Albert Randolph Ross
Albert Randolph Ross (October 26, 1868 – October 27, 1948) was an American architect. Born in Westfield, Massachusetts, he was a son of architect John W. Ross.
Albert Ross attended grammar school in Westfield and later in Davenport, Iowa, where he went on to high school, finishing in 1884.[1] After working as a draughtsman in his father's Davenport architecture office from 1884 to 1887, he spent a year working for an architect in Buffalo, New York, before joining the New York City firm of McKim, Mead and White in 1891.[1][2] In 1898, he formed the firm of Ackerman & Ross with William S. Ackerman, a partnership which dissolved in 1901.[2]
In 1927, when he was awarded a $10,000 prize in a competition to design a new courthouse for Milwaukee out of 33 who submitted proposals,[3] he told the Milwaukee Journal why he settled on a traditional design:[4]
When I went into the competition I considered whether to design a building in the modern and experimental trend for a great public courthouse. I made modern sketches, but in my opinion they fell flat for this purpose. They were not typical and expressive of public work, so I turned to that type established by our forefathers.... I have no quarrel with trends in modern architecture. I take a fling at it myself. But it simply won't do for public buildings. It violates the dictates of a definite style built up through one hundred and fifty years of our history. A departure into modernism would not be suitable for a courthouse. We must be trained slowly to things violently new. The public's money cannot rightly be used to force experiments down its throat.
In 1901, Ross married Susan Husted, from Brookline, Massachusetts.[1] From 1901 until 1948 his main residence was on Negro Island, near Boothbay Harbor, Maine.[2] He died October 27, 1948.[2]
Principal architectural works
Among the buildings that Ross designed were 12 libraries.[2] Some of his notable design projects included:
- Carnegie Library, Washington, DC,[1] also known as Central Public Library, now the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.[5] Mount Vernon Square Washington, DC, an NRHP-listed work of Ackerman & Ross (1902).
- Carnegie Library, Atlanta, Georgia, by Ackerman & Ross (1902).
- Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering, Stevens Institute, Hoboken, New Jersey, by Ackerman & Ross (1902). [6]
- Carnegie Library, San Diego, California, by Ackerman & Ross (1903; demolished 1952).
- Port Jervis Free Library, Port Jervis, New York, by Ackerman & Ross (1903).
- Carnegie Library, Atlantic City, New Jersey (1903).
- Taunton Public Library, Taunton, Massachusetts (1903).
- East Orange Public Library, East Orange, New Jersey, now the East Orange Municipal Court Building (1903).[5]
- Nashville Main Library, Nashville, Tennessee (1904).
- Needham Public Library, Needham, Massachusetts (built 1904; demolished)
- Needham Free Public Library, Needham, Massachusetts (1904).[7]
- Old Town Public Library, Old Town, Maine (1904).[8]
- Gloversville Free Library, Gloversville, New York, Beaux Arts building listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1904).[9]
- Pittsfield Public Library, Pittsfield, Maine; NRHP-listed for its architecture (1904).[9]
- Union County Courthouse, Elizabeth, New Jersey as Ackerman & Ross (1905)."[10]
- Public Library, Penn Yan, New York, (dedicated June 22, 1905).[11]
- Cragin Memorial Library, Colchester, Connecticut (dedicated July 5, 1905).[12]
- Uinta County Library, Evanston, Wyoming, now the Uinta County Museum (completed 1906).
- Pennsylvania Memorial, Vicksburg National Military Park, with Charles Albert Lopez, sculptor (dedicated March 24, 1906).
- Original portion of the Main Library of the Columbus Metropolitan Library system, Columbus, Ohio (dedicated April 4, 1907).[1][2]
- Carnegie Library, Good Will Home Association, Hinckley, Maine (dedicated May 29, 1907).
- McKinley Memorial, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Charles Albert Lopez and Isidore Konti, sculptors (dedicated June 6, 1908).
- Exterior design for Draper Hall, State University at Albany, Albany, New York (1909).[13]
- Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Baltimore, designed by Ross with sculpture by Adolph Alexander Weinman (1909).
- Carnegie Library, Denver, Colorado; now the McNichols Civic Center Building (1910).[1][14]
- Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey (1914).
- Milwaukee County Courthouse, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1931).[2]
Gallery
-
The Central Public Library (now the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.), completed 1902 by Ackerman & Ross. -
Taunton Public Library, Taunton, Massachusetts, completed 1903. -
Carnegie Library, Atlantic City, New Jersey, completed in 1903. -
Carnegie Library, Old Town, Maine, completed 1904. -
Gloversville Free Library, Gloversville, New York, completed in 1904. -
Cragin Memorial Library, Colchester, Connecticut, dedicated July 5, 1905. -
Public Library, Pittsfield, Maine, completed in 1906. -
Uinta County Library, Evanston, Wyoming, completed in 1906. -
Carnegie Library, Columbus, Ohio, completed in 1907. -
Good Will-Hinckley Library, Hinckley, Maine, dedicated in 1907. -
Union Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Baltimore, designed by Ross with sculpture by Adolph Alexander Weinman, dedicated in 1909. -
Denver Public Library, Denver, Colorado, completed in 1910. -
Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey, completed in 1914. -
Milwaukee County Courthouse, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, completed in 1931.
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References
- ^ a b c d e f John William Leonard, Albert Nelson Marquis. Who's who in America, Volume 4: Albert Randolph Ross.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Columbus in Photographs: Albert Randolph Ross". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
- ^ "Architect Here Wins $10,000 Prize" (PDF). New York Times. August 4, 1927. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
- ^ Wright, Frank Lloyd (1943). Frank Lloyd Wright: An Autobiography. Duell ,Sloan and Pearce. p. 358.
- ^ a b "Library History". Port Jervis Free Public Library. Archived from the original on 2011-09-14. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^ Evening Times-Republican, March 4, 1902, page 5.
- ^ Needham Free Public Library, accessed February 11, 2015
- ^ Old Town Public Library, accessed February 11, 2015
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ The Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey), May 4, 1905, page 2: "The work of engraving two tablets...at the new courthouse is in progress. The tablet on the right will read 'Union County Courthouse Commenced February 1903; Completed April 1905...Architects, Ackerman & Ross..."
- ^ Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), June 24, 1905, page 3.
- ^ Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut), July 6, 1905, page 10.
- ^ Draper Hall, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany
- ^ Former Carnegie Library, Denver