Charles Follen McKim | |
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| Born | (1847-08-24)August 24, 1847 |
| Died | September 14, 1909(1909-09-14) (aged 62) St. James, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | École des Beaux-Arts Harvard University |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Notable work | Columbia University,University Club of New York,New York Penn Station,Morgan Library,Boston Central Library |
| Movement | Beaux-Arts architecture |
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Charles Follen McKim[1] (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an AmericanBeaux-Artsarchitect of the late 19th century. Along withWilliam Rutherford Mead andStanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the partnershipMcKim, Mead & White.
McKim was born inChester County, Pennsylvania. His parents wereJames Miller McKim, a Presbyterian minister, and Sarah Speakman McKim. They were activeabolitionists and he was named afterCharles Follen, another abolitionist and aUnitarian minister. After attending Harvard University, he studied architecture at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts inParis[2] before joining the office ofHenry Hobson Richardson in 1870. McKim formed his own firm in partnership withWilliam Rutherford Mead, joined in 1877 by fellow Richardson protégéStanford White.
For ten years, the firm became primarily known for their open-plan informal summer houses. McKim became best known as an exponent of Beaux-Arts architecture in styles of theAmerican Renaissance, exemplified by theBoston Public Library (1888–95), and several works inNew York City. Among his New York City works were the Morningside Heights campus ofColumbia University (1893, includingLow Memorial Library), theUniversity Club of New York clubhouse (1899), thePierpont Morgan Library (1903–06),New York Penn Station (1904–10), and theButler Institute of American Art inYoungstown, Ohio (1919). He also designed theHoward Mansion (1896) atHyde Park, New York,[3] and theBowdoin College Museum of Art (1894) inBrunswick, Maine.[4]
McKim, with the aid ofRichard Morris Hunt, was instrumental in the formation of the American School of Architecture in Rome in 1894, which has become theAmerican Academy in Rome, and designed the main campus buildings with his firm McKim, Mead, and White.
McKim first married Annie Bigelow in 1874, and after divorcing Bigelow, married Julia Amory Appleton in 1885.
McKim died at age 62 inSt. James, New York on September 14, 1909.[5]
McKim was a member of theCongressional commission for the improvement of theWashington, D.C., park system, the New York Art Commission, theAccademia di San Luca (Rome, 1899), theAmerican Academy in Rome and the Architectural League. He was an honorary member and former president of theAmerican Institute of Architects, and honorary member of the Society of Mural Painters. He became aNational Academician in 1907. He belonged to the university,Lambs, andRacquet and Tennis Clubs of New York, and to theSt. Botolph andSomerset Clubs of Boston.[1]
McKim received numerous awards during his lifetime, including the Medaille d'Or at the1900 Paris Exposition and a gold medal fromEdward VII of the United Kingdom. The royal gold medal from Edward VII was awarded for the restoration of theWhite House. In 1902 Congress appropriated $475,445 for this purpose to be spent at the discretion of PresidentTheodore Roosevelt.[6][7] He received honorary doctorates from theUniversity of Pennsylvania andColumbia University, and the honorary degree of A.M. fromHarvard in 1890, and fromBowdoin in 1894.[1]He was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Institute of Architects in 1877, and received theAIA Gold Medal, posthumously, in 1909.
Homans, James E., ed. (1918)."McKim, Charles Follen" .The Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: The Press Association Compilers, Inc.
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