Clarence C. Zantzinger

Clarence was born in Philadelphia, the son of Alfred Zantzinger (1839–1873) and Sarah Crawford Clark. Alfred was a medical doctor who was born on June 27, 1839, in Philadelphia to George Zantzinger, a grand-nephew of David Rittenhouse,{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/familyrecorddav00cassgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/familyrecorddav00cassgoog/page/n57 39]|quote=zantzinger clark.|title=The Family Record of David Rittenhouse: Including His Sisters Esther, Anne and Eleanor. Also, Benjamin Rittenhouse and Margaret Rittenhouse Morgan|last=Cassel|first=Daniel Kolb|date=1896|publisher=Herald printing and binding rooms|language=en}} and Caroline Helmuth.{{cite book | url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015036766767?urlappend=%3Bseq=615 | title=University of Pennsylvania. Biographical catalogue of the matriculates of the college, together with lists of the members of the college faculty and the trustees, officers and recipients of honorary degrees. 1749-1893. | publisher=University of Pennsylvania | year=1894 | accessdate=November 18, 2013 | author=A committee of the Society of the alumni | pages=212 | hdl=2027/mdp.39015036766767?urlappend=%3Bseq=615 | archive-date=February 27, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227204323/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/imgsrv/html?id=mdp.39015036766767&seq=615 | url-status=live }} Alfred entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1855, graduated from Philadelphia's Hahnemann Medical College in 1862, and became a volunteer surgeon with the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=va8-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA79 |title=History of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry: From Its Organization, November 17th, 1774 to Its Centennial Anniversary, November 17th, 1874 |date=1875 |publisher=Princeton |language=en |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011650/https://books.google.com/books?id=va8-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA79 |url-status=live }} In January 1863, Alfred married Sarah Crawford Clark, the daughter of Philadelphia financier Enoch White Clark. When their son was born in 1872, they named him for Sarah's brother Clarence Clark. Alfred died of typhoid in Philadelphia on August 15, 1873.{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7QDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA93 |title=Alfred Zantzinger, M.D. |journal=Transactions of the 27th Session of the American Institute of Homeopathy |date=1875 |page=93 |publisher=American Institute of Homeopathy |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011657/https://books.google.com/books?id=z7QDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA93 |url-status=live }} Sarah later married C. George Currie, a rector of St. Luke's Church in Philadelphia.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/marylandsocietyo00nati|title=The Maryland society of the Colonial Dames of America, 1899|last=National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maryland|date=1899|publisher=Baltimore : Guggenheimer, Weil & co.|others=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center}}

Zantzinger attended private school in Germany, then St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He matriculated at Yale University's Sheffield Scientific School, where he was a member of the senior S.S.S. Society{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6sVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA96 |title=S.S.S. Society |journal=The Yale Pot-pourri |date=1890 |volume=25 |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011657/https://books.google.com/books?id=J6sVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA96 |url-status=live }} and graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1892. Three years later, he earned a B.S. in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. He then spent two years at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he worked under Paul Blondel and Henri Grisors and graduated in 1901.{{Philadelphia Architects and Buildings |author=Tatman, Sandra L. |ar=23460 |Zantzinger, Clarence Clark (1872-1954)}}

He returned to Philadelphia, set out his shingle, and soon received his first commission: a building to house the West Philadelphia branch (today, the Walnut Street West branch) of the Free Library of Philadelphia.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVK5gQXuHwMC&pg=PA42 |title=West Philadelphia: University City to 52nd Street |publisher=Arcadia |last1=Skaler |first1=Robert Morris |date=2002 |page=42 |isbn=9780738509709 |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011650/https://books.google.com/books?id=mVK5gQXuHwMC&pg=PA42 |url-status=live }} By 1905, he and Charles L. Borie, Jr. (a fellow graduate of St. Paul's School) had launched a firm of their own with offices at 251 South 4th Street in Philadelphia. They were joined in 1910 by Milton Bennett Medary, and the firm was renamed Zantzinger, Borie & Medary, which specialized in institutional and civic projects.

In 1903, Zantzinger joined the American Institute of Architects; eight years later, the group made him a fellow. He served for years on the group's National Committee on Foreign Relations and Education; he also served as president of the Philadelphia chapter. Zantzinger was also a member of the [http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/tsq/tsqdefault.htm T-Square Club]; he directed its atelier and served on its education committee.

In 1906, he was elected to the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.{{Cite news |date=December 22, 1906 |title=Philadelphia |pages=2 |work=American Art News}}

In 1917, Zantzinger became a diplomat: President Woodrow Wilson appointed him to represent the U.S. on the War Trade Board in Sweden as a member of the U.S. legation in Stockholm.

He also served on the National Capital Parks and Planning Commission and as president of Philadelphia's City Parks Association.

In 1951, he retired from his firm, by then renamed Zantzinger & Borie.

Among his works were:

• William Penn Charter School, Germantown, Pennsylvania.
• Pennsylvania Athletic Club, Philadelphia.
• Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
• The bank building of E.W. Clark & Co., southeast corner of S. 16th and Locust Streets in Philadelphia.{{Cite web |url=http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pr_display.cfm/5075 |title=Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide |access-date=2013-10-29 |archive-date=2023-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115210704/https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pr_display.cfm/5075 |url-status=live }}
• St. Paul's Church, Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.
• Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, Plainfield, New Jersey.
• The administration building for the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale.
• The redevelopment of his uncle's estate in West Philadelphia for Philadelphia Divinity School; today, the public Penn Alexander elementary school{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVr_lTmT4p4C&pg=PA164 |title=University of Pennsylvania: An Architectural Tour |last1=Thomas |first1=George E. |date=2002 |publisher=Princeton Architectural Press |isbn=9781568983158 |language=en |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011650/https://books.google.com/books?id=NVr_lTmT4p4C&pg=PA164 |url-status=live }}
• The Men's dormitory group, University of Chicago.
• Department of Justice Building, Washington, D.C.
• Public Administration Building, University of Chicago.
• Graduate Cottage, Overbrook School for the Blind, Overbrook, Pennsylvania.
• Nurses Home, Abington Hospital, Abington, Pennsylvania.
• Warehouse for the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
• Private house, 8500 Seminole Avenue, Philadelphia{{Cite news|url=http://www.phillymag.com/property/2015/05/04/chestnut-hill-homes-for-sale-8500-seminole-street-clarence-c-zantzinger/|title=For Sale: Lush Chestnut Hill Home Designed by Clarence C. Zantzinger{{!}} Property|date=2015-05-04|work=Philadelphia Magazine|access-date=2018-02-05|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206005219/http://www.phillymag.com/property/2015/05/04/chestnut-hill-homes-for-sale-8500-seminole-street-clarence-c-zantzinger/|url-status=live}}

In 1903, Clarence married Margaret Shippen Buckley (d. Jan. 16, 1958{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/01/17/89042247.html?action=click&contentCollection=Archives&module=ArticleEndCTA®ion=ArchiveBody&pgtype=article&pageNumber=25|title=MRS. C. C. ZANTZINGER|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-02-05|language=en|archive-date=2024-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227204456/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/01/17/89042247.html?action=click&contentCollection=Archives&module=ArticleEndCTA®ion=ArchiveBody&pgtype=article&pageNumber=25|url-status=live}}),{{cite web | url=http://www.nationalacademy.org/collections/artists/detail/1714/ | title=Clarence Clark Zantzinger | publisher=National Academy Museum | work=Artists & Architects | accessdate=September 13, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229021605/http://www.nationalacademy.org/collections/artists/detail/1714/ | archive-date=December 29, 2015 | url-status=dead }} part of a prominent Philadelphia family that descended from John Buckley (1664–1732), of Wiltshire, England, who in 1681 became one of the first people to purchase land in the colony of Pennsylvania from William Penn.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028829889 | quote=Edward Swift BUCKLEY. | title=Who's who in Pennsylvania: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporaries | publisher=L. R. Hammersly | author=Leonard, John W. | year=1908 | location=Pennsylvania | pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028829889/page/n603 596]}} She was a daughter of iron manufacturer Edward Swift Buckley and granddaughter of Matthew Brooke Buckley (1794–1856),{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=arAfWBsvO1gC&pg=PA108 |title=Colonial And Revolutionary Families Of Pennsylvania: Genealogical and Personal Memoirs |volume=1 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |editor-last=Jordan |editor-first=John W. |date=1911 |isbn=9780806352398 |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011651/https://books.google.com/books?id=arAfWBsvO1gC&pg=PA108 |url-status=live }} a president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad from 1842{{cite web | url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1842%20May%2004.wd.pdf | title=1842 (May 2004 Edition) | publisher=The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society | work=PRR CHRONOLOGY | date=May 2004 | accessdate=13 September 2013 | archive-date=14 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014023820/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1842%20May%2004.wd.pdf | url-status=live }} to 1846.{{cite web | url=http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1846%20Apr%2005.pdf | title=1846 (April 2005 Edition) | publisher=The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society | work=PRR CHRONOLOGY | date=April 2005 | accessdate=13 September 2013 | archive-date=14 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014022345/http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1846%20Apr%2005.pdf | url-status=live }}{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/descendantsofj00keen | quote=Margaret Shippen Buckley. | title=The Descendants of Jöran Kyn of New Sweden | publisher=Swedish Colonial Society | author=Keen, Gregory Bernard | year=1913 | location=Delaware | pages=[https://archive.org/details/descendantsofj00keen/page/214 214]}} Matthew was the son of Daniel Buckley (1761–1827), a lawyer and former member of the Assembly of Pennsylvania.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm8tAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA81 |title=History of the Penrose Family of Philadelphia |page=81 |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011651/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mm8tAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA81 |url-status=live }}

In 1922, Clarence and Margaret lived at "Greenacre", their house at Seminole and Highland Avenues in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania.{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qZFLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA295 |title=Philadelphia |journal=Social Register Philadelphia Including Wilmington |date=November 1922 |volume=37 |issue=3 |page=295 |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011650/https://books.google.com/books?id=qZFLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA295 |url-status=live }}

They had at least four children:

:1 Clarence Clark Zantzinger Jr. (1904-1993), who followed his father to St. Paul's, Yale, Penn, and the Ecole des Beaux Arts; then joined Zantzinger, Borie & Medary as a draftsman; and finally struck out on his own as an architect. His firm, Kneedler, Mirick & Zantzinger, "designed office buildings, hospitals, churches, museums, schools and houses in the Philadelphia area," according to his New York Times obituary.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/24/obituaries/c-clark-zantzinger-jr-architect-89.html|title=C. Clark Zantzinger Jr. Architect, 89|date=1993-11-24|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-02-05|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=2018-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206002714/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/24/obituaries/c-clark-zantzinger-jr-architect-89.html|url-status=live}} He served as director or other corporate officer in several organizations, including the Fairmount Park Art Association, for which he served as president from 1969 to 1980.{{Philadelphia Architects and Buildings |author=Cooperman, Emily T. |ar=22824 |Zantzinger, Clarence Clark, Jr. (1904-1993) |link=no}} He married Mary Amory Cook, a daughter of Navy Vice Admiral Arthur Byron Cook (1881-1952), an early naval aviator.

:2 Alfred Zantzinger (1907-1972), who also attended St. Paul's, married Mary Geist in 1937. Alfred worked stints at the E.W. Clark & Co. financial house, the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company, and as vice-president of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.[http://archives.sps.edu/common/text.asp?Img=2598&Keyword=&Headline=&Author=&SearchMode=0 Obituary: Alfred Zantzinger] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029215916/http://archives.sps.edu/common/text.asp?Img=2598&Keyword=&Headline=&Author=&SearchMode=0 |date=2013-10-29 }}

:3 Sarah Clark Zantzinger married Harry C. Groome Jr.,[http://archives.sps.edu/common/text.asp?Img=11294&Keyword=&Headline=&Author=&SearchMode=0 Obituary: Clarence Clark Zantzinger] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201020/http://archives.sps.edu/common/text.asp?Img=11294&Keyword=&Headline=&Author=&SearchMode=0 |date=2013-10-29 }} who went on to become a senior vice-president of N. W. Ayer & Son, the country's oldest advertising agency.{{cite news | title=Harry C Groome Jr. | work=Obituary | date=May 31, 1980 | agency=New York Times | location=New York City | pages=28}}

:4 Mary Vaux Zantzinger (1910-1987), who married John Wister Wurts (1907-1972). Wurts, who lived as a child on Philadelphia's Portico Row, graduated from Princeton University in 1931{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRNbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR42 |title=Princeton Alumni Weekly |date=1940 |publisher=Princeton Alumni Weekly |language=en |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011653/https://books.google.com/books?id=hRNbAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR42 |url-status=live }} and served in Europe during World War II, winning the Legion of Merit.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dRlbAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA15-PA37 |title=Princeton Alumni Weekly |date=1971 |publisher=Princeton Alumni Weekly |language=en |access-date=2023-09-26 |archive-date=2023-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926011649/https://books.google.com/books?id=dRlbAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA15-PA37 |url-status=live }}

{{reflist}}

• [https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_1216-P-794 Portrait] (c. 1945) of Clarence Clark Zantzinger by Alice Kent Stoddard (1883?-1976)
• [http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/uphp/xnaylor/leigh/Leightext/8440StMartin'sLane_naylor92_114.htm Photo] of "Kate's Hall" at 8440 St. Martins Lane in Chestnut Hill, designed by Zantzinger for Joseph Sill Clark, Sr.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201020/http://archives.sps.edu/common/text.asp?Img=11294&Keyword=&Headline=&Author=&SearchMode=0 St. Paul's School obituary for Clarence Zantzinger]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064021/http://articles.philly.com/1993-11-23/news/25944841_1_architects-soccer-team-sculpture Inquirer obituary for Clarence Jr.]
• [https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/24/obituaries/c-clark-zantzinger-jr-architect-89.html New York Times obituary for Clarence Jr.]

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Category:1872 births

Category:1954 deaths

Category:American civil servants

Category:American diplomats

Category:Architects from Philadelphia

Category:École des Beaux-Arts alumni

Category:Fellows of the American Institute of Architects

Category:Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni

Category:Yale University alumni