User:JPRiley/Shaw

Thomas Mott Shaw was born September 19, 1878 in Newport, Rhode Island to George R. Shaw, a Boston architect, and Emily (Mott) Shaw. He was educated in the private Hopkinson School and at Harvard University, graduating in 1900. He immediately left for Paris, where he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts. He earned his diplôme in 1905 and returned to the United States. Upon his return to Boston he joined the office of architect Guy Lowell, for whom he worked until he opened his own office in 1909. For the next eight years Shaw operated a small practice primarily focused on the design of homes. In 1917, upon the United States' entry into World War I, he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps. During the war he was stationed in France where he served with William G. Perry, his future partner. He was discharged in 1919.

In 1920 he returned to practice, forming the firm of Shaw & Hepburn with Andrew H. Hepburn, another former employee of Lowell. In 1923 they merged their practice with that of William G. Perry, forming the firm of Perry, Shaw & Hepburn."Personals" in [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_American_Architect_and_the_Architect/Z_0yAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 American Architect–Architectural Review] 123, no. 2417 (April 11, 1923): 14. The firm was renamed several times and was known as Perry, Shaw, Hepburn & Dean at the time of Shaw and Hepburn's dual retirement in 1962.

Perry, Shaw & Hepburn are best known as the architects for the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, beginning in 1927. Perry was chief architect for the project, though all of the partners were closely involved. Outside of the Williamsburg project, the firm was active in the design of large institutional projects. Shaw was particularly involved in the design of their work at Brown University, including two large residential quadrangles and the restoration of University Hall. In 1951, for his contributions to the Brown campus, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree."Honorary Degrees: An Accolade for Nine" in [https://archive.org/details/brownalumnimonth5110brow/page/10/mode/2up Brown Alumni Monthly] 51, no. 10 (June, 1951): 11–12. Shaw also designed buildings on the campuses of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Mount Holyoke College and Massachusetts Archives

In his home of Concord, Shaw also designed a memorial to Henry David Thoreau at his cabin site at Walden Pond. In 1946 Shaw proposed a simple design of nine granite posts, which were placed in 1948.W. Barksdale Maynard, [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Walden_Pond/oUFRDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Walden Pond: A History] (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004)

Shaw was married in 1905 to Caroline Quinan in Paris. They had three children: Isabel Shaw (born 1906), Sarah Q. Shaw (born 1908) and George R. Shaw II (born 1911). They lived in Boston upon their return to the United States, but in 1909 Shaw began construction on his home in Concord, completed in 1910. After his wife's death in 1954 he remarried in 1958 to Gretchen Howes Waldo.Concord Enterprise, July 8, 1954."Thos. M. Shaw Dead at 86" in Boston Globe, February 19, 1965, 53. Shaw died February 17, 1965 at home at the age of 86.

• https://archive.org/details/n2secretarysre1900harvuoft/page/n11/mode/2up (1906)
• https://archive.org/details/n4secretarysre1900harvuoft/page/n3/mode/2up (1915)
• https://archive.org/details/n5secretarysre1900harvuoft/page/n5/mode/2up (1921)
• https://archive.org/details/harvardcollegecl00unse/page/n3/mode/2up (1950)

Works in private practice and during partnership with Andrew H. Hepburn include:

• Frederick E. Lowell house,{{efn|name=Lowell|Built for Shaw's sister and her husband.}} 345 Garfield Rd, Concord, Massachusetts (1909–10)[https://mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=CON.296 Historic Building Detail: CON.296], Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, no date. Accessed January 22, 2023.
• Thomas Mott Shaw estate,{{efn|name=Concord|A pair of houses, of which one survives, built for Shaw and his father, George R. Shaw.}} 317 Garfield Rd, Concord, Massachusetts (1909–10, NRHP 1987)
• Harvard Union Varsity Club addition, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1911, NRHP 1987)
• Charles W. Kellogg house, 105 Woodland Rd, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (1921)
• Thoreau cabin memorial, Walden Pond State Reservation, Concord, Massachusetts (1948)

Works of Perry, Shaw & Hepburn where Shaw had a prominent role include:

• University Hall restoration, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1939–40)"Shaw, Thomas Mott" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1962): 636.
• Whitehall, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1946, demolished 1975)"Making Room" in [https://archive.org/details/brownalumnimonth473brow/page/n1/mode/2up Brown Alumni Monthly] 47, no. 3 (November–December, 1946): 72.
• Andrews Hall, Pembroke College in Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1946–47)"Shaw, Thomas Mott" in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1956): 501.
• Providence–Washington Building, 20 Washington Pl, Providence, Rhode Island (1948–49)
• Kendall Sports and Dance Complex, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts (1949–50)
• Wriston Quadrangle, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1950–52)
• Aldrich Hall,{{efn|name=HBS|With consulting architects McKim, Mead & White of New York City.}} Harvard Business School, Allston, Boston (1951–53)
• Kresge Hall,{{efn|name=HBS}} Harvard Business School, Allston, Boston (1951–53, demolished 2014)
• Keeney Quadrangle, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1955–57)
• First Baptist Church in America restoration, 75 N Main St, Providence, Rhode Island (1957)Another Rockefeller Benefaction: To Save the Meeting House" in [https://archive.org/details/brownalumnimonth577brow/page/4/mode/2up Brown Alumni Monthly] 57, no. 7 (April, 1957): 5–7.
• Ruth J. Totman Physical Education Building, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts (1957–58)Ruth J. Miller, University of Massachusetts Amherst: An Architectural Tour (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2013): 106–107.
• Hunter Laboratory (former), Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1958)
• Massachusetts Archives (former), Massachusetts State House, Boston (1958–60)"State Needs a Library to House Invaluable Historic Documents," Boston Globe, April 1, 1956, A32.

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}