User:JPRiley/Hodgdon

Henry R. Shepley
Born	(1887-05-01)May 1, 1887 Brookline, Massachusetts
Died	November 24, 1962(1962-11-24) (aged 75) Boston
Nationality	United States
Occupation	Architect

The B B Chemical Company building in Cambridge, designed by Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott and completed in 1937.

The Court of Honor of the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, designed by Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott and dedicated in 1960.

Henry R. Shepley (1887–1962) was an American architect.

Life and career

Henry Richardson Shepley was born May 1, 1887 in Brookline, Massachusetts to architect George Foster Shepley and Julia Hayden (Richardson) Shepley. His grandfather was architect Henry Hobson Richardson. He was educated at the Groton School before entering Harvard College, graduating in 1910. In 1911 he traveled to France to study at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, and was awarded a diploma in 1914. After his return to the United States he joined Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, later Coolidge & Shattuck, as a drafter. In this capacity he was designer of the S K Club in Cambridge, completed in 1916. During World War I Shepley was in charge of the construction all air service facilities in the Paris District, including Orly Field. At the end of the war he was architect to the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, and was discharged in May of 1919. After he returned to Boston he rejoined Coolidge & Shattuck, and was promoted to chief drafter in 1920. In 1924, following the death of George C. Shattuck, surviving partner Charles Allerton Coolidge formed a new partnership with Shepley and two others to form the firm of Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott. When Coolidge died in 1936 Shepley became senior partner, which he remained until his death. In 1952 the firm became Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott with the addition of Joseph P. Richardson, another grandson of Richardson, to the partnership. Shepley continued the firm's focus on institutional architecture, and designed buildings for many major institutions, including Boston Children's Hospital, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Northeastern University, Rhode Island Hospital, Smith College, Vanderbilt University, Vassar College and Wellesley College, among others.

Late in his career the firm was chosen architect for the Netherlands American Cemetery, which was dedicated in 1960. For his role in this work Shepley was awarded the badge of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1961. He received other major awards for other work, including the Gold Medal of the Architectural League of New York in 1933, the medal of the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1953, an honorary Doctor of Arts from Harvard University in 1957 and the Gold Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1958.

From 1936 to 1940 Shepley was a member of the United States Commission of Fine Arts, and was its vice chair from 1938.

Shepley joined the American Institute of Architects in 1921, and was elected a Fellow in 1936.

Personal life

In 1919, four months after his discharge, Shepley was married to Anna Lowell (Gardiner) Draper, daughter of Robert Hallowell Gardiner III. They had five children, including four sons and one daughter. After twenty years in Brookline, in 1941 the couple moved to Essex, buying a Colonial-era house at 102 Apple Street, which was restored by Shepley. Shepley died November 24, 1962 at his winter residence in Boston.