William Burnet Tuthill (February 11, 1855 – August 25, 1929) was an American architect celebrated for designing New York City's

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

Early life, education and family

William Burnet Tuthill was born on February 11, 1855 in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

, the son of George Flavius Tuthill and Jane Louise Price. Tuthill graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1875. He trained in the office of

Richard Morris Hunt Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of American architecture. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 entrance fa� ...

and in 1878 set up practice for himself in the city. He was later granted an M.A. degree.The Jekyll Island Club Colony by June Hall McCash, 1998 Tuthill married Henrietta Elizabeth Corwin (October 15, 1852 – March 11, 1917), an accomplished pianist and organist. When Henrietta was seventeen she was the organist for the First

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church in her hometown Newburgh,

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 * '' ...

. William and Henrietta met at Calvary

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

Church in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he sang in the choir and she was the church organist. Their only child, Burnet Corwin Tuthill (November 16, 1888 – January 18, 1982), became a clarinetist and composer.

Professional life

William B. Tuthill was a founder of the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

and served on the Art Commission of the

Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

at Chicago in 1893. He lectured on architectural history and acoustics for

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 ...

, the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

, and the New York City Board of Education. He served for thirty-six years as secretary and manager of the

Oratorio Society of New York The Oratorio Society of New York is a not-for-profit membership organization that performs choral music in the oratorio style. Founded in 1873 by conductor Leopold Damrosch and is the third oldest musical organization in New York City. The Society h ...

Carnegie Hall

William B. Tuthill is best remembered as the architect of

in New York City. Tuthill was a talented amateur cellist and served as a board member of the

along with

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

. This led to his receiving the commission to design the Music Hall that would be funded by and eventually bear Carnegie's name. The acoustics are celebrated, due to Tuthill's extensive study of European concert halls as well as what has been called his "golden ear". Carnegie Hall opened in 1891 with composer

Peter Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

conducting the New York Philharmonic and the

. During the performance, Tuthill reportedly left the hall to consult his drawings, to be certain that the supporting columns would withstand the weight of the crowd in attendance.

Architectural work (partial list)

*1889 The A. T. Demarest Building, 335 Fifth Ave and 33rd St., NY *1889-1891 Carnegie Hall with Richard Morris Hunt (with assistance from Louis Sullivan and

Dankmar Adler Dankmar Adler (July 3, 1844 – April 16, 1900) was a German-born American architect and civil engineer. He is best known for his fifteen-year partnership with Louis Sullivan, during which they designed influential skyscrapers that boldly addr ...

) *1890 The Columbia Yacht Club *1890 YWCA Building, Harlem, NY *1893 The Princeton Inn,

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

*1893 The Arnold C. Saportus Residence, Pocantico Hills, NY *1893 First Baptist Church, Red Bank NJ *1893 New York Post Graduate Medical College and Hospital, 101 Street W, NY *1896 Munsey Office Building (now, The Mohican), 281 State Street, New London, CT *1897 The McEvers Bayard Brown Cottage at The Jekyll Island Club, GA *1899 The James Hooker Hamersley Mansion on the northeast corner of 84th and Fifth (demolished in 1924 for the present 1030 Fifth Avenue). *1900 Woodycrest, 936 Woodycrest Avenue,

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, NY *1909 The Morris Schinasi Residence, 351 Riverside Drive at 107th St., NYC *1918 Alterations to the Church of the Messiah in New York Tuthill also designed the Women's Medical College at the New York, Infirmary on 101st Street near Manhattan Avenue, in New York and a row of extant townhouses along 122nd Street near Mount Morris (now Marcus Garvey) Park in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

Writings and later years

Tuthill was the author of a number of books including: *The Suburban Cottage (1891) *The Cathedral Church of England (1923) William B. Tuthill died in 1929. The architect is reported to have left an estate of $5,000.November 2, 2003, New York Times

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuthill, William 1855 births 1929 deaths Carnegie Hall Artists from Hoboken, New Jersey Architects from New Jersey City College of New York alumni Columbia University faculty University of Cincinnati faculty