Norman Isham
| Norman Morrison Isham | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 12, 1864 |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Wickford, Rhode Island |
| Resting place | Elm Grove Cemetery in North Kingstown, Rhode Island |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Brown University |
| Occupation | architectural historian, preservationist, author |
| Known for | Preservation of colonial-era buildings in Rhode Island |
Norman Morrison Isham (1864–1943) was a prominent architectural historian, author, and professor at Brown University and RISD. He was an ardent preservationist and a pioneer in the study of early American architecture.[2]
Contents
Biography
Norman M. Isham was born in Hartford, Connecticut on November 12, 1864, to Dr. Henry and Frances Elizabeth (Smyth) Isham.[2] As a child his family moved to Providence, Rhode Island. Norman Isham attended Mowry and Goff's preparatory school and Brown University. At Brown he received a A.B. in 1886 and an A.M. in Architecture in 1890.[3] After graduation in 1886, Isham worked for architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter and Wilson and later Martin and Hall. He also served as an architecture instructor at Brown University.[3][4]
In 1899 Isham and Benjamin Wright created an architecture partnership which existed from 1912 to 1920 and 1923 to 1933. Isham chaired the architectural department at the Rhode Island School of Design starting in 1912.[3] He was a member of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects and published several architecture texts, including "Early Rhode Island Houses" in 1895. Isham was well known for his renovations of many prominent early Rhode Island and other New England houses, particularly, stone-enders.[4]
After Isham's wife, Elizabeth Barbour Ormsbee, died in 1917, he moved from Providence to Wickford, Rhode Island. There, he constructed a two-story, shingle-style Colonial Revival home on Boston Neck Road. Initially, it was a summer home, but he moved there permanently after the death of his wife.[3]
Isham was a consultant on the building of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,[2] and was a consulting architect on the Delaware Legislative Hall, 1930-1933.[3][5]
Memberships and societies
- Member of the General Society of Colonial Wars[citation needed]
- Elected to the Walpole Society in 1911[2]
- Elected to the American Antiquarian Society in 1933[2]
Historic preservation
Norman Isham is perhaps best known for his work preserving and restoring Colonial-era homes and structures in Rhode Island.[3] He wrote extensively on the topic of Colonial architecture and furniture.[3] His books Early Rhode Island Houses, pubished with Albert F. Brown in 1895, and Early Connecticut Houses, published in 1900, are classics in their field.[2]
Some of the buildings Isham worked to preserve include:
- Bullock-Thomas House, North Kingstown, Rhode Island [3]
- Clemence-Irons House, Johnston, Rhode Island, 1691
- Clement Weaver House, East Greenwich, Rhode Island, 1679
- Eleazer Arnold House, Lincoln, Rhode Island, 1693
- Gilbert Stuart birthplace, Saunderstown, Rhode Island, 1751[3]
- John Balch House, Beverly, Massachusetts, 1679
- John Updike House, North Kingstown, Rhode Island [3]
- Old City Hall, Newport, Rhode Island [3]
- Newport Colony House, Newport, Rhode Island, 1739[3]
- Newport Brick Market, Newport, Rhode Island, 1762
- Smith's Castle, Wickford, Rhode Island, 1678
- Stephen Hopkins House, Providence, Rhode Island, 1708[3]
- Redwood Library, Newport, Rhode Island, 1747
- Trinity Church (Newport, Rhode Island), 1725
- University Hall, Brown University [2]
- Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House, Newport, Rhode Island, 1697
- Whitehall Museum House, Middletown, Rhode Island, 1729[3]
Death and burial
Norman Isham died on January 1, 1943.[2] His funeral attracted many renowned architects to Wickford to pay their respects. Tragically, fellow Providence architect Harry Slocomb suffered a heart attack and died after Isham's funeral service.[3]
Isham is buried with his wife and parents at Elm Grove Cemetery in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.[3] He left no descendants.[4]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Norman Morrison Isham at home.sprynet.com
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Isham bio
- Examples of Isham's work
- Norman Isham Papers Collection at the RI Historical Society
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This article about a United States architect or architectural firm is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with unsourced statements from December 2015
- 1864 births
- 1943 deaths
- People from Providence, Rhode Island
- American architects
- People from North Kingstown, Rhode Island
- Writers from Hartford, Connecticut
- Burials in Rhode Island
- Brown University alumni
- Rhode Island School of Design faculty
- American architect stubs
