William Rutherford Mead: Difference between revisions
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| birthdate = {{birth date|1846 |8 |20}} |
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| birthplace = [[Brattleboro, Vermont]], [[United States|U.S.]] |
| birthplace = [[Brattleboro, Vermont]], [[United States|U.S.]] |
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| deathdate = {{death date and age|1928|6|19|1846 |
| deathdate = {{death date and age|1928|6|19|1846|8|20}} |
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| deathplace = [[Paris]], [[France]] |
| deathplace = [[Paris]], [[France]] |
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| nationality = [[United States|American]] |
| nationality = [[United States|American]] |
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Revision as of 02:38, 27 January 2011
William Rutherford Mead | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Movement | Beaux-Arts, Architecture |
William Rutherford Mead (August 20, 1846 – June 19, 1928) was an American Architect, and was the " Center of the Office" of McKim, Mead, and White, a famous Gilded Age architectural firm, per Stanny by Paul R. Baker.
He was born in Brattleboro, Vermont. His sister, Elinor, later married novelist William Dean Howells, and his younger brother Larkin Goldsmith Mead became a sculptor. Per Baker: William Mead was handsome, authoritative and quiet. His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother was the sister of John Humphrey Noyes, the Oneida Utopian. Mead attended Norwich University for 2 years, graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts in the class of 1867, and later studied architecture under George Fletcher Babb in Russell Sturgis's office in New York City.
In 1872 he partnered with Charlie McKim, a fellow New York architect, but Mead's talent was more for running an office, than designing one. This collaboration with Charles Follen McKim produced one of Mead's only known commissions- a house for Amherst classmate, Dwight Herrick, from Mead's hometown of Chesterfield, New Hampsire. Mead's cousin was President Rutherford B. Hayes, and hence his middle name. A new firm, McKim, Mead and Bigelow was created around Dec. 1877 at 57 Broadway. William Bigelow was the elder brother of McKim's new wife, Annie Bigelow. In 1879, Bigelow withdrew, but they were joined by Stanford White to form McKim, Mead, and White. Per Baker, Mead was the MM&W partner who "hired and fired", "steered the ship", and spent his time "trying to keep the partners from making damn fools of themselves."
In 1883, Mead married Olga Kilyeni (c1850-1936) in Budapest, Hungary. In 1902, King Victor Emmanuel conferred on Mead the decoration of Knight Commander of the Crown of Italy for his pioneer work in introducing the Roman and Italian Renaissance architectural style in America. In 1902, Amherst College conferred upon Mead the honorary degree of LL.D. In 1909, he received a degree of M.S. from Norwich University in Vermont. In 1913 he received the gold medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and retired in 1920. He died in 1928 in a Paris Hotel room, per Baker. NY Times, said, "Paris, June 30, William Rutherford Mead, a distinguished American architect, died in a hotel here today from a heart attack after an illness of several weeks. Mrs. Mead accompanied her husband and attended at his bedside."
William and Olga had moved to Rome, Italy, where he was the President of the American Academy in Rome (McKim's favorite project and legacy) until his death. William was an AAR Charter Member with McKim, AAR Trustee 1905-1928, and its President 1910-1928.
Mead was the last of the firm's founding partners to die: Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), and Stanford White (1853–1906). "His widow receives all the estate of about $250,000 left by William R. Mead, New York architect, it was revealed yesterday when Mr. Mead's will was filed with Probate Clerk Killoran in the Surrogate's Court." per NY Times November 27, 1928 article.
After William died, Olga moved in with her sister in New York City, and died in 1936 in New York City. Per NY Times, April 23, 1936, "Mrs. Olga Kilenyi Mead, widow of the architect, William Rutherford Mead of McKim, Mead White, who died in her apartment in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel on April 10, last, bequeathed her entire estate to the trustees of Amherst College, Amherst, Mass."
The money was used to build the Mead Art Building, which was designed by James Kellum Smith of McKim, Mead and White. The building was completed in 1949.
Great Works[1]
- see also McKim, Mead, and White
- Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island, 1879 to 1880
- Isaac Bell House, Newport, Rhode Island, 1881 to 1883
- W. G. Low House, Bristol, Rhode Island, 1887
- Boston Public Library, Boston, Massachusetts, 1887 to 1895
- New York Herald Building, New York City, 1894
- Rhode Island State House, Providence, Rhode Island, 1895 to 1903
- University Club of New York, New York City, 1900
- Morgan Library, New York City, New York, 1906
- Pennsylvania Station, New York City, 1910
- American Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy, 1913
- New York Racquet Club, New York City, 1916 to 1919
Archive
Mead's papers are archived at Amherst College. This collection includes papers related to Mead's architectural designs for "Redtop," the house in Belmont, Massachusetts, which Mead designed for his sister Elinor Mead Howells. Citation: Mead Papers, 1840-2001 (Bulk: 1846-1950) in William Rutherford Mead (AC 1867) and Olga Kilyeni Mead Papers, Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library.
External links
- McKim, Mead & White in Buffalo
- McKim, Mead, and White
- McKim, Mead, and White
- FindaGrave site with photos of gravestone of William and Olga in Rome, Italy
Sources
Stanny: The Gilded Life of Stanford White (ISBN: 0029017815 / 0-02-901781-5), Paul R. Baker Hardcover: 483 pages; Publisher: Free Pr (October 1989)
Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White: Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America's Gilded Age, by Mosette Broderick (Hardcover - Oct 26, 2010)