User:JPRiley/Biggin

Frederic Child Biggin was born October 12, 1869, in Middletown, New York, to Samuel Biggin and Mabel Biggin, née Hart. He was educated at the Maryland Institute College of Art and Cornell University, earning a BSArch from the latter in 1892. After graduation he joined the faculty of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he taught until 1897 when he opened an architect's office. In 1899 he joined the firm of Jacoby & Weishampel of Allentown as a partner. He withdrew from the firm in 1905."Partnership notice," Allentown Morning Call, February 27, 1905, 8. The work of Jacoby, Weishampel & Biggin includes Williams Hall (1903)"New building for Lehigh University," Times (Philadelphia, PA), June 27, 1902, 12. of Lehigh University and the Allentown National Bank building (1905),Allentown National Bank NRHP Registration Form (2005) completed shortly after the partnership was dissolved. Over the next six years Biggin moved frequently around the country, working in offices in each city that he stayed."Biographical sketches" in [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Southern_Architect_and_Building_News/eZVKOtKM5_gC?hl=en&gbpv=0 Southern Architect and Building News] 54, no. 3 (March, 1928): 27."Biggin, Frederic Child" in Who's Who in America, 22nd ed. (Chicago: A. N. Marquis Company, 1942): 320.

In 1911 Biggin was hired by the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, now Oklahoma State University, to teach its course in architectural engineering. Biggin moved the program away from engineering and towards architecture, and established the department's degree program in architecture in 1915.James V. Parcher, A History of the Oklahoma State University College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology (Stillwater: Oklahoma State University, 1988): 57. Like at Oklahoma, in Alabama Biggin sought to modernize the program. Beginning in 1917 he initiated a complete reorganization of the department. Under his leadership, it emerged as the foremost architecture school in the south. In 1925 a professional, five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree was first offered, and in 1926 the department was admitted to the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. In 1927 the department, which had previously been part of the School of Engineering, was moved into the new School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Biggin was the first dean and would serve in that role until his death in 1943."Auburn's school of architecture ranks with country's best" in Auburn Alumnus 9, no. 4 (April, 1928): 7-8.Arthur Clason Whitehead, The History of Collegiate Education in Architecture in the United States (1941): 121.

Biggin joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1912 as a member of the Kansas City chapter. In 1916, when he moved to Auburn, he became a charter member of the Alabama chapter. He filled several leadership roles in the chapter and served on national committees. He was elected a Fellow of the AIA in 1939 for his work in education and public service. He was the second Alabama architect to be elected a Fellow under the modern system instituted in 1898."Citations of members advanced to fellowship" in The Octagon 11, no. 10 (October, 1939): 33. Biggin spent many years lobbying the Alabama state government to pass an architect's licensure law, which was finally done in 1931. Biggin served on the Alabama Board of Architects created by that law from its organization until his death."Alabama architectural law" in The Octagon 3, no. 9 (September, 1931): 16.

Biggin was married in 1894 to Mabel Augusta Desh of Bethlehem. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. In Auburn the Biggins lived in a house he had designed and built in 1927. This house is a contributing resource to the Old Main and Church Street Historic District, NRHP-listed in 1978.[https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/78003194 Old Main and Church Street Historic District NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form] (1978)

Biggin died October 14, 1943, at the age of 74, following an illness of several months."Veteran dean at Auburn dies," Montgomery Advertiser, October 15, 1943, 6.

Biggin Hall, built for the Auburn School of Architecture and Allied Arts, was named in Biggin's honor. It was designed by architect Clyde C. Pearson, a 1926 Auburn graduate, of the firm of Pearson, Tittle & Narrows. It is now used by the Department of Art and Art History."[https://www.auburn.edu/administration/facilities/webapps/buildings/profile.php?bldg=AA_Y0201 Biggin Hall]," Auburn University, no date. Accessed July 17, 2024. Biggin's home is now the Biggin-Woltosz House and is used by the School of Architecture for offices and exhibitions.Nora Munoz, "[https://cadc.auburn.edu/biggin-woltosz-house-dedication/ Biggin-Woltosz House Dedication]," Auburn University, September 12, 2019. Accessed July 17, 2024.

• John S. Siebert and Frederic Child Biggin, [https://archive.org/details/gri_33125001410873 Modern Stone-Cutting and Masonry: With Special Reference to the Making of Working Drawings] (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1896)

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