Ralph Harrington Doane | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1886 Middle Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | November 6, 1941 (aged 55) Milton, Massachusetts, United States |
| Occupation | Architect |
Need a copy of Diana Martinez' Concrete Colonialism (out September) before this can be completed.
Ralph Harrington Doane (October 7, 1886 – November 6, 1941) was a Canadian-born American architect. From 1917 until 1918 he served as architect to the Insular Government of the Philippines during the administration of governor-general Francis Burton Harrison. After World War I, he entered practice in Boston, where he worked until his death.
Life and career
editRalph Harrington Doane was born October 7, 1886 in Middle Musquodoboit, Nova Scotia, to the Rev. Howard P. Doane and Sadie Doane, née Simson. The family moved to the United States in 1888 so that Rev. Doane could enter Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jersey.[1] Doane worked for New York City architects Ackerman & Partridge, Charles C. Haight and McKim, Mead & White before entering the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he graduated in 1912. He then was employed as chief designer in the Boston office of C. Howard Walker until 1915, when he was appointed assistant to G. Corner Fenhagen, consulting architect to the Insular Government of the Philippines. In late 1916 Fenhagen resigned to enter practice in Baltimore and was succeeded by Doane.[2]
During his tenure Doane designed and completed the Pangasinan Provincial Capitol (1918) in Lingayen and began construction on the Leyte Provincial Capitol (1924) in Tacloban, completed by his assistant and successor, Antonio Toledo.[3] Shortly before his resignation contracts were signed for the construction of the proposed Philippine Library and Museum (1926), which would be used as for legislative purposes until a purpose-built Legislative Building was built on a planned site in Rizal Park. The building was completed after World War I by another of Doane's successors, Juan M. Arellano, who revised the building's ornamental scheme and introduced an extensive program of figural sculpture. Since 1998 the building has served as the National Museum of Fine Arts.[4][5]
In 1918 he resigned and returned to the United States to serve in World War I. In 1919 opened an office of his own in Boston.
In 1927 he was awarded the Harleston Parker Medal for his design of the Motor Mart Garage.[6]: 225
Architectural works
edit- 1924 – Hutchinson Building, Boston[7]
- 1927 – Motor Mart Garage, Boston[8]: 129–130
- Recipient of the Harleston Parker Medal for 1927.[6]: 225
- 1930 – Sharon High School (former), Sharon, Massachusetts[9]
- NRHP-listed as the Charles R. Wilber School, the name of an older school incorporated into the high school.
- 1933 – Rindge Technical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts[8]: 300 [6]: 225
- Combined with the Cambridge High and Latin School in 1977 to form the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.
- 1936 – Cushing Memorial Hall, Norwell, Massachusetts[10]
- 1936 – Norwell High School (former), Norwell, Massachusetts[11]
- As of 2025, offices for the Norwell School District.
- 1939 – Weekapaug Inn, Westerly, Rhode Island[12]
- NRHP-listed.
References
edit- ↑ The Doane Family and their Descendants, ed. Alfred Alder Doane (Salem: Salem Press Company, printers, 1902): 383-384.
- ↑ "Ralph Harrington Doane (1886-1941)," AIA Historical Directory of American Architects, last edited November 21, 2023. Accessed August 22, 2025.
- ↑ Ralph Harrington Doane, "The story of American architecture in the Philippines I" in Architectural Review 8, no. 2 (February 1919): 25-32.
- ↑ Diana Martinez, "Nation building in the Philippines and the racial ordering of international architecture," Grey Room, Spring 2024. Accessed August 22, 1925.
- ↑ Charles G. Loring, "The Capitol of the Philippines" in Architectural Forum 46, no. 6 (June 1927): 537-538.
- 1 2 3 Douglass Shand-Tucci, Built in Boston: City and Suburb, 1800–2000 (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999)
- ↑ "Real estate transactions; Bromfield and Proovince [sic]-St sale to J. Murray Howe," Boston Globe, January 22, 1924.
- 1 2 Keith N. Morgan with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed and contributors, Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009)
- ↑ Historic Building Detail: SHA.54 (Wilber, Charles R. School), Massachusetts Historical Commission, no date. Accessed August 22, 2025.
- ↑ Historic Building Detail: NRW.18 (Cushing Memorial Town Hall), Massachusetts Historical Commission, no date. accessed August 22, 2025.
- ↑ Historic Building Detail: NRW.394 (Norwell High School - Sparrell Elementary School), Massachusetts Historical Commission, no date. Accessed August 22, 2025.
- ↑ Zachary P. Miller, NRHP Nomination: Weekapaug Inn, National Park Service, 2007.