John Donaldson Detroit - Donaldson and Meier

John M. Donaldson (January 17, 1854 – December 20, 1941) was an American architect and artist born on January 17, 1854, in

Stirling, Scotland Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. Donaldson was principal designer of the successful

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

-based architectural firm

Donaldson and Meier Donaldson and Meier was an architectural firm based in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1880 by John M. Donaldson (1854–1941) and Henry J. Meier (1858–1917), the firm produced a large and varied number of commissions in Detroit and sou ...

from 1880 onwards.

Early years

In 1856, John and Isabella (McNaughten) Donaldson immigrated to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

with their two-year-old son John. He graduated from the

Detroit Public Schools Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that serves Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, and high school students in Highland Park, Michigan. The district, which replaced the original Detroit Public Schools (DPS) in 2016, ...

and later from the Polytechnic College. Following that he returned to Europe where he studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

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, at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

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, finishing his European art studies in

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Success in Detroit

He returned to Detroit and in 1874 was invited to produce

architectural sculpture Architectural sculpture is the use of sculptural techniques by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that ...

for the

Detroit City Hall The Detroit City Hall was the seat of government for the city of Detroit, Michigan from 1871 to 1961. The building sat on the west side of Campus Martius bounded by Griswold Street to the west, Michigan Avenue to the north, Woodward Avenue to the ...

then being built. For this building Donaldson made a model of a statue of Pere Marquette that was carved in stone by

Julius Melchers Julius Theodore Melchers (1829–1908) was a German born American sculptor and teacher who immigrated to the United States leaving Prussia after 1848 and resided in Detroit, Michigan after 1855 .Baulch, Vivian M. (January 31, 1998Detroit is ferti ...

. When the building was demolished in the 1950s the statue was salvaged and now stands on the campus of

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

. In 1878, Donaldson joined in partnership with architect Henry T. Brush, but Brush's death a year later in 1879 ended it. In 1882, Donaldson married Charlotte Grosvenor Brush, his former partner's widow. In 1880, he formed a partnership with Henry J. Meier,

. Though Meier died in 1917, the firm continued as Donaldson and Meier until the 1970s. Donaldson was a member of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

and the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding member ...

. In 1900, Donaldson wrote a letter for the

Detroit Century Box The Detroit Century Box is a time capsule that was created in the U.S. city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan on December 31, 1900. Mayor William C. Maybury organized the capsule which consists of a copper box filled with photos and letters containi ...

time capsule A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...

Sources

* *Ferry, W. Hawkins, ''The Buildings of Detroit: A History'', Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan, 1968 *Gibson, Arthur Hopkin, ''Artists of Early Michigan: A Biographical Dictionary of Artists Native to or Active in Michigan, 1701-1900'', Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1975 *Hill, Eric J., and John Gallagher, AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Architecture in Detroit, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI 2003 *Meyer, Katharine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy, ''Detroit Architecture: A.I.A. Guide'', Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1980

References

External links

The Detroiters, Pages 143 - 146
at www.usgennet.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, John (architect) 1854 births Culture of Detroit 1941 deaths 19th-century American architects Architects from Detroit Art Deco architects British emigrants to the United States Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni People from Stirling 20th-century American architects Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters