John Duncan Forsyth (1886 or 1887–1963) was a

Scottish-American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish people, Scottish Americans are cl ...

architect who became prominent in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Based in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

and working in a variety of styles, he was connected with a number of significant buildings around the state.

Biography

According to one source, Forsyth was born in 1886 in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

;John Duncan Forsyth
at

Price Tower The Price Tower is a nineteen-story, 221-foot-high tower at 510 South Dewey Avenue in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. It was built in 1956 to a design by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is the only realized skyscraper by Wright, and is one of only two verticall ...

Arts Center website (accessed May 26, 2016). another source says he was born in 1887 in

Kingskettle Kingskettle or often simply Kettle is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland. Encompassed by the Howe of Fife, the village is approximately southwest of the nearest town, Cupar, and north of Edinburgh. According to the 2011 Census for Scotlan ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

.Judy Randle
"Architect pens book celebrating his mentor, John Duncan Forsyth"
''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...

'', January 1, 2007. He was raised in Scotland and studied at

Edinburgh College Edinburgh College is a further and higher education institution with campuses in Edinburgh and Midlothian, Scotland. It serves the Edinburgh Region, Edinburgh, East Lothian and Midlothian, and is the largest college in Scotland. It was fo ...

, and at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

and L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He immigrated to the United States in 1908. He was a member of the large team of architects who worked on Central Union Station (now the

Government Conference Centre The Senate of Canada Building (french: édifice du Sénat du Canada) is located at 2 Rideau Street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and serves as the temporary seat of the Senate of Canada. The building served as Ottawa's central railway stati ...

) in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. He trained with various architects, including

John Russell Pope John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 1935), the Jeffe ...

. 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 ...

, he fought with the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

. In 1921 Forsyth moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he became associated with Tulsa architect John McDonnellJim Gabbert, "5 Buildings by John Duncan Forsyth"
''Preservation Oklahoma News''
July 2006, p.5. He received his Oklahoma architect's license in 1925.John Duncan Forsyth
at Tulsa Foundation for Architecture website (accessed May 26, 2016). Soon he was hired for what became one of his most famous buildings, the

E. W. Marland Mansion The E.W. Marland Mansion is a Mediterranean Revival-style mansion located in Ponca City, Oklahoma, United States. Built by oil baron and philanthropist Ernest Whitworth (E.W.) Marland, as a display of wealth at the peak of the 1920s oil boom, ...

Ponca City Ponca City ( iow, Chína Uhánⁿdhe) is a city in Kay County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The city was named after the Ponca tribe. Ponca City had a population of 25,387 at the time of the 2010 census- and a population of 24,424 in the 2020 ...

. The Marland mansion, which is operated as a museum, includes a room dedicated to Forsyth's work.John Duncan Forsyth Room
at

official website (accessed May 26, 2016). Forsyth maintained a prolific practice. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he left Oklahoma to serve with the U.S. Navy

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

s in California and worked there after the war. In the 1950s, he returned to Tulsa. He had been married a total of six times. Forsyth remained in Tulsa until his death in 1963. In 2007, John Brooks Walton, a Tulsa architect who had worked for Forsyth, published a biography entitled ''The Art and Architecture of John Duncan Forsyth''.

Projects

(1928), 901 Monument Road in

, Oklahoma NRHP listed. * Royalty Building (1929), built by oilman

E. W. Marland Ernest Whitworth Marland, known as E. W. Marland (May 8, 1874 – October 3, 1941), was an American lawyer, oil businessman in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma, and politician who was a U.S. representative and Oklahoma governor. He served in the United ...

, a

mission style architecture The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

building on 4th & East Grand Avenue in Ponca City with retail space on the lower floors and office space above for

and the E. W. Marland Co. It was purchased from Marland in the 1940s and "is now owned by the Donahoes".The royalty building was purchased by Kevin and Tracy Emmons in early 2018. *

Lamerton House The Lamerton House is a historic house constructed in 1930 located on the Lamerton Terrace property Enid, Oklahoma in Garfield County. Description and history The two-story Tudor Revival style home was designed in 1928 by John Duncan Forsy ...

(1930) at 1420 W. Indian Drive in

Enid, Oklahoma Enid ( ) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, a ...

, built in

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

style. NRHP listed #97000613. * H. F. Wilcox Estate (1931), 1351 E. 27th Place, Tulsa, designed in "Elizabethan style". *

Southern Hills Country Club Southern Hills Country Club is a private golf and country club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. History The club was established in 1935 from land donated by multimillionaire oilman Waite Phillips (Frank Phillips, Waite's brother, was the namesake and fo ...

clubhouse (1936), Tulsa (J.D. Forsyth and Donald McCormick, associate architects), designed in the "European country house style". * John Duncan Forsyth Residence (1937, restored 1985), built in

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design ...

style. *

Will Rogers Memorial The Will Rogers Memorial Museum is a museum in Claremore, Oklahoma that memorializes entertainer Will Rogers. The museum houses artifacts, memorabilia, photographs, and manuscripts pertaining to Rogers' life, and documentaries, speeches, and mo ...

(1938), a stone museum and memorial to Oklahoma humorist

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

, built on a hill overlooking

Claremore, Oklahoma Claremore is a city and the county seat of Rogers County in Green Country or northeastern Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census, a 5.4 percent increase over the figure of 18,581 recorded in 2010. * Daniel Webster High School (1938), a PWA-style

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

building in

West Tulsa West Tulsa is a local name given to an area situated in the west section of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma which includes various communities to the west and south of the Arkansas River. As development between Sand Springs and Tulsa continued in the ...

(Arthur M. Atkinson, John Duncan Forsyth, Raymond Kerr, and William H. Wolaver, architects). *

Bartlesville High School Bartlesville High School is a public high school located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Built in 1939, it was originally called College High School, and until 1950 housed a junior college as well as the high school. Its Streamline Moderne building wa ...

(originally College High School) (1939), a

school in

Bartlesville, Oklahoma Bartlesville is a city mostly in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 37,290 at the 2020 census. Bartlesville is north of Tulsa and south of the Kansas border. It is the county seat of Washington County. The Can ...

Bartlesville High School, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 2001

Pensacola Dam The Pensacola Dam, also known as the Grand River Dam, is a multiple-arch buttress dam on the Grand River in-between Disney and Langley in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The dam is operated by the Grand River Dam Authority and creates Grand Lake o ...

(1938–1940) at

Grand Lake o' the Cherokees Grand Lake o' the Cherokees is situated in Northeast Oklahoma in the foothills of the Ozark Mountain Range. It is often simply called Grand Lake. It is administered by the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA). History The ''Encyclopedia of Oklahom ...

Langley, Oklahoma Langley is a town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 819 at the 2010 census. History Langley, still located at its original site, is on State Highway 82 at the west end of the Pensacola Dam, which is on the National Re ...

. Listed on the

NRHP The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

for

Mayes County, Oklahoma Mayes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,259. Its county seat is Pryor Creek. Named for Samuel Houston Mayes, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1895 to 1899, it was ...

. As architect of record, Forsyth was responsible for the PWA-style

design features of this structure, claimed to be the world's longest multiple

arch dam An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengthen ...

. * Jane Addams Hall (1940) at the

University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) is a public liberal arts college in Chickasha, Oklahoma. It is the only public college in Oklahoma with a strictly liberal arts–focused curriculum and is a member of the Council of Public ...

Chickasha Chickasha is a city in and the county seat of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,036 at the 2010 census. Chickasha is home to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. The city is named for and strongly connected ...

, part of the Oklahoma College for Women Historic District, a collection of PWA buildings designed by different prominent Oklahoma architects. *

All Souls Unitarian Church All Souls Unitarian Church is a Unitarian Universalist (UU) church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is one of the largest UU congregations in the world. All Souls Unitarian Church was founded in 1921 by two leading Tulsans from families with Unitarian roo ...

(1957) in Tulsa, one of the largest

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

congregations in the world.John Duncan Forsyth
at Tulsa Foundation for Architecture website (accessed March 16, 2010). * B.B. Blair Mansion (1958) a Southern plantation style home adjoining the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

in Tulsa, inspired by Beauvoir, the Mississippi home of

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

(demolished in February 2014 to make way for a park).Kevin Canfield
"Blair Mansion set for demolition"
''

'', January 31, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, John Duncan Architects from Oklahoma People from Fife Seabees Artists from Tulsa, Oklahoma British emigrants to the United States 1963 deaths Year of birth uncertain