User:JPRiley/Alderman
Bissell Alderman | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 19, 1912 |
| Died | April 30, 1999 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Awards | Medal of Freedom (1948); Fellow, American Institute of Architects (1970) |
| Practice | Alderman & Alderman; Alderman & MacNeish |
Bissell Alderman FAIA (September 19, 1912 – April 30, 1999) was an American architect in practice in greater Springfield, Massachusetts, from 1946 until his retirement in 1978.
Life and career
[edit]Bissell Alderman was born September 19, 1912 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, to George P. B. Alderman, a successful regional architect, and Hortense Alderman, née Goslee. He was educated in the Holyoke public schools and at Williston Academy before entering the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1930. He earned a BA in architecture in 1935 and an MArch in 1937. During summers he worked in his father's office, G. P. B. Alderman & Company, where he worked on designs for Holyoke's main post office. After graduation he spent a year in Europe on a grand tour. In 1938–39 he worked for Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott and was an instructor at MIT. He participated in competitions to design proposed buildings for a school of fine arts and theatre at the College of William and Mary and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and received an honorable mention in both. In 1939 he moved to Seattle, where he taught at the University of Washington before returning to MIT in 1941. During the summer of 1942 he worked in Maine for Wadsworth & Boston and Alonzo J. Harriman. In 1943 he entered government service, working as an operations analyst with the Eighth Air Force until the end of World War II.[1] In 1948 he was awarded a Medal of Freedom for his service.[2]
After the war he joined Voorhees, Walker, Foley & Smith in New York City, but in 1946 he returned to Holyoke, where he formed the partnership of Alderman & Alderman, architects, with Albert D. Alderman Jr.[a], his half-nephew.[1] In May 1950 the firm merged with Warner & MacNeish, Springfield architects and engineers. That firm had been formed in 1945 as the partnership of architect Robert B. Warner, who died in April 1950, and engineer Archibald S. MacNeish. The combined firm was known as Alderman & MacNeish and maintained offices in both Holyoke and Springfield.[3][4] In 1953 these were consolidated into a single office in suburban West Springfield.[5]
MacNeish retired from the partnership in 1971, followed by Alderman in 1978. The firm was continued by architect Mark L. Sirulnik, engineer George T. Klotsas and George A. Siddell, all of whom had been made partners in 1971.[6] It was incorporated in 1981.[7] In 1999 the firm was sued by the Tantasqua Regional School District, which alleged breach of contract. The suit was settled in June 2004 for $575,000; the firm filed for bankruptcy in December.[8][9] It was formally dissolved in 2007.[7]
Personal life
[edit]In 1935 Alderman married Mary Evelyn Compton, daughter of Karl Taylor Compton, then president of MIT.[1] They had three daughters. The Alderman family lived in South Hadley, where in 1947 Alderman built a Modernist home at 30 Red Ledge Road.
Alderman joined the American Institute of Architects in 1942, and was a vice president of the state-level chapter from 1951 to 1953. In 1970 he was elected to the AIA College of Fellows.
After retirement, the Aldermans retired to their second home in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. His wife died there in 1995, and he died April 30, 1999.[10]
https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1999-05-04-9905040554-story.html
https://archive.org/details/storyofwesternma04wrig/page/n233/mode/2up?q=Alderman
Bowker directories
Architectural works
[edit]Alderman & Alderman, 1946–1950
[edit]- 1948 – Bissell Alderman house, 30 Red Ledge Rd, South Hadley, Massachusetts[11]
- 1949 – Berkshire, Hampshire, Middlesex, Plymouth and Suffolk Houses,[b] University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts[12]
- 1949 – Francis W. Sears house, 63 Pinehurst Rd, Belmont, Massachusetts[13]
- 1951 – Memorial Hall, Williston Northampton School, Easthampton, Massachusetts[12]
Alderman & MacNeish, from 1950
[edit]- 1967 – Mohawk Trail Regional High School, 26 Ashfield Rd, Buckland, Massachusetts[14]
- 1969 – Hines Hall, American International College, Springfield, Massachusetts[15]
- 1970 – Springfield Police Department headquarters, 130 Pearl St, Springfield, Massachusetts[16]
- 1971 – Southwick Regional School, 93 Feeding Hills Rd, Southwick, Massachusetts[17]
1967-68 papers
- Range testing building, United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield, Springfield, Massachusetts (1953)[12]
- Agawam High School, 760 Cooper St, Agawam, Massachusetts (1955)[12]
- John M. Buchanan house, 56 Merriam St, Lexington, Massachusetts (1955-57)[18]
- Longmeadow High School, 95 Grassy Gutter Rd, Longmeadow, Massachusetts (1955, demolished 2013)[12]
- Mapleshade Elementary School, 175 Mapleshade Ave, East Longmeadow, Massachusetts (1955)[12]
- First Congregational Church Lancaster Education Building, 1 Church St, South Hadley, Massachusetts (1956, NRHP 2020)[19]
- Medford Public Library, 111 High St, Medford, Massachusetts (1958-59, demolished 2019)[20]
- Scott Hall, Williston Northampton School, Easthampton, Massachusetts (1958)[21]
- Western Massachusetts Electric Company headquarters, 174 Brush Hill Ave, West Springfield, Massachusetts (1959)[21]
- Algonquin Regional High School, 79 Bartlett St, Northborough, Massachusetts (1959)[21]
- Minnechaug Regional High School, 621 Main St, Wilbraham, Massachusetts (1959, demolished 2012)[21]
- Dormitory, Bay Path University, Longmeadow, Massachusetts (1960)[21]
- Junior high school, Longmeadow, Massachusetts (1960)[21]
- Mount Greylock Regional School, 1781 Cold Spring Rd, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1960–61)[22]
- Weston High School, 44 Wellesley St, Weston, Massachusetts (1961)[23]
- Tufts Library, 46 Broad St, Weymouth, Massachusetts (1965, demolished 2019)[14]
- Lenox Memorial High School, 197 East St, Lenox, Massachusetts (1965–66)[24]
- Mechanics Savings Bank Building, 200 Main St, Holyoke, Massachusetts (1965)[14]
- Amherst Regional Middle School, 170 Chestnut St, Amherst, Massachusetts (1969)[14]
- Lunt Silversmiths offices, Greenfield, Massachusetts (1969)[14]
- Wildwood Elementary School, 71 Strong St, Amherst, Massachusetts (1970)[25]
- Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, 215 Fitchburg St, Marlborough, Massachusetts (1971–73)[26]
- Fort River Elementary School, 70 S East St, Amherst, Massachusetts (1971-72)[25]
- CSI Solar Center,[c] 11 Industrial Park Dr, Walpole, New Hampshire (1977–78)[27]
Notes
[edit]- ^ Albert Drake Alderman Jr. was born June 1, 1918, to Albert Drake Alderman Sr., the eldest son of George P. B. Alderman and his first wife. He trained as a draftsman in his grandfather's office and worked for several architects and contractors in Springfield. In April 1946 he briefly established an independent architecture practice in Holyoke, before forming the partnership with his half-uncle in August.
- ^ Plymouth and Suffolk Houses were demolished in the 1960s.
- ^ Built for Contemporary Systems Inc. and funded by the Energy Research and Development Administration as an experiment of passive solar building design.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Bissell Alderman" in The Story of Western Massachusetts (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1949): 350-351.
- ^ "At Westover ceremony," Transcript-Telegram, June 28, 1948, 10.
- ^ "Robert B. Warner," Transcript-Telegram, April 14, 1950, 18.
- ^ "Aldermans merge with Springfield engineering firm," Transcript-Telegram, May 18, 1950, 22.
- ^ Transcript-Telegram, November 6, 1953, 15.
- ^ "A. S. MacNeish retires as active partner in architectural firm," Transcript-Telegram, August 23, 1971, 5.
- ^ a b Massachusetts corporate filings, no date. Accessed October 8, 2024.
- ^ "Settlement approved," The Republican, June 25, 2004, B1.
- ^ Derek Gentile, "Review may not be ready for meeting on Plain School," Berkshire Eagle, December 12, 2004, 17.
- ^ "Alderman, Bissell" in Hartford Courant, May 4, 1999.
- ^ "Greater Holyoke's newer residents," Transcript-Telegram, May 20, 1948, 3.
- ^ a b c d e f "Alderman, Bissell," American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 6.
- ^ Historic Building Detail: BLM.1000, Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, no date. Accessed October 8, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Alderman, Bissell," American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1970): 10.
- ^ "AIC asks zone change for $1 million form," The Springfield Union, August 30, 1968, 21.
- ^ "Architect is selected for new police station," The Springfield Union, April 5, 1967, 26.
- ^ "Southwick High School specs are approved," The Springfield Union, February 13, 1968, 11.
- ^ "LEX.2145." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed August 10 2021.
- ^ "SOH.96." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed August 10 2021.
- ^ "MDF.1114." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed August 10 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Alderman, Bissell," American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1962): 7.
- ^ "Regional School Committee Chooses Architect for Job" in North Adams Transcript, February 13, 1959, 11.
- ^ "New Weston High School Has About Everything" in Boston Globe, December 3, 1961, 38.
- ^ Berkshire Eagle, July 9, 1965, 11.
- ^ a b "AMH.1007." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed August 10 2021.
- ^ "Regional Vocational School Groundbreaking Ceremony Held" in Assabet Valley Beacon, April 15, 1971, 30.
- ^ "Jaffrey, N. H. Firm Receives Solar Heat Research Grant" in Sentinel and Enterprise, May 17, 1977, 16.