in Box 30, OV 50
oversized material housed in OV 51-52
oversized material housed in Boxes 29-31, OV 83
oversized material housed in Box 32
oversized material housed in Boxes 32-33, OVs 54-55
oversized material housed in Boxes 33-34, OV 55-57
oversized material housed in Box 34, OVs 57-58
oversized material housed in Boxes 34-35, OVs 59-60
oversized material housed in Box 35, OV 60
oversized material housed in Box 36
oversized material housed in Boxes 36-37, OVs 61-65
oversized material housed in Boxes 38-39, OVs 66-68
oversized material housed in Boxes 38-39, OVs 66-68
oversized material housed in OVs 69-73
oversized material housed in Box 39
oversized material from Box 16, F 18
oversized material from Box 16, F 7-8
oversized material from Box 16, F 18
oversized material from Box 16, F 18
oversized material from Boxes 16-17
oversized material from Boxes 17-18
oversized material from Boxes 18-20
oversized material from Boxes 20-21
oversized material from Boxes 21-22
oversized material from Box 22
oversized material from Boxes 22-23
oversized material from Boxes 22-23
oversized material from Box 23
oversized material from Box 16, F 7-8
oversized material from Box 16, F 9-10
oversized material from Box 17
oversized material from Box 17
oversized material from Boxes 17-18
oversized material from Box 18
oversized material from Box 19
oversized material from Box 19
oversized material from Box 20
oversized material from Boxes 20-21
oversized material from Box 22
oversized material from Box 22
oversized material from Box 22
oversized material from Box 22
oversized material from Box 22
oversized material from Boxes 22-23
oversized material from Box 23, F 16
oversized material from Box 16, F 18
oversized material from Box 23, F 16
Found here are several photos of Wilbur H. Burnham, Sr. and Wilbur H. Burnham, Jr. and other studio staff, including three photographs of an office party. This series also provides a pictorial overview of the stained glass process through photos of people working on cartoons, and tracing, cutting, painting, firing, and glazing stained glass.
One file includes 2 photos of window displays for an exhibition entitled "Christmas Themes in Stained Glass" with a collection of cards and labels.
The bulk of the series consists of photos of stained glass cartoons and completed work. Also found are three sets of transparencies of artwork.
Folders are arranged alphabetically by folder title. Photographs of artwork are arranged alphabetically by name of location, generally the town and state, in which the job site was located. The first two sets of transparencies are arranged by location and the third set is unidentified.
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in Box 40, OV 74
oversized material housed in Box 40, OV 74
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in Box 40
(includes photo of Blackford)
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in OV 75
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in Box 40, OV 75
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in Box 40, OV 76
oversized material housed in Box 40
oversized material housed in Box 40, OV 76
oversized material housed in Boxes 29, 41, OVs 77-82
OV material housed in Boxes 29, 41, OVs 77-82
oversized material from Box 25, F 24-26 and Box 26, F 1-17
oversized material from Box 23, F 27
oversized material from Box 23, F 29-31
oversized material from Box 23, F 32-35
oversized material from Box 23, F 36-Box 24, F 13
oversized material from Box 24, F 15-16, 18-19, 24-25
oversized material from Box 24, F 26-30, Box 25, F 1-6
oversized material from Box 25, F 8-23
oversized material from Box 25, F 24-26-Box 26, F 1-17
oversized material from Box 23, F 29-31
oversized material from Box 24
oversized material from Box 25
oversized material from Box 25, F 24-26-Box 26, F 1-17