Donn Barber

FAIA Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Fellowship is bestowed by the institute on AIA-member ...

(October 19, 1871 – May 29, 1925) was an American architect.

Biography

Barber was born on October 19, 1871 in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, the son of Charles Gibbs Barber, and the grandson of Hiram Barber. He studied at Holbrook Military Academy in

Ossining, New York Ossining may refer to: * Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state *Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining * Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village * Ossi ...

, and graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1893, where he was chairman of campus humor magazine ''

The Yale Record ''The Yale Record'' is the campus humor magazine of Yale University. Founded in 1872, it became the oldest humor magazine in the world when ''Punch'' folded in 2002."History", The Yale Record, March 10, 2010. http://www.yalerecord.com/about/histo ...

'' and a member of the Berzelius Society. After Yale, he took post-graduate architectural courses at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Paul Blondell and Scellier de Gisors. He was the ninth American student to receive a diploma. After returning and serving apprenticeships in the offices of Carrere & Hastings,

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and We ...

and Lord & Hewlett, he set up his own firm around 1900. In 1923, Barber was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

as an Associate member. In 1899 Barber married Elsie Yandell of Louisville, the sister of sculptor

Enid Yandell Enid Yandell (October 6, 1869 – June 12, 1934) was an American sculptor from Louisville, Kentucky who studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris, Philip Martiny in New York City, and Frederick William MacMonnies. Yandell specialized in portrait bu ...

. He died on May 29, 1925 in

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

Work

Barber's designs include: *

Terminal Station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...

, built 1908, 1434 Market St., Chattanooga, TN, NRHP-listed * Berzelius Society building,

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, 1910 *

Connecticut State Library and Supreme Court Building The Connecticut State Library is the state library for the U.S. state of Connecticut and is also an executive branch agency of the state. It is located in Hartford, Connecticut directly across the street from the Connecticut State Capitol. The St ...

, built 1908–1910, 231 Capitol Ave., Hartford, CT (with E.T. Hapgood) NRHP-listed *

Lotos Club The Lotos Club was founded in 1870 as a gentlemen's club in New York City; it has since also admitted women as members. Its founders were primarily a young group of writers and critics. Mark Twain, an early member, called it the "Ace of Clubs". ...

, 110 West 57th Street, New York, New York, 1909 * Village Hall, 16–20 Croton Avenue,

, 1914 *

Travelers Tower Travelers Tower is a 24-story, skyscraper in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Travelers Tower was the seventh tallest building in the world when it was constructed in 1919, and is currently the second tallest building in Hartford. Travelers Towe ...

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, 1919 * the

New York Cotton Exchange The New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE) is a commodities exchange founded in 1870 by a group of one hundred cotton brokers and merchants in New York City. In 1998, the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) became the parent company of the New York Cotton ...

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

, 1923 (from a 1912 competition design)The Commercial and Financial Chronicle, Volume 113, Issue 2, page 2150 *

Capital City Club The Capital City Club is a private social club located in Atlanta, Georgia. Chartered on May 21, 1883, it is one of the oldest private clubs in the South. History According to its charter, the purpose of the club is "to promote the pleasure, ki ...

, 7 Harris St., NW, Atlanta, GA, NRHP-listed *

The Hartford Times Building The Hartford Times Building is an historic Beaux-Arts building in downtown Hartford, Connecticut built as the headquarters of the now defunct Hartford Times. The newspaper commissioned architect Donn Barber, who had designed the nearby Travel ...

* The Hartford Aetna National Bank, Aetna Life Insurance, in Hartford * The Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C. * and in Manhattan: the

National Park Bank The National Park Bank was founded in 1856 in New York City, and by the late 19th century, it did more commercial business than any other bank in the country. History The bank built a significant Second Empire early skyscraper at 214-18 Broadway & ...

, the Mutual Bank, the Institute of Musical Art.

Gallery

File:Travelers Tower, Hartford, CT - view 1.JPG,

in Hartford, Connecticut File:Terminal StationChattanooga.jpg,

, Chattanooga, Tennessee File:Capital City Club.jpg, The

in Atlanta, Georgia File:Yale Berzelius Society.JPG, Berzelius Society Building (circa 1908) in New Haven, Connecticut File:Hartford Times Building.jpg,

(1920) File:Lobby PS.jpg, Lobby of the Connecticut State Library

References

External links

* * Donn Barber works
Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Donn 19th-century American architects 1871 births 1925 deaths Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni Yale University alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Fellows of the American Institute of Architects 20th-century American architects People from Washington, D.C.