Thomas Rogers Kimball (April 19, 1862 – September 7, 1934) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. An architect-in-chief of the

Trans-Mississippi Exposition The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was a world's fair held in Omaha, Nebraska, from June 1 to November 1, 1898. Its goal was to showcase the development of the entire West from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. The Ind ...

in Omaha in 1898, he served as national President 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 ...

from 1918 to 1920 and from 1919 to 1932 served on the Nebraska State Capitol Commission.Historic Buildings at UNL: Thomas R. Kimball
University of Nebraska. Retrieved 4/7/08. Kimball was credited with pursuing 871 commissions including designing 167 new residential buildings and 162 new non-residential structures. The

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

received nomination forms for 42 of Kimball’s works. In 1905 he was invited to judge the San Francisco Custom House competition. Kimball served as architectural adviser to commissions responsible for erection of the

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

state capitols, the Kansas City

Liberty Memorial The National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri was opened in 1926 as the Liberty Memorial. In 2004, it was designated by the United States Congress as the country's official war memorial and museum dedicated to World Wa ...

, and the

Indiana War Memorial The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is an urban feature and war memorial located in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, originally built to honor the veterans of World War I. and (PDF) It was conceived in 1919 as a location for the ...

in Indianapolis, and was a member of the national council of fine arts established by U.S. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

to evaluate all plans for public buildings, monuments, and statutes.

Biography

Born April 19, 1862, in

Linwood, Cincinnati Linwood is one of the 52 neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Annexed in 1893, it is located in the eastern part of the city. The population was 705 at the 2020 census. History Linwood was incorporated as a village in 1874. Origin ...

, Ohio, he moved to

with his parents

Thomas Lord Kimball Thomas Lord Kimball (October 1, 1831 – October 9, 1899) was an American railroad executive. Born in Buxton, Maine, he worked various jobs before becoming an agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1860. He was appointed to various posit ...

and Mary Porter Rogers Kimball when he was nine. Kimball attended Central High School until 1878 when he enrolled at the University of Nebraska Latin School (former

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

prep school) for two years. Next, Kimball went to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where he worked with a private tutor for two years. He then entered the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

to study architecture until 1887. He did not graduate but was later given an affiliation with the School of Architecture. Kimball continued at the

Cowles Art School Cowles Art School (Cowles School of Art) was established in 1883, in a studio building located at 145 Dartmouth Street in Boston, Massachusetts. It was one of the largest art schools in the city and boasted an enrollment of several hundred until ...

of Boston then moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he spent a year studying art at L'Ecole des Beaux Arts under notable tutors such as Henri Harpingnies. Returning to Boston in 1888, Kimball along with Henry D. Bates established ''Technology Architectural Review'', a publication of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Architectural Society. As reported in the first issue, "The REVIEW - the first essay of its kind by architectural students in America - will aim to call attention to and emphasize the resources of classical architecture, and its usefulness as a basis for all design." The following year, Kimball married Annie Lydia McPhail in Boston.

Walker and Kimball

In 1891, Kimball formed an architectural firm with MIT instructor C. Howard Walker and architect Herbert Best. Best soon retired. Walker remained in Boston to run the office there; Kimball moved back to Omaha and opened an office. Both operated under the name Walker and Kimball. In 1892, Kimball was commissioned to design a public library building in Omaha. Although Kimball had been able to get the job through connections established by his father, railroad executive

, the younger Kimball was in fact well qualified for the work. He was also something of a curiosity in 1890s Omaha, since he had been educated in the East and had studied architecture both in the United States and in France. Kimball began attracting many high-profile projects in Omaha, including St. Philomena's Cathedral and the Burlington Train Station. In 1893, some of his

architectural plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

s were shown in Chicago at the

World Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The c ...

., Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 4/7/08.

Trans-Mississippi Exposition

The 1898 Trans Mississippi and International Exposition was a World's Fair-like event in Omaha that required the construction of many buildings. Kimball and Walker were named co-architects-in-chief for the event. The two men were responsible for the overall site development, including perimeter buildings. They designed several major buildings, some smaller structures and the Arch of States (a main entrance). "The other 'name' architects who were there did a main building and nothing else," Batie said. The buildings were constructed of strips of wood covered with

staff Staff may refer to: Pole * Walking staff, an instrument used for balance when walking * Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting ** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon * Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position * Staff (railway signalling) ...

, which was a mixture of plaster and horsehair. They were temporary by design, built at about half the cost of permanent buildings. The lower cost allowed the construction of larger structures. Kimball was already successful, but his Exhibition work made him even more so. Kimball won commissions for major new projects, such as

St. Cecilia Cathedral St. Cecilia Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha, USA. Located at 701 North 40th Street in the Gold Coast Historic District (Omaha, Nebraska), Gold Coast Historic District, the cathedral was ranked as one o ...

and the Fontenelle Hotel in Omaha, and the Electricity Building at the

1904 World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 mi ...

in St. Louis.

Late career

By 1918, he had gained tremendous stature among his peers and was elected national president of the

, an office he held until 1920. Kimball was involved in many architecture-related activities, including supervision of the 1920 design contest that selected

Bertram Goodhue Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (April 28, 1869 – April 23, 1924) was an American architect celebrated for his work in Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival design. He also d ...

as architect of the

Nebraska State Capitol The Nebraska State Capitol is the seat of government of the U.S. state of Nebraska and is located in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, Lincoln. Designed by New York architect Bertram Goodhue, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1920, it was constructed of Ind ...

. In 1927, Kimball went into a partnership with architects William L. Steele (1875–1949) and Josiah D. Sandham (1880–1969) to form the firm Kimball, Steele, and Sandham. Among other commissions, the firm designed the Second Church of Christ Scientist (Minneapolis, 1930) and with George B. Prinz were associate architects on the Federal Office Building (Omaha, 1933). However, Kimball functioned primarily as a consultant, having stopped working as an active architect.

Death and legacy

Kimball's success could not survive the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, which hurt him financially. He died a pauper in 1934. Upon his death, partner William L. Steele remarked that Kimball "did not...as the majority of his contemporaries did, absorb a repertoire of French tricks and come home. He studied architecture as ''building'', not as merely drawings of the buildings. He seemed to have acquired at an early age that grasp of fundamental principles which was to keep him from being stampeded by passing fads." In 2017, Kimball was inducted as the 26th member of the

Nebraska Hall of Fame The Nebraska Hall of Fame officially recognizes prominent individuals from the State of Nebraska. Twenty-six busts located on the second floor of the Nebraska State Capitol commemorate members of the Hall of Fame. Nebraska Medal of Honor recipie ...

. In 2019, a bust of his likeness was created by

John Lajba John Lajba is an American sculptor who lives in Omaha, Nebraska. He is known for his work in creating sculptures of historical and sports figures, and creates the annual Harley J. Earl Trophies presented to the winner of the Daytona 500. Work ...

for that hall of fame. On June 25, 2019, the Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects awarded its first and, to date, only honorary architect license to Kimball. The board was created on August 16, 1937, almost three years after Kimball's death, so Kimball never had the opportunity to become a licensed architect in his home state.

Notable designs

Kimball also designed the original ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ...

'' building, the First National Bank in Grand Island and the

Hastings, Nebraska Hastings is a List of cities in Nebraska, city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, Adams County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 25,152 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Neb ...

Railroad Station. At the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition he prepared the layout for the park and designed the Arch of the States, the Administration Building, Transportation Building, and the Boys' and Girls' Building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimball, Thomas Rogers 1862 births 1934 deaths Architects from Cincinnati Artists from Omaha, Nebraska Architects from Nebraska American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Presidents of the American Institute of Architects 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects