Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (1869-4/21/1924) (F.A.I.A.)

Goodhue began his career in the Boston office of Ralph Adams Cram, later practiced under his own name in New York.

Born in Pomfret, Connecticut, the young man completed an early education at Russell's College in New Haven, but unlike many others who acquired fame, he was not college trained. At the age of fifteen he joined the New York office of James Renwick and for six years continued his training, mainly under the tutelage of Mr. Renwick, noted ecclesiastical architect. An ardent student during his early years in old-world art, Goodhue developed the remarkable skill in draftsmanship and decorative design for which he was later famous.

In 1891 Goodhue began his long association with Mr. Cram, first in the Boston office of Cram & Wentworth, subsequently became a partner under the name of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson, with headquarters in Boston. During that period Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Goodhue may be said to have revolutionized ecclesiastical architecture, bringing the Gothic revival into a period of great popularity. Later, Goodhue deviated from that style in designing secular as well as church buildings.

Of the many works of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson,, it is difficult in many cases to determine which of the partners contributed to a major degree in the design and execution of the buildings, the following list comprises work attributed to Goodhue: Church of Our Savior, Middleboro Massachusetts, 1897; Memorial Library, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1899; St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Cohasset, Massachusetts, 1900; Episcopal Cathedral in Havana, Cuba, of Spanish Renaissance design, 1905; Christ Church, New Haven Connecticut, 1906; St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York, 1906; All Saints' Cathedral, Halifax, Nova Scotia; St. John's Church, West Hartford, Connecticut; St. Mark's, Mount Kisco, New York, 1909; Chapel, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York; Russell Sage Memorial and Church, Far Rockway, New York; St. James Church, Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1909; St Johns, and the Emanuel Church, Newport, Rhode Island; First Universalist, Somerville, Massachusetts; Second Presbyterian, Lexington, Kentucky; Trinity Church, Durham, North Carolina; Chapel, Church of St. James, New York; Parish House, St. Peter's Church, at Morristown, New Jersey; St. Thomas Chapel and College buildings at Washington, D.C., and the First Presbyterian Church, Utica, New York.

At the height of his career in 1914, Goodhue withdrew from the Cram organization to establish an independent office in New York. During the next decade his works were mainly ecclesiastical and secular buildings, among the latter important public structures and large country residences in southern California, designed in an adaptation of the Spanish, a style about which he became enthusiastic during a visit to Mexico. On e of his first churches of that period was St. Bartholomew's in New York, built in 1913 and planned in association with other architects. It superseded the old church (Standford White's work), the portico of which was incorporated in the new edifice. Other late works were the Chapel of the Intercession in New York's Trinity Parish; Phelps Association Building, New Haven, Connecticut, Physics Building at the California Institute of Technology at Pasadena; the central Public Library in Los Angeles, 1924, of which Carleton M. Winslow was resident architect; Marine Air Corps Base and the Naval Air Station at San Diego; also in the city the Fine Arts Building and the California State Building at the Panama-California Exposition of 1915 were built from Goodhue's designs under the supervision of Mr. Winslow.

Two of his last works were the most important of his career, namely the new State Capitol at Lincoln, Nebraska, a radical departure from the traditional State House design, won in a competition, and the National Academy of Sciences at Washington, D.C., both completed shortly after his death.

An architect who cherished the highest ideals of his profession, Bertram Goodhue's outstanding achievements gave his a unique place among the leading architects in this country, and his death at the zenith of his career brought expressions of regret from all who knew him.