Albert Kelsey Who's Who in Philadelphia 1920 p

Albert Warren Kelsey, Jr. (April 26, 1870 – May 6, 1950) was an American architect, who designed in a number of Revivalist styles.

Biography

He was born in 1870 in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, the son of economist and writer A. Warren Kelsey and novelist Jeanette Garr Washburn. His father had been a close friend of the artist

Winslow Homer Winslow Homer (February 24, 1836 – September 29, 1910) was an American landscape painter and illustrator, best known for his marine subjects. He is considered one of the foremost painters in 19th-century America and a preeminent figure in ...

, and his mother was the daughter of Wisconsin Governor

Cadwallader C. Washburn Cadwallader Colden Washburn (April 22, 1818May 14, 1882) was an American businessman, politician, and soldier who founded a mill that later became General Mills. A member of the Washburn family of Maine, he was a U.S. Congressman and governor o ...

. The family moved to the Chestnut Hill section of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where Albert Jr. grew up and went to school. He apprenticed with architects Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr. and

Cope and Stewardson Cope and Stewardson (1885–1912) was a Philadelphia architecture firm founded by Walter Cope and John Stewardson, and best known for its Collegiate Gothic building and campus designs. Cope and Stewardson established the firm in 1885, and were jo ...

, and participated in the drafting atelier of the T-Square Club of Philadelphia. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

's Department of Architecture in 1895, and won the 1896 University of Pennsylvania Traveling Scholarship (now the Stewardson Traveling Scholarship). He studied town planning abroad, and returned an ardent supporter of civic improvement, carrying its doctrines, as a lecturer, through the country. In 1899, he was elected the first president of the

Architectural League of America Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

, and devised the exhibit on municipal improvement for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. His firm employed the young architect

Louis Magaziner Louis Magaziner (March 7, 1878 – May 19, 1956) was the senior partner of a series of architectural firms based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in Hungary, he came to the U.S. with his parents and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania ...

in 1907. Kelsey formed a partnership with French-born architect

Paul Philippe Cret Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylv ...

about 1908. The partnership was short-lived, and its only major commission was the Pan-American Union Building (now

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...

) in Washington, D.C. Kelsey worked on his own after 1909. Over a 16-year period he created a campus of

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

buildings for the Carson Valley School, just outside Philadelphia.

Selected works

* Pan-American Union Building (1908-10), 17th Street & Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., with

. *

Marlin Edgar Olmsted Marlin Edgar Olmsted (May 21, 1847 – July 19, 1913) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania in the 18th district. Biography Marlin E. Olmsted was born in Ulysses Township, Pennsylvania on May 21, 1847. ...

Monument (c. 1913),

Harrisburg Cemetery Harrisburg Cemetery, sometimes referred to as Mount Kalmia Cemetery, is a prominent rural cemetery and national historic district in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, located at 13th and Liberty streets in the Allison Hill/East Harrisburg neighborhoods o ...

, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. * Haddington Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia (1915), Girard Avenue & 65th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. * Carson Valley School (1916-32), between West Mill Road and Lafayette Avenue, Springfield Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. * University Baptist Church (1921), 2130 Guadalupe Street, Austin, Texas. *

Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart is a private, Catholic, college preparatory school located in Madison, Wisconsin. Edgewood has been sponsored since its inception by the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. In the 2019–2020 schoo ...

(1927), 2119 Monroe Street, Madison, Wisconsin.Edgewood High School
from Corey Coyle. File:Pan American Union, Washington, DC in 1943.jpg, Pan-American Union Building (1908-10), Washington, D.C., with Paul Cret. File:Phila FLP Haddington01.jpg, Haddington Branch (1915),

Free Library of Philadelphia The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system that serves Philadelphia. It is the 13th-largest public library system in the United States. The Free Library of Philadelphia is a non-Mayoral agency of the City of Philadelphia gove ...

. File:Carson College, Flourtown Mother Goose 10.JPG, Mother Goose Cottage (1917-20), Carson Valley School, Springfield, Pennsylvania. File:UnivBaptistChurchAustinTX.JPG, University Baptist Church (1921), Austin, Texas.

Personal

Kelsey married Henrietta L. Allis, of New York. The couple lived at 8831 Crefeldt Street in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. They had a daughter, Charlotte.

References

* ''This article incorporates text from Urban America's "Architectural forum: the magazine of building" (1915), now in the public domain.''

External links

*
Albert Kelsey
from Philadelphia Architects and Buildings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelsey, Albert 1870 births 1950 deaths Architects from Missouri University of Pennsylvania alumni Architects from Philadelphia