American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

Flatiron Building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, steel-framed landmarked building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New ...

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...

Arlington Memorial Amphitheater Memorial Amphitheater is an outdoor amphitheater, exhibit hall, and nonsectarian chapel located in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. Designed in 1913 as a replacement for the older, wooden amphitheat ...

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and to the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-prof ...

Vanceburg, Kentucky Vanceburg is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Lewis County, Kentucky, Lewis County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,518 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and estimated in 2018 to ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

1880 United States Census The United States census of 1880 conducted by the Census Bureau during June 1880 was the tenth United States census.atabase on-line Census Place: Vanceburg, Lewis, Kentucky; Roll: 428; Family History Film: 1254428; Page: 60C; Enumeration District: 57; Image: 0358. He also operated a hardware store in Vanceburg that burned in the 1880s. His mother was Frances Amelia (Halbert) Baird, and he had an older brother

Charles A. Baird Charles A. Baird (January 17, 1870 – November 30, 1944) was an American football manager, university athletic director, and banker. He was the manager of the University of Michigan football team from 1893 to 1895 and the school's first athlet ...

(born c. 1869).

University of Michigan

He enrolled at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the football team from 1892 to 1895. He was captain of the 1894 Michigan team that finished with a 9–1–1 record and recorded the school's first victory against one of the Eastern football powers with a 12–4 win over

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

at the

Detroit Athletic Club The Detroit Athletic Club (often referred to as the DAC) is a private social club and athletic club located in the heart of Detroit's theater, sports, and entertainment district. It is located across the street from Detroit's historic Music Hall ...

's field in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. Baird played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the 1895 Michigan team that compiled an 8–1 record, won seven of their games by shutouts, and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 266 to 14. The sole loss of the 1895 season was a 4–0 setback against the

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at ...

, then one of the three great football powers. Michigan finished the season with a 12–0 win over Western rival,

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfie ...

's

Chicago Maroons The Chicago Maroons are the intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Chicago. They are named after the color maroon. Team colors are maroon and gray, and the Phoenix is their mascot. They now compete in the NCAA Division III, mostly as ...

. Undefeated against Western opponents, the 1895 Wolverines laid claim to the Western football championship. At the end of the 1895 season, one Chicago newspaper, the ''Daily Inter Ocean'' selected Baird as the substitute quarterback on its All-Western team. Baird studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

at Michigan and received his bachelor's degree in 1896. Baird's brother

Charles A. Baird Charles A. Baird (January 17, 1870 – November 30, 1944) was an American football manager, university athletic director, and banker. He was the manager of the University of Michigan football team from 1893 to 1895 and the school's first athlet ...

was the manager of the 1894 and 1895 football teams at Michigan and later became the university's first athletic director. After graduating, Baird served as an assistant football coach at Michigan from 1897 to 1898, including the 1898 Michigan team that won the school's first Western Conference championship. At the end of the 1898 season, the ''Chicago Inter-Ocean'' singled out Baird for his work in coaching the Michigan team:

"They had been a disorganized team three weeks before, but Jimmy Baird had come on to maneuver the backs, stop the fumbling, and put snap and life into the team. As a coach, he has been a wonderful success. No one who knows his record as a captain can doubt that he is a worker of miracles to whose power Michigan's wonderful improvement is due. He was continually working over his men or defensive play, when he played the game himself, slapping them on the back, cheering up one, and swearing at another, until Michigan's team became a power and a terror. This year he left his business to rush back at the last moment to lick the team into shape for a victory."

Construction career

Lincoln Memorial Under Construction 1916

After graduating from Michigan, Baird had a successful career in the construction industry. He started as a timekeeper for the Guaranty Construction Co. of Chicago and then as an engineer for Moulton-Starrett Co. of Columbus, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1899, Baird began a 23-year association with the George A. Fuller Co., a leading builder of skyscrapers and inventor of the modern contracting system. In December 1900, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote:

"No other firm in the world, perhaps, has played so large a part in revolutionizing the building trade as the George A. Fuller Company, and to it primarily is due the credit of having originated many of the actual construction methods now in use."

Baird began working for the Fuller Company in New York City and directed the erection of the

Flatiron Building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, steel-framed landmarked building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New ...

, the first steel-frame skyscraper in New York City. He moved to Boston in 1902 as the firm's general superintendent. He was transferred to

Washington, D.C. ) , 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, ...

in 1904 as a district manager. He rose through the ranks of the company to become vice president in 1910 and president in May 1922. While working with the Fuller Company, Baird supervised the construction of the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...

and the

Arlington Memorial Amphitheater Memorial Amphitheater is an outdoor amphitheater, exhibit hall, and nonsectarian chapel located in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. Designed in 1913 as a replacement for the older, wooden amphitheat ...

in 1916, the Commodore Hotel in 1919, the

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier A Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is a monument dedicated to the services of an unknown soldier and to the common memories of all soldiers killed in war. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-prof ...

in 1921, and the

Freer Gallery of Art The Freer Gallery of Art is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. focusing on Asian art. The Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and Sac ...

in 1923. As the Lincoln Memorial neared completion, Baird wrote to ''World's Work'' magazine, "It is to be hoped that the Lincoln Memorial Building may exist for at least one thousand years, unless destroyed sooner by artificial means." During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Baird volunteered to construct

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...

s for the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

to house 20,000 to 30,000 men. In November 1918, at the end of hostilities, Baird applied for a passport to travel to France and Belgium to represent the Fuller Company in selling building materials to be used in the post-war reconstruction efforts.

Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in ...

, Chairman of the

War Industries Board The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies between the War Department (Department of the Army) and the Navy Department. Because ...

, wrote a letter in support of Baird's application in which he stated:

"This is to certify that I know Mr. James Baird personally and have known him practically all my life, and that I know him to be an American born citizen born in Vanceburg, Ky. about 45 years ago. I know his father also, an American citizen born in America."U.S. Passport Application for James Baird.

In 1923, as a building boom created a shortage in skilled construction workers and supervisors, Baird served as Chairman of the Emergency Committee of the Mason Builders' Association. He was an outspoken advocate for additional funding for teaching the building trades in the schools. In 1925, Baird formed his own construction company, the James Baird Construction Co., Inc. Baird and his company specialized in large construction projects and were responsible for the construction of many notable structures, including the

Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare material ...

in Washington, D.C., an addition to the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

that opened in 1928, the dome at

St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, New York St. Bartholomew's Church, commonly called St. Bart's, is a historic Episcopal parish founded in January 1835, and located on the east side of Park Avenue between 50th and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, in New York City. In 2018, the church c ...

, the Brooklyn Printing Plant of ''The New York Times'' (design by Albert Kahn), Hutchins Hall and the Cook Dormitory at the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of C ...

, the Aeolian Building in New York, the Ferncliff Mausoleum in

Hartsdale, New York Hartsdale is a hamlet located in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 5,293 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of New York City. History Hartsdale, a CDP/hamlet/post-office in the town of Greenb ...

, and the original ten buildings of the

Madeira School The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, private, day and boarding college-preparatory school for girls in McLean, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing. History Ori ...

in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...

, and the

Reynolds Building The Reynolds Building is a Art Deco skyscraper at 51 E. 4th Street in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina with of space. It was completed in 1929 and has 21 floors. For much of its history the building served as headquarters for R. J. ...

in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

. Upon completion of ''The New York Times Brooklyn printing plant, the newspaper called the marble, granite, steel, copper and concrete the "jewel box" and noted that no expense had been spared in its construction.

Family and philanthropy

Baird was married to Cornelia Cornelia Curtis (born May 1875) at Chicago on March 28, 1900. They lived in Manhattan, and later in

Washington, D.C. ) , 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, ...

and the Village of Scarsdale,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and had two sons, John C. Baird (born c. 1906) and Charles Baird (born c. 1909). Baird served as a trustee of the Village of Scarsdale from 1926 to 1927. He was also a member of the Scarsdale Golf Club and the American Guernsey Cattle Club of

Peterborough, New Hampshire Peterborough is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,418 at the 2020 census. The main village, with 3,090 people at the 2020 census, is defined as the Peterborough census-designated place (CDP) and ...

. In 1939, Baird donated his farm at

Pleasant Valley, New York Pleasant Valley is a town in Dutchess County, within the Hudson Valley of New York, United States. The population was 9,799 at the 2020 census. The town is centrally located in the county, northeast of the city of Poughkeepsie. U.S. Route 44 pass ...

to the

State of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

for use as a park. The park is now known as

James Baird State Park James Baird State Park is a state park in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The park is located in the northern part of the Town of LaGrange, east of City of Poughkeepsie. History The park is named after James Baird (engineer and ...

. In 1936, Baird traveled to

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

to seek relief from

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

. His health improved, and he made his permanent residence in Tucson for the last 17 years of his life. Baird was active in philanthropic causes in Tucson and donated $207,422 in 1948 to establish a scholarship fund at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. At the time Baird's gift was "the largest single scholarship gift ever made to the University of Arizona." In May 1951, Baird received an honorary degree of doctor of engineering from the University of Arizona in recognition of his work as an engineer, builder, contractor, business executive and philanthropist. In January 1948, Baird welcome the University of Michigan Marching Band to Tucson as they returned from the

1948 Rose Bowl The 1948 Rose Bowl was the 34th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Thursday, January 1. The second-ranked and undefeated Michigan Wolverines of the Big Nine Conference routed the #8 USC ...

. He gave Michigan officials a tour of the University of Arizona campus and presented them with citrus from trees at the Baird residence at 4111 Calle El Centro in Tucson. Michigan's band conductor,

William Revelli William D. Revelli (February 12, 1902 – July 16, 1994) was an American music educator and conductor best known for his association with the University of Michigan, where he directed the university's bands including the Michigan Marching Ba ...

, told Baird the welcome received in Tucson was the most enthusiastic received and that the band members were pleased with the turnout. In May 1953, Baird died two days short of his 80th birthday at St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson after a month's illness. Baird's widow died at Tucson in 1962. He was buried in the Baird family plot at Oakwood Cemetery in Chicago. In recognition of his gifts to the University of Michigan, a species of snake, ''

Tantilla ''Tantilla'' is a large genus of harmless New World snakes in the family Colubridae. The genus includes 66 species, which are commonly known as centipede snakes, blackhead snakes, and flathead snakes.Wilson, Larry David. 1982. Tantilla. ...

bairdi'', is named in his honor.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Baird, J.", p. 14).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, James American civil engineers Michigan Wolverines football players Michigan Wolverines football coaches 1872 births 1953 deaths University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni

Early years

University of Michigan

Construction career

Family and philanthropy

References