The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects Home
A Resource Guide to finding information about past architects
♦ Building construction is still ongoing as of April 2026, and most AIA Archives materials are still in remote storage. Scanning has resumed on a limited basis, dependent on access to materials and access to the building.
The AIA Historical Directory helps you locate information about U.S. architects from the 19th and 20th centuries in the AIA Archives and elsewhere.
For how to cite AIA Archives materials from the AIA Historical Directory, see Citation and Use.
What’s in the AIA Historical Directory?
Names of all national-level AIA members up to 1978
Years of membership until 1978
Does NOT include members who joined after 1978
Digitized files from the AIA Archives (example: Francis Abreu and note Related Records link to Abreu & Robinson with other digitized files)
What might be in their AIA Archives file, if it isn’t digitized yet—you can request it to be scanned if the person is deceased
References to their entries in biographical directories (example: Jamieson Parker)
Links to other archives which hold the architect’s papers and drawings (example: Irving F. Morrow)
Names of non-member architects who appear in directories or other archives
Names of firms that appear in directories, in other archives, or in the AIA Archives
Full text of all three editions of American Architects Directory: 1956 1962 1970
Architects Roster Questionnaires filled out by over 1,000 firms in 1946-1953
What’s not in the AIA Historical Directory?
Does NOT include lists of buildings
Does NOT include information about specific buildings
Is NOT a directory to current architects in practice
More about the AIA Historical Directory
The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects grows weekly as additional requests are received and AIA Archives materials are scanned.
For more information contact the AIA Archives at archives@aia.org.
For more about members from underrepresented groups see Diversity in the American Institute of Architects
For information about permissions and citing materials in the AIA Historical Directory of American Architects, see Citation and Use
Find Names
Click on the first two letters of the last name of the person you wish to find.
Firm names are alphabetized using the surnames or first significant word. (For example, "Birge M. Clark & Walter S. Stromquist" is under Cl for Clark; "The Office of D. Wentworth Wright" is under Wr for Wright; "The Design Group" is under De for Design; and RTKL is under Rt.)
Firm names under a particular surname such as Clark are listed after all the persons with the surname Clark.
Most of the entries in the AIA Historical Directory are persons, not firms, because architects join the AIA as individuals.