John Pickard (October 12, 1858 – November 25, 1937) was an American professor of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

. He served on the

Missouri State Capitol The Missouri State Capitol is the home of the Missouri General Assembly and the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in Jefferson City at 201 West Capitol Avenue, it is the third capitol to be built in the city. ( ...

Decoration Committee in the early 20th century—his work survives in the architecture, sculpture, paintings, and stained glass of the Capitol. At the University of Missouri, he was the first chairman of the Department of Art History and Archaeology, acquiring and developing what would become the

Museum of Art and Archaeology The Museum of Art and Archaeology is the art museum of the University of Missouri. It is located at Mizzou North (former Ellis Fischel Cancer Center) on Business Loop 70 West in Columbia, Missouri. The Museum's galleries are free and open to ...

. His tenure at the school lasted over 40 years.

Early life

John Pickard was born on October 12, 1858, in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

. He obtained two degrees from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1883 and 1886. Pickard studied widely in Europe, particularly in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

University professor

In 1892, Pickard became a professor of Greek at the

. He later become the first chairman of the Department of Art History and Archaeology. A fellowship in the department is named after him. Pickard immediately began acquiring artifacts (especially plaster casts) for a museum, and was largely responsible for the construction of the Memorial Student Union. He finally retired in 1935. Pickard Hall on David R. Francis Quadrangle formerly housed the museum he founded, and is a National Historic District

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

. Some of his papers are stored at the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

Other interests

As chairman of the

Decoration Committee, Pickard oversaw the creation of the Capitol's architecture, sculptures, paintings, and stained glass. Upon its completion in 1929, he authored ''The State Capitol of Missouri: A Description of Its Construction and Decorations.'' Pickard was an avid

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, holding membership in the

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and Scottish rites. In 1926–27, he was Grand Master of the

Grand Lodge of Missouri The Grand Lodge of Missouri is one of two statewide organizations (along with a Prince Hall Affiliated grand lodge) that oversee Masonic lodges in the state of Missouri. It was established on April 21, 1821. It is located in Columbia, Missouri. ...

, as well as a leading influence in what would become the Missouri Lodge of Research.Dr. John Pickard
/ref> He has been called "Missouri's Apostle of the Beautiful."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickard, John People from Columbia, Missouri University of Missouri faculty Dartmouth College alumni 19th-century archaeologists 20th-century American archaeologists American art historians American Freemasons 1858 births 1937 deaths