Ellis Fuller Lawrence (November 13, 1879 – February 27, 1946) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who worked primarily in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. In 1914, he became the co-founder and first dean of the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

's School of Architecture and Allied Arts, a position he held until his death. Lawrence concurrently served as campus architect for the University of Oregon and designed many campus buildings, including

Knight Library Knight Library is the main facility of the University of Oregon's (UO) library system. It is located on the university's campus in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The library design is emblematic of the architecture of the university's older buildin ...

and the

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art :''see also the ''Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art'', Washington State University, Pullman, Washington Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) is an art museum located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The original building ...

. Lawrence Hall on the university campus (which replaced his Architecture and Art Building of 1923) was named in his honor in 1956. His body of over 500 projects includes churches, residences, commercial and industrial buildings, funerary buildings, multi-family residences, and public buildings. In 1988, the private residence he designed for

Thomas A. Livesley Thomas A. Livesley (December 8, 1863 – July 22, 1947) was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A successful Hops, hop farmer and broker, Livesley was known as the "Hop King" of Oregon.Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

businessman and civic leader, was purchased through private donations and donated to the state and now serves as the Governor's official residence ( Mahonia Hall).

Biography

Ellis F. Lawrence was born in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

and received his secondary education at

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

graduating in 1897. He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees 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 ...

(MIT), the first school of architecture in the United States. After graduation in 1902, Lawrence worked for the Boston architectural firms

Peabody & Stearns Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns J ...

and

Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul Andrews, Jaques & Rantoul was an American architectural firm founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1883 and composed of architects Robert Day Andrews, Herbert Jaques and Augustus Neal Rantoul. The firm, with its successors, was in business contin ...

as well as for architects

John Calvin Stevens John Calvin Stevens (October 8, 1855 – January 25, 1940) was an American architect who worked in the Shingle Style, in which he was a major innovator, and the Colonial Revival style. He designed more than 1,000 buildings in the state of Maine ...

and

Constant-Désiré Despradelle Constant-Désiré Despradelle (May 20, 1862 – February 8, 1912) was a French-born architect and professor of architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who, through his teaching, influenced a generation of Beaux-Arts style architect ...

before he left to travel in Europe. He was employed by the Boston architectural firm Codman & Despradelle in 1905. In 1906, Codman & Despradelle (Boston), sent Lawrence to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

to commence work there, but the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...

convinced him to stay in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

where he had stopped on the way. He lived in Portland the rest of his life and commuted to his work as dean and campus architect in Eugene. He was associated with several Oregon-based architecture firms: MacNaughton, Raymond & Lawrence (1906–1910); Lawrence & Holford (1913–1928); Lawrence, Holford, Allyn & Bean (1928–1933); and Lawrence, Holford, & Allyn (1933–1941). Lawrence's final partnership, Lawrence & Lawrence (1944–1946), was with his son, Henry Abbott Lawrence.

Buildings designed by Lawrence

On the National Register of Historic Places

Eugene, Oregon

* Alpha Phi Sorority House, University of Oregon * Chambers House *

, University of Oregon * Hope Abbey Mausoleum *

, University of Oregon * Women's Memorial Quadrangle (includes

Gerlinger Hall Gerlinger Hall is a historic building on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon as part of the Women's Memorial Quadrangle. For the first time, enough women were attending the University that they could occupy their own full quadrangle ...

, Susan Campbell Hall, and Hendricks Hall), University of Oregon

Portland, Oregon

* Belle Court Apartments *

Cumberland Apartments The Cumberland Apartments is a building complex located in downtown Portland, Oregon, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Further reading * See also * National Register of Historic Places listings in Southwest Portland, ...

* Henry B. Dickson House * Lewis T. Gilliland House * Albert, Oscar, and Linda Heintz House * Dr. Harry M. Hendershott House * James Hickey House * Irvington Tennis Club * William H. Lewis Model House * Alexander D. McDougall House * Natt and Christena McDougall House * Henry B. Miller House * Paul C. Murphy House * Isaac Neuberger House * Harry T. Nicolai House * John V. G. Posey House * O. L. Price House * Samuel G. Reed House * Maurice Seitz House * Blaine Smith House * Stanley C.E. Smith House * Arthur Champlin Spencer and Margaret Fenton Spencer House * John A. Sprouse Jr. House * Alice Henderson Strong House * Fred E. Taylor House * Troy Laundry Building * Wells-Guthrie House * James E. Wheeler House * The Earl Bronaugh House

Other Oregon NRHP structures

*Old

Kappa Alpha Theta Kappa Alpha Theta (), also known simply as Theta, is an international women’s fraternity founded on January 27, 1870, at DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury. It was the first Greek-letter fraternity established for women. The main arch ...

Sorority House, Corvallis * James M. and Paul R. Kelty House,

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

*Leaburg Powerhouse, part of the

Leaburg Hydroelectric Project Historic District Leaburg is an unincorporated community in Lane County, Oregon, United States located on the McKenzie River and Oregon Route 126 east of Walterville and west of Vida. History The first post office in this locale was established in 1877 and nam ...

, Leaburg * Hall–Chaney House, Milwaukie * Elsinore Theater, Salem * Mahonia Hall, (Oregon Governor's mansion), Salem

Other buildings

*Baker Middle School,

Baker City Baker City is a city in and the county seat of Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named after Edward D. Baker, the only U.S. Senator ever killed in military combat. The population was 10,099 at the time of the 2020 census. History Pla ...

*Cooley House,

Lewis and Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

, Portland *Franklin Building, Salem, contributing structure to the Salem Downtown Historic District *Martin House, Eugene *

McArthur Court McArthur Court is a basketball arena located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene and the former home of the Oregon Ducks men's and women's basketball teams, replaced in 2011 by Matthew Knight Arena. Also known as "The Pit" or "M ...

, University of Oregon, Eugene *

Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum City View Cemetery is a privately owned cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States that was established in 1893. Its Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum, opened in 1914, contains the remains of eight governors of Oregon. History The cemetery was establish ...

, Salem *

Ocean View Abbey Mausoleum The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...

, Astoria *

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...

fraternity house, Eugene *Donald R. Newberry House, Medford, Oregon *John Hughes house, Salem Oregon *Prentiss Hall, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington *Hunter Conservatory, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington

References

''Harmony in Diversity : The Architecture and Teaching of Ellis F. Lawrence''.
Edited by Michael Shellenbarger ; essays by Kimberly K. Lakin, Leland M. Roth, Michael Shellenbarger. Eugene, Or.: Museum of Art and the Historic Preservation Program, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon, 1989. * Ritz, Richard Ellison. "Lawrence, Ellis Fuller," ''Architects of Oregon; A Biographical Dictionary of Architects Deceased—19th and 20th Centuries''. Portland, OR: Lair Hill Publishing, 2002.

External links

Ellis Lawrence Building Survey
from University of Oregon Libraries
''Harmony in Diversity : The Architecture and Teaching of Ellis F. Lawrence''.Architecture of Ellis F. Lawrence National Register of Historic Places multiple property submission Pt. 1
*

i

* ttps://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lawrence_ellis_f_1879_1946_/#.YFd0RS1h1z8 Ellis F. Lawrence, ''The Oregon Encyclopedia'', by Elizabeth Walton Potter. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Ellis F. 1879 births 1946 deaths Architects from Portland, Oregon People from Malden, Massachusetts Fellows of the American Institute of Architects 20th-century American architects