Alfred Easton Poor (May 24, 1899 – January 13, 1988) was an American architect noted particularly for buildings and projects in New York City and in Washington, D.C., for the U.S. government. A son of

Charles Lane Poor Charles Lane Poor (January 18, 1866 – September 27, 1951) was an American astronomy professor, noted for his opposition to Einstein's theory of relativity. Biography He was born on January 18, 1866, in Hackensack, New Jersey, to Edward Erie ...

, Alfred Poor served in the U.S. Navy in World War I and in the

U.S. Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

in World War II.Social Networks and Archival Context Project
/ref> As a student at the University of Pennsylvania, he studied under Paul Philippe Cret.Art of the Print
/ref>
/ref> Poor served as the president of the National Academy of Design in New York from 1966 to 1977, organizing its 150th anniversary in 1975.Obituary, New York Times
/ref> He has been called "one of America's most prominent twentieth century architects" and a "prominent member of the international school of modern architecture."
/ref>

Projects

Over his long career, Poor's projects included public and private-sector works. Along with fellow New York architect Robert P. Rogers, Poor won the open international design competition for the Wright Brothers National Memorial in 1928. For the U.S. government, he worked on a project that restored and extended the East Front of the

US Capitol building The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

in the early 1960s, and was also a leading architect in designing the US Library of Congress' James Madison Memorial Building,Library of Congress
/ref> the third-largest public building in Washington. Poor was especially active in the New York City area. His projects include the

Jacob K. Javits Federal Building The Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building at 26 Federal Plaza on Foley Square in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City houses many federal government agencies. At over 41 stories, it is the tallest federal building in the U ...

,New York Architecture - Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building
/ref> the Queens County Courthouse and prison in Kew Gardens, the Home Insurance Company Building,A View on Cities
/ref> and the 40-acre Red Hook housing projects. Poor was chosen by

Walter Annenberg Walter Hubert Annenberg (March 13, 1908 – October 1, 2002) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' ...

to design the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.University of Pennsylvania: An Architectural Tour. By George E. Thomas and Lewis Tanner
/ref> His work was also part of the art competitions at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

and the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

. According to his obituary in '' The New York Times'', he also "designed dozens of branch offices in Manhattan and abroad for the Chemical, National City and

Marine Midland Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York. In 1998, branches extended to Pennsylvania. It was acquired by HSBC in 1980, and changed its ...

banks" and "designed a number of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

country homes." Other works include the

Cape Cinema The Cape Cinema is a movie theatre located in Dennis, Massachusetts, United States, on Cape Cod. It specializes in independent American and international film, simulcasts of the Metropolitan Opera and National Theatre, and live music performances. ...

, in Dennis, Massachusetts.Cape Cinema, About
/ref>

Books

Poor's books about historical architecture include ''Formal Design in Minor French Buildings - The Tuileries Brochures'' (1931) and ''Colonial Architecture of Cape Cod,

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

and

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

'' (1932).

Personal life

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poor, Alfred 1899 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American architects Architects from New York (state) Harvard University alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni Olympic competitors in art competitions United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy reservists