Albert Mayer papers, 1926-1980 (bulk 1945-1974)

Albert Mayer (1897-1981), an architect and city planner, co-founded the New York City firm of Mayer and Whittlesey (later Mayer, Whittlesey and Glass) in 1935. Mayer attended Columbia University, but graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in civil engineering in 1919. After spending several years as an engineer, he switched to architecture when he became more interested in the social aspects of design. An advocate of large-scale planned housing projects, he believed that cities should not grow naturally. Mayer was involved in the planning and development of several new cities in the U.S. and abroad. He served as a visiting professor of urban development at Columbia from 1967-1971, and was active in the field as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and as a Director of the National Housing Conference as well as the Regional Plan Association of New York. Mayer's contributions to the field were recognized professionally; he was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and won the Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter, earned the Certificate of Merit of the Municipal Art Society of New York, and the Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects.