McKIM, Charles Follen

(1847-1909)

   Charles McKim is one of the three architects of the famous firm McKim, Mead, and White, which did much to define monumental architecture at the turn of the century. Working mainly along the East Coast, the firm is credited with the construction of major government buildings, public libraries, and opulent homes in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island; Boston; and New York City. The firm was established by McKim in 1878 after he completed his studies at Harvard, at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and then an apprenticeship in the shop of Henry Hobson Richardson in New York City. McKim was known as the idealist of the group. William Rutherford Mead, the oldest member of the firm, was considered the most pragmatic of the group; he met McKim while they were studying in Florence. During his training, Stanford White, the youngest of the group, also traveled widely, mainly around Paris. A social playboy, White's fame endured after he was murdered by his mistress's husband.

   One of the first commissions completed by McKim, Mead, and White was the Boston Public Library, the first publicly supported municipal library in the country, built beginning in 1887. This white stone Renaissance Revival building dominates one entire side of Copley Square, right across from Trinity Church, which was erected in the 1870s by Henry Hobson Richardson. The Morgan Library, built in New York City in 1906 to house the collection of the wealthy industrialist J. P. Morgan, was also constructed in the Renaissance Revival style. The Rhode Island State Capitol, built in Providence from 1895 to 1903, is more overtly Neo-Classical, with its tall dome looming above the massive symmetrical building. Perhaps the most famous commission received by McKim, Mead, and White, however, was for Pennsylvania Station in New York City. Constructed in 1910, this massive building, truly a feat of engineering, was demolished in 1964. Built of steel vaults layered with stone columns and huge glass windows, this structure clearly demonstrated the ability of these architects to blend historicism with engineering to create an opulent American architectural style.

   See also BEAUX-ARTS ARCHITECTURE.