Burns, Charles Marquedent (1838-1922)
Philadelphia-born church architect Charles M. Burns was the son of Charles M. and Eliza Van Dyke (Rousseau) Burns. Although he entered the University of Pennsylvania in the Class of 1859 as a second-semester freshman, his academic career was finished by the end of his junior year when he volunteered for Civil War action. By 1862 Burns was in battle at Mobile, AL with Admiral Farragut; he would return with Farragut to New Orleans in 1864. Therefore, although city directory listings for Burns commence in 1863, it is doubtful that Burns would have returned to Philadelphia before 1865. Once he did return to Philadelphia, he launched a distinguished architectural career, with a specialty in ecclesiastic buildings, especially Protestant Episcopal churches.
While managing a steadily growing practice, Burns still attempted to further his own education by enrolling at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1876. His own talents were soon recognized, however; and by 1879 he had left off his own student activities in order to become a member of the faculty of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, with responsibility for "Theory and Practice of Freehand Drawing and Design." According to artist Joseph Pennell, who attended Burns's class and wrote a memorial article (really more a diatribe against Philadelphia) after Burns's death, "If he found that you could accept [his criticism], his interest in you was endless and tireless. But if you did not, the heavy black eyebrows and bristling black mustache, with the flaming red necktie underneath, passed you by -- and that was worse than anything." After this stint at the PMSI, Burns would continue as instructor of drawing at Haverford College through 1885.
Burns was among the first group of architects proposed for membership in the Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA in 1870 and later served as treasurer for the group. Widely known as a portrait painter of some distinction and as a watercolorist, he exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876; and his architectural drawings appeared in exhibitions at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1887, 1888, 1890, 1892 and 1894. After his retirement to Camden, NJ, Burns passed some of his ecclesiastical work along to Henry Macomb.
On 21 April 1870 Burns was elected an associate member of the AIA, but his membership "lapsed" in October 1875, according to the bulletin published for the 17th Annual Convention of the AIA (1883).
Hamilton, John McLure
1919
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2001.M09.01
Carstairs, Thomas (1759? - 1830)
Scottish-born architect/builder Thomas Carstairs (born c. 1759, died July 26, 1830) launched his career in America by advertising his services in the Pennsylvania Packet in 1784. That same year, he sought membership in the Carpenters’ Company, but was turned down. Nonetheless, Carstairs steadily gained commissions and established a thriving business in Philadelphia. The Carpenters’ Company, noticing his growing success, subsequently issued an invitation in 1788, which Carstairs ignored until finally becoming a member in 1805. Among his achievements, Carstairs is noted for a block of twenty-two speculative row houses that he designed and built for William Sansom around 1800 on the south side of Sansom Street between 7th and 8th streets. Historically known as Carstairs Row, that block is widely known today as Jewelers’ Row.
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2018.24.01
Chandler, Theophilus Parsons, Jr. (1845-1928), Self Portrait
The importance of T.P. Chandler to the architectural profession in late nineteenth-century Philadelphia cannot be overestimated. Not only as a conveyor of high-style design, often based on European models, but also as the founder of the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Architecture, Chandler substantially affected the architectural climate in Philadelphia and raised the role of architect to new heights of professionalism. Born in Boston, MA, and educated first in the Brookline schools, Chandler spent his freshman year at Harvard University and later studied at the Atelier Vaudremer in Paris. After returning to the United States, Chandler worked in several Boston offices. In 1872, with the persuasion of landscape architect Robert Copeland, then involved in the development of Ridley Park, Chandler came to Philadelphia and opened an office at 705 Sansom Street. While moving to Philadelphia enabled Chandler to capitalize on Copeland's activities in Ridley Park, it also reinforced Chandler's ties to his mother's family, the Schlatters, with grandfather William Schlatter, one of the founders of the Church of the New Jerusalem in Philadelphia, and to the DuPont family in Wilmington, DE, with whom the Schlatters had strong financial ties. Thus, with the Chandlers of New England behind him, and strong professional and familial ties in the Philadelphia and Delaware region, Chandler was successfully launched on an active architectural career. His first commissions reflect his ties to the development of Ridley Park (the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad Station on Sellers Ave., the William Smythe residence, and the Ridley Park store on Hinckley Ave.), but by 1874 he was already engaged on commissions for the DuPont family in Delaware. In addition, by 1878, Chandler had been installed as Godey's in house architect and was publishing cottage designs in Godey's Lady's Book. Throughout his career Chandler designed a number of residences, but he became chiefly known as an ecclesiastical architect, with such major churches as the Church of the New Jerusalem at 22nd & Chestnut streets in Philadelphia, Calvary Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., and the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA, to his credit.
Chandler served as president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the AlA; he was also an early member of the national organization and received fellowship status in 1886. During the 1880s Chandler served on the Board of Trustees of the Spring Garden Institute, and, along with John Deery, judged their student exhibits of architectural drawings. His commitment to architectural education was to have even greater impact on Philadelphia's professional community in the 1890s, however, since during this time he successfully worked for the organization of the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Architecture, then part of the Towne Scientific School. He served as the Department's executive head for the school year 1890/91, but then he persuaded Warren P. Laird to move to Philadelphia in order to assume the headship. Chandler was extremely active in the general Philadelphia community as well, holding memberships in the Union League, the Philadelphia Club, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Radnor Hunt Club. In addition he was a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Sons of the Revolution.
Chandler, Theophilus Parsons, Jr.
1909
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1988.M03.02
Cret, Paul Philippe (1876-1945)
One of the most influential forces in Philadelphia architecture during the early part of the twentieth century, Paul P. Cret was born in Lyons, France. He first studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Lyons; and there won the Paris Prize, which enabled him to move to Paris and attend the Ecole there as well as become a member of the Atelier supervised by Pascal. In 1903 when many schools of architecture in the United States were importing teachers from the Ecole, Cret was persuaded to move to Philadelphia and become a Professor of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, arriving in August 1903. Throughout his 34 year tenure, Cret trained many of the students graduating from the University's Department of Architecture and acted as patron of the T-Square Club Atelier; the Beaux-Arts stamp could be seen on the work of those students long after they had graduated and dispersed to various parts of the world.
In 1907 Cret, in partnership with Philadelphian Albert Kelsey, won the first of many national architectural competitions which he would enter, the design of the International Bureau of American Republics in Washington, DC (the Pan American Union). Before the first World War interrupted his career, Cret would participate in several other competitions, including the Robert Fulton Memorial Competition (1909: Third Place), the Perry Memorial Competition (1911: Third Place), and the Indianapolis Public Library (1914: First place, with Zantzinger, Borie & Medary).
Cret was in France when World War I broke out, and he simply remained there in the army for the next five years, returning to Philadelphia when he was discharged. At the end of his time in the service, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt asked him to design a memorial to her son, Quentin, who had been killed in the War. This was designed in 1919 for a site at Chamery, France. For his work during the war, Cret was awarded the Croix de Guerre and made an officer in the Legion of Honor.
Upon his return from France, Cret was again engaged in an active practice combined with his teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. It was during this time that he designed his first bridge, the Delaware River Bridge in Philadelphia, on which he collaborated with engineer Ralph Modjeski. The 1920s were a thriving time for Cret's work and included work on the Detroit Institute of Arts (with Zantzinger, Borie & Medary), the Frankford War Memorial in Philadelphia, the Barnes Foundation Gallery, Merion, PA, and the Integrity Trust Co., Philadelphia. He was also called upon to use his planning skills for several major campus plans (Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, and, later, the University of Texas at Austin).
In his capacity as Consulting Architect for the American Battle Monuments Commission from 1923 to 1945, Cret was in a role where he could affect the image of the United States which was projected abroad through the design of memorials, chapels, and cemeteries in honor of the dead of the first World War. He would continue in this capacity until his death and be followed in this position by his student and colleague John F. Harbeson.
Cret's firm flourished until his death. Over the years he designed many memorials, civic and commercial buildings, and, beginning in 1933, even railroad cars. His practice was chiefly non-residential, perhaps because his designs were better suited to the monumentality required by public structures; however, a few residences such as the James M. Cameron residence in Harrisburg, PA (1927) attest to his firm's abilities in that area.
Cret's memberships included the National Academy of Design, National Institute of Arts and Letter, American Philosophical Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the T-Square Club, the American Institute of Architects, and the French Benevolent Society, among others. His areas of public service included serving as a member of the Art Jury of the City of Philadelphia from its foundation until his death, serving on the National Fine Arts Commission for two terms, and chairing the American Institute of Architects National Committee on War Memorials.
A great number of awards came to Cret in recognition of his contributions to city planning, American architecture, and architectural education. These included the Bok Award (1931), the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects (1938), the medal of honor of the Architectural League of New York (1920), the Paris Grand Prix, the Prize of Honor at the 5th Pan American Congress of Architects at Montevideo (with Zantzinger, Borie & Medary), and the Award of Merit of the Pennsylvania Alumni Society. He received honorary degrees from Brown University (Master of Arts, 1929), the University of Pennsylvania (1913), and Harvard University (1940). In addition to his architectural design and city planning work Cret published several articles which described the Beaux-Arts method and reacted to the modernist principles of design.
Elliott, Arthur, from the original by Adolphe Borie (1914)
1935
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2013.38.01
Doe, Lester Adrian (1896-1981)
Doe, Lester Adrian
1933
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30-POR-001
Durang, Edwin Forrest (1829-1911)
Edwin Forrest Durang (1829-1911) was born into a prestigious family of professional actors and performers. His grandfather, John Durang, was credited with being the first native-born American actor; his father and uncle, Charles and Richard Durang were the first to perform the "Star Spangled Banner."
Edwin F. Durang was listed in the Philadelphia city directories as an architect by 1855. He specialized in ecclesiastical design, most notably those churches and institutions associated with the Catholic Church.
Scattaglia, Lorenzo
1874 (circa)
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1988.18.01
Price, William L. (1861-1916)
William L. Price was one of an influential group of architects working during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Philadelphia. Aside from his importance in the area of design based on Arts and Crafts Movement ideals, Price was one of the founders of an arts and crafts community, Rose Valley, outside of Philadelphia. He attended the Westtown School, but left in 1877 to practice carpentry, abandoning that for architecture when he entered the office of Quaker architect Addison Hutton in 1878. According to the obituary published by the Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders Guide, Price also spent some time with Furness & Evans; however, that information has not been documented by other sources. By 1881 Price and his brother Frank L. Price had established a partnership which would last until 1895, with a practice chiefly based on residential design, including houses for Wendell & Smith, the developers of Wayne and St.Davids, PA, as well as the Pelham and Overbrook neighborhoods of Philadelphia. In 1895 Price began to practice independently, but in 1903 he established a partnership with M. Hawley McLanahan which would endure under the name of Price & McLanahan until his death, with McLanahan continuing to use the name for several years thereafter and eventually producing a successor firm, McLanahan & Bencker. Although well-known for residential design, Price's work also included the Traymore Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ, and Jacob Reed's Sons store in Philadelphia.
As interested in social reform movements as he was in architecture, Price helped Frank Stephens to found Arden, DE, a single-tax community outside of Wilmington. In 1901 he helped establish Rose Valley, an arts and crafts community in which many architects were involved, but none so vitally as Price. Although the earlier parts of the community were based on existing buildings, Price later designed a number of residences, among those several for the Rose Valley Improvement Company. Price was joined in the Rose Valley endeavor by his brother Walter Price and Walter Price's partner, William McKee Walton, as well as by younger architects like Carl deMoll and John M. Dickey.
Day, Francis
1902
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L86.3
Walter, Thomas Ustick (1803-1887)
Thomas Ustick Walter is widely recognized as the leading American architect of the mid-nineteenth century. Born in Philadelphia, Walter's many buildings here include Moyamensing Prison, Girard College, Andalusia and Portico Row. He is best remembered as the architect of the dome and wings of the United States Capitol-the most symbolically important and controversial building in the United States. Late in life he made major contributions to the design and decoration of the Philadelphia City Hall. This portrait of the architect shows him at the start of his prolific career. Behind him are visible a fluted column at Girard College and a distant view of the Philadelphia County Prison at Moyamensing. Both were under construction when the portrait was completed. A receipt in the amount of $180 for painting “Portraits of wife & self” survives in the Architect’s papers at the Athenæum.
Neagle, John
1835
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1983.07.01