Charles Howard Walker (January 9, 1857 – April 12, 1936) was an architect, designer and educator in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was associated with the architecture department at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

and was affiliated with Boston's Society of Arts and Crafts.

Biography

Walker was born January 9, 1857 in

West Roxbury, Massachusetts West Roxbury is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts bordered by Roslindale and Jamaica Plain to the northeast, the town of Brookline to the north, the cities and towns of Newton and Needham to the northwest and the town of Dedham to th ...

to George S. Walker and Mary L. Damorell.WALKER, Charles Howard
in ''

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who ( or ) is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in America'', ''Who's Who of American Wome ...

'' (1901-1902 edition); via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

In 1875 at the age of 18, Walker worked at the architectural office of Sturgis and Brigham, where he had opportunities to study architecture in New York,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. In 1885, Walker partnered with

Thomas Rogers Kimball Thomas Rogers Kimball (April 19, 1862 – September 7, 1934) was an American architect in Omaha, Nebraska. An architect-in-chief of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha in 1898, he served as national President of the American Institute o ...

and formed the firm Walker & Kimball. This partnership continued until 1899 when it ended after Walker and Kimball were architects in chief for the

Trans-Mississippi Exposition The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was a world's fair held in Omaha, Nebraska from June 1 to November 1 of 1898. Its goal was to showcase the development of the entire West, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coa ...

and Greater America Exposition in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. Walker practiced architecture solo until 1911 when he formed with his son, Harold D. Walker, the firm C. Howard Walker and Son. In 1925, architect Frederick S. Kingsbury joined the firm and was renamed to Walker and Walker and Kingsbury. Shortly after in 1930, the firm was renamed to Walker and Walker. Walker was a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was associated with their department of architecture for fourty-nine years. He also lectured at the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

and

Lowell Institute The Lowell Institute is a United States educational foundation located in Boston, Massachusetts, providing both free public lectures, and also advanced lectures. It was endowed by a bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell Jr., who died in 1836. ...

. Walker was a member of the

Boston Art Commission The Boston Art Commission, established in 1890, exercises legal authority to approve and site new public art on property owned by the City of Boston. Woven through the urban landscape, site-specific artworks identify Boston as a place with long hi ...

, National Fine Arts Commission,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

American Federation of Arts The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a nonprofit organization that creates art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and develops education programs. The organization’s founding in 1909 w ...

, and the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts. Walker was one of six delegates for the United States at the International Congress of Architects in 1930 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Walker died April 12, 1936 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Designed by Walker

* Mount Vernon Church, Beacon St., Boston, ca.1892 *

, Omaha, Nebraska, 1898 * Bancroft Memorial Library, Hopedale, Massachusetts, ca. 1898 * Electricity building, St. Louis World's Fair, 1903 * Stony Brook Bridge, Back Bay Fens, BostonSylvester Baxter
Boston park guide
including the municipal and metropolitan systems of greater Boston. Boston: Small, Maynard and Co., 1898 * William Fogg Library,

Eliot, Maine Eliot is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Originally settled in 1623, it was formerly a part of Kittery, Maine, to its east. After Kittery, it is the next most southern town in the state of Maine, lying on the Piscataqua River across f ...

, 1907 * Stratham Historical Society building, Stratham, New Hampshire, 1912 ** originally the George A. and Emma B. Wiggin Memorial Library building

Biography

Designed by Walker

References

Further reading

By Walker

About Walker

External links