Smith Hall, Capstone Drive at Sixth Avenue, Tuscaloosa

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ALA,63-TUSLO,26-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Named for Dr. Eugene Allen Smith, professor of geology at the University of Alabama and State Geologist Smith Hall is significant both as an integral part of the Greater University Plan for the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and as a Beaux Arts style academic structure that originally housed geological and biological laboratories, classrooms, offices, and, most importantly, a museum known since as the Alabama Museum of Natural History.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ALA,63-TUSLO,26-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of erection: Cornerstone ceremonies took place May 28, 19 07. Ground breaking ceremonies were held in May, The building was accepted by the architect for the Board of Trustees on May 1, and the dedication ceremonies were held on1 Monday of Commencement Week, May 30, 2.

Architect: Princeton trained architect Frank Lockwood of Montgomery, Alabama designed Smith Hall, as well as Morgan and Comer Halls, all completed on the University of Alabama campus between and These three buildings, each of yellow Missouri brick and grey Bedford stone from Indiana, were designed and 1 "Great Work in Geology Planned for the Boys and Girls of Alabama," Birmingham Age Herald, May 22, "Beautiful Smith Hall Dedicated," The Crimson and White, University of Alabama, May 31, 16. Eugene Allan Smith File Box Clipping File Folder 1, Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 2) constructed in response to the Greater University Plan developed by George C.

Cook of Samuel Parsons & Co., a landscape architecture and planning firm of New York City. The Greater University Plan had been commissioned by the Society for the Alumni under the leadership of its President, Hill Ferguson, and the chairman of its Greater University Committee, Robert Jemison, both University alumni and real estate developers from Birmingham. 3. Original and subsequent owners: University of Alabama. 4. Original and subsequent occupants: Until the state's geological and natural history collections accumulated by the Geological Survey of Alabama (first established in as well as the survey's scientific research laboratories, library, and university classrooms, occupied the building.

In Smith Hall houses the administrative and exhibition functions of the Alabama Museum of Natural History. 5. Builder, Contractor: The Bynum Construction 2 Company, 3rd Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama Bynum, Manager. Building cost at completion: 6. Original Plans and Construction Information: Photocopies of four of the original architectural drawings [elevations, and sections] are on file with the University of Alabama Facilities Planning and Design Services Department. The building was constructed in accordance with the original plans presented by architect Frank Lockwood. A large collection of glass plate photographic negatives of the building construction and ground breaking as well as several floor plans are on file with the Alabama Museum of Natural History in Smith Hall.

Prints of these negatives are on file at the W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library of the university. Copies of the Birmingham City Directories, Vois. XXIV, and XXVI, Polk & Co.: Birmingham, AL, 3 "Eugene A. Smith One of Alabama's Greatest Men," Birmingham Age Herald, May 23, in Eugene Allan Smith File Clipping File, Folder 1, Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 3) Greater University Plan are located in Box 107 of the Hill Ferguson Collection at Special Collections. An original of the plan is located in Special Collections at the Frances Loeb Memorial Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. 7.

Alterations and Additions: There have been no alterations or additions to the exterior of Smith Hall since its dedication in The basement area was not excavated until the There have been other alterations to the interior, both permanent and temporary. The most visually intrusive alteration is a hydraulic elevator. This elevator connects the museum entrance lobby [first floor] to all other floors. The elevator shaft is concealed behind the south wall of the entrance lobby in close proximity to the primary staircase leading to the exhibition hall [second floor]. It emerges in the museum exhibition space as a freestanding shaft which then projects through the gallery mezzanine and ceiling to the attic.

The elevator was installed in The other major alteration is a glass partition wall with double glass doors installed in the mid-1980s in the museum entrance lobby. Placed just to the east of the transverse axis corridor connecting the central block to the north and south wings, this glass wall isolates the museum exhibition spaces from the general building circulation, while permitting visual perception of the lobby's original architectural character. Two less permanent, but visually intrusive alterations have been installed in the museum exhibition hall. First, in the southeast corner of the hall, beneath the gallery mezzanine, eight-foot high partitions have been installed, linking the elevator shaft to the exterior wall and to three columns.

This enclosure forms a space for paleontology laboratories, but severely compromises the spatial character of the exhibition hall. Secondly, on the gallery mezzanine level two exhibit cases have been constructed which occupy more than three guarters of the northeast and northwest corners of the continuous balcony floor space, obliterating two windows and significantly altering the spatial volume and lighting. B. Historical Context: . At the May, Commencement Meeting of the Society for the # Alumni, Dr. John R. Dewberry, '95 introduced a resolution which stated that: "by one means or another, a geological SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 4) museum should be built to house Dr. Eugene A.

Smith's wonderful collection of minerals and other geological specimens."4 The university had appointed Dr. Smith professor of geology and mineralogy in Smith had also served as Alabama's State Geologist since The substantial and important collection Smith and others had gathered over three decades of field work lacked appropriately designed storage, organization, and exhibition space. The Society for the Alumni, under the leadership of its President, Hill Ferguson agreed to address this issue as part of an ambitious review of the university and its facilities. What emerged for presentation to the Board of Trustees one year later was to become known as the Greater University Plan.

This plan was to play an integral role in the physical development of the University of Alabama campus for the next 50 years. In early Hill Ferguson and Robert Jemison, Jr. were working on the Mountain Terrace real estate development in Birmingham. For this work Jemison had employed the firm of Samuel Parsons & Co., Landscape Architects of New York City. Jemison's father, Tuscaloosa native and real estate developer Robert. Jemison, had employed Samuel Brown Parsons, the primary partner of the same firm in to plan Glen Iris Residence Park in Birmingham.

Ferguson thought it might be: "an excellent opportunity to use the services of this firm in preparing a plan that would include not only the Geological Museum but also a number of other buildings of which the University was in great need."5 Samuel Parsons & Co. had designed parks and private estate grounds throughout the country. They had also developed plans for other college and university campuses, including 4 Hill Ferguson, "Conception and Campaign for the Greater University of Alabama March 2, typescript Introduction to Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, Hill Ferguson Collection, Box File XII, Item 1, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Records for the Society of the Alumni have not been located.

5 Hill Ferguson, "Conception and Campaign for the Greater University of Alabama 2. # SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 5) work at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania.6 In a letter dated February 1, Hill Ferguson wrote to George Cook of Samuel Parsons & Co. requesting assistance in developing a plan for the improvement of the university grounds in Tuscaloosa.

This plan was to be presented to the Society for the Alumni at its Commencement Meeting scheduled for May 27, In his response dated February 7, from San Diego, California, Cook expressed not only his pleasure at the invitation but also his willingness to return to New York by way of Birmingham to consult with Ferguson and what was now referred to as the Geological Museum Committee.8 Robert Jemison, '74 chaired this new committee of 21 members which included John Dewberry, Dr. Eugene A. Smith, Judge Thomas M.

Owens, and at least one sitting member of the Board of Trustees, Daniel Pratt, In his letter of February 7, to Hill Ferguson, George Cook had requested a topographical map of the contour of the university grounds and also the identification and location of existing university buildings and principal trees. Dr. # Edgar B. Kay, Dean of the Engineering School, began to 5 6l Marjorie Longenecker White, "The Grid and the Garden," "Biographies of Early Planners," Designs on Birmingham-A Landscape History of a Southern City and its Suburbs, (Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Historical Society, The National Encyclopedia of American Biography. 26 (New York: James T. White, Co.), See Appendix A for a biography of Samuel Brown Parsons, Jr.

and information on George Cook 7 Hill Ferguson to George Cook, February, 1, Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, Box File XII, Item 1. 8 George Cook to Hill Ferguson, February 7, Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, Box File XII, Item 1. See Appendix for a biography of Robert Jemison, chairman of the Geological Museum Committee and of its successor committee, the Greater University Committee. # SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 6) prepare the map with student assistance.9 This map, however, was not sent to the offices 10 of Parsons & Co. until four months later on May 4, President John W. Abercrombie was more efficient in identifying the physical plant needs of the university.

In a letter to Hill Ferguson dated April 18, Abercrombie listed the needs as: "geological laboratory, library, gymnasium, engineering, academic, law department, medical department, biological laboratory, auditorium, administration, dormitories11 for men, living halls for women, chapter houses, YMCA, etc." The Board of Trustees would later prioritize this list and recommend four new buildings: "museum (geological and biological laboratories), engineering building and power plant, academic building, and a women's dormitory."12 Working within a limited time schedule shortened by the delayed receipt of the contour plan, Cook provided Ferguson with a Preliminary Plan for the new university campus on May 15, 19 07. This plan projected a totally new Beaux Arts campus and all new buildings.

On May 17, Ferguson forwarded instructions required to revise the plan to a presentable 9/ ^George Cook to Hill Ferguson, February 7, Hill Ferguson to Prof. Palmer, April 14, Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, Box File XII, Item 1. 10 George Cook to Hill Ferguson, May 7, Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, Box File XII, Item 1. John W. Abercrombie to Hill Ferguson, April 18, Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, Box File XII, Item 1. 12 Adjourned Meeting Minutes, May 1, Trustee Record: Minutes of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees Meetings, June 1901-May 29, University Archives No. 96-81A5990.8, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

These four "new" buildings became Smith Hall, the museum and scientific laboratories, Comer Hall, the engineering building, Morgan Hall, the academic building, and Tutwiler Hall, the women's dormitory, In 400 students including 55 women attended the university. The number of university educated Alabamians would increase to students by (Robert Mellown, The University of Alabama: A Guide to the Campus, Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 7) state for the late May meeting of the Society of the Alumni. Ferguson's first concern was to retain existing late century campus buildings, Garland and Manly Halls as they then stood and to show Clark Hall as an attachment to the main new buildings in the proposed plan.

He viewed the inclusion of existing buildings as crucial to gaining and maintaining the support of the alumni for the campus plan. Ferguson informed Cook that: "after a full consultation with Mr. Jemison, that we do not want any politicians to get up and say that we are13wiping out the old university entirely, landmarks and all." Ferguson also suggested moving the boat house from a peninsula prone to winter floods, and adding a golf course on the plateau between the proposed university building complex and the Warrior River. Ferguson noted: "I will try to get the Tuscaloosa Golf Club interested in this feature within the next year or two."14 He further noted Robert Jemison's suggestion "to 'make pictures out of this' as far as possible, showing trees, etc.

as most of the folks around here are very5 slow in appreciating the cold lines of a formal map."' Ferguson's letter closed with a reminder of the May deadline and requested that the presentation drawings be sent directly to the university in care of President Abercrombie. In a hand- written post script, Ferguson questions: "Aren't you making the buildings too large?" Ferguson suggested cost projections for each building of the plan and estimated a budget for the geological museum. His assessment assumed that "in fact most of the buildings putI6 up in the next 10 years will be in the variety." Ferguson's estimates fall below the mark and Smith Hall [the "Ferguson to Cook, May 17, Greater University Plan. 14 Ferguson to Cook, May 17, Greater University Plan.

15 Ferguson to Cook, May 17, Greater University Plan. 16 Ferguson to Cook, May 17, Greater University Plan. SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 8) geological museum] was completed four years later at a cost of George Cook met the deadline and the "Plan Showing the Arrangement of Grounds of the State University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Ala."18 was unveiled at the Commencement Meeting of the Society for the Alumni on May 29, The Greater University Plan, as it would become known, was well-received and enthusiastically endorsed. The Society for the Alumni paid Samuel Parsons & Co. for their efforts.19 This investment in visionary planning would prove a wise investment to the university and the state for decades.

The regular order of business for the May 30, Annual Meeting of the Board of Trustees was suspended on the motion of Trustee Henry B. Foster "in order to receive a committee from the alumni known as the 'Greater University' Committee." Speaking for this committee, its chairman Robert Jemison, Sr. presented to the trustees an ambitious plan for the university's growth and development. The bold and imaginative plan united existing university buildings with proposed new construction in a coherent vision of the future university campus.20 The plan for the Greater University campus was predicated upon the design principles of Beaux Arts architectural 17 "Eugene A.

Smith One of Alabama's Greatest Men," Birmingham Age Herald, May 23, 2 in Eugene Allan Smith File Box Clipping File Folder 1, Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. I8 "Plan Showing the Arrangement of the Grounds of the State University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, AL" found on the back of a form letter from Hill Ferguson to the Alumni of the University of Alabama, Sept. 18, Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, An original ink-on-linen print of this plan is located at the Special Collection of Frances Loeb Memorial Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. 19 Robert Oliver Mellown, The University of Alabama: A Guide to the Campus, (Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 59.

20 Annual Meeting Minutes, May 30, Trustee Record, # SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 9) planning developed at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the official French school of art in Paris. The basic tenants of this system of planning consisted of geometric clarity organized through symmetry, axiality, and focal points. These organizing principles were adapted to the issues of urban planning and to the urbanistic context of the American university. The French system of planning allowed designer George Cook to integrate an expanded University of Alabama campus with existing structures and to create a sense of visual unity. The specific plan for the university campus maintained late nineteenth century buildings. Garland, Manly, and Woods Halls, as a central focus of the campus.

A tree-lined axial walkway connected this focus to University Avenue. Perpendicular to this axis was a proposed cross axis, the origins of Capstone Drive, where a new building was located at each terminus. These two buildings, critical to the plan, were two of the first buildings to be constructed in implementation of the plan. By Smith and Morgan Halls stood at opposite ends of Capstone Drive completing that axis. A meandering park which was proposed as a linkage between the campus and the Warrior River to the North was abandoned. The Greater University Plan, as presented, received the unanimous support of the Board of Trustees.

The trustees appointed a committee of five members, including President Abercrombie, "to cooperate with this committee from the Alumni Association" in an effort to bring this plan to fruition.21 During the next year, both this committee and the alumni waged a campaign to solicit support for what became known as the Greater University Plan and "the Parson's Plan". The Society for the Alumni wasted no time in initiating their campaign to solicit support for the Greater University Plan from its membership and encourage their active participation in seeking the support of the Alabama legislature. A 91 member committee was established under the leadership of Chairman E. F. Ellsberry,'86, of Geneva.

Adopting the slogan Students Next Fall", Ellsberry wrote "to the alumni and students of the university encouraging them to solicit new students for the upcoming fall term with the intention to fill the halls to 21 Ibid. * SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 10) overflowing with students."22 The alumni goal was to impress upon the legislature the importance of appropriating the necessary funds to make the Greater University Plan a reality. Adopting as its motto: "Quarter Million Dollar University Improvements for the Next Five Years," the Society for the Alumni applied its influence both within and without the legislature to achieve that goal. The need for immediate action became even clearer to some alumni when the Birmingham Ledger headlined an article: Wanted by Pres.

Thach for Auburn." The article clarified that the money Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn (now Auburn University) 23 sought was "to erect new buildings and purchase equipment." This announcement by a rival institution of higher education made even more evident to Hill Ferguson and the Society for the Alumni the urgency to push forward with the Greater University Plan. At the urging of Robert Jemison, Sr. colored lithographic prints of the Parson's Plan and other promotional materials were sent from the University to Alumni, friends of the University, and members of the incoming legislature. Essential to the success of the campaign, however, would be gaining the support of the newly elected governor of the state, Braxton Bragg Comer.

While Governor Comer was initially skeptical of the scale of the proposed plan, he eventually became the plan's prime advocate. While the alumni campaign attracted limited private contributions, it was highly successful in the political arena. During the Spring Session of the Alabama legislature, with Governor Comer's encouragement, passed an act to "provide 22 E.F. Ellsberry, Chairman of the Campaign of the Society of the Alumni to the Alumni and Students of the University, The Greater University Plan, July 10, 23 Wanted by President Thatch for Auburn," The Birmingham Ledger, June 4, in "Greater University Plan of University of Alabama, Hill Ferguson Collection, Box Item 1, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. # SMITH HALL HABS NO.

AL-952 (Page 11) for better equipment and support for the University of Alabama and to appropriate funds therefore." M At the Called Meeting of April 5, 19 07, the University's Board of Trustees appointed a five member committee "to recommend a plan for the erection of the buildings for the Greater University This Committee for the Greater University consisted of John Abercrombie, President of the University; Robert Jemison, Chairman of the Greater University Committee of the Alumni; Hill Ferguson, President of the Society of the Alumni; and two Trustee members, Johnson and Daniel Pratt, Jr. While the latter two failed to participate, the other committee members met three times.

Twenty-five days later at the May 1, Adjourned Meeting of the Board of Trustees, Abercrombie, Jemison, and Ferguson presented a signed eight-point plan for action.

This plan called for the immediate design and construction of a group of new buildings organized in accordance with "the lines laid down by Parsons & Company." It also suggested that "the quadrangle form for grouping buildings" and "the Colonial 25or modified Classical style of architecture be adopted." The committee established construction priorities in the following order: "the Museum [geology and biology laboratories],26 engineering building, power plant and academic building..." The committee further recommended the appointment of a Building Committee to oversee all aspects of the expansion program for the Board of Trustees and suggested that the committee consist of the President of the University (Abercrombie), the President of the Society of the Alumni (Ferguson), and three members of the Board of Trustees.

The Governor of Alabama (Comer) was to serve as ^Mellown, The University of Alabama: A Guide to the Campus, 62; Hill Ferguson, "Conception and Campaign for Greater University of Alabama, 4, March 2, Typescript Introduction to Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, Hill Ferguson Collection, Box File XII, Item 1, Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries. See Appendix D for information on Gov. Braxton Bragg Comer whose support of educational facilities across Alabama led to his nickname as "Alabama's Great Education Governor." 25 Adjourned Meeting Minutes, May 1, Trustee Record 26 Adjourned Meeting Minutes, Trustee Record # SMITH HALL HABS NO.

AL-952 (Page 12) the "Ex officio Chairman", but the real duties of the committee chairman were to be placed in Abercrombie's hands. Additional recommendations of the committee included the retention of Parsons & Co. as landscape architects for a four year period as well as suggestions for the hiring of both design and supervising architects. After a lengthy discussion, Judge Foster moved that the report of the committee be received, but that action be delayed until the Annual27Meeting of the Board was held at the end of the month. At its May 29, Annual Meeting, the Board of Trustees appointed a powerful building committee to oversee the design and construction of the proposed buildings, but the official committee was substantially different in composition than the one recommended.

"On motion, it was ordered that a Building Committee of five members, to consist of the Governor 28 as chairman and four other Trustees to be appointed by him." Robert Jemison, Sr. and Hill Ferguson were no longer central players as the mantle of control passed into the hands of Gov. Braxton Bragg Comer. While the general recommendations of the Committee for the Greater University remained as guidelines for the new Building Committee, the specific decisions regarding the design architect and supervision were revised. Samuel Parsons & Co. was not retained and nor was E.B.

Homer of the Rhode Island School of Design appointed to prepare building plans and serve as professor of architectural engineering at the university as the Committee for the Greater University (Abercrombie, Jemison and Ferguson) had earlier recommended. Similarly Warren P. Laird of the University of Pennsylvania was not hired to supervise either landscaping or building plans. Rather the Board of Trustees "named Frank Lockwood of Montgomery as an architect with whom the Building Committee shall advise, but the committee shall have the power to contract with him or not according to their discretion. "29 "Adjourned Meeting Minutes, Trustee Record 28 Adjourned Meeting Minutes, Trustee Record 29 Adjourned Meeting Minutes, Trustee Record * SMITH HALL HABS NO.

AL-952 (Page 13) Lockwood was a Princeton University trained architect with offices in Montgomery. He had just completed design of the North and South Wings of the Alabama State Capitol and was then engaged in the renovation30of the University of Alabama's President's Mansion. While it is not clear whether Lockwood had the support of Ferguson, who wished for a more substantial architect, he clearly had the trust of Comer. The Building Committee, under Comer's direction, exercised its discretion and hired Lockwood as the architect for all proposed University buildings. During the first two weeks of June, Lockwood's hiring is confirmed in two letters from Eugene Allen Smith to his son Truman.

In the first letter Smith announces Lockwood's provisional appointment and in the later letter, he states his plans to meet with Lockwood, the architect ... is coming to look over the grounds and to get plans of the buildings in order to make estimates to the Board of Trustees." It had been a busy six weeks since the Called Meeting on April 25, Less than one year after the unveiling of the Greater University Plan to the Board of Trustees, the appointed Building Committee had put the plan into motion with the financial support of the Alabama legislature under the direction of the governor. As a demonstratation of resolve, a cornerstone for the museum, which would become Smith Hall, was laid on May 29, the day the Building Committee was formed.

This was two weeks before Eugene Allen Smith and Frank Lockwood met for the first time. Smith Hall was one of the first buildings designed in general accordance with the Greater University Plan. Architect Frank Lockwood simultaneously designed the engineering building, completed in and later named 30 "Death Claims Architect Here," Montgomery Advertiser, 16 January "Lockwood, the Architect Dead," Montgomery Advertiser, 11 January Henry F. Whitey and Elise Rathburn Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased), Los Angeles: Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography 26 (New York, NY: James T. White & Company, 6. See Appendix A for a brief biography of Frank Lockwood 31 Letters Eugene A.

Smith to Truman Smith, June 9, & June 11, Eugene Allan Smith File Box Personal Correspondence Folder 12, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. # ' SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 14) Comer Hall. The academic building [Morgan Hall] and the women's dormitory [Tutwiler Hall] were completed in and Tutwiler Hall differed from Lockwood's earlier structures in that it, and subsequent campus buildings, were constructed out of Alabama red brick rather than Missouri yellow brick.32 As an architectural statement.

Smith Hall is significant both as an integral part element of the Greater University Plan and as a Beaux Arts style academic structure that originally housed geological and biological laboratories, classrooms, offices, and, most importantly, a museum known since as the Alabama Museum of Natural History. This museum housed and exhibited the extensive geological collections gathered by Dr. Eugene Allen Smith, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the university and State Geologist and by his associates at the Geological Survey of Alabama. The field work performed by Smith and his associates advanced the scientific investigation of the natural resources of the state. Their findings were published in reports of the Geological Survey of Alabama.

These reports became guidelines for Alabama's industrial development and were integral to the economic growth of the state. The architecture of the museum was intended to reflect, on a smaller scale, the architectural design and spatial layout of the great museums of natural history then recently constructed in New York and Washington, as well as the great exhibition halls of the Colombian Exposition in Chicago and the St. Louis World Exposition. In addition, the architecture of Smith Hall both predates and predicts, in a modest fashion, the Field Museum in Chicago, completed in As an element of the Plan, Smith Hall acts in concert with Morgan Hall, to establish the most prominent axis of that Beaux Arts campus plan.

Located at opposite ends of Capstone Drive, the two yellow brick structures are mirror images of each other. Their facades are nearly identical, despite their significantly different interior plans. By the time of the May 28, Annual Meeting of the Board of Trustees, ground had just been broken for the construction of what was then referred to as the Geological 32 The Manufacturer's Association of Alabama objected to the use of Missouri brick and in May formally requested that state building projects give preference to "materials and supplies of Alabama manufacture for all purchases made for and in behalf of the state." Mellown, Guide, 66. # SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 15) Museum Building.

At this meeting, Judge Thomas McClellan presented a resolution to formally confirm: ...the suggestion and action of the Society (of the Alumni) in naming the Geological Museum Building, soon to be constructed, for Eugene Allen Smith, in honor and recognition of his long faithful, helpful, and distinguished service to this institution, not only in the discharge of his duties pertaining to the Chair of Geology, but also in the wider field of voice counsel, inspired and tempered always by his profound affection for his alma mater, said building be and it is hereby named the AEugene Allen Smith Building.33 Construction on the museum building proved to be a lengthier task than originally anticipated by architect, client, or the contractor, Bynum and Company of Birmingham.

Very little is known about the contractor, or how this company secured the contract for Comer, Smith, and Morgan Halls. The Birmingham City Directory lists only a Bynum Millinery in the year the contracts were bid. Yet, in a response letter dated March 26, President Afoercrombie announced to inquisitive building supply firms that Bynum of Birmingham had been selected as the contractor and that further inquiries should be addressed to either him or to the architect, Frank Lockwood. From to the Birmingham City Directories list the Bynum Construction Company at an address adjacent to the millinery.

In the year after Morgan Hall is completed, this reference contains no record of either the Bynum Construction Company or the millinery in the city of Birmingham or any other city in Alabama.34 In a series of letters to his son Truman in Mobile, Smith chronicles both his joy and his frustrations during the 33 Annual Meeting Minutes, May 28, Trustee Record: Minutes of the Board of Trustees Meetings, May 27, May 31, p. 59, University Archives No. 96.81A5990.9, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. ^Birmingham City Directories, Vols. XXIV, and XXVI, Polk & Co.: Birmingham, AL, - . . '" "" " ' '.- A'X&f-Z' SMITH HALL HABS NO.

AL-952 (Page 16) long, two year construction project.35 Construction was first delayed when Bynum suggested that the building be relocated because excavations revealed "a very rotten crawfish clay" which would make it "unsafe and impracticable to put the building upon the present foundation."*6 After resolving this issue, by excavating deeper to firm clay, inclement weather extended construction.

The longest delay, however, began in early March, when a derrick lifting a six-ton stone fell, taking with it four iron columns which supported the exhibition hall floor as well as bending several of the steel floor girders on the columns.37 Although Eugene Allen Smith moved into his office in March the Board of Trustees was impatient that the building was still not complete.38 At a Called Meeting of the Board of Trustees on March 16, on a motion by Judge Foster, Frank Lockwood "was instructed to inform the contractor that the Board insists that Comer and Smith Halls be completed by May 1, and that if they are not completed by that time, the Building Committee will take charge of said buildings with the authority to complete them." 39 Seventy- six days later, at the June 1, Annual Meeting of the 35 Eugene A.

Smith to Truman Smith, June 22, Eugene Allan Smith File Box Personal Correspondence Folders W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. 36 Minutes of the Building Committee Meeting of June 22, Birmingham, Alabama (printed) in Building Committee File, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. "Eugene A. Smith to Truman Smith, March 12, Eugene Allan Smith File Personal Correspondence Folder 14, Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. 38 Eugene A. Smith to Truman Smith, March 7, Eugene Allan Smith File Box Personal Correspondence Folder 15, W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL.

39 Called Meeting Minutes, Trustee Record, SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 17) Board of Trustees, the buildings were praised as "beautiful" and the Building Committee was "congratulated upon the results of their labors."40 Smith Hall had been formally dedicated at public ceremonies two days earlier on May 30, 1910.4I PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION A. General Statement: 1. Architectural Character: Smith Hall was designed in the style of Beaux Arts Classicism and is constructed of yellow brick manufactured by the Hydraulic Press Brick Company of St. Louis, Missouri and grey Bedford stone from Indiana.

The building features a three and one-half story central block with a two and one-half story museum exhibition hall contained behind an engaged colonnade of eight Ionic columns raised above a full story basement level. Placed symmetrically to either end of the central block and perpendicular to its length are two wings, two story in height. These wings originally contained classrooms, lecture rooms, and laboratories for the Department of Biology [north wing] and the Department of Geology [south wing] as well as the offices for Director and the Curator of the Museum. The main entrance to the building is through a massive pedimented stone doorway, centered on the basement level of the frontal [west] facade.

The name ASmith Hall' chiselled into the frieze above the transom over the double door entrance. Each wing has a similar stone doorway hood, without triangular pediment, where the departmental name is chiselled into the frieze. These wing entrances are on axis with each other in the centers of the facades perpendicular to the main [west] frontal facade. 40 Annual Meeting Minutes, June 1, Trustee Record, 41 "Great Work in Geology Planned for the Boys and Girls of Alabama," Birmingham Age Herald, May 22, "Beautiful Smith Hall Dedicated," The Crimson and White, University of Alabama, May 31, 16. Eugene Allan Smith File Box Clipping File Folder 1, Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Ah. # SMITH HALL HABS NO.

AL-952 (Page 18) The primary entrance is into the spacious museum lobby, dominated by a marble and iron staircase on axis with the entrance. This staircase leads to the museum exhibition hall on the second level. This main exhibition space is a two and one-half story space surrounded by a colonnade of Corinthian columns supporting a full entablature with a dentillated cornice including modillions and ovolo. Spanning the colonnade is a segmented arch glass ceiling which allows ample natural light to illuminate the hall. The staircase continues to the third level where a gallery mezzanine circumscribes the hall between the colonnade and the exterior walls of the central block. 2.

Condition of the Fabric: Smith Hall has been exceptionally well maintained except for minor chips and spalls in the stone string courses beneath windows at the basement level and other minor cosmetic blemishes. Some of this is due to the installation of brackets for exterior routing of electrical service and telephone lines; the brackets and cables have been removed. Where cracks appear in some facades, it is due most likely to settlement. B. Description of the Exterior: 1. Overall Dimensions: The three and one-half story central block of Smith Hall is 56' 5" in height from the datum waterline string coursing to the top of the roof. The top of the parapet line is 48' 4 above the same line. The top of the parapet line of the north and south wings is 32' above the described datum plane.

The central block is 9 wide (north-south) and 63' 4" deep (east -west) on the exterior with a stairwell for the main staircase extending to the east an additional 13' 10" from the center of the eastern facade. The exterior dimensions of the north wing isM 38' 5" wide on the frontal [west] facade and 96' deep. The south wing is 38' 5" wide on the frontal [west] facade and 96' 9 deep. The building's overall length is 7 wide; its overall width is 96' 10 2. Foundations: Reinforced concrete footings. 3. Walls: a. West Elevation: The primary frontal facade of the building is symmetrical about the main doorway. It consists of a three and one-half story central SMITH HALL HABS NO.

AL-952 (Page 19) block, with two story wings symmetrically placed at each end and extending forward approximately fifteen feet forward from the main facade. The building features a two and one-half story museum exhibition hall contained behind an engaged colonnade of eight Ionic columns raised above a full basement level of drafted rusticated brickwork. Seven large arched and keystoned double hung windows between the engaged columns give light to the main exhibition floor. Smaller casement windows above them illuminate the mezzanine. A molded string course separates these casement windows from the arched windows at the horizontal plane equivalent to the entablatures of the wings, while a string course surrounds the central block and wings at the level of the second floor.

A full entablature including an architrave, frieze, and cornice, with stone modillions, nests on top of the engaged colonnade and continues around the entire central block. A parapet the height of the entablature nests on top of the cornice as the final edge of the building. Both west wing facades present a row of four brick pilasters of the Tuscan order containing a central large double hung window, flanked by two narrower yet similar windows. A full entablature of the Tuscan Order sits on top of these pilasters and extends completely around each of the wings and supports a terminating parapet. Fenestration in the basement is a series of casement windows directly below the larger windows in the upper levels. b.

North Elevation: The facade is symmetrical around its central axis and contains the primary entrance to the north wing of the building. The primary second floor feature is a grouping of six brick pilasters of the Tuscan Order defining the central half of the second floor and resting upon the string course at the top of the full basement entrance level. These pilasters are equally spaced except for the central space between the third and fourth pilasters which is approximately double width. Double hung windows, with a sash height ratio of 2-4 (top to bottom), are located between the pilasters with three pane fixed sash windows sitting above. Similar windows are placed in a smooth brick wall of nearly one quarter of the facade surface at both ends.

The primary entrance into the wing is through a heavy stone doorway, similar to the main entrance but without a SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 20) triangular pediment. The word "Biology" is chiseled into the frieze above the transom over the double door entrance. The full basement level of drafted rusticated brickwork contains casement windows of the same width, and spacing as the second floor fenestration at only two thirds of the second floor vertical scale. The ground plane drops down one story just east of the entrance doorway exposing a poured concrete foundation wall with brick facing containing double hung windows of the same width and spacing as the floors above. c.

East Elevation: This rear elevation of the building faces a parking lot and lacks architectural detailing of the other facades. There are no formal entrances on this facade, but rather only two service entrances. The two wings extend eastward from the central block in the same manner as the west elevation. The wing facades are identical to those on the west elevation. The central staircase of the building extends nearly fourteen feet forward from the facade of the central block for the full height of the facade. Fenestration to either side of the staircase is identical to that on the west side facade minus the architectural detailing of the engaged colonnade. On the staircase facade, similar fenestration is used, but staggered vertically by one-half story.

The basement of drafted erusticated brickwork continues on this facade, however it sits upon a full story poured concrete foundation wall with brick facing set below a stone string course. d. South Elevation: The facade is a nearly identical mirror reflection of the north elevation and is the primary entrance into the south wing of the building. The single variation from north elevation is the word *^Geology' chiselled into the stone frieze above the transom over the double door entrance on this side. 4. Structural Framing: Iron and steel framework with exterior masonry bearing walls and stone colonnade. 5. Openings: a. Doors and Doorways: Each of the three primary # entrances contains large double wooden doors with full glazed panels with glazed transoms above. SMITH HALL HABS NO.

AL-952 (Page 21) Descriptions of the stone doorways have been partially given except for the stone console brackets beside each frieze used to support the cornice and, in the case of the main entrance, the pediment above the chiselled frieze. b. Windows: All windows are original to the construction and made of wood. The main windows in the museum exhibition hall are large arched double hung windows with side casement windows; an exterior stone keystone is at the top of each arched opening. Windows at the second level of the wings are double hung with the sash height ratio of 2/4 from the top to the bottom with three pane fixed sash windows above. Windows on the gallery mezzanine level are casement windows as they are on the basement ground floor.

All windows in the foundation level are simple double hung windows. Roofs: Both the north and the south wings terminate in an identical manner. A full entablature of the Tuscan Order, complete with architrave, fillet, frieze, and cornice wraps entirely around each wing. Contained within a parapet resting on top of the cornice is a hip roof with three roof vents spaced evenly along the roof ridge. The central block terminates with a full Ionic entablature with architrave, frieze, and cornice including evenly spaced plain console brackets within the fascia of the architrave. This entablature wraps around the entire central block and supports a parapet and a hip roof, with seven equally spaced half arch roof vent dormers on the east and west sides.

The hip roof is truncated and surmounted by a skylight approximately 82' 9 by 32' 5" over the exhibition hall below. The roof structure and the skylight are supported by iron trusses contained within the attic, a space used to separate this upper skylight from the segmented arch interior skylight above the exhibition hall. The two skylights are separated by approximately 10' 0" and both lie on the building's north/south axis. C. Description of Interior: 1. Floor Plans: a. First Floor Entrance Plan/Museum Lobby: Primary entrance through the west elevation is into the museum lobby, a space nearly one fifth the width SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 22) of the entire building. This grand space extends from the front doorway to the main marble and iron staircase at the rear of the building.

The space is divided into thirds by two colonnades of five columns each of the Tuscan Order, originating from pilasters on either side of the entrance and extending to the staircase balustrade. The column grid divides the space into three rows of five squares, a fifteen square grid, with the center row culminating at the foot of the staircase leading to the exhibition hall. The space is visually dominated by that staircase with marble treads, elaborate iron stair rails, and decorative newel posts containing cartouches including the "U of A" inscription in the design.

The staircase rises one-half level to a landing containing a bronze plaque commemorating the dedication of Smith Hall in The landing turns 90 degrees to each side and continues one-quarter level to another landing before finally turning another 90 degrees for the final ascent to the exhibition hall on the second level. At the third and middle column grid, the museum lobby is penetrated by a corridor forming a north/south axis extending the full length of the building, both originating and terminating at the building secondary entrances; the primary wing entrances on the north and south facades. Located off this axial hallway are classrooms, offices, and rest rooms.

Contained within the hallways at the north and south ends are small secondary wooden staircases which connect to the second floor (and to the foundation level) in a single straight run. Two major alterations to the original plan occur on this level. In a hydraulic elevator was added to connect the museum lobby with the exhibition hall and the gallery mezzanine above, as well as the basement level below. The elevator does not intrude into the lobby space but rather is built into the south wall, reducing the size of the classroom behind it. The elevator doors are located in the fifth column grid, in close proximity to the staircase.

In the mid-1980s, a glass curtain wall, extending from floor to 18" below the ceiling, was installed just beyond the third column grid and the north/south axis corridor. This transparent wall with metal mullions has glazed double doors on axis with the SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 23) main entrance and is used to isolate access to the museum spaces from the general building circulation. b. Second Floor Plan/Museum Exhibition Hall: The second floor contains the major space of Smith Hall: the two and one-half story museum exhibition hall.

The architecture of the space reflects on a modest scale the spacial layout and architectural design of other natural history museums constructed in the late nineteenth century in New York and Washington and is reminiscent of the grand exhibition halls of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Smith Hall predates the Field Museum in Chicago, completed in two years after the Smith Hall dedication. The exhibition hall is surrounded by a colonnade of massive, two story Corinthian columns, defining a space which is twice as long as it is deep, and supporting a full entablature with a cornice with dentillated cornice, modillions, and ovolo.

The of the colonnade, eight columns wide and four columns deep, reflects and reiterates the spacing of the engaged colonnade on the west facade which announces the museum from that exterior facade. Spanning the colonnade is a large segmented arch glass ceiling broken into sections by the colonnade below. The glass ceiling opens into the building attic and is covered by a glass skylight of approximately the same dimensions and elevated above it about ten feet by a set of iron trusses supporting the roof. A third floor gallery mezzanine circumscribes the space spanning between the colonnade and the exterior walls of the central block of the building, creating an intimate one-story exhibition corridor around the upper perimeter of the museum.

Arrival at the second floor/exhibition hall is by means of the formal marble and iron staircase originating on the first floor museum lobby, and continuing to the third floor gallery mezzanine. A pair of one-story Doric columns frame the staircase arrival point and support the back edge of the gallery mezzanine floor above. The transverse axis joining the exhibition hall to the north and south wings is in the center of the SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 24) space and symmetrically divides the four columns at the north and south ends of the museum. Double door openings lead into the corridors the width of a column grid, providing access to classrooms, offices and, in the south wing, a large lecture hall. Two major alterations to the original plan occurred in the hall.

The most pronounced is the addition of the elevator shaft which penetrates from the first level as a free standing shaft between the second and third columns from the south wall on the east side colonnade. This unfortunate resolution intrudes into the quality of the openness of the space and interrupts the Beaux Arts symmetry of the most prominent space in the building. Temporary partitions enclose the space from the elevator shaft to the east exterior wall and between the columns, enclosing the entire southeast corner of the museum space contained beneath the gallery mezzanine. While the elevator shaft might have stood as an isolated intrusion, these additional walls defining paleontological laboratories seriously compromise the architectural quality of the primary museum space.

Third Floor Plan/Gallery Mezzanine: The third floor consists exclusively of the gallery mezzanine which overlooks and circumscribes the museum exhibition hall. The hall is defined by a floor spanning between the colonnade of large Corinthian columns and the exterior walls of the central block of the building. The iron railing between the columns is a variation of that employed in the primary staircase. Two alterations to the original plan occur on this floor. The first is in continuation of the elevator, here as a free standing shaft. That shaft, however, rises at a point close to the gallery mezzanine railing impending upon the broad sense of spacial openness.

The second alteration is a pair of unfortunate wooden display cases installed in the northeast and northwest corners of the gallery mezzanine. Each display case extends from floor to ceiling and occupies more than three quarters of the corner. In addition, each covers a casement window at the north end of the space. Together they compromise the spacial and architectural character of the gallery mezzanine. SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 25) d. Foundation Floor Plan: The foundation floor is accessed primarily by the two original wooden staircases located near the secondary first floor entrances in the north and south wings and accessed through doorways. The addition of a hydraulic elevator now connects the first floor museum lobby with the foundation floor in an unobtrusive manner.

This level is the poured-in- place concrete foundation of the building. Ten heavy concrete piers are aligned with the bearing of the colonnades in the museum lobby on the floor above. Masonry bearing walls set the footprint of the building above, while masonry infill walls define laboratory and storage spaces. The foundation floor is below ground level on the west but due to ground level changes, is at ground level on the east. The architectural detailing on this level is utilitarian and of no visual consequence. e. Stairways: There are three stairways in the building. The primary marble and iron staircase connects the museum lobby with the museum exhibition hall and the gallery mezzanine.

Additionally, two wooden single run stairways located near the side entrances in the north and south wings which connect the first floor to the second floor as well as foundation level. All stairways have been previously described in detail. Flooring: All original flooring on the primary three floors was 3" tongue and groove hardwood, however only the museum lobby entrance and the gallery mezzanine retain and expose this surface. The museum exhibition hall has been resurfaced with an off-white, speckled vinyl 12" x 12" tile floor laid on top of the hardwood. The same tile was also applied onto the corridor floor connecting the museum lobby to the wing entrances on the first floor. All other floor surfaces have been carpeted with an institutional grade carpet.

Walls and Ceiling Finishes: While the architectural detailing on the column, entablatures, stairway, and building hardware is meticulous in its classical details, the ceilings are plain flat plaster with two exceptions. The segmented arch glass ceiling is broken into seven sections approximately equating the main colonnade in the space and separated into three sections along the long axis of a panel proportion. The ceiling of the museum lobby on the SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 26) first floor consists of full entablatures of the Tuscan Order connecting the double colonnade in both directions producing a coffered ceiling. The ceiling above the gallery mezzanine is plaster while all other ceilings are covered with a drop acoustical ceiling tile used to cover the sprinkler system.

The walls on the first floor are made of plaster and extend up 12' 0" with a picture railing at 10' 0". A series of display cabinets extending 2' 3" off both walls into the corridor are faced with plywood-fake- wood-paneling. The second floor corridors have plaster walls without picture railing. The museum exhibition hall has plaster walls with picture railing at 12' 0". The gallery mezzanine has plaster walls with a picture railing at 10' 0". The elaborate Corinthian capitals in the museum exhibition hall are plaster on wood, while the elaborate entablature it supports is modules of cast plaster. Doorways and Doors: On each floor, corridor doors are 7' 6" solid varnished wood with glass transoms above.

Primary classroom, lecture room, and office doors have two recessed panels below with a large glass panel above. Rest room doors are solid with five recessed panels. Solid wood double door 10' 0" high with four recessed square panels on each door connect the museum exhibition hall to second floor corridors while 7' 6" double doors with single recessed panels and six panel glass transoms above connect the museum lobby to the first floor corridors. SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 27) PART III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION A. Primary Sources for Architectural Information: Building Committee Files, University of Alabama Board of Trustees. W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Building Plans including Basement Plan of Smith Hall, First Floor Plan of Smith Hall, and Second Floor Plan of Smith Hall, Geological Survey of Alabama Glass Negative Collection No. Alabama Museum of Natural History, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but during the excavation of the basement and probably in the late Ferguson, Hill Collection, Box W. S. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, a bound volume of correspondence, advertising matter, circulars, programs used in the campaign. Hill Ferguson Collection, Box File XII. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Lockwood, Frank.

Building Plans for the Geological and Biological Building of the University of Alabama including Front and Rear Elevations for Brick and Stone Building, Section Through Center Elevation dated February 15, Gallery Plan and Basement Plan* Alabama Facilities Planning and Design Services Department, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Parsons & Co., Landscape Architects, St. James New York. Plan Showing Arrangement of Grounds of the state University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, Ala. Frances Loeb Memorial Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Plan Variations of the Plan executed for the University of Alabama, Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Smith, Eugene Allen Personnel Correspondence, File Box Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, AL. Smith Hall Construction Photographs, glass negative collection at Geological Survey of Alabama-Alabama Museum of Natural History; ring-bound notebook in Hoole Special Collections. SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 28) The Crimson and White, 31 May The University of Alabama: Tuscaloosa, AL. Trustee Record: Minutes of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees Meetings, June, 1901-May 29, University Archives No. 96-81A5990.8. Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Trustee Record: Minutes of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees Meetings, May 27, May 31, University Archives No. 96.81A5990.9.

Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. B. Secondary Sources Blumenson, John J. G. Identifying American Architecture-A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Forms Nashville: American Association for State and Local History, Business and Professional Directory of the Cities and Towns of Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia: Young & Co., Ferguson, Hill, "Conception and Campaign for the Greater University of Alabama 2 March in The Greater University Plan of the University of Alabama, Hill Ferguson Collection, Box File XII, Hoole Special Collections, University of Alabama Libraries, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Fleming, John and Hanson, Hoch; Pevsnor, Nikolaus. The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture. Vol. 4. London: Penguin Books, Fletcher, Bannister.

A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method. Vol. 17, Reset. New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, Lever, Jill and Harris, John. An Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture London and Boston: Faber and Faber Press, Mellown, Robert Oliver. The University of Alabama: A Guide to the Campus. Tuscaloosa and London: University of Alabama Press, Morris, Philip, and White, Marjorie Longenecker. Designs on Birmingham - A Landscape History of a Southern City and Its Suburbs. Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Historical Society, SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 29) R. L. Polk & Co.. Birmingham City Directories, Vol. XXIV,XXV,XXVI, Birmingham: R. L. Polk & Co., Wolfe, Suzanne Rau. The University of Alabama: A Pictorial History. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 198 3.

SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 30) APPENDIX A: FRANK LOCKWOOD - A

Short Biography

Frank Lockwood was born in Trenton, New Jersey. His father, a mechanical engineer had come from England to America to work on the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. Lockwood ancestors included seven generations of British architects and engineers. A not-too-distant cousin. Lord Frank Lockwood, was physician to Queen Victoria and second cousins included the noted writer, Rudyard Kipling. A gifted musician, Lockwood sang for various churches in New York city and was offered at contract with the Metropolitan Opera. According to his obituaries, his mother decided he should be an architect, not a singer. Frank Lockwood completed architectural studies at Princeton University and a post graduate course at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

He trained in New York with the then prestigious architectural firm of George Post & Sons. In this firm detailed their associate to Anniston to prepare plans and specifications for an Episcopal church. (Both St. Michael's and All Angels and Grace Church were built at this time.) Lockwood's son Frank W. Lockwood was born in Anniston. Lockwood and his brother, who was also an architect, opened a practice in Columbus, Georgia. In or a commission to design the Standard Club brought Lockwood to Montgomery, Alabama. Here, in Alabama's capital city, Lockwood established a 36-year long architectural practice. Montgomery acquaintances, interviewed in the by researcher Bob Gamble, described him as a true Edwardian gentleman.

Among the structures designed by Lockwood in Montgomery were the post office, an addition to the First National Bank, the Greystone hotel, Memorial hospital, Beauvoir Country Club, and the first Sidney Lanier High School, and two junior high schools as well as residents for the Montgomery elite. Lockwood also served as architect for the expansion of the Alabama state capitol for which he designed two wings. Lockwood's designs were completed in (South Wing) and (North Wing). His design talent found favor with several successive state administrations and institutions for which he designed scores of public buildings across Alabama including Smith, Morgan, Comer and Tutwiler Halls as well as the gymnasium at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.

He also designed more than 70 county high schools and academic buildings at Huntington college and several state normal schools. Among his other public commissions in Alabama were courthouses in Andalusia, Baldwin, Conecuh, Escambia, and Calhoun counties. Private commissions included the Trinity Presbyterian church in Montgomery and the Episcopal churches at Dothan, Livingston, and Troy as well as business and residential structures. According to biographers Henry and Elise Whitey, Lockwood's practice was not limited to the state of Alabama. Rather, the SMITH HALL HABS NO.

AL-952 (Page 31) Montgomery-based designer became "one of the best known architects of his time in the southern states." Several individuals worked with Frank Lockwood in the various firms with which he was associated including Frank Lockwood Architects, Associates. In this firm his son, Frank W. Lockwood was an associate. Frank W. ("Tubby") played football, much to his father's dismay, for Alabama and Auburn during his studies at these institutions and also took post- graduate training in architecture at Columbia University. SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 32) Partial Listing of Frank Lockwood Commissions in Alabama Compiled from various sources by Robert Gamble, Senior Architectural Historian, Alabama Historical Commission,

Public Buildings

Alabama State Capitol expansion: Main Block & South Wing North Wing Federal Building, Montgomery Conecuh County Courthouse, Evergreen Covington County Courthouse, Andalusia Courthouse, Chipley, Fla.

Commercial Buildings

First National Bank, Montgomery (c. Greystone Hotel Houston Hotel, Dothan CLUBS Old Standard Club. Montgomery New Standard Club, Montgomery SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & INSTITUTIONS Sidney Lanier High School, first building, Montgomery Smith, Morgan & Tutwiler Halls, Gymnasium, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Cloverdale Elementary School, Montgomery (c. 19 26) Elementary School, Demopolis (c. Elementary School, Evergreen (c.

Science, Hall, Library, Hospital, Julia Pratt & Weenona Manson Halls, Huntingdon College, Montgomery Memorial Hospital, Montgomery Baptist Hospital, Selma Troy High School, Troy Troy State Normal School, some units Florence State Normal School, possibly some units Livingston State Normal School, possibly some units Alabama Baptist Childrens Home Administration Building, Troy (c. Marion Military Academy, Marion SMITH HALL # HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 33) CHURCHES First Methodist Church, Troy Trinity Presbyterian Church, Montgomery Boyleton Methodist Church, Montgomery Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, Ramer/Montgomery Counties St. Marks Episcopal Church & Rectory, Troy (c. St. Dunston's Episcopal Church, Talladega (c. Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Dothan (c.

RESIDENTIAL Montgomery and vicinity: Joseph & Mary Pratt Bell House, Upper Kingston Prattville Charles Thigpen House, S. Perry St. Martin/Gill House, 646 Cloverdale Road (c. "Rock Haven"-Pickard House, Madison Avenue (c. Martha Stuart Apartments, S. Perry St. L. Broughton Whitfield House, S. Perry St. John T. Clarke House, Thomas Avenue Ralph Quisenberry House, Thomas Avenue Adolph Weil House, S. Perry Leonel Weil House, S. Hull Alvin Weil House, Gilmer Loeb-Martin House, Gilmer Robert Moulthrop House, S. Hull T. Frank James House, S. Hull Flowers House, S. Hull Dr. John Blue House, SE Corner Felder & Gilmer Loeb-Cochran House, 715 E Fairview "Restmore"-Algernon Blair House, NW Corner Felder & Gilmer (remod c. Robert E. Steiner Jr. House John S. Tilley House, Thomas Avenue "Belvoir"-Capt.

W. C. Oates House, Thomas Avenue E. J. Meyer House, Fairview Avenue Edwin & Katherine Whitfield Delaplane House, Fairview Avenue 28) Julian M. & Lyra Rice House, Fairview Avenue Luther Ingalls Mae (remodelling of DeJarnette House), Ridge Avenue Troy (possibly some 30 buildings here): L. M. Bashinsky House, 212 Fine St. Shackelford House, later a fraternity house, N. Three Notch B. M. Owens House, E. Church St. Brewton, Greenville, Talledega and other Alabama towns: Substantial commissions not yet fully researched and documented SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 34) Bibliographic References "Death Claims Architect Here." Montgomery Advertiser. 16 January Frank Lockwood Clipping File. Alabama Department of Archives and Manuscripts. Montgomery, Alabama. Gamble, Robert.

Telephone Interview with Marjorie White. 12 December Frank Lockwood File. Birmingham Historical Society. Birmingham, Alabama. "Lockwood, the Architect Dead." Montgomery Advertiser. 11 January Frank Lockwood Clipping File. Alabama Department of Archives and Manuscripts. Montgomery, Alabama. The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Volume XXVI. New York: James T. White & Company, 63. Withey, Henry F. and Elise Rathburn Withey. Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased). Los Angeles: Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 35) APPENDIX B: SAMUEL BROWN PARSONS, JR. - A SHORT BIOGRAPHY Samuel Brown Parsons, Jr. a nationally known landscape architect, was born in Bedford, Massachusetts.

His father introduced the first seedless orange into the United States in and maintained extensive orange plantations in Florida as well as a horticultural business at Flushing, Long Island. Parsons was educated at Haverford College and the Yale Scientific School (graduated and studied landscape gardening under Calvert Vaux in New York City prior to his service with the New York City parks system in Manhattan and the Bronx. Beginning in Parsons, individually and in association with other professionals, engaged in private practice at various sites across America. One major commission was for Washington park-like mall which today links the Capitol buildings with the Washington Monument while providing a vast green space and central allee for the nation's governmental buildings and museums.

In the early years of the century, Parsons designed private estate grounds for the wealthy of New York state, Asheville, North Carolina, and Birmingham, Alabama. In association with Robert Jemison, he created the formal symmetrical plan for Glen Iris Residence Park from in Birmingham. In association with Robert Jemison, he designed the landscape plans for Mountain Terrace, the initial portion of Forest Park, another Birmingham subdivision located on the SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 36) mountainside overlooking the then fast-growing industrial city. According to the National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Parsons designed plans for college and university campus, after a study of English campus models.

His firm prepared plans for Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Mawr, Pamona College, Colorado College, Vassar College, and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. The Tuscaloosa design was prepared by George Cook, an associate in the firm Samuel Parsons & Co. Landscape Architects, St. James Building, New York City. George Cook was an English born and trained landscape architect. At the time of the Tuscaloosa plan, Cook was also working with Parsons on the design for a San Diego park, covering a track of acres. According to Charles Birnbaum, Cook died in San Diego before completing the park there. Little is known about the Englishman as he is not listed in the standard American biographical references.

Parsons authored four books on landscape architecture and many magazine articles on landscape design for "men of modest means." He was a member and an early president of the American Institute of Landscape Architects, founded in according to several reports, in his New York office. SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 37) Bibliographic References Birnbaum, Charles A. "The Landscape of Albemarle Park: Samuel Parson's Vision." In The Manor and the Cottages Albemarle Park, Ashevllle, North Carolina, A Historic Planned Residential Community. Asheville, North Carolina: The Albemarle Park-Manor Grounds Association, Inc., Birnbaum, Charles. Telephone Interview with Marjorie White, 6 December Samuel Parsons, Jr. File, Birmingham Historical Society. Birmingham, Alabama.

Mathews, Jane Gianvito, AIA, and Richard A. Mathews. The Manor and Cottages Albemarle Park, Asheville, North Carolina, A Historic Planned Residential Community. Asheville, North Carolina: The Albemarle Park-Manor Grounds Association, Inc., Parsons, Samuel, How to Plan the Home Grounds. New York: Doubleday & McClure Co., Parsons, Samuel, Jr. Landscape Gardening Studies. New York: John Lane Company, Parsons, Samuel Jr. Landscape Gardening. New York, London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, Parsons, Samuel Jr. The Art of Landscape Architecture in Development and its Application to Modern Landscape Gardening. New York and London: G. P.

Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, Parsons, Samuel Brown, Papers documenting his "Private Work." Location unknown, even to Charles Birnbaum, ASLA, a leading Parson's researcher whose exhibition "Samuel Parson Jr. The Art of Landscape Architecture" showed at Wave Hill, 675 West Street, Bronx, New York from December 11, to April 23, The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. XXVI. New York: James T. White Co., 3 08. '^ ":;U:>Ws& SMITH HALL HABS NO. AL-952 (Page 38) PART IV.

PROJECT INFORMATION This history, together with measured drawings, and photographs, were prepared for the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record by Birmingham Historical Society, Birmingham, Alabama during the summer and fall of The Smith Hall Recording Project is part of HABS/HAER's

Birmingham Industrial District

Recording Project, which the Society cosponsored from to The Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER), a National Park Service program, documents historically significant architectural, engineering, and industrial sites in the United States. The Smith Hall Recording Team included historians, architects, and architectural interns. Architects Richard Anderson, of Columbia, South Carolina and James Alexander of Birmingham were team leaders for the documentation project. Team members include geologist and historian Carol Slaughter, Birmingham Historical Society; Jason Fondren, Auburn University; Cynthia Saunders, Auburn University; and Brittany Whitley, Auburn University. Jet Lowe of HAER served as photographer.

James Alexander wrote the HABS Report; Marjorie White contributed the appendices. Marjorie White and Brenda Howell of the Birmingham Historical Society coordinated the project. Carol Slaughter contributed a lengthy history of Dr. Eugene Smith, included as additional material in the field notes at the Library of Congress. The Smith Hall team expresses appreciation to Dr.Douglas E.

Jones, Director, the Alabama Museum of Natural History; Michael Pierce, Exhibits Designer, Alabama Museum of Natural History; Higginbotham, also of the museum; Alexander Sartwell, historian of the Geological Survey of Alabama; Jerry Oldshue, Archivist, University of Alabama; Glen Acker and Bill Stewart and the university's grounds and paint divisions; and to Frank Setzer, Head of the Auburn University Center for Architecture and Urban Studies in Birmingham which provided studio space to the field team. Special thanks also are extended to Robert Gamble, Senior Architectural Historian at the Alabama Historical Commission for his assistance with information on architect Frank Lockwood and to Charles Birnbaum for his insights into the careers and work of Samuel Parsons and George Cook.