Difference between revisions of "William Martin Aiken (1855-1908), Architect"

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William Martin Aiken, 1895

William Martin Aiken was born in Charleston, South Carolina on April 1, 1885, son of Joseph Daniel Aiken.[1] The Aikens were politically prominent, with two cousins who served as Congressmen from South Carolina, one of whom was also the state's governor.[a]. William Martin attended the University of the South in Charleston from 1872-1874, then taught at Charleston's high school and at University of the South until 1877, while already being listed as an architect in Charleston city directories of 1877 and 1878.[b]. He next studied architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1879. He resided in Brookline, Massachusetts, where the city directory listed him as an architect in 1882 and 1883, and he became active in Democratic politics and the "Brookline Battalion." At the same time, Boston city directories listed him as a draughtsman for Boston architects, which later reported including William Ralph Emerson and H. H. Richardson.[c] Aiken relocated to Cincinnati where he established his own practice by 1886. In 1895 he was appointed the Supervising Architect of the Treasury. His brief, two-year tenure in that post included a coast-to-coast tour, visiting federal building projects including in Omaha, Nebraska, and producing substantial public buildings in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Colorado.{#References|[6][7]]]d] Upon Aiken's resignation in 1897, he settled in New York City, where his practice included private and public commissions. A lifelong bachelor, Aiken died in New York City December 7, 1908.[1][2]

This page is a contribution to the publication, Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. See the Format and contents of Nebraska architect entries page for more information on the compilation and page organization.

Education & Professional Associations

1872-1874, attended University of the South, Charleston, South Carolina.[1][2]

1875-1877, taught at Charleston High School and University of the South, Charleston.[1]

1877-1878, architect, Charleston.[9]

1878-1879, attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating in architecture in 1879.[1][2]

1880-1885, draughtsman and architect, Brookline and Boston, Massachusetts, under William R. Emerson and H. H. Richardson.[2][5][9]

c. 1886-1895, architect, Cincinnati, Ohio.[5][8][9]

1897-1897, Supervising Architect of the Treasury, Washington, D.C.[5][10][11]

c. 1898-1908, architect, New York City.[2]

1901-1902, consulting architect to office of the President of the Borough of Manhattan, New York City.[1][2]

Member, NY Chapter of AIA; Fellow AIA (1889); member, NY Architectural League, Municipal Art Society, & NY Southern Society.[1][2]

Nebraska Projects

Site visits and on-going supervision, U. S. Post Office and Courthouse (1895-97), 16th St at Capitol Avenue, Omaha, Nebraska.[12][14][e]

Site selection and initial design for U. S. Post Office/Federal Building (1897), South Omaha, Nebraska.[13][16-18][f]

Site study and initial design U.S. Government Building, Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition (1897), Omaha, Nebraska.[15][17][19][g]

Notes

a. Cousin William Aiken, Jr. (1806-1887) was a S.C. legislator (1838-1844), Governor (1844-1846), and a U.S. Congressman (1851-1857). He owned an immense rice plantation in S.C. and was also one of the state's largest slave owners, yet he remained a staunch Unionist throughout the Civil War. Cousin David Wyatt Aiken (1828-1887) was a colonel in the Confederate Army and after the Civil War served ten years in Congress from S.C. (1877-1887).[2-5]

b. Only 22 in 1877, with just two years of college behind him, architect Aiken was residing in his father Joseph D. Aiken in 1877 and 1878. His brother Joseph Jr., a student, was also boarding there in 1878. Father Joseph was the Charleston city auditor in 1878, according to the city directory.[9]

c. Boston city directories listed Aiken as a draughtsman at 5 Pemberton Square in Boston, where at least three architectural firms were housed, including Emerson's. A long recounting of Aiken's architectural career published at the time of his appointment as Supervising Architect in 1895 noted "After graduation from the Massachusetts [In]stitute of Technology he entered the office of H. H. Richardson...and subsequently associated himself with W. R. Emerson...a recognized master of residential architecture."[5] Aiken's practice in Boston continued at least until early 1885, when a Boston newspaper identified him as "Boston architect, Mr. William Martin Aiken" and credited him with the design of "a museum and school of fine arts which will appropriately supplement her recently established conservatory of music" in Aiken's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina.[23] Aiken's early connection with Richardson's practice is lent credence by a report of a commission late in Aiken's career, to design an addition to Crane Library in Quincy, Massachusetts. A Boston newspaper reported in 1907 "The architect is William Martin Aiken of New York, who was connected with the firm which designed the original building..." H. H. Richardson designed Thomas Crane Public Library in 1882.[24]

d. Early in his term, Aiken undertook and extensive tour of federal construction projects, including a stop in Omaha. Treasury Secretary Carlisle reportedly had approved the trip, but when it was publicized that Aiken's itinerary included Alaska, Carlisle summoned him back to Washington.[7]

e. From site selection to completion, the construction of Omaha's massive Federal Building extended across three decades and the terms of a half-dozen Supervising Architects, from Windrim to Taylor. Principal credit for the Federal Building's design goes to Willoughby J. Edbrooke, but each successive Supervising Architect oversaw and reported on the project's progress. Aiken visited Omaha in August of 1895 to review the construction and noted that "the brick and stone work...was faultless" and had been completed two months ahead of the contractual deadline. He also addressed with "Superintendent Latenser a number of questions which had been pending for some time." Omaha architect John Latenser had been appointed the on-site construction superintendent of the Omaha federal building in 1893. An inspector from Aiken's office visited Omaha in 1897 and reported continued satisfaction with Latenser and the project's progress.[12][14]

f. Construction of a U.S. Post Office for the fast-growing community of South Omaha had been under discussion for some years before a site was finally selected in 1897. Aiken's predecessor O'Rourke described a program for the building in some detail in 1895. By February of 1897, an Omaha newspaper consulted Aiken on the project's status and were told "Many of the working plans are completed, but the perspective of the building is still in the process of being worked out, the design of the department being to give South Omaha a distinctively modern structure, at the same time within the limit of the appropriation..." Funding was approved by spring of 1897 and Aiken was described as eager to break ground by summer, but he resigned under pressure in May, effective July 1, 1897.[13][16-18] The annual report of the Supervising Architect for the year ending September 30, 1897, prepared by Acting Supervising Architect Kemper, noted in regard to the South Omaha Post Office that "Working drawings are now being prepared,"[19] but credit for the design is best ascribed to James Knox Taylor, who was chief draughtsman in the Treasury office before he succeeded Acting Supervising Architect Kemper late in 1887.[21]

g. A U.S. Government Building for the Trans-Mississippi & International Exposition in Omaha was initially authorized by an act of Congress of June 10, 1896, during Aiken's time as Supervising Architect. In his annual report for the year ending that September, Aiken specified that the federal expenditure for the exposition building was capped at $50,000, which could not expended until the officers of the exposition offered "satisfactory proofs" that the sum of $250,000 had been raised from other sources.[19]. In April, 1897, the Omaha Bee reported that "Aiken is anxious to get to work on the government building for the exposition, and says he will be able to erect a structure that will be a credit to the vast extent of territory included in the transmississippi valley. Before he begins active work on plans for the building, it is his desire to learn something about the grouping of buildings as outlined in the plans of the architects employed for that purpose, as it is his desire to make the government building a distinctive structure." [15] Omaha architects Walker & Kimball were responsible for the exposition's master plan, and in June, 1897 "Mr. Walker...stopped off in Washington and had an extended interview with Aiken and his chief executive, Mr. Kemper, in regard to the location of the government building, grades and general contour. Mr. Walker submitted his idea for the government building, but whether his plan is acceptable to the supervising architect is not known, the officers of that branch...expressed themselves as being able to carry out the work without any outside assistance."[17] Within days of that meeting with Walker, Aiken had resigned. "Chief Executive Officer" Kemper briefly reclaimed the expanded role of Acting Supervising Architect. By September of 1897, the design for the U.S. Government Building at the Omaha Exposition was being widely published as "designed under the general direction of Charles E. Kemper, acting supervising architect of the Treasury..." and further identified "Edward A. Crane being the draughtsman in immediate charge."[22]

References

1. "Obituary. William Martin Aiken," The Western Architect (February 1909), V13:2, 24.

2. "William M. Aiken Dead," New York Times (December 8, 1908), 9.

3. "William Aiken, Jr." and "David Wyatt Aiken" in The Political Graveyard, on-line database accessed November 19, 2024 at https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/aiken.html#036.12.32

4. "Aiken, WIlliam Jr.," South Carolina Encyclopedia, on-line database accessed November 19, 2024 at https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/aiken-william-jr/ SEE also "Aiken, David Wyatt" in same database.

5. "His Chances. Wm. M. Aiken Has Returned From Washington," Cincinnati (Ohio) Post (March 11, 1895), 1; and "Aiken Receives the Appointment," The Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer (March 22, 1895), 4.

6. Antoinette J. Lee, "William Martin Aiken," in Architects to the Nation: the Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office (Oxford University Press: New York & Oxford, 2000), 191-196.

7. "Cut Short a Junket: Secretary Carlisle Called Down the Supervising Architect. This Made Mr. Aiken Very Angry and His Resignation is Soon Expected," The San Francisco (California) Call and Post (October 25, 1895), 2.

8. "Architect Aiken Too Slow--His Resignation Considered Necessary by Secretary of the Treasury Gage. Lacking in Experience and Permits Inexcusable Delay With Public Buildings," Evening World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska) (May 4, 1897), 5.

9. City directories, Charleston, S.C. (1877-1878); Brookline & Boston, Massachusetts (1881-1883); Cincinnati, Ohio (1886-1894).

10. "Stepped into O'Rourke's Shoes," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (March 21, 1895), 2.

11. "Aiken Resigns--Supervising Architect of the Treasury Wants to Give Up His Office," Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Times (May 6, 1897), 2.

12. "Ahead of Time. Supervising Architect Aiken Pleased with the Construction and Progress of the New Building," Evening World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska) (August 28, 1895), 1.

13. "South Omaha Postoffice...Distinctively Modern Structure to Be Erected at a Cost of $75,000--Work to Be Begun as Soon as Possible," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (February 19, 1897), 6.

14. "Report on John Latenser--Finds Everything Here Satisfactory," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (March 26, 1897), 6.

15. "Intends it for a Triumph--Aiken's Idea of the Government Building--United States to Have Quarters at the Transmississippi Exposition that Will Be a Credit to the Country," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (April 13, 1897), 6.

16. "Supervising Architect Aiken is fretting..." [re information needed to commence plans for South Omaha post office], Omaha (Nebraka) Daily Bee (April 23, 1897), 1.

17. "Government's Exposition Building," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (June 5, 1897), 5.

18. "South Omaha World-Herald...Authentic information has been received from Washington...," Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald (March 8, 1895), 7.

19. William Martin Aiken, Annual Report of the Supervising Architect to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Year Ending September 30, 1896 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1897), 50.

20. Charles E. Kemper, Annual Report of the Supervising Architect to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Year Ending September 30, 1897 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1897), 46.

21. James Knox Taylor, Annual Report of the Supervising Architect to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Year Ending September 30, 1898 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1898), 36-37 (U.S. Government Building for Trans-Mississippi Exposition, with illustration); same, 47 (South Omaha Post Office, with illustration).

22. "Plans of the Building--Government Structure at Exposition," Omaha (Nebraska) Evening Bee (September 24, 1897), 1.

23. "Art and Artists," Boston (Massachusetts) Evening Transcript (January 19, 1885), 7.

24. "Real Estate Matters...New England Building Report," Boston (Massachusetts) Evening Transcript (May 4, 1907), 13. SEE also "Thomas Crane Public Library," in Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia, on-line database accessed November 22, 2024 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Crane_Public_Library

Other Sources

Page Citation

E. F. Zimmer, “William Martin Aiken (1855-1908), Architect,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, November 22, 2024. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, November 22, 2024.

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